《Supreme Couple In Apocalypse: Undead King & Demonic Queen》 Glossary & Grading

Chapter -3: Glossary & Grading

I''ll keep this simple and short without spoilers. [ Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Health. ] - Strength: It increases various aspects of their physical body, such as muscle strength, bodyposition, and cell enhancement. This allows people to exert higher physical power of their physical body at the cost of their stamina. - Stamina: It increases one''s endurance of physical exertion and the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity. - Agility: This stat affects two main aspects. First, it increases one''s capability to control their physical body, thus increasing their nimbleness. Second, it increases one''s ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; this also helps one coordinate physical actions to make them efficient, thoughter is rted to an individual''s mental capability for better performance. - Health: It increases one''s recovery speed from injuries, recovery speed of stamina, resistance against status ailment, and how quickly they recover if they are affected by any status ailment. - Spirit: It grants one Spirit Senses, allowing one to sense things not normally sensed by their other senses. One can also cultivate Spirit Force, which acts as a form of energy for various uses. (This stat only unlocks when one''s consciousness reaches a certain level of strength. Impossible to unlock it before reaching Noble-order. NOTE: One''s toughness/defense against attacks is decided based on one''s Strength and Health. (And any type of armor they wear). ---------------------------- [ Magic and Mana ] - One can''t add stat points they get in these two stats as they are empowered via a different way after one ranks up to Supra-Order (this different way is exined below in [ Ranks ]. ) -Magic: a type of ethereal power present in one''s Origin Region. It influences one''s mana and other magic-rted aspects. -Mana: a type of energy present in one''s Origin Region that is influenced by one''s Magic power. If the magic power is high, then mana is stronger. Hence, the skills that use mana are also stronger. ---------------------------- [ss] -> This greatly affects one''sbat aspects, skills, and path to power. -> Example: Razing de Dancer, Zombie Lord, Primo Elemental Mage, Destructive Berserker, Arcane Spirit Ranger, Demonic Swordsman, Wisp O'' Light Archer, etc.... -> Upon awakening the ss, one automatically gets a passive skill and can choose one active skill out of three from the options. But afterward, people must create/evolve their own ss skills by using Skill Creation Attempts given to them after each ss "level" up. ---------------------------- [ Skill/Affinity Grading ] Skills: 1st-Tier to 10th-Tier. Affinity: Alpha to Omega (Alpha means beginning & Omega means end.) Whates in between them? :) You can read it in the story. ---------------------------- [ Items Grading ] - Tier-0 to Tier-10 ---> Each Tier has grades like below<--- - Common = White - Umon = Cyan - Rare = Blue - Epic = Dark Pink - Legendary = Gold. ... this is it for now. ---------------------------- [ Lifeform Ranks ] -> This applies to humans, the majority of evolved monsters, and other races besides humans. Mortal-Order (level 20 to 50 ) = is automatically achieved when one reaches level 20. Supra-Order (level 51 to 100 ) = One must create their magic core in Origin Region after reaching level 50. Noble-Order (level 101 to 200 ) = One must bloom Magic Flower after shattering magic core. One can eventually unlock a new stat called, Spirit, during this rank progress. It''s also possible to awaken this stat in Supra-order, like Rin and Erix did. Royal-Order (level 200 to 300) = One must nurture the Magic Flower to bear a fruit and then glean insight to create Arcane Spirit Pool. Turns Mana into a more potent and higher form of energy, Prana. Empyrean-order (level 300 to 500 ) = ??? ...this is it for now. ---------------------------- [ Guild ] -Refer to thest free chapter. (But I suggest not to directly skip there to avoid spoilers) ---------------------------- [ Mystic Shop ] -> Labyrinth Towers, certain events, and certain emergency encounters would reward people with Mystic Coins, which can be used in Mystic Shop that''s present in every Labyrinth Tower. ---------------------------- [Abyss] -> If people dies during Floor Realm event, they can respawn in one of the five Abyss worlds, starting from level 0, but keeping their affinities, and self-learned powers/skills. -> This respawn only happens once per a person''s lifetime. If they die once again during another Floor Realm event, they will truly die. Power Progress (Spoilers!)

Chapter -1: Power Progress (Spoilers!)

Note: Only read ahead if you are curious about Rin''s and Erix''stest power progression or already at thetest chapter. I only made this to make it easier for me and readers. [****** Erix ******] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Noble-Order _ss: ¡ª (Death Reaper-X) _Talents: Vigor Force. _Spiritual Art: Way of Unfettered. (2nd stage) _Affinities: -> 4th realm Metal -- Metal Lord. -> 2nd realm Space -- Space Walker. -> 2nd realm Death -- Death Wraith. -> 1st realm Fire -- _Concepts: -> 2nd realm Punch--Punch Ordinance. -> Attribute concept: 1st realm Devorex Metal. \_________________Self-created skills._________________/ _Active skills: ¡ª> Imposing Fist (1st Tier) ¡ª> Whirling Punch 3.0 / Whirling Metal Gauntlet. ¡ª> Sling Shot Punch 3.0. / Sling Shot Metal Gauntlet. ¡ª> Metal Diabolicus (Tier-3) / Maniac Brawler Form, Mayhem ster Form. ¡ª> Roaring Metal Cannon (Tier-3) ¡ª> Death Metal Meteor (Tier-3) ¡ª> Symphony Echo Punch. (Tier-3) ¡ª> Death Zone (Tierless, depends on Punches executed by Erix) \_________________Abilities gleaned from Affinities/Concepts._________________/ ¡ª> Advanced Metal Maniption. ¡ª> Death Stream, Death Wisp. (Have multiple situation uses) ¡ª> Space Matter Maniption. ¡ª> Creating Wormholes. ¡ª> Space Mapping. (Can map an area within his range of Spirit Sense/Spiritual Mystic Eye. ¡ª> Space Limbo Observing/Imposing. ¡ª> Quick Teleport/Long-range teleport portals. ¡ª> Punch Ordinance and Dominance Mark. \_________________[Passive skills (5/5)]_________________/ ¡ª> Mana Revera (Tier-3 passive skill): Reduce Mana consumption by 30%, but take the deducted cost of 30% from your stamina. You can convert stamina into Mana with a 2:1 ratio. ¡ª> Power Core (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Strength. ¡ª> Strength Boost (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Strength. ¡ª> Hyper Heart (Tier-3 passive skill): +80 Agility, + 80 Strength. ¡ª> Kic Power Force (Tier-3 passive skill): +20 Strength. Increase your skill''s attack up to 200% based on its speed before impact. 2000 meter per second speed for max increase. [****** Rin ******] _Race: Demi-Human. _Bloodline: Ourous Dempire (Legendary) _Rank: Noble-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer (SS) --> de Eater. _Talents: Stormshock Chart _Spiritual Art: Way of Unfettered. (2nd stage) _Affinities: -> 3rd realm Lightning -- Lightning Pool. -> 2nd realm Wind -- Windborne. -> 1st realm Time -- _Concepts: -> 1st realm attribute-concept: Crimson Onyxbolt. -> 2nd realm de concept -- Severing de. \_________________Self-created skills._________________/ ¡ª> de Sheen 3.0 (Tier-3) ¡ª> Thunderous de Strikes 2.0 (Tier-3) ¡ª> Lightning Tempest des (Tier-3) ¡ª> Frenzied de Storm (Tier-3) ¡ª> Lightning Dragon''s Rush (Tier-3) ¡ª> Unlimited de shes (Severum-Spciality, Tier-3) ¡ª> Infinite de Ring (Tierless, depends on Rin''s spin and sh length) \_________________Abilities gleaned from Affinities/concepts._________________/ ¡ª> Advanced Lightning maniption. ¡ª> Intermediate wind maniption. ¡ª> World of Lightning. ¡ª> Severum. \_________________[Passive skills (5/5)]_________________/ ¡ª> Lightning Force Frame (Tier-3 passive skill): +50 Agility. As long as you have lightning coursing through your body, your Agility and Strength will increase by +70 each. ¡ª> Hyper Heart (Tier-3 passive skill): +80 Agility, +80 Strength. ¡ª> Kic Power Force (Tier-3 passive skill): + 20 Strength, up to 200% boost in attack based on the attack''s speed. ¡ª> Dexter Might (Tier-3 passive skill): +70 Agility, +80 Strength. ¡ª> Rapido Motor (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Agility. Chapter 1: Hybrid Zombie

Chapter 1: Hybrid Zombie

Earth. 2024, 10th April. Westin Continent, Ravinfox City. In a dpidated two-story apartment with four small units of housing, a twenty-four-year-old ck-haired young man was sleepingfortably on his bed. It was a small house with a bed, kitchen, and living room, all in one box. Obviously, the young man living here was not rich from the living standards, but his figure was well-built and work-hardened. *Bang¡­ Bang¡­ Bang¡­* While he was asleep, someone was banging on the door. The banging was increasing in intensity every second. Erix would usually sleep very deeply such that outside noise did not affect him, however loud they were. He considered this daily deep slumber at night his weakness as a martial artist but had yet to fix it. "Rin... Let''s try in that ce this time." s, the danger was approaching while he was mumbling in his dream. *Crack..* The dpidated apartment''s door could no longer hold as it broke off from the wall, and a zombie entered inside while staggering. The zombie didn''t look fresh. It had dirt all over and only a few pieces of cloth attached to its rotten body. It was as if this zombie had been buried under the ground for a long time. "Grrr¡­" The zombie made a weird growling sound as it staggered towards Erix, who was sleeping on his left shoulder side, and without hesitation, the zombie took a bite of Erix''s open right shoulder. *Karchh!* Erix''s eyes shot open as a searing pain assaulted his senses awake, causing him to scream. Immediately at that moment, he also smelled a foul odor and quickly turned his head towards the breath and saw the zombie, its rotten teeth were dug into his shoulder! Erix was shocked, but his mind also reacted fast to escape this danger as his martial artist instincts kicked it and he quickly took out a pen from below his bed. Without hesitation, he stabbed it into the zombie''s head before kicking it away. "What... what is going on?!" Erix internally cursed as he looked at the wound on his right shoulder, feeling increasing pain and a burning sensation spreading through his body before he looked at the thing that attacked him. "Zombie...?" "No way!" For a second, his mind went nk at the absurdness of his situation. "Or am I just dreaming?" "No, it can''t be. This pain...urgh!" "This is real..." Erix looked at the bite mark, his mind remember the zombies movies and series he watched as he feared that he would soon turn into a zombie as well. ''No fucking way!'' Suddenly, Erix heard footsteps and saw two youngsters standing at the door. He knew them as they also lived in this apartment in other units. "Erix, y-you¡­ Howe you were bitten?" "Sorry, bro. It''s toote for you." Both youngsters backed away as their gaze became distracted for a bit, as if looking at something that was not visible in Erix''s vision. "No, wait!" Erix stood up. "Don''te near!" the youngster with a baseball bat in his hand said as he warily pointed the bat at Erix with a stern expression. "Sorry, man. It''s over for you because you are bitten. Let''s go, Ralph." They nced at Erix with pity before they left. "And here I was hoping we could rely on Mad Devil Erix... tsk, howe someone like him got bitten?" "And he was level 0. Don''t tell me he was sleeping like usual... Sigh." Erix heard them, but his mind was in chaos. "I can''t die here... No..." "Grrr¡­" The zombie in the room growled as it stood up, trying to stagger towards Erix again. "Motherfucker, you already bit me!" Erix cursed with red eyes as he stormed towards the zombie and squashed its head with his right leg. "Fuck, fuck, fuck¡­." Erix cursed as he started getting dizzy and didn''t notice the notification about killing the zombie. ''No way¡­ I will die from a fucking zombie bite?'' If he was awake, there was no way he would let himself get bitten by a damn zombie! Despair manifested in his eyes as he felt his mind rapidly slipping into darkness. ''No...'' ''Rin, I- how...'' His vision darkened. ''Don''t... I don''t want to die!'' But a secondter, the light in his eyes dimmed. *p!* ''NOO!'' He opened his eyes wide and pped his face before standing up. ''I AM NOT GOING TO DIE!'' Walking towards the mirror, he looked at his face and bloodshot eyes while gritting his teeth. ''Zombie? I will be a zombie just because a fucking creep, mindless shit bit me?'' However, his vision blurred again, but he kept himself awake and alive with sheer will. *p!* And pped his face again. ''Stay awake! Did I live this long and toil hard just to fucking die? Fuck you! Stay Alive!'' ''I am not going to be a zombie!'' ''I am not!'' *Thud!* A secondter, he lost consciousness and fell on his back. His body started losing vibrant skin color as it became paler. The bleeding from his shoulder wound stopped while blood in his body seemed to rush rapidly somewhere. His muscles and tissues contracted, thinned, and puffed in a rhythm as his body started to transform after his death, but it didn''t rise as a zombie. Time passed while Erix''s bodyy motionless and dead for two hours before his eyes abruptly opened. However, his state of mind was different. At first, he was confused as to what the actual fuck happened, but then he started recollecting his thoughts as memories of what happened surfaced in his mind. "I am fine?" "I didn''t die¡­" After standing up and looking at himself in the mirror, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What the..." Suddenly after a second, a screen appeared in his vision. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Level: 0 _ss: None _Life orb: 21/100 (Need Refill) _Stat points: ¡ª> [ Strength: 32 / Agility: 31 / Health: 7 / Stamina: ¡Þ ] "Hmm? What is this? Don''t tell me I am still dreaming and it''s some game dream... "Erix muttered confusedly but then shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he collected his thoughts and epted that everything was real. ''I feel different about my body¡­ very different.'' He walked towards a nearby wall and punched it hard. *Boom¡­.* His punch broke the wall, creating a big hole. "No, I was not this strong before¡­" Erix thought of a possibility and was surprised. ''Hybrid Zombie¡­ A zombie but with an intact mind and sanity. Or should I say, enhanced mind that broke my body''s limits?'' Erix closed his eyes and put his hand on his chest. His heart was not beating, and the blood was there in a strange motion, but it was not flowing in his body. He was scientifically dead. But his brain was working, and it was working even better than before. His emotions were within his control, and he could also think properly and calmly. Instead of losing his mind, his brain was enhanced instead for some reason. It was like his mind broke an average human''s limit, allowing him to unleash higher physical capabilities because blood no longer supported his body system but something else, which he felt was the life orb. Although he had unlimited stamina, which also likely contributed to fueling his strength, he felt that he still had some restrictions, which were also rted to that life orb. ''My health stat... Why is it so low?'' He didn''t know his Health stat in numbers before, but he was sure that his Health stat became lower than average because he knew he was not average before. He worked out every day and practiced martial arts daily. He had solid lean muscles and a sound body because of his daily hard work. He also didn''t hold back on eating to keep himself healthy despite having low finances every month. So the lower health stat was probably because of this half-zombie situation. He was half-dead and half-alive¡­ a hybrid zombie! [Your innate Health immunity is lower than living beings, allowing harmful effects and ailments to take quick and increased effect on you.] A monotone voice rang in his head, informing him about his race. ''Who is it?!'' However, no one replied to him. Erix looked in the mirror and slightly frowned because even though he was sane, he didn''t look sane. His skin was pale with a faint dark blue hue, and his eyes didn''t have white eyeballs. Instead, his eyes were ck with red pupils. "Grrrr¡­." Erix suddenly heard the familiar growling sound and saw two zombies standing at the door. However, they didn''t enter inside to attack Erix but continued moving. "So they won''t attack me because I am also a zombie, even if partly," Erix muttered surprisedly. He then walked out of the small two-story apartment and saw a hole in the corner of the fence. "The zombie that bit me¡­. Did ite out of the ground? So dead, buried people areing out of their graves as zombies? Wtf..." He was also surprised that someone was buried there, though he didn''t care as it was none of his business. ''I guess someone was killed and buried there before i moved here.'' *chhiii¡­* Erix heard some sound and turned to his left. A giant Rat was running towards him with red eyes and two sharp bloody fangs out of its mouth. It was the size of a street dog! After the initial surprise, Erix narrowed his eyes with focus. He saw the Rat jumping toward him for a deadly pounce attack, but he calmly stepped to the side before punching the Rat with full strength. *Burst¡­* The Rat''s body exploded into gore with the power of his 32-strength punch. [You have killed a level 2 Famished Rat. Agility +1]. [1 mystic essence collected- Collect 100 mystic essences tomence your ss Selection]. [You have reached level 1. You have acquired 2 unassigned stat points.] Erix heard and saw some notifications as an understanding dawned on him. ''This world¡­'' He looked into the sky. It was night, and the moon was glowing peacefully. But the city had smokeing out of various ces, and in reality, it was anything but peaceful in the world. "The world has changed¡­." Erix muttered as he stood there and closed his eyes. [Your life orb iscking blood. As a Hybrid Zombie, you must drink blood to keep your life orb satiated. Otherwise, your body will lose strength, and your brain will lose normal functions]. Erix licked some blood of the Rat from his face. Although initially disgusted, he didn''t find the taste that bad. [-Life orb: 22/100]. ''Lose strength and normal brain function? That''s bad.'' "So I need to get it to 100 soon, or am I done for?" Erix muttered before he went back inside the apartment and saw the two zombies acting stupid as they banged their heads and hands against a wall to break it. If they continued, they would eventually break it at the cost of their head and hands. Erix went there and punched their heads one by one, bursting their heads. [You have killed a level 2 zombie]. [1 mystic essence gained. 2/100]. [You have killed a level 3 zombie]. [1 mystic essence gained. 3/100]. ''Hmm? I didn''t get stats points. Is it because they are zombies or some other reason?'' Erix thought while his eyes caught a palm-sized white patterned glowing box on the ground near the zombie''s body after it turned into motes and disappeared. He bent down and grabbed the box. The moment he touched it, the details entered his mind. [Common Treasure Chest]. Erix tapped on a tiny lock on the treasure chest before it glowed and turned into motes as something appeared in his hand. [Poison Dagger] _Tier: 0 _Grade:mon-grade _Description: A powerful daggerced with poison. Its poison can kill any creature below level 15 unless the creature has poison resistance. Note: the dagger''s poison doesn''t work on undead creatures like zombies, vampires, and such. A dark green fancy dagger rested on Erix''s palm. After gripping its handle, Erix bent down, dipped his finger into the zombie blood on the floor, and tasted it. [Residual human blood in Zombies will not refill your life orb. The most optimum blood to fill it is a living human''s blood. Drink a bowl of human blood to replenish the life orb to full] ''Who are you?'' Erix again asked the monotone voice that spoke in his head. No answer. ''Is it an automatic response?'' ''Howe this world turned into something like this?'' Erix left the apartment and went out on the road. This ce was rtively far from the popted ces of the city, so there was not much traffic there. However, several zombies were still roaming the road, and he could hear a few screams and sound in the distance due to his enhanced hearing. As he walked into the road, he soon attracted the attention of two mutated ants, which were even bigger than the Rat. Erix held the dagger tightly and dashed towards the ants. Just as he was two meters away from them, he threw his dagger toward one Ant. *Chree* The Ant instantly died as the dagger hit its head and pierced through its body. [Level 2 mutated Ant killed. +1 strength] [+1 Mystic Essence. 4/100] The second Ant continued toward Eric, but he simply punched it head-on. *Crrr...* "Oh? This one is tough..." The Ant stood up, and Erix sensed some power from it as a gray aura came out from its mouth. "Come on," Erix beckoned with a grin and took a front karate stance. The Ant issued a cry, and its head turned metallic before it rushed toward Erix. Erix''s eyes narrowed upon seeing the Ant''s head. ''That seems like an enhanced head.'' ''Alright.'' Erix sidestepped to the left and dodged the Ant''s head rush, and quicklynded a powerful chop with all of his strength on the Ant''s neck before it could turn its head to bite him. *Chaa! Thak* The Ant''s head separated from its body and fell to the ground. [ Level 4 mutated Ant killed. +1 strength] [ +1 Mystic essence gained. 5/100] [You have reached level 2. You have acquired two unassigned stat points.] Erix felt something entering his body after he killed the ants and knew that the strange energy was the thing that was increasing his strength, A.K.A giving him stats. ''It dropped something different this time,'' Erix thought as he walked towards the Ant that he killed with his dagger. Then, after picking up his dagger, he picked up a dark grey scroll. [ Metal Control (1st Tier active skill): Telekinesis exertion over metal objects ording to your magic power. Range: 10 meters. Mana is consumed after your controlled metal object crosses 10 meters from you to maintain control. ] ''Magic power?'' Erix wondered. He didn''t see such a stat in his status, but it was obvious that his magic power yed the role of deciding how heavy of a metal object he was allowed to control and how fast he could manipte it. Not fuzzing over it, he decided to learn the skill. He willed it, and the scroll disappeared into motes. [You have unlocked magic-rted stats and gained a skill, Metal Control.] [As you have gone through a unique mutation, your magic affinity is Rank-A from the start] [You can only have 5 active skills and passive skills, but if you learn and create skills yourself, they won''t take slot.] [~Erix~] \_Race: Hybrid Zombie \_Level: 2 \_ss: None \_Life orb: 20/100 \_Stat points: 4 ¡ª> [ Strength: 34 / Agility: 32 / Health: 7 / Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic: 78 / Mana Points: 200/200 ] _Affinities: None manifested yet. \______Active Skills [1/5]:______/ ¡ª>[Metal Control (1st-Tier)] \______Passive Skills [0/5]:______/ ¡ª> \______Special Skills [0/3]:______/ ¡ª> Chapter 2: Campus

Chapter 2: Campus

After looking at his status, Erix tried putting 4 stat points into his Health with a thought, and it worked. Upon assigning the stats, the wound on his arm from the zombie bite started healing. In just several seconds, the woundpletely disappeared as pale skin reced it. However, he was still slightly exhausted because of life orb deficiency. He killed several zombies on the street but gained nothing from them. Not even mystic essence. He got two before from two zombies, but no more after that, even though he killed a level 4 zombie. *Bark!¡­bark, bark!* Erix suddenly heard the sound of barking and followed it. ''I need to kill more and also need to drink blood.'' After walking a bit more, he noticed that barking wasing out of an alley. The nearby zombies were gathering towards the alley because of the barking sound, but Erix killed them by crushing their heads. Soon, he arrived at the alley but didn''t enter and just peeked inside. In the alley, two giant mutated dogs were attacking a burly man wearing a coat. The man was trying to hit the dogs with his hammer, but the dogs had taken a few chunks of meat from his legs, and the struggle was real. If nobody helped him, the man would soon sumb to the mutated dogs and get killed. Erix waved his hand as he manipted his dagger with his metal control skill and quickly shed two dogs after rushing into the alley. [You have killed a level 4 mutated dog. +1 Agility, +1 Health]. [You have killed a level 4 mutated dog. +1 Agility, +1 Health]. [+2 Mystic Essence. 7/100 Mystic Essence] [You have reached level 3. You have acquired 2 unassigned stat points] The burly man was shocked and quickly noticed the silhouette of Erix standing at the end of the alley. "Thank you, thank you so much." In the next second, the burly man threw his hammer towards Erix, grabbed the palm-sized white patterned treasure chest that one of the dogs dropped, and started running. "Stop!" Erix was dumbfounded as the hammer almost hit him if not for his quick reflex. He quickly ran after the man and manipted his dagger with his Metal Control skill to sh on his leg. [You have killed a level 2 human]. [+1 mystic essence. 8/100]. The poison of the dagger quickly killed the man even though the cut was shallow and on his leg. Erix slowed down and walked beside the fallen burly man before picking up the white-patterned palm-sized treasure chest. "Bad choice, big guy," Erix muttered as he looked at the dead man. He didn''t feel much emotional upheaval despite killing a human, though it wasn''t first time he had seen deaths. He had seen and witness live plenty, and seen enough of dark world as one of the residents of it since early age. "Well, at least I got the needed blood to fill up my life orb." But first, Erix opened the treasure chest. [Common grade Treasure Chest] After opening the treasure chest, Erix got a full-face ck mask with eye holes covered by dark green sses. [Bright Night Mask: You can see everything clearly in the dark after wearing this mask] Erix wore the mask, and he could indeed see things clearly despite it being the dead of the night. He then looked at the burly man and took out his coat before wearing it. "All set. I guess other humans wouldn''t think I am a zombie with my face and body skin hidden behind a mask and the coat." ''Rin, she didn''t stay at my cest night since she had something to do...'' Erix fell into thought about what to do next while looking at the dead man. ¡­ [-Life Orb: 100/100] After three minutes, Erix came out of the alley. A trail of blood was dropping to his neck, but he cleaned it with his hand. ''I need to meet up with Rin.'' He was feeling better than ever before, and after thinking about what to do next and where to go, he first started killing the surrounding mutated insects and animals in the area to check a few things and learn more about the phenomenon urring. Erix killed eighteen mutated creatures like mutated rats, mutated dogs, mutated feral cats, mutated beetles, mutated cockroaches, and such. However, he couldn''t gain any stat points from killing creatures below his level. He also discovered that it wouldn''t count toward his leveling up, which was why he only leveled up to 5 despite killing 18 creatures. However, he got another white-patterned treasure chest and a ck robe with silver patterns. [ck-Star robe: It can defend against physical attacks of creatures below level 15]. Erix also found that he could put things inside an inventory; A ck hole would appear if he thought of inventory, and he could put items inside. After experimenting a bit, he found that he could only put items like ck-Star Robe, his dagger, and the Mask he got from the treasure chest inside the inventory. He tried to touch a rock and a vending machine and thought to put them inside the inventory, but it didn''t work. ''6 stat points. I guess I''ll save them for now,'' Erix thought while walking towards a nearby bike and trying to spark its start with an ignition wire since he didn''t have the keys. He knew this stuff, so he quickly started the bike and drove towards the college campus. He saw many zombies on his way but didn''t kill them because it was not beneficial. ''This area became empty, huh¡­'' Erix thought while driving the road before his eyes caught sight of something otherworldly. Erix was looking at a giant tower whose peak was not visible. ''What the heck is that big tower? How tall is that?'' ''Is it near Phoenix City?'' ''Just what the hell happened to this world while I was sleeping?'' After ten minutes of driving on Ravinfox Highway, he arrived at his college campus. It was built on a barrennd 800 meters across the main highway leading into Ravinfox City. As Erix entered the road leading to the campus entrance, he saw three zombies with burst brains. ''It seems that other people also had the same idea and arrived at this campus since it''s a safe area without poption at this time of the night.'' ¡­ Behind the campus entrance gate, two students and two grown men with guns stood guarding. They heard a bike''s sound and soon saw a motorcycle approaching them. "Stop!" The two grown men wearing police uniforms pointed their pistols toward Erix and shouted. "I am a student of this college," Erix said inly. "Name and ID! Also, remove that mask!" one of the policemen demanded. ''It won''t be wise to show them my face and eyes...'' "Hmm? Don''t you recognize me from my voice, you shitheads?" Erix said in a deadpan voice as he turned his head towards the two students. "Y-You¡­ Senior Erix? Sir, let him in, let him in! He can also help us." "Yes, yes. He is Mad Devil Erix, a powerful martial artist master of our university. Even teacher Rin can''t beat him." The two policemen were startled at the fanatic speaking of those two students. "Open the gate, policemen. I am a student," Erix indifferently said as he revved his bike. "Fine. Since it''s confirmed that you are a student, you may pass through," one of the policemen said with a nod as he opened the gate. "But we still need to check if you have any zombie wounds on your body." "I drove a bike here from over three miles away. The zombie couldn''t keep up after I left the semi-urban area, and the main road in this area was also empty. If I had been bitten, I would''ve already turned into a zombie, and my speech wouldn''t be this smooth. Is that enough proof to save both of our time?" "..." "..." The police officers looked at each other before turning to Erix. One of them wryly smiled and nodded. "Alright, enter." Seeing Erix entering, the other policeman snorted. "What he said made sense, so just forget it," said the other policeman while shaking his head. After entering, Erix parked the bike at the side and looked at one of the two students, "Kenal. Follow me, I want to ask something." "Sir, I will send someone else," Kenal said to the policemen quickly before he followed Erix and walked beside him. "Mad devil, hahaha. Wee back here. Everyone had the same idea ofing to the campus. We managed to make this campus a safe ce since it was already empty in the dead of night," Kenal said with a smile. "Wait¡­ So Ralph and Peter are also here?" Erix asked as he stopped walking. Ralph and Peter had seen his zombie-bitten wound on the shoulder. If they were here, it would be troublesome. "They came here but left an hour ago. They went to search for their family members in the city," Kenal said while shaking his head. "When did the police arrive here?" "Police force came here half an hour ago. But Felix and his father, who called them here, arrived more than an hour ago." Erix and Kenal continued moving while talking. But as they neared the gymnasium where everyone was gathered, Erix stopped and grabbed Kanel''s shoulder before turning him to his face. "Now tell me, Kenal. Is Rin safe? Did shee here?" Erix asked. Kanel started sweating, and his eyes darted around instead of looking straight at Erix, "Teacher Rin, she¡­she came here leading a group of people an hour ago, I was with her. Y-You know she is a strong martial artist, so she also helped us greatly. She easily cleared several mutated insects and animals on the campus with a pole staff weapon and kept everyone safe. "But¡­but, she was bitten before arriving here." "Bitten?" Erix repeated with a deep frown as he saw Kanel''s expression. ''Is this idiot lying to me?'' "How was she bitten? I fail to picture that. Where is her body?" Erix asked. Kanel trembled. "Her body¡­ s-she¡­" Erix narrowed his eyes as he tightened his hand grip on Kanel''s shoulder. "Where-Is-Her-Body?!" he asked, his tone utterly cold. Kanel shivered. "I''m sorry! I lied," He bit his lips and quickly looked around before grabbing Erix''s hand and leading him away from the gymnasium. "Come with me." Soon, both of them hid behind an entrance wall of another building beside the gymnasium. After hiding behind a wall, Kanel took a deep breath and said, "She¡­ She is alive, but Felix... he... In this chaotic situation, he tried to corner Teacher Rin and threatened her to sleep with him since he has his backing here with his father, but Teacher Rin knocked his brains out." Taking a breath, Kanel continued. "I mean, she terribly injured him with a ruthless hit on his head. For now, Felix is resting and receiving treatment in the infirmary, but Felix''s father told police to attack Rin and locked her in the C building''s faculty room with cuffs." Feeling Erix''s grip on his shoulder tightening, Kanel quickly said, "Don''t do anything stupid, Erix. The police have guns, and they obey Felix''s father like dogs." ''Those pieces of trash!'' Fury bubbled inside Erix as he wanted nothing more than to kill Felix and his father after saving Rin as soon as possible. Chapter 3: Rin

Chapter 3: Rin

"Building C¡­" Erix turned around and looked at the closed ss gates of the building before he took a deep breath. "So she is in this building." "Yes, boss," Kanel quickly nodded but then promptly shook his head and said, "But don''t go there directly. There are two policemen standing guard with guns outside the faculty room where Teacher Rin is locked up." "When did this incident happen?" Erix asked as he turned back to Kanel. "Roughly half an hour ago, right after the police force arrived here. But before they arrived here, Felix and his father were as meek as baby mutts in front of teacher Rin." "How many people are gathered on the campus right now?" "Hmmm¡­ roughly eighty people, I think, Including seventeen police officers." "Do you know about their next move?" "Yeah, they are forming squads and nning to hunt creatures. There are no zombies here, but there are mutated creatures like big insects and animals behind this campus. After all, we seem to get strong after we kill zombies and those creatures. Felix''s father got a sword, and it''s so sharp that it can easily cut through simple metal like a knife cutting through butter." Erix nodded as he also wanted to kill more and get stronger with Rin. "Most people are still scared because just one scratch from a zombie, and you are dead. So Felix''s father is convincing everyone. There are baseball bats and other things in the storage room of the gymnasium building to use as weapons." "Foolish Felix¡­ Rin could teach them and even make it easier to form the squads, but he had to pull that shit," Erix shook his head with a cold light brimming in his eyes. Kanel sighed. "True¡­that bastard ruined it. Many people didn''t like that his father locked teacher Rin, but they didn''t oppose him because he has a police force with guns behind him." Erix tilted his neck as it made a popping sound. ''Nobody stood up for her? After everything she did for them?'' "Boss, is it true that you and teacher Rin¡­." Kanel said with slight hesitation. Erix lightly pped Kanel''s cheeks twice andughed. "Stay here. I am going to save her." "W-What¡­.no wait, boss. Don''t do that. It''s dangerous," Kanel quickly said with sweat beads forming on his forehead. "You can save herter¡­ right?" "Stay here and wait for us." Erix turned around and walked into the building after pushing open the ss door slowly. ''Shit shit shit! Why did he have to go directly?¡­ Wait, if he gets killed inside, I''ll be in trouble because the police officers at the gate know that I led him inside. Damn!'' Kanel thought as he became a nervous wreck. ''Can boss Erix save teacher Rin from those two policemen with guns?'' Kanel asked internally, and the answer he got was¡­ negative. If those policemen didn''t have guns, he was willing to bet that Erix could easily beat those policemen and save teacher Rin. But Kanel didn''t think Erix could fight against two police officers with guns. ''Damn! I''m sorry, but I must save myself, Mad Devil,'' Kanel cursed in his head before he rushed towards the gymnasium to rat out Erix. That was the only way he could save himself from Felix''s father. ¡­ Erix walked into the corridor after entering and soon saw two policemen standing guard outside the faculty room. The police officers also noticed Erix and pointed their guns at him. "Stop! Who are you?" Erix raised his hands, but his dagger was floating behind his back, hidden from both officers'' vision. "Officers, I am a student of this college. I just arrived here a short while ago." "But what are you doing here? Go back to the gymnasium." "Officers, I am here to check something on the mayor''s orders," Erix slowly said as he finally arrived before the policemen. He was just two meters away from them, but the police officers were also less cautious since he had raised his hands. "Check something?" one of the policemen asked in doubt. "Yes. Please shoot me in my chest." "W-What?" Hearing such absurd words, the police officers were dumbfounded. However, taking this chance, Erix controlled his dagger as it flew quickly and pierced both policemen''s necks. Instant deaths! [+2 Mystic essence gained]. "It''s your fault for listening to that trash mayor''smand and locking my Rin here. Scums." After picking up their handguns, Erix opened the faculty room and saw Rin tied to a table with a dried bleeding wound on her head and fainted. Rin had long, silky ck hair and was beautiful with her peach porcin skin and gorgeous face. She had a well-developed figure behind her track jacket and track pants. She was 28 years old, the youngest teacher in the college. But she was a martial arts teacher and an heir from a prestigious Martial Artist family. Ruthless Rin was her title on campus. "Rin¡­" Erix quickly walked towards her and cut off the ropes and cuffs that tied her hands and legs. Then, he pped her cheeks slightly to wake her as she groggily opened her eyes. However, she quickly kicked Erix in the nuts in panic and self-defense. After all, she didn''t know it was Erix. "Rx, it''s me," Erix said with a wry smile. But he didn''t remove his mask. He also didn''t feel any pain from her kick. ''Hmm... my stats are way above others due to my current race. I wonder if a bullet can severely hurt me?'' "E-Erix?" Rin''s eyes widened as she recognized the voice, and she also realized that he had untied her hands and legs. "Erix!" She pounced forward and hugged Erix tightly. "Those damn bastards! We will kill them, especially Felix and his father!" ¡­ "But how did he know Rin was locked in the C building?" Mayor Fernos asked as he narrowed his eyes at Kanel. "H-He threatened me to tell the location," Kanel quickly said while sweating in nervousness. "He is very strong. He can go head to head with teacher Rin in martial arts and sometimes even beat her because of his powerful strength. No one wants to mess with Mad Devil Erix¡­." "You two, go and check the situation in C building," Mayor Fernos said to the two policemen standing behind him before turning back to Kanel, "Are you sure he didn''t have any gun with him?" "I''m sure, I''m sure! He didn''t have any guns. I didn''t see such things on him," Kanel quickly nodded like a pecking bird. Chapter 4: Kill & Targets

Chapter 4: Kill & Targets

In the faculty room, Erix was dressing up Rin''s wound on the left of her forehead. "I knew you woulde for me," Rin said with a sweet smile as she wrapped her arms around Erix. "Come on, remove that mask and let me kiss you. You know how much I''ve missed you." "Things would''ve been different if you had slept at my ce yesterday like usual," Erix sighed as he almost finished dressing the wound. "Though I don''t know if I should call it bad or boon." "Why are you saying that?" Rin said with a pout. "Aren''t we both fine?" Erix caressed Rin''s right cheek with his hand and sighed. But suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard some footsteps. "Someone''sing. Wait here," Erix said as he stood up. ''But why? Did that coward rat me out?'' "I''ll cover for you," Rin picked up one of the guns Erix put on the ground and stood up with him. "Let me handle it," Erix said as he pressed Rin''s chest with his palm and pushed her back. "I want to test my durability." After saying that, Erix quickly dashed out of the faculty room, causing Rin to curse under her breath with a worried expression. The two police officers were already cautious because they saw their colleagues'' dead bodies and were moving slowly with guns pointing at the front. However, they were startled to see a man with a face hidden by a masking out of the faculty room. "Don''t move, or we will shoot you!" "Shoot," Erixughed. "Shoot, or you will die." *Phat!* One policeman fired with an angry expression. The bullet flew quickly and hit his chest. However, it didn''t even pierce the robe, making Erix surprised. ''So this ck-Star robe can block bullets? Hmm, but I think there should be a limit. Maybe it can block from small guns but not from big guns?'' The two policemen were shocked after seeing that the bullets did not affect him. However, Erix didn''t entertain them anymore and manipted his dagger to kill them since they were within 10 meters of him. They managed to shoot two more times, but none of the bullets hurt him. [+2 Mystic Essence gained. 30/100]. "We can''t stay for too long. They will soon know that something is wrong since these two won''t be returning to report anymore," Erix said as he turned to Rin. "But I wanted to kill those trash, Felix and his father," Rin''s expression was frosty. "And you, how long are you nning to wear that mask? I want a kiss!" Rin said as she stretched her hand to remove the mask, but Erix grabbed her hand. "Close your eyes," Erix said. "Ok," Rin nodded as she closed her eyes. Erix removed his mask as he looked at Rin with her eyes closed. He leaned forward and kissed her lips after closing his eyes. Rin then opened her eyes and was startled. "Why is your skin so pale? Did something happen?" Erix''s eyes were still closed, so Rin still hadn''t seen his eyes. "Rin¡­ I am no longer a pure human but something else," Erix said as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing his ck eyes with dark red cracky irises. "I am a half-human and a half-zombie." Rin''s mouth was wide open in shock. She rubbed Erix''s cheek and chuckled. "No wonder I was feeling your body temperature colder than normal." She leaned forward and embraced Erix with her head resting on his chest, "Your heart is not beating as well¡­ It''s true. You are dead but alive. What is this miracle?" Rin''s eyes shone with curiosity, but she suddenly remembered something and grabbed Erix''s crotch. "Wait, don''t tell me..." "Eh¡­" Erix wryly smiled and shook his head. "It can stand up. I have a life force in me, but it circtes uniquely now. Not with heart and blood but something called Life Orb, which provides energy to my body and maintains all body functions and brain." "Phew¡­then we''re good. I would be despairing without you," Rin said as she hugged Erix with a peaceful smile. It was their regr routine to have sex after fighting each other for sses. "Haha," Erixughed as he pped her butt, "You are a naughty teacher, but I share the same sentiments." "Humph, it''s your fault. I was an innocent martial artist until you became my student and even defeated me," Rin pouted before she chuckled and kissed him again. "Well, your new look is not bad. You look more handsome now." [You can add each other to a team to form a party. Would you like to do that?] "Did you get that?" Erix asked. "Yep. This is nice," Rin nodded with a smile. She looked at her status and could also look at Erix''s status with his permission after they formed a team. "We are both level 5, but you have more stats than me. Tsk, I also want to be a hybrid zombie like you." Erix ruefully smiled. "If there''s a safe way to do it, then sure. But no need to take the risk of getting scratched or bitten by a zombie." "Also, how much mystic essence are you short of reaching 100?" he asked. Rin checked and answered. "I need 74 mystic essences more for job awakening." "Mhmm¡­. Although a bit risky, we have no choice. Let''s go out of the campus through the back gate. Kanel told me there are mutated creatures there." "Yeah, since there''s emptynd and a forest-like area after that, there are many animals and insects. If they mutated..." Rin grinned and continued, "Let''s hunt them and get powerful. After that, we wille back here and kill those bastards. Especially Felix. I''ll torture him." "Alright. I also need to deal with that rat, Kanel. I told him to stay quiet, but he went and ratted out instead." Rin was ruthless, just like Erix, and although there was an age gap of 4 years between them, Rin being four years older, both had great chemistry between them ever since they met two and a half years ago. "Let''s go." Both of them quickly ran towards the bathroom area in the building and jumped out of the side path since there were three ways to get into each campus building. Afterward, they sneakily and quickly moved towards the back exit of the campus and left. Chapter 5: Giant Centipede, Treasure Crate

Chapter 5: Giant Centipede, Treasure Crate

After leaving the campus, Erix and Rin soon saw a group of mutated flies flying toward them. "Take this dagger. Its poison is potent. I''ll use that metal pole since I have the skill to control metal," Erix said as he gave the Poison Dagger to Rin while he used his Metal Control to manipte a metal pole on the ground near the exit gate of the campus. He had to focus and target the metal pole before he felt it binding to his mind via the Metal Control skill and managed to control it. *Bzzz¡­.* The group of six giant flies the size of small dogs flew towards them with creepy eyes. Their wings were ck with a green hue, and suddenly, they released a gaseous substance after nearing Erix and Rin. Erix and Rin knew not to inhale it. The flies pointed their pipe-like mouths towards them as they zoomed towards them with clear blood thirst. Rin dashed forward with the dagger and grazed one mutated fly while narrowly passing by it. In front of her was another fly, but a metal pole flew towards it and squashed it before the fly could attack Rin. [A level 7 Mutated Fly killed. +1 Agility] [+1 Mystic Essence] Both heard the notification and got a +1 increment in the Agility stat. It didn''t take long for the remaining five flies to get killed by their teamwork. [A level 8 Mutated Fly killed. +1 Agility] [A level 8 Mutated Fly killed. +1 Agility] ¡­ Each of them killed three flies and reached level 7 from level 5. "So, you got that metal control skill from a scroll, right?" Rin said as she picked up a dark blue scroll with lightning patterns and got information. [Lightning Charge (1st-Tier active skill): You can charge lightning using mana that causes your physical and weapon attacks to have a lightning attribute for additional lightning damage. Damage depends on your magic stat.]. "Yep. You can use that scroll to learn a skill and awaken your magic talent," Erix said. The scroll turned into sparks and entered Rin after she used it. Erix also looked at her Status through the team function. [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 7 _ss: None _Vitality: 99/100 _Stat points: 10 --> [ Strength: 13 / Agility: 16 / Health: 15 / Stamina: 16 ] --> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 51 / Mana: 150/150 ] \______Active Skills [1/5]:______/ ¡ª> [ Lightning Charge (1st Tier) ] \______Passive Skills [0/5]:______/ ¡ª> \______Special Skills [0/3]:______/ Rin could feel mana circting in her body before it gathered in one ce. She willed to use the skill she got with a bare minimum amount of mana and lost 20 mana as the dagger in her hand started crackling with faint lightning. "Is it an enhancement sort of skill?" Erix asked in surprise. "But why do you have no skills or items? I heard that you killed several mutated insects and critters?" "Don''t know. I also only leveled up until four since all mutated creatures here were around that level when we arrived here." "I see." "Anyway, let''s find more creatures. I want to see how many strikes I can use with this 20 mana-consumed lightning charge." They continued walking cautiously towards the forest area approx 100 meters away from them. However, Erix suddenly stopped after walking halfway. "Rin, wait!" Rin also paused and turned to him with a confused expression, "What''s the matter?" Erix''s eyebrows creased as his instincts were tingling. He could sense and hear something¡­something under the ground. Soon, the ground under their feet started trembling as well. Rin also noticed the anomaly and looked at Erix as both nodded to each other. *Swoosh¡­* Both of them jumped away from each other after two seconds, and right after that, a giant centipede came out of the ground. *Srrrrrr!* The Centipede was 4 meters long and half a meter thick! [Anomaly detected! This is a rare encounter in which you have to fight something far stronger than you. Defeat it by forming a group and receive a treasure crate] Rin scoffed. "Group? Heh, we have to kill it ourselves." She quickly backed away as the Centipede slithered towards her. "Rin! Throw the dagger in the air," Erix said before he used his Metal Control with maximum force and shot the metal pole towards Centipede. *Srrrrrrr!* The metal pole didn''t pierce the tough carapace of the giant mutated Centipede, but Erix did attract its attention after that attack. "Erix, that Exo-skeleton on its body doesn''t cover its stomach part!" Rin shouted as she picked up a stone from the ground and infused the lighting charge from her hand into the stone before throwing it towards the Centipede. *Boom¡­* The Centipede released a strange cry in pain as the rock that exploded with lightning charge after hitting it damaged it and slightly cracked its carapace. On the other hand, Erix manipted the Poison Dagger that Rin threw into the air and stabbed it into the Centipede''s head. But it was only a swallow stab! "We can kill it!" Rin chuckled and picked up another rock before infusing Lightning Charge in it¡ªwith 25 mana this time. *Swoosh¡­* Rin''s lighting exploding rock again damaged the Centipede, and Erix also attacked it with the dagger again, making it furious. The Centipede rose up and towered three meters tall before opening its mouth to release a sharp cry. In the next second, a dark green poisonous cloud formed over its head as some ck energy came out of its mouth. "Watch out. It''s doing something," Erix said with a slight frown as he manipted his dagger and took this chance where the Centipede was exposing its belly part to attack there. *Shiiiiiiii¡­.* When Erix''s dagger shed its belly part, the dark green cloud on top of Centipede glowed before it shot acid drops toward Erix and Rin. Rin quickly dodged since she was a bit far, but Erix was near, and since Centipede was targeting him, most acid drops shot toward him. Naturally, his agility stat was very high, making both his thinking process and physical mobility powerful as he dodged the acid drops. While dodging and backing away, but not going 10 meters away as he controlled his dagger, Erix continued attacking the Centipede. At the same time, Rin also damaged it using her Lightning Charge skillbined with stones. However, the acid drops released from the cloud were arge area attack, and Erix couldn''t dodge them all as several acid drops hit him, and he got injured. But he didn''t feel much pain and continued attacking while trying his best to dodge. After six seconds of struggle, they finally managed to kill the Centipede, with Erix sustaining moderate injuries. [Congrattions! Your team has killed a level 19 Venomous Centipede. +4 Health, +3 Strength] [+10 Mystic Essence gained]. Both of them received a simr stat boost and +10 Mystic Essence. They also reached level 10 and gained 6 unassigned stat points. "So that''s the reward, huh? I guess we can expect something good," Rin said with a smile as she saw a big cyan-patterned crate materializing after the dead Centipede''s body turned into motes and disappeared. [Treasure Crate (Umon): Contains multiple rewards] Chapter 6: Desperate Dog

Chapter 6: Desperate Dog

Erix opened the crate as it glowed briefly and disappeared, leaving an orb with multiple things inside and a red-patterned pistol. "What''s that glowing thing?" Rin curiously touched the glowing orb on the ground, and the moment she did that, the orb disappeared, and her entire get-up changed. A ck robe appeared over her body, with a hat, gloves, and even boots. The robe was tied at her waist with a belt, and a knife was attached to the pocket. [Novice Merciless-Merc Set: Includes a pair of gloves, a pair of boots, a ranger robe, and a level 15 knife]. [-Set effect 1: Stamina +10, Strength +10, Agility +10, Health+10]. [-Set effect 2: 5% chance to deal a critical hit that doubles your attack damage.] "This is good," Erix nodded with a smile. "Now you have stats somewhat close to me, haha." Erix picked up the pistol and checked it before giving it to Rin, "Take the pistol since I already have the dagger that I can control with my Metal Control skill." [me Barista: A pistol firearm with fire-attribute energy bullets. Fully effective up to 30 meters and can damage everyone below level 30 ording to their defenses and weaknesses] "Alright," Rin grinned. "I am fired up now." "Then let''s start the hunt." Both of them were craving more strength! ¡­ While Erix and Rin were hunting in the forest, the Mayor and the rest of the police officers went to check in the C building since the police officers Mayor sent there had yet toe back when they should have already reported back by now. s...they were shocked to see four dead bodies lying in the hallway. The most shocked one was Kanel. His mouth was wide open as fear started filling him, "I am dead¡­ I should have trusted him," Kanel muttered in a daze as his body trembled slightly. "Trust him? Bastard!" Mayor turned towards Kanel and pped him hard with fury. "If what I heard about them is true, those two lunatics wille back here to kill my son!" "FUCK YOU!" Kanel shouted with red eyes as he pushed away Mayor. The police officers quickly held him down while Kanel thrashed around and became mad and desperate as he started shouting, "I am also dead! Dead!" "I betrayed him, so do you think he will let me live!? He killed them, so he will also kill me! Fuck you all!" However, Kanel''s eyes showed a mad but calctive gleam in the depth of his eyes. [You have ugly persistence and a selfish mind. Driven to the corner with an almost near-death sentence, you are still seeking your survival by disying impulsive behavior intentionally to make yourself useful in one party''s hand. You have gained a limited special skill: Desperate Dog]. [Desperate Dog: You can escape from death. 30-days cooldown after skill activates and a total of three life-time uses] Hearing the notification ringing in his head and seeing the words shing in front of his eyes, he was startled inwardly but didn''t show it outside. However, he didn''t use his newly acquired skill immediately and continued looking at the Mayor with a desperate expression. The Mayor looked at desperate Kanel and narrowed his eyes. "If he doesn''t leave you alive, then you should do your best to kill him." "W-What? So you are not going to do anything to me?" Kanel said as he stammered. "They wille here to kill my son and you, who betrayed them. Naturally, you will fight him for your survival, and I will help you in that because I also want them dead." "I will! I swear I will do my best and do whatever you say!" Kanel said as he knelt and grabbed Mayor''s legs. "J-Just¡­ Help me, please." ¡­ Time passed as many talented individuals rose in these challenging times and gained power. Previous unknown figures disyed unusual calmness and talent as they became leaders of various groups and strove to survive in this apocalypse. Erix and Rin hunted many mutated creatures in the forest. For one whole hour, they only focused on killings and leveling up. Just like they were getting stronger by killing creatures, the creatures were also getting stronger as they encountered higher leveled creatures. During this time, Erix and Rin found a few things regarding the mystical phenomenon of the status screen. One was that the limit of skills was just five. They could only learn up to five skills; if they wanted to learn more, they needed to remove the previous one. Though they didn''t know if this limit could increaseter, they hoped it would. For now, both of them learned five skills in total. However, aside from one 1st-Tier skill each had, the other four were Normal skills. Another thing they found was about magic. After exhausting their mana, they could recover it faster by meditation with their eyes closed while actively doing long breathing sessions. "It''s good that creatures over level ten gave us more mystic essences," Rin said with a smile as she looked at a small panel in front of her eyes. "I only need three mystic essences to get the ss awakening. What about you?" "I need one mystic essence," Erix said with a grin. "Let''s find some and kill. After the job awakening, we will return to the campus and kill those three bastards. If we leave them alive and meet in the future, we''ll definitely sh again." It was better to kill them while they were weak! Chapter 7: Class Awakening?

Chapter 7: ss Awakening?

After walking a bit more, they encountered some mutated grasshoppers and killed them. [Congrattions! You can now initiate your job awakening] Both of them received a notification after they collected 100 mystic essences! A new tab appeared in their status panel about the job awakening. "Let''s initiate it together," Rin said. "Wait," Erix stopped her and frowned. "What if this job awakening takes some time, and we be unconscious for a bit? Let''s not do it together. You go first. I''ll watch," Erix said. "Make sense. Alright, I''ll go first," Rin said as she nodded and initiated her job awakening. However, it was different from what Erix expected. "Eh, I got some options," Rin said as she shared her screen with Erix. They could do that since they were in a team. Erix saw the screen and raised his eyebrows in surprise. ***** [Choose one] -1) Swordmaster -2) Martial Artist -3) Assassin -4) Mage -5) de Dancer -6) cksmith ***** "I am going to choose de Dancer," Rin smiled. "It sounds stronger than the rest." "Yep," Erix nodded as he agreed with her choice. Rin selected the de Dancer ss as she willed it with her mind. [You can either awaken your job ss bypleting three simple tasks or finish three time-limited tougher tasks to awaken the upgraded version of de Dancer.] [Normal Awakening] - [Higher Awakening] Erix and Rin looked at each other after they read Rin''s new screen panels. "Well, the answer is clear," Rin grinned. "We dreamed and desired to be at the top even in the modern world, but only onew works in this world now," Erix sharply smiled with burning ambition in his eyes, "It''s clear which choice will make us more powerful in this jungle world." Without hesitation, Rin selected the second option. [Tasks] -10 days left. -> Kill fifty sentient beings or mutated monsters below level 50. (0/50). -> Kill one Supra-Order (level 50+) random monster. (0/1). -> Kill one Supra-Order (level 50+) demon and absorb its origin core (0/1). "Sentient beings, heh? We are going to kill them soon," Rin scoffed before she turned to Erix. "Alright. Now your turn." Erix nodded as he initiated his job awakening and got options. [Choose one] -1) Martial Artist -2) Assassin -3) Mage -4) Undead Mage -5) Arcane Lich -6) [Unique Job ss: Zombie Lord] "Zombie Lord, right?" "Yep," Erix grinned as he selected Zombie Lord without hesitation. Just like Rin, he also got tasks. [Tasks] -10 days left. -> Kill fifty sentient beings or mutated monsters below level 50. (0/50). -> Kill one Supra-Order ( level 50+) Holy-Type being and absorb its origin core. (0/1). -> Kill one Supra-Order ( level 50+) Undead-Type being (0/1). "Welp, we failed to get our job ss, but we still became significantly strong. So let''s go back and ughter that father-son duo," Rin said as a ruthless glint passed through her eyes. "Alright," Erix nodded. ¡­ Erix and Rin quietly returned, but as they neared the campus, they saw four police officers looking around with torch lights. Erix and Rin decided to walk toward them head-on. The four police officers soon spotted them and pointed their guns at them. All four revealed furious expressions because they knew those two had killed their fellow police officers. "Angry, heh? Because we killed those police officers?" Erix coldly scoffed. "You fuckers! Kneel and hands behind your back if you don''t want to get shot!" one of the police officers shouted with red eyes. "Shoot, and you will dig your own grave," Rin said with a cold expression, "You fucking dogs of that mayor. What did I do to deserve that treatment? Bunch of scums!" *Thak!* One of them fired, and the bullet hit Rin''s chest! s, Rin looked below and saw bullets getting pinched before they fell to the ground. Grinning, she said, "It slightly tickles." *Swoosh!* Erix waved his hand as the dagger flew like a death sickle shining in the faint moonlight, spraying out blood and forcing out screams from its targets. He cut all four police officers behind their necks as pain flooded their entire body. Their skins started rotting before turning dark green and deteriorating due to the dagger''s poison. After three seconds, all four of them died. "We gave you a chance, so you shouldn''t have fired," Erix muttered before he looked at the gate after hearing the sound of footsteps. "Rin, no need to hold back. They didn''t help you, so we don''t need to show mercy. Kill everyone whoes to attack us!" "Ok, darling," Rin said as a lovely smile appeared on her face. Chapter 8: Slaughter In Gymnasium

Chapter 8: ughter In Gymnasium

"S-Stop! Do you think you can get away aftermitting so many murders!?" Mayor shouted as he looked at Rin and Erix entering the gymnasium hall after killing all the police officers he sent to block them! Two police officers even ran away after they saw Rin and Erix ughtering them like chickens! The students and other people holed up in the gymnasium were scared shitless! Erix nced at Kenal and snorted. "B-Boss¡­ I had no choice. This bastard Mayor was threatening to take my life! You would also do the same if you were in my situation, right?" Kanel shouted as he started sobbing. He turned to eighty-something people in the gymnasium while pointing his finger at the Mayor. "Everyone! This Mayor is evil! He will only use you for your benefit. Don''t trust him!" ''This bastard¡­'' the Mayor became wide-eyed as he looked at Kanel bewilderedly. Even a fish on the board doesn''t flip as fast as this snake, Kanel! Erix and Rin continued walking before they stopped five meters away from the trembling Mayor. "Spa-spare me! I will give you money or anything you want!" Erix scoffed in disdain before speaking, "You can''t give us anything in the current world where only one thing matters." Erix grinned as he moved his finger. "That one thing is power, and we have it more than you." *Swoosh!* The dagger floating on top of Erix quickly moved as it stabbed into Mayor''s chest and came out from his back. All people in the gymnasium trembled as they witnessed murder with their own eyes! All of them were powerless level 1 except for a few level 2 individuals. "Boss Erix and teacher Rin. You can be our leader now! Please help us," Kanel said as he knelt on the ground and stuck his head on the floor while crying. "Please lead us!" ''Damn it! I just hope they spare me. If I want to survive and rise, I need to get their trust,'' Kanel thought before he shouted. "Everyone! We should make them our leaders! With their strength, they can surely help us get strong, and we can build a strongmunity to survive in the current state of the world. We need to stay together!" The other people in the gymnasium revealed hesitant expressions. But then started speaking. "Please help us!" "Let us work together, leader Erix and Leader Rin!" Many people started shouting as they felt hope and a supportive pir to lean on. "What to do?" Rin asked as she turned to Erix. She didn''t know what to do in this situation. Erix looked at those people and Kanel, but¡­ he started feeling unpleasant as he looked at them. They all looked like ck wraiths with distrust oozing out of them. A sense of disgust welled up in him. ''Be their leader?'' ''No, I can''t trust them.'' Erix looked at those people as a bloody glint passed through his eyes. Surprisingly or not surprisingly¡­ He wanted to kill all of them! They didn''t help Rin when she was the one who did the most hard work and brought them here safely. Without Rin, they wouldn''t even have arrived here safely! But when she was threatened and beaten by those police officers on Mayor''s order, nobody stepped up to help her! Mayor''s son tried to take advantage of her, and she acted in self-defense. The one in the wrong was that bastard! Why did his Rin have to suffer for no crime? Would they have spoken at all, even if the Mayor decided to kill Rin? "Rin, I want to kill all of them¡­ They do not deserve to live," Erix faintly muttered as he turned his head towards Rin. But, aside from Rin, nobody heard him. "What?" Rin was startled hearing that. She looked Erix in the eyes and saw anger. She knew he was angry for her sake. But¡­ she was still a bit shaken after hearing that Erix wanted to kill all those people. The people in the gymnasium who were speaking also turned silent after they saw Rin and Erix looking at each other. They waited for a response while getting nervous. Kanel also looked up and was confused. "Are you sure?" Rin asked with hesitation evident in her eyes. Erix smiled as he unhurriedly nodded and gently caressed Rin''s head. "If you are not fine with it, we can just leave after you kill that trash in the infirmary." Rin stared at Erix for two seconds straight before she smiled. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled lovingly. "Everything that makes me whole is you, Erix. My heart and soul are yours." Erix took in Rin''s warmth in the hug and kissed her forehead after removing his mask and putting it in inventory. Rin sweetly smiled at him. "All I know is that you love me, and that''s all that matters, so... kill them, Erix. Kill them, just as I would kill for you." At that, Erix and Rin started passionately kissing each other. *Swoosh!* Meanwhile, the swooshing sound of a dagger cutting through the air apanied by screams of people filled the hall. Kanel stood up as he knew there was no saving anymore. "Madness¡­" he muttered seeing Rin and Erix kissing each other passionately while the dagger took people''s lives in the hall. ''Fuck, fuck, fuck!'' He saw the daggering towards him like a death reaper as it grazed his neck before flying away. ''I wille back, Erix!'' With envy and hatred-filled eyes, Kanel fell to the ground and died. A few secondster, Rin took out her pistol and started killing those out of Erix''s Metal Control skill range. "Spare us!" "No!" "Attack them! Kill them! These lunatics, fu-" "N-no, please! I have a family!" The people had no escape since Erix and Rin were in the exit''s direction. But, s, they were already less than half of the original number. A slight scrape by the poison dagger rendered them immobile, and death followed up soon. Rin looked at the people as her eyes turned calm. "I had no reason to save you, but you had plenty to speak up when that trash and his dogs locked me up." Her world was Erix. If he decided to do something, she would support him because she knew that Erix would support her if she decided to do something. If she said she didn''t want to kill them, Erix would have supported her. That''s why he asked her. But¡­ she had no reason not to let him act upon his wish born out of his love for her! "Why?! Why did you do this?!" Thest one standing shouted with terror, tears, and despair in her eyes. She was a student and a year older than Erix. "Because you don''t deserve to live," Erix indifferently said. "Who are you to decide that?! Y-You could leave us alone!" the girl shouted as she looked at them. "You will rot in hell for this!" Rin looked at her with no expression as she side-hugged Erix. Erix inly smiled with a deadpan expression. "I don''t like that phrase. Did Rin leave you alone when you were in trouble? As a teacher, she took responsibility and helped you all. So, why did you leave Rin alone? She helped you, but none of you stood up for her." "But w-" "I am your god at this moment," Erix interrupted her as he spoke with utter coldness, "and I deem you not worthy of living because of your decision." *Swoosh!* Chapter 9: A Baiting Devil

Chapter 9: A Baiting Devil

[You go to extreme lengths for your loved one, even killing for their sake. Your moral code may have cracks created by your passion, and your fires of love may be destruction but twisted as it may be, it is your choice. May your bond stay Eternal. You have gained a Special Skill: Ignis Ad Intimacy.] Erix and Rin were surprised and quickly checked the new skill. [Ignis Ad intimacy: Whenever you do any intimate action with Rin, you can activate this skill to increase your magic power and all physical attributes by 30% for an hour. Cooldown: 5 hours.] [Ignis Ad Intimacy: Whenever you do any intimate action with Erix, you can activate this skill to increase your magic power and all physical attributes by 30% for an hour. Cooldown: 5 hours.] "Let''s check how it works. I''ll activate mine," Rin said with a chuckle before kissing Erix while wrapping her hand around his neck. As they kissed, both of them could feel the skill''s trigger. Erix didn''t activate the skill as Rin said since she was going to do it, and she did it after a second. Both of them instantly felt power well up in them! "Nice! Let''s quickly kill that bastard and then continue our adventure. We have to finish those three tasks, and they don''t seem easy to aplish," Rin said. Erix pulled Rin closer as her well-developed plump but tender breasts pressed against his chest. He kissed her again while his hands grabbed her butt cheeks and pinched them. "If it weren''t for the current situation, I would''ve wanted to eat you right now," Erix chuckled and lightly pped her butt. "Now, you are arousing me," Rin said with puffy red cheeks and rested her head on his chest. "But, the race is still ongoing. To get stronger and survive, we must work hard and find a solid stronghold. On the way to here with others, we saw a giant portal in the sky from which many monsters came out, and something big was materializing in Phoenix City''s direction. "That''s why all of them were scared. I am sure we are no match for those monsters with our current power," Rin sighed. "It seems that the world is more fucked up than I thought," Erix said with a wry smile. Unlike others, he was sleeping while everything urred, and after that zombie bite, he fell into a short slumber again. So, he didn''t know about those portals. "Alright then, let''s move out after killing that trash. We shouldn''t waste this one hour of power boost," Erix said. ¡­ As Erix and Rin entered inside after sting the door, Felix woke up. Still feeling pain, he asked, "Who?!" However, he soon saw Erix and Rin standing before him and became wide-eyed. "Y-You two¡­" Erix saw Felix wrapped in bandages, but feeling no pity, he kicked him. *Crash!* Felix was thrown off the bed before crashing against a wall. "Arrrghhh! H-Help!" Rin approached him and pointed her katana at him. "Do you have anything to say to me?" Felix was scared to death and quickly said, "S-Sorry, teacher Rin. Please forgive me. I-I was not in the right mind." "Good. Now you can die," Rin said before stabbing her katana into Felix''s stomach. "Aaaarrrghhhh! Its hurts, it hurts! Don''t!" *Chrii!* After leaving the twisted katana stabbed into his stomach, Rin turned around to face Erix, "Let him die slowly." "Wait," Erix said as he approached Felix before breaking off his arms and legs with four kicks. "Arghhhhhhhh!!" "It hurts! Arhhghh!" *Crack¡­ crack¡­* Felix cried in immense pain and wiggled around. "D-Don''t, please! It h-hurts! Arrghhh!" "Now he will definitely die," Erix said before he turned around and left the infirmary with Rin. "F-Fuck¡­ Arghhh!" Felix stopped moving to lessen the pain, but despair had already filled his eyes. He knew he would die soon. After a minute, just when he was about to die, a dark swirl appeared beside him before he transformed into a handsome man with two ck demonic horns. The man wore red round specs, a tuxedo suit, and a hat. He held a dark red wooden cane with dark gold patterns in his hand and walked towards Felix. "Ottoo! Phew, guess I made it here in time," the devil spoke as he put his cane on Felix''s chest. "Hey, brat. Do you want to live and take revenge?" Felix suddenly felt some vigor passing into his body through the cane on his chest and opened his eyes. "Devil¡­" Felix wearily uttered as he looked at the man. "Yes, I am a devil. You call me Anovin. And I have a simple offer for you," Anovin said with a wide grin showing his perfect white teeth. "Kill¡­ Kill those two," Felix murmured weakly with intense hate in his eyes. "Nope. That''s not how It works," Anovin shook his head. "The offer is like this. I can save you from dying, and in turn, your soul will belong to me after you die. If you agree, then sign this contract. Just put your thumb on it," Anovin said before he grabbed Felix''s thumb and put it near where the katana was stabbed to paint it red with blood. "Arghh..." "Sorry, hahaha. But now, yan put your thumb on his contract," Anovin said after putting Felix''s thumb down and taking out a piece of paper with entrguage and symbols. "H-Help," Felix spoke weakly and tried to lift his hand but couldn''t. "Tsk, I can''t help in that. It''s really troublesome for us devils when ites to that, sigh. You have to move your thumb yourself," Anovin said as he bent down and brought to contract near Felix''s thumb. "Here, just move it and print it on the paper anywhere." *Groan..* Felix groaned in pain as he tried his best and put his thumb on the paper. The moment it touched the paper, the contract paper brightly glowed before it turned into shiny ck motes and disappeared. Right after that, all wounds of Felix started healing. His broken bones were fixed, and the katana was removed from his stomach automatically as it flew out and fell beside him. All of his other injuries, including his crotch, were healedpletely! Felix stood up as he felt vigor like before. Several seconds ago, it was as if he was at death''s door, and a secondter, he was in perfect condition! "I don''t get any powers?" Felix asked with doubt as he looked at Anovin. "Hahaha," Anovinughed and lightly pped Felix''s cheeks twice, "You are not worthy of such a contract. Now, go and die so I can take your soul and dine on itter. Oh yeah, don''t die during the next ten days. If you die before ten days, I won''t get your soul, and you will also suffer the worst of the tortures by me." After saying that, Anovin became a ck swirl of mist and disappeared while thinking. ''I guess 30 contracts are enough for today. My soul is also feeling more burdened with these many. Hehe, but I can''t wait for these fruits to be ripe. If even half of them survived for ten days before dying, I''d be able to have a delicious feast.'' Felix was silent for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. He picked up the katana from the floor and slowly walked towards the exit door before peeking outside. ''Those two should''ve left, right?'' Chapter 10: One-hour Sweeping, Departing

Chapter 10: One-hour Sweeping, Departing

"Where is this ce?" Kanel groggily opened his eyes as he saw a dark sky with stars. He got up and looked around before freaking out as he quickly stood up! "What the fuck, a graveyard?" He was in the middle of a graveyard! There was a grave just three meters away from him. "So, this skill will revive me in a graveyard?" Kanel murmured. "Well, whatever. I am finally safe." *Grrr¡­.* Suddenly, he heard some sounds and turned around before seeing three zombiesing out of the ground! "Fuck¡­. I need a weapon," Kanel cursed as he quickly looked around for a weapon while getting away from the zombies. After arriving at the worn-out fence, he kicked it hard and broke off its metal spike. Grabbing it, he turned towards the zombie and threw it by exerting all his strength! The small metal spike hit the zombie''s head, killing it instantly. [You have killed a level 2 zombie. +1 agility, +1 strength]. He also saw a glowing box materialize after the zombie fell. Kanel''s eyes glowed as he saw that. ''But I need to kill the other two zombies first.'' *nk!* He kicked the fence again before pulling a metal rod from it. Then, grabbing the metal rod tightly, he took a deep breath and rushed toward the zombies. While rushing at full speed, he stabbed a zombie and continued pushing it before it fell to the ground. The other zombie turned around and continued staggering toward Kanel while Kanel quickly opened the treasure chest and got a spear with an ice attribute from it! "Die!" Kanel stabbed the spear into the 3rd zombie. It froze entirely before breaking into pieces after Kanel took out the spear he pierced into it. [You have reached level 2. You have gained 2 stats points that you can assign freely] Kanel licked his lips and grinned as he got another box from thest zombie. "I will pay you back soon, boss Erix." ¡­ After leaving the campus, Erix and Rin first went deeper into the forest area behind the campus and started killing mutated animals and insects. They killed everything they encountered without resting for one hour. When the boost of Rin''s skill ran out, Rin felt tired. So, both of them took a break as they rested against a big tree''s trunk. "I am envious of your unlimited stamina," Rin pouted as shey on the ground with her head on Erix''sp. "Haha, can''t do anything about that. Anyway, let''s arrange our skills and then leave." In the past hour, they mainly got skill scrolls. Aside from skill scrolls, they got two weapons. Erix took the Fiend Frost hammer, while Rin took the long katana-type sword called Oni-Taijin Sword. After that, they shared their status screens and started arranging their arsenal of skills. "Since we got 1st-Tier skills, let''s throw away those normal skills," Rin said. "Alright, I''ll take that Iron Flower skill." "Yep. You might be able tobine it with your metal control skill. Hmmm, then I''ll take Thunder Blitz skill." "What about Body Boost?" "You take it. I''ll take that Stamina Motor since I need stamina." "Nah, you take both. My overall stats are stronger, anyway." "But then you will have to keep one normal skill." "It''s fine." After ten minutes, both of them were done. =================== [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Level: 19 _ss: None _Life orb: 88/100 _Stat points: 34 ¡ª>[ Strength: 67 / Agility: 63 / Health: 38 / Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª>[ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 78 / Mana: 198/200 ] ______Active Skills: [3/5] ______ ¡ª>[ Metal Control (1st Tier) ] ¡ª>[ Iron Flower (1st Tier) ] ¡ª>[ Repairman (Normal Tier) ] ______Passive Skills: [2/5] ______ ¡ª>[ Aura Vision (1st Tier): Can see the residual aura of things and living beings. ] ¡ª>[ Punch Force (1st Tier) : Punch damage +50%. ] ______Special Skills: ______ ¡ª>[ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] =================== "Eh, you kept Repairman..." "Yep, it''s helpful. I can fix things just by touching them after using this skill. It only costs mana. It says I can fix items up to level 50. That also includes our normal vehicles." "Then it''s indeed useful. But It would help you more if you had taken that Body Boost," Rin said with a wry smile as she looked at her status panel. "See, I also have +10 stat boosts from my outfit set." [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 18 _ss: None _Vitality: 193/200 _Status points: 36 ¡ª>[ Strength: 33(+20)/ Agility: 35(+40) / Health: 34(+20) / Stamina: 33(+50) ] ¡ª>[ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 51 / Mana: 150/150 ] ______Active Skills: [3/5] ______ ¡ª>[ Lightning Charge (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª>[ Sword Beam (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª>[ Thunder Blitz (1st Tier active skill) ] ______Passive Skills: [2/5] ______ ¡ª>[ Body Boost (1st Tier passive skill): +20 all stats, + 100 Vitality. ] ¡ª>[ Stamina Motor (1st Tier passive skill): +30 stamina, +20 Agility. ] ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ ¡ª>[ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] =================== "It''s okay¡ªjust a tiny difference. Anyway, let''s depart now." "Yeah. My tiredness is gone after learning those two stats-boosting passive skills, haha." "Great." ... After taking a cruiser bike, they left the campus and stopped at the outer entrance path of the campus that touched the main road. "Where are your parents?" Erix asked as he arched his head to look at Rin. "They are in Phoenix City, and I want to meet them," Rin said with some worry. She hoped her parents were fine. "Don''t worry, babe. Your parents are no ordinary people, haha. Both of them are powerful martial artists, so I am sure they are fine," Erix said as he pecked Rin''s lips for a short kiss before turning his head ahead and wearing back his mask to hide his slightly bluish pale face. "Phoenix City is a bit far, but let''s make it our destination. We willplete our tasks on the way," Erix said as he revved the bike. Rin smiled and hugged Erix with her hands holding his waist. "Alright. I will also finally introduce you to my parents. Let''s hope they ept a half-zombie as their son-inw." "Hahaha, now that doesn''t sound optimistic." *Vrooom, Vroom!* "By the way, did we miss Felix''s death notification, or did it not ring at all?" Erix asked while driving. "No idea. We don''t get names in notifications and only levels. Moreover, I didn''t inspect that trash, so I don''t know his level." "Hmmmm..." Erix felt that he was alive. "He might be alive, actually. I remember we didn''t get any notifications after we entered the forest, and if he died, he should have died around that time." Rin chuckled and grabbed Erix''s cheeks. "So what if he is alive? If that idiot appears before us again, we''ll ughter him just the same. We''vee far, so it would be idiotic to waste our time because of that worthless trash." "Who knows where he is right now?" Rin added. "Haha, not wrong. So, we focus on surviving and getting stronger for now." "Exactly. And if that Felix got some vengeance in him, he woulde for us, so we have to get so strong that he must piss himself just from our presence." "Sounds good, my queen. We shall do that." "Humu." Chapter 11: Demons

Chapter 11: Demons

After an hour of traveling through the main road to another city, they saw a bright light of mes and smoke as houses burned nearby. "That''s Tharan vige," Rin said. "Let''s go there. We need to kill more, especially some unique monsters in our task, like demons and holy beings. We need to kill those above level 50, but we are not even level 20. We need to get strong quickly." "Yep. It seems that you are less worried about your parents now," said Erix before moving the bike towards the path leading to the burning vige. "Haha, I got confidence in them. Since I managed to survive, they will surely survive," Rin grinned. "I am sure they are also getting stronger." *Dhoof, dhoof, doof¡­!* Both of them suddenly heard a familiar sound and looked up. "A helicopter?!" Rin and Erix saw a helicopter moving at a super fast speed. At first, they thought it would descend near the vige, but it just went past it. "Must be some big shot in that, humph," Erix snorted as he remembered his scummy father. ¡­ Inside the helicopter¡­ "How long will it take to reach the military headquarters in Targon?" Ben asked the pilot through a radio phone. He was none other than Erix''s biological father, Ben Melkan! "Sir, if we don''t encounter any trouble, we will reach there in roughly thirty minutes." "Father¡­ What about Erix? His house is not too far. Shouldn''t we go there?" asked Hathor in a worried tone. He was Ben''s son. However, hearing Hathor''s words, Bertha coldly snorted, "He can take care of himself. No need to worry about him." Bertha had long, slightly disheveled red hair, a slim figure, and a big bust. She was an above-average beauty wearing a v-neck dress with a fair skin tone. She was the mother of two neen-year-old siblings, Marisa and Hathor. "That''s right, Hathor. Your brother is a so-called martial artist. He will survive," said Marisa while looking through her mobile phone for some news. Thework was not dead, but it was not perfectly running either. It was only a matter of time before the Inte died, and people lost the means to contact one another through the Inte. Ben didn''t say anything and just kept his somber expression. Hathor saw that and didn''t speak any further about Erix. Ben''s family knew about Erix, who was Ben''s bastard son. But aside from Hathor, none cared about Erix. Instead, Hathor admired Erix after meeting him a few times. Although Erix always behaved indifferently, even slightly foul mood when meeting him outside sometimes, Hathor could understand why and didn''t mind it. He knew that Erix was a good person deep down, good and very strong, both mentally and physically. He admired Erix and wanted to be like him. ''Brother Erix, I am sure you are fine. ¡­ "Damn, is anyone even alive?" Rin softly muttered as she and Erix entered the vige through its burning gates after parking the bike outside. Just as they crossed the vige gate and passed by a burning wooden board blocking their view, they were startled to see four strange creatures with dark red horns, devilish tails, ugly mouths with sharp ck teeth, and long ck ws. They were eating people in the middle... On a small mountain of corpses consisting of over thirty people of varying ages. Rin frowned. "Disgusting creatures." [Dark Helling] _Race: Demon _Level: 28 _Vitality: [200/200] _Stats: ¡ª¡ª>[Strength: 52 / Agility: 54 / Health: 43 / Stamina: 33] ¡ª¡ª>[Magic Affinity: Rank: C / Magic Power: 32 / Mana: 32] "All four of them are above level 20. The dagger won''t kill them instantly," Rin said as she took out her Oni-Taijin Sword. ¡ª¡ª [Oni-Taijin Sword (Umon-grade): A sword filled with intense hate for demons. Deals additional 20 t damage that ignores defense to demons] -> Attack: User''s Strength + 50. ¡ª¡ª "Yes. Let''s take two each." "Wait. Let me handle them alone. I want to test my skills against four of them," Rin said as she licked her lips with a battle-hungry expression. *Creeee!* All four demons sharply screamed before standing up and dashing toward Rin with glowing red eyes. Rin''s eyes flickered with lightning as she charged her sword with the Lightning Charge skill, consuming 25 of her mana. [23 additional lightning damage added to the sword for one minute] *Swoosh¡­.* Rin dashed forward as her feet crackled with lightning upon using the Thunder Blitz skill! [Thunder Blitz (1st tier active skill): Dashes 1 to 5 meters with a burst of quick speed. The next attack after using this skill deals extra 50% damage as lightning damage. The additional damage will chain between a maximum of five targets as long as they are within five meters of the first hit target]. *Crackle¡­boom!* As her speed explosively increased, she passed by a demon and shed its neck, creating a loud rumble of thunder as that demon''s head flew in the sky. -237! Dead! [You have killed a level 28 Dark Helling. +3 Agility. +3 Strength] [You have reached level 19. You have gained 2 unassigned stat points] -79! -79! -79! The other three demons were hit by lightning and suffered 79 damage each, but they quickly turned around and waved their long ws toward Rin. Rin quickly ducked down as she did a sweep kick, causing two demons to fall while doing an upper sh after that to damage the 3rd demon that was still standing. -137! [You have killed a level 26. +2 Agility, +2 Strength] The other two demons pressed their legs on the ground tightly before they backed away six meters with spring-like jumping! But while in the air, they issued painful screams as their bodies glowed, and then they waved their ws, conjuring ck energy w-shaped projectile that shot towards Rin! "Careful!" Erix shouted as he saw the magical attack. Those w-shaped projectiles were wide! "I got it!" Erix was going to use his Iron Flower skill to defend her but stopped after hearing her. Rin narrowed her eyes as she pointed her sword at one of the energy ws while jumping up to dodge the other. *Sheeeen!* Her sword glowed with a sharp dark silver sheen. ¡ª¡ª> [ Sword Beam (1st tier active skill) ]: Unleash a straight destructive beam from your sword that deals 160% of your sword''s attack power. 20 meters range. The skill''s damage also increases ording to the user''s Strength and Magic stats. ] A beam unleashed from her sword destroyed one of the w projectiles in mutual destruction as both exploded. But Rin sucked in a cold breath of air in pain as she failed to dodge the other onepletely. -21! She was slightly grazed by that ck w while jumping as it slightly injured her left foot''s bottom. But it was not serious, and the demons seemed to weaken after they unleashed their powerful ck w-shaped projectile attacks. *Swoosh..* After Rinnded, she unleashed a Sword Beam again by pointing her sword at a Dark Helling, her aim impable as the beam hit that demon''s head and sted it! [You have killed.... +1 Agility. +1 Strength] *Crackle¡­boom!* Right after unleashing the sword beam, Rin used Thunder Blitz to dash forward at a breakneck speed and killed thest demon. Thest demon dropped a treasure chest of cyan-colored patterns, but it didn''t give her any attributes. "Phew, done!" Rin said with a smile before a slight frown appeared as she looked down. Her injured foot was slightly bleeding. "Those w-shaped projectiles were dangerous," Erix said while shaking his head wryly. "Hehe, it''s fine¡ªJust a small wound. See, I can already feel it healing faster than normal," Rin said with a cheeky smile before she walked toward the treasure chest. [ Treasure chest (Umon grade) ] "H-Help, please!" Before Rin could open the treasure chest, they heard a voice from a nearby house ten meters away. That house was one of the few that was not burning, but it was only a matter of time before the fire reached there. However, Rin and Erix soon saw a little boy peeking out at a window with a pleading expression. Chapter 12: Mother鈥檚 Unbounded Love

Chapter 12: Mother''s Unbounded Love

"Someone is alive?" Erix was surprised to hear the voice and saw a little boy. He moved towards the house. After entering, he saw that the little boy was hiding inside the basement and hade out just now, probably because of the demon''s painful screaming, battle sound, and their voices. "Are you alone?" Erix asked as he looked at the little boy around five years old. "No. My mum is in the basement. S-She is sleeping. Please help," the boy said, still slightly scared and nervous because Erix had a dark mask covering his face. "Sleeping?" Erix frowned. Rin also came inside after putting the treasure chest inside her inventory. "What''s the matter?" "Let''s go check the basement. The kid says his mother is sleeping," Erix said as he nced at Rin. His voice was slightly heavy. The little boy went inside the basement first before Erix and Rin followed. The basement was twice the size of the room. After they went down, they saw a light purple haired woman leaning against a wall with her eyes closed. There was a wound on her arm, a deep bite mark. Rin quickly went beside her and checked her breathing. After two seconds, she turned to Erix and shook her head. "Please, wake my mum," the kid said tremblingly. He was barely suppressing his tears. "Her body... It seems that she just passed away a few minutes ago while fainting. But how?" Rin questioned as she checked other wounds. Aside from that bite mark, there was no other deep wound. If she was bitten, then she should have turned into a zombie. But she was dead! "Boy. Did someone bite your mum?" Erix asked as he looked at the boy. "Y-Yes¡­ but that auntie was not behaving normally." "She didn''t turn into a zombie. How?" Rin questioned in astonishment. She had seen people turning into zombies after getting scratched and bitten. "Well, this is not like some virus we see in movies or series. This is something different. Some kind of magical power, maybe?" Erix said, adopting a thoughtful expression. "Dead peoplee out of the ground as zombies. People also turn into zombies after getting scratched and bitten, but the rules here seem different." "Yes," Rin nodded as she opened the woman''s mouth, immediately causing blood to pour out. "Mum!" "W-What happened to my mum? Why doesn''t she wake up?" Erix didn''t know what to say to the little kid. Her tongue was cut with bite marks... The woman bit her tongue and bled to death to save her son from herself! Rin''s eyes trembled as she arrived at that conclusion. She knew that if people were bitten or scratched by zombies while alive, they would automatically turn into zombies in minutes. But she didn''t know what would happen if they died as a human before turning into a zombie. "M-Mama!" The young boy quickly hugged his mother, crying and telling her to wake up. *Swoosh!* Suddenly, they saw the woman''s body glowing with golden motes! "Mum!" The boy shouted as he burst out crying even more after seeing this magical anomaly. "Stand back," Erix quickly took back the crying boy and looked at the woman. Rin also backed away. However, they were startled to see the blood in her mouth magically disappearing. Even the blood on her chest that dripped from her mouth vanished without a trace! Her clothes also recovered, and her light purple hair became refined, shiny, and silky! The wound on her wrist was also healed, and she slowly opened her light blue eyes after a few seconds. The magical phenomenon thoroughly cleaned and recovered her as her cheeks became rosy, and not a single scratch on her body remained. ¡­ Ten minutes ago, in the basement¡­ "Aaron. Listen to Mama. Stay here and don''t move, okay?" Isabe said, trying her best to smile and hold back her tears. A bite mark on her arm indicated that a zombie had bitten her! "No! Mama, stay with me!" The boy cried and glued to his mother by tightly grabbing her legs. "I-I can''t, my baby. Please listen to Mama and wait for someone," Isabe''s tears streamed down as she said with a lump in her throat. She knew she wouldn''t survive and needed to stay away from her son. That''s why she nned to go out of the basement. But Aaron was bawling and tightly grabbed her legs, not moving a bit. The kid was tremendously scared because of what he had just witnessed! "Shss¡­. don''t, don''t shout, Aaron or those monsters wille here," Isabe forcefully grabbed Aaron''s hands as she pushed him away from her legs before she bent down to look at his face. She wiped her son''s face, who was now sobbing in a suppressed voice with fear-filled eyes. In the boy''s mind, the only safety factor was his mother, and he didn''t want to separate from her! "Stay with me, mum. *Sob* D-Don''t go." Isabe looked at her son and tried her best to smile while wiping his face. ''If I die, I won''t turn into a zombie, right?'' She was not sure and didn''t want to take a risk. Instead, she had to find some way to go out without those monsters and zombies outside noticing them. *Crack... Smash... Crack..* Suddenly, they heard the sound of furniture getting destroyed, the sound of ss shattering, and the basement door creaking. Isabe''s body trembled as she quickly embraced Aaron and buried his face into her bosom before whispering. "Don''t cry, Aaron. Don''t make any sound." Aaron was constantly trembling in fear because he had seen a glimpse of cruel sight outside and was terrified. On the other hand, Isabe was also scared. It was obvious that anyone would be scared in this situation. After several seconds, the sound stopped, and Isabe whispered. "Aaron. Go and hide there." So Isabe stood up and took Aaron towards the small storage room. "Stay with me, mum," Aaron grabbed his mother''s hand after she put him in the storage room. She put a stic chair behind the door so Aaron could see outside through the transparent ss of the door. "You see this transparent ss part? You can see me from there, okay? I will be sitting there, and you can see my hand. But don''te out, and don''t make any sound if Mama suddenly moves after a while." "Understand, Aaron? Don''t make any sound, and stay here silently. Wait for someone toe and save you, okay?" "B-But¡­" Aaron was going to cry, but Isabe quickly scared him by saying that the monster woulde. "Stay here and wait for someone to save us, okay? Mama will be sitting there, and you will be able to see my hand," Isabe said while suppressing her sobs. "Listen to Mama this time, please. You are my good boy, right?" Aaron nodded while trying to stop crying, and Isabe closed the storage door. "Lock it from inside." Aaron locked and nodded at her through the square transparent ss part of the storage room''s door. "Good boy," Isabe smiled and wiped her face before walking towards the half-wall separating the two basement sections. After leaning against the wall, she turned her head out to look at Aaron, who was looking at her, and smiled before saying, "Mama is here. But don''te out whatever happens, okay? Wait for someone toe here and onlye out if they look normal." Afterward, she just put out her hand for Aaron to see while the rest of her body was behind the wall. She took a deep breath to calm down, but tears still streamed from her eyes upon thinking of her son and his future. After the recent sounds, she didn''t want to risk leaving the basement and attracting demons in the basement. ''Almighty God, if you are there, please don''t let me turn into a zombie after dying.'' Isab prayed as tears continued streaming down her face. Then, after two seconds, she bit her lips with all her strength and didn''t even cry out in pain to prevent alerting Aaron. After a slightly muffled groan, she continued to bleed her tongue with immense fires of resolve burning in her eyes while praying to God to prevent her from turning into a zombie. Despite the pain, she endured and wished to die and not turn into a zombie afterward to keep her son safe! ''Please, god. I¡­beg¡­you¡­'' She lost consciousness after a few minutes, and death soon followed. Aaron then heard some demon screaming sounds and was scared. He couldn''t resist and exited the storage room before rushing toward his mother. After failing to wake his mother, he stood at the basement door because of the faint talking sound and soon heard a human voice. Feeling hopeful, Aaron came out of the basement and saw Erix and Rin as he called out for help. ¡­ On the other hand, Isabe felt like she was dreaming, hearing some faint old archaic voice in her head. [A mother''s¡­.your child¡­. ¡­.resolve¡­love¡­ ¡­.You have earned a limited special passive skill: Mother''s Unbounded Love] Isabe opened her eyes, feeling nothing but refreshment and joy in her body because her mind and body felt like they were bathing in a sea offort. "Mama!" Aaron dashed forward as Erix released him and tightly hugged his mother as he buried his face in her bosom and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Aaron¡­ I am alive?" Isabe uttered in surprise and disbelief as she caressed her son''s back to check if everything was real or if she was dreaming. "You are alive, ma''am," Rin said with a big happy smile. Erix also smiled behind his mask and felt d about the mother-son duo. "I am alive¡­ Aaron, I am alive! My son-" Isabe bawled out as she hugged her son tightly. "-I am not going anywhere now." Chapter 13: Bloodwood Eagle

Chapter 13: Bloodwood Eagle

"Thank you for saving us," Isabe thanked Rin and Erix with a bow after standing up. "Stop it, ma''am. Hahaha, we didn''t save you. You are alive because you are strong," Rin said with a big smile, her eyes filled with admiration. Erix was also moved at her firm resolve and decision as his eyes turned a bit moist. ''What a mother.'' Fortunately, the mask had eye sockets covered with special ck sses that allowed him to see during the night and prevented others from looking at his eyes or face. Although there was no need to wear the mask since the sun was rising, he had to keep it because of his half-zombie situation. "We should go out before this house starts burning," Erix quickly said afterposing himself. "Yes, let''s first quickly go out," Rin said as the four of them walked up the stairs and opened the basement entry door beforeing out and quickly leaving the house. Isabe covered Aaron''s eyes as they came out because the sight outside was too gruesome. The piles of corpses belonged to both humans and zombies, as those four Dark Hellings killed everyone. "Did you notice that half-magic circle?" Rin suddenly said as she noticed some strange circles with patterns around the pile of corpses. "Demons¡­. Maybe they nned to summon some greater demon by doing that magic circle thingy but suddenly decided to eat and stopped?" Erix guessed. "Mum, can I open my eyes now?" Aaron asked. "Not yet, Aaron," Isabe said as a wry expression appeared. "Let''s go out. We are done here," Rin said as she nodded at Isabe. As the four of them left the vige, Isabe looked back once with aplicated and sad expression. All of the people she was familiar with died. She had be a widow two years ago at the ripe age of 30 when her husband died in an ident in the city while working. Her son had just recovered from that shock, and this strange cmity descended. That''s why Aaron always needed his mother and never wanted to leave her. He felt that she would disappear like his father if she suddenly went out of sight. ¡­ After arriving outside, the four of them squeezed into the bike and continued their journey. Aaron sat in front of Erix after a lot of coaxing by Isabe, while Rin and Isabe sat at the back. Rin tightly stuck to Erix to create more space for Isabe, so four of them easily fit in the bike. "We will need a car still," Rin said with a wry smile. Traveling for long on this bike was going to be very diforting. "We''ll find many in Targon city, but it''s far," Erix said as he increased the bike''s speed since the road was empty. "Let''s hope we find some car in small townships or on the way." "That city¡­ I wonder about the situation there," Isabe said with slight worry. "Oh yeah, Ma''am-" "Stop," Isabe interrupted Rin with a wry smile. "Don''t call me ma''am. I am not that older than you." "Hehe, my bad. Then¡­Isabe-sis. I suppose you got a skill or two, right?" Rin asked before she sent a team joining request to Isabe. "Join our team so that we can see each other''s status and location." "Yes, I got a skill," Isabe nodded as she epted the team joining request. She then focused on her skill and shared it with a thought. [Mother''s Unbounded Love (Limited special skill): You can revive near your child after dying. You can revive three times total, and after each resurrection, you gain a random defense-type skill]. "Also, just call me Isabe. You too, Erix. No need for formalities." "So what kind of defense-type skill you got?" Rin asked curiously. "I don''t know. It says I need to kill a mutated creature or a monster first," Isabe said as she shared her status with them. *** [~Isabe~] _Race: Human _Level: 0 _Job: None _Vitality: 100/100 _Status points: 0 ¡ª¡ª> [ Strength: 10 / Agility: 10 / Health: 10 / Stamina: 10 ] ¡ª¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 94 / Mana: 200/200 ] ______Active Skills: ______ ¡ª> None. ______Passive Skills: ______ ¡ª> None. ______Special Skills: ______ ¡ª> [Mother''s Unbounded Love ] *** "Now, this is surprising. You have perfect stats and even Rank-A magic affinity," Rin said. Erix also took a brief look at her status and was surprised. "Yeah. I felt stronger after returning to life and felt some strange power flowing in me. I guess that''s magic and mana," Isabe said. "Mum can use magic now?" Aaron asked. "Then mum will beat all monsters and bad guys?" Rin and Isabe chuckled while Erix smiled and said, "Yep, your mum will beat all bad guys and monsters." "I also want to beat them," Aaron said as he clenched his fist tightly. "You can do that when you grow up," Rin said with a lightugh while pinching Aaron''s cheeks. "Don''t do that, or my face will be chubby. I don''t like it!" Aaron pouted. Everyoneughed, but suddenly they felt the wind blowing from the top out of nowhere! Erix slowly stopped the bike while looking up and saw two giant eagles! "T-This area had eagles I knew but so big¡­." Isabe muttered with wide eyes. *Chien!* Both eagles released a high-pitched whistle as they eyed four of them while flying in circles in the air! Both eagles had five meters long wingspans¡­ They were freaking monster birds now! [Bloodwood Eagles] _Race: Mutated Creature _Level 26 _Vitality: 200/200 _Stats: ¡ª¡ª>[Strength: 54 / Agility: 56 / Health: 53 / Stamina: 52] ¡ª¡ª>[Magic Affinity: Rank: C / Magic Power: 29 / Mana: 29] "It''s my turn now," Erix said with a grin as he cracked his neck and got off the bike. "Fine." "Are you two sure about that?" Isabe asked as she felt worried and anxious. "Haha, it''s fine. We''ll show you our statuster," Rin said with a confident smile. Chapter 14: Beast Bind

Chapter 14: Beast Bind

Erix waved his hand and used the skill while the eagles were still sizing their prey. *** ¡ª¡ª> [ Iron Flower (1st Tier active skill) ]: Create an iron flower of six petals with two modes:-Flower Barrier (1m-10m big) and Flower Barrage. -Consumes 2 petals to use Flower Barrier and 1 petal to use Flower Barrage. The power of the skill depends on the user''s magic, strength, and agility stats. -Cost: 30 mana. *** A watermelon-sized flower floated beside Erix after he used the skill. First, he consumed 2 flower petals to create a barrier that surrounded Rin, Isabe, and Aaron. The faint gray barrier was semi-transparent, wholly made of magical energy. Afterward, he took out his newly acquired weapon! [ Fiend Frost Hammer (Umon-grade): A hammer imbued with the power of ice! When equipped, increase ice damage by 5% and give a stack of Frost Tomb to the target hit. When an enemy gets 4 stacks of frost tomb, they are frozen for 1 second ] The hammer was a meter long with a fifty-centimeter hammerhead carved with icy patterns on its gray metal body. *Chii!* The eagles released a sharp cry as they saw a hammer flying toward them! Like his dagger, Erix could manipte the hammer with his Metal Control skill! However, those eagles also swooped down towards Erix to attack! Erix narrowed his eyes, entirely focused. Those two eagles used some skill as their talons glinted with a red glow! ''Hit one with the hammer and the other¡­'' Erix thought as he tried something new. But, since he could feel mana in his body, he tried to control it and infuse it into his fist. At first, he felt a bit of pain, but he quickly concluded that his fist was empowered as he clearly felt it! *Smack!* When both eagles entered Metal Control''s range, he hit one with his hammer and smacked it away while punching the other eagle''s talon since it was directed at him for a deadly attack. *Puchi¡­* *Chiinnn!* Eric''s fist bled, but the eagle''s talons were smashed into blood pulp before the punch''s force continued and spread through its body, causing the creature to cry in pain as it almost died! -188 The power of Erix''s punch was devastating because of his passive skill, Punch Force, which increases punch damage by 50%! The punched eagle went into a temporary shock because of the lethal damage it suffered and fell to the ground. Erix quickly stomped on it and killed it. [You have killed¡­ +3 Agility, +3 Strength]. But right after that, he saw the second eagle swooping at him with red, angry eyes. Erix snorted and grabbed its talons despite them tearing his hands. *Screeeee!* Seeing the eagle screeching since its attack failed, Erix grinned and kicked on its stomach before pulling its talons as he forced it from one side to the other and smashed it on the ground. Afterward, he sat down on its stomach while pressing on its wings with his feet and pped its head a few times, making it dizzy. "What are you doing?" Rin asked with confusion. "I suddenly got an idea, so I am trying it out," Erix smiled as he looked at the eagle and pped it again. The eagle constantly tried to break out of Erix''s grasp, but he pinned it down, making its struggles futile. Erix''s overall physical capabilities were higher than this mutated eagle, making it helpless against him as it couldn''t do anything to break free. "Do you understand me? I want you to be my pet," Erix said as he pped its head again, making the eagle cry in pain. Rin and Isabe became speechless while Aaron just curiously looked on. The eagle released cries and continued trying to break free from Erix. s¡­ *p!* "Be my pet." *p!* "I''ll continue pping until you submit to me." *p!* After five minutes, the eagle was not moving and just stared at Erix with red and...watery eyes. It was crying! Erix grinned. He didn''t p it for the entire thirty seconds. The eagle became hopeful and d. It didn''t have to feel the pain again. But just as the eagle was feeling a bit better, Erix suddenly pped it again! *Chiii!¡­.* The eagle burst out crying! "Do you submit to me?" Erix asked as he raised his palm again, intending to p it. However, the eagle quickly nodded its head fearfully and was already seeing stars and feeling dizzy along with pain because of all those ps! "Heh, I knew it. The creatures mutated, so some also became intelligent," Erix said as he loudlyughed after seeing the notifications. [Congrattions! You have sessfully made a mutated creature higher level than you submit to you. You have acquired a title: Beast Subjugator] [Congrattions! You have acquired a Title skill, Beast Bind, upon acquiring the Beast Subjugator title]. [ Beast Bind: You can bind one beast to you that you have sessfully subjugated. After using the skill on a subjugated beast, the beast is alsopletely healed and bes 100% loyal to you until you release it. ] After reading everything, Erix used the new skill on the eagle and also shared it with thedies. Rin, Isabe, and Aaron saw the eagle shining with golden light for a second as all of its wounds healed. *Chii!* The eagle stood beside Erix afterward and nudged him after releasing a sharp whistle. Erix sat on the eagle''s broad back and turned to thedies with a smile, "Our new ride is ready." "The big eagle became big brother''s pet?" Aaron asked with wide eyes. Rin and Isabe were impressed and slightly speechless. "Who would''ve known it was possible to tame these mutated beasts?" Rin sighed. "I don''t think it''s possible to tame all mutated beasts," Erix rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression as he looked at his eagle. "I felt this one was a bit different...like it had sanity and intelligence, but as you have seen, not all mutated creatures are sane and tamable." "Alright, get on. We''ll fly from now on." Chapter 15: Targon City, Military HQ

Chapter 15: Targon City, Military HQ

Erix and Rin sat beside each other, locking their arms at the front, while Isabe and her son Aaron sat behind them as they flew straight toward Targon City. Bloodwood Eagle could fly at 440 kilometers per hour. That much speed, however, was too much for the passengers on the giant Eagle. They had no seatbelts and no support while flying open on the Eagle''s back, so they had to grab the Eagle''s strong feathers as Erixmanded the Eagle to fly at moderate speed. While traveling, they suddenly noticed an intensely bright light shing on the horizon before a strange wave passed through them and continued as if it would sweep through the entire. "What was that?" Rin wondered. "I''m not sure, but it did not affect us. I am not feeling anything bad," Erix said before he turned his head to the back. "Are you feeling any difort, Isabe?" Erix inquired. "Nope. What about you, Aaron?" "Nothing, mum. But I am hungry." ¡­ Targon City was arge city with a military headquarters, so they decided to go there to learn more about the world''s situation. Furthermore, they desired to fight more powerful creatures and monsters to level up andplete their tasks after bing stronger. The city was about eighty kilometers away by road, but they arrived in about twenty minutes thanks to the eagle ride and soon saw a devastating view of the city from the top. Zombies were everywhere! "There must be a safe zone somewhere, with civilians and military personnel, "Erix said. "Yep. The military headquarters," Rin nodded. They continued flying over the city ahead while looking at the disaster below. Soon, they arrived at the military base after passing over a heavy barricade. But it wasn''t that crowded. "They''re on that monstrous Eagle? How?!" The people below were astounded. As people rushed to make room, Erix ordered the Eagle tond. The military was then notified, and a group of soldiers and a few other civilians with weapons arrived. "Where did youe from?" a military officer inquired before ncing at the menacing Eagle. "Ravinfox City," Rin replied before asking, "Is there food here, or do we have to go out in the city for it?" "Mum, I''m hungry," Aaron grumbled. "We have food. But that mutated Eagle... It appears that you''ve tamed it somehow," said a slim man with short ck hair, wearing a pair of transparent rims and a formal suit outfit. He held a staff with dark brown patterns in his hand. It was of the same level as Fiend Frost Hammer and Oni-Taijin Sword. Umon-grade. "Have you tamed it fully?" the man continued with a question. "Don''t worry. It won''t harm anyone," Erix said. "Mum, I''m hungry," Aaron said again, making soldiers and other adults awkward. A soldier took Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aaron to a warehouse with a single table and food on it. The food was simple rice and curry with sd. Erix and others self-served before eating on the floor. Rin took out her mobile phone to check things, but it was dead. "Why did it turn off when the battery was still fully charged? I can''t even turn it on." Erix took out his smartphone, which was also dead. "Could it be..." Erix muttered as he guessed something. "That bright light?" Isabe spected. Erix and Rin both nodded as they came to the same conclusion. ¡­ In a hall somewhere in the military headquarters... Ben walked into a room filled with high-ranking officers and politicians of Targon City. "Senator Ben. Is your family settled?" "Thank you for your prompt assistance," Ben said as he sat in a chair. "So, what''s the n?" "Aside from zombies, we face other threats from strange monsters. When the inte was still avable, we could contact other countries and discover that multiple eye-shaped portals that spat monsters on our world had appeared worldwide and ten giant towers that touched Earth''s stratosphere. "But we don''t have any information about the towers." "For us, the current problems are zombies and mutated creatures. We have fucking mutated car-sized frogs and dog-sized cockroaches with enhanced physical characteristics. The cockroaches we encountered thest time we went out killed thirteen of our soldiers with their fast speed and acid spits." "We killed millions of cockroaches with those pesticide controllers and ate billions of chickens. I guess it''s time for their vengeance on us," a man said as he chuckled with a rueful smile. "Stop joking, Lieutenant." "I apologize." "But here''s the good news: we can acquire skills. In addition, killing zombies and mutated creatures strengthens our physical bodies." "On a negative note, we gain nothing by killing these zombies and creatures with our guns and bombs. We must kill them with a physical melee weapon wielded by our own hands. Furthermore, bullets do not affect tougher, higher level mutated creatures." "Another disaster struck us recently. The bright light on the horizon rendered electricity useless. Tonight there is no light. Our helicopters, nes, missileunchers, and other things that use electricity aren''t working." Ben nodded. "Fortunately, wended just as that light appeared." "Our next step is to contact Phoenix City and gather forces to create a safe zone there. One of the giant towers is near that city, and we hope to get answers about this whole situation there." "I nned to go to Phoenix city after a short break here to get information, but..." Ben shook his head. "It will be difficult to move without vehicles now." *Knock, knock...* "Come in." "What''s the matter, Ralph?" "Sir, some people arrived in the base riding a mutated eagle." "Hmm? Do you mean... A tamed mutated creature?" Ben questioned, raising his eyebrows. "Exactly, sir." "Did you ask him how he did it?" "Not yet, sir. They are currently eating, " "You are free to leave." After the soldier left, Ben reflected, "Perhaps someone from that group acquired a skill that allowed him to tame a beast." "Possible." "if that person can use that skill to tame flying creatures for us, we can reach Phoenix City," Ben stated. "I say, we must strengthen ourselves first. Our soldiers have leveled up and gained power. Some civilians also have skills and are strong. One of them even has a job ss called Berserker. That man is extremely powerful." "Oh?" Ben was surprised. "How powerful?" "He threw a projectile punch made of red energy, which destroyed a level 22 mutated insect, turning it into a bloody mess. The thing is, bullets had no effect on that creature''s carapace, whereas that guy''s projectile punch did and did that creature thoroughly." Ben felt surprised before pausing to think momentarily and nodding to General Tark. "You are correct, General. We need to strengthen ourselves. With how the world is going, we must rely on human strength to survive." With a somber expression, he continued, "Before venturing into the city, let us gather those who have leveled up and are powerful. We''ll also take our soldiers who haven''t yet leveled up and let them kill zombies with melee weapons to make them stronger." Ben nodded and added, "We still need to talk to that person who can tame creatures. With helicopters rendered useless, flying creatures are the only way for us to travel faster. The capital city, Phoenix, remains our goal. It is thergest and most powerful city in our Westine Country, so our main force will be there. "But, we''ll move there once we''re sufficiently powerful to defend ourselves on the journey, "Ben finished speaking and got up. "Alright," General Tark nodded. "Lieutenant Pollyn, you gather people willing to face danger outside to be strong while I''ll go to those groups of civilians with skills and weapons they got from those treasure boxes and tell them about the n." Turning to Ben, General Tark continued, "Senator Ben, I hope you can convince that man with the taming skill to help us. I''ll send some soldiers with you to meet that person." "Leave it to me," Ben said with a nod. Chapter 16: Decision

Chapter 16: Decision

Erix and others had just finished eating and walked out of the warehouse when they saw Ben with four other soldiers approaching them. Erix briefly paused when he saw his father but continued walking with a strange grin behind his face mask. ''Heh, I knew it. This fucker doesn''t give a shit about me,'' Erix thought as anger bubbled in him, but he quickly calmed down. Unlike before, he could control his emotions swiftly and naturally due to his hybrid zombie situation. He could also loosen his emotions since he had higher control over them. For instance, If he wanted to get angry, he would get angry. But if he wished for his anger to be in control, he could suppress it. "I''m sure you know me, haha. So, I have a small request for you," Ben said with a lightugh. "I don''t know you. Who are you?" Erix questioned in a deadpan tone of voice. "Eh, he is a sor. Better known as Minister Ben," Rin said with a wry smile. "Oh¡­ I don''t remember useless people''s names. Anyway, what''s the matter?" Erix asked in the same deadpan voice as he walked ahead of his group to face Ben. The military officers frowned and pointed their guns at him. "Don''te closer." "Put those toys away. If I want to kill you, it won''t even take a second," Erix indifferently said. "Haha, calm down, everyone. You too, young man," Ben said with a smile, not getting offended. But even if offended, sly foxes like him were better at hiding their true colors. "So, my small request was about that tamed monster eagle. If you have a skill that can tame those mutated creatures, could you help us tame a few?" Ben asked with a polite smile. "Can''t," Erix replied indifferently. "I don''t have a taming skill, but I got an item that can let me tame three mutated creatures." Rin and Isabe raised their eyebrows in surprise, but they were smart and didn''t say anything. "Oh¡­ that''s unfortunate," Ben said with a rueful smile and sighed. "I assume you are not willing to part with that item?" "No brainer," Erix said before walking away, indicating no interest in further talking. Ben''s eyes became cold as he looked at Erix''s back. ''Brat these days.'' "Erix, do you have some beef with that guy?" Rin asked curiously. "Nope. But It was clear that he wanted to take advantage of us. No need to act politely to scum big shots because only fist talks from now on," Erix said as a sharp grin formed behind his mask. "So you knew him, haha," Rin chuckled. "Eh, yeah," Erix nodded with a wry smile. ''Hmm, It''s fine even if I tell her about it now. It''s not like that bastard can threaten me anymore. His money and political powers are useless.'' Four of them walked a bit far from other groups of people since they had Bloodwood Eagle with them, and it was intimidating to others. "Sis Isabe, what will you do now? Erix and I will explore this city for a bit to get more powerful and then leave for Phoenix City," Rin said as she grabbed Isabe''s hands. Isabe looked at Aaron, who had now fallen asleep on Bloodwood Eagle''s furry back and sighed. "For Aaron, I don''t want to take the risk of traveling, but¡­." "But people can''t be trusted now that now exists," Erix said as he nced at everyone around this military base. "We never know when someone might awake a demon within them in some situations." Rin nodded as she said with a determined expression, "Come with us. We already know that everyone is constantly evolving and getting stronger, even those zombies and mutated creatures." "I must stay with Aaron, but the only people I can trust are you two," Isabe said with a distressed smile. "Honestly, if you two go and I stay here alone, I''ll be powerless. I-I am worried about something happening to Aaron and me." Isabe already felt a few perverted gazes on her, making her ufortable and worried. "No need to say more than that," Erix said as he jumped on the eagle. "Come and get stronger with us. You have potential, so it will be a waste not to get stronger. I''llmand Bloodwood Eagle to protect Aaron as they fly over us in the sky while we hunt below." "Yes," Rin quickly nodded, "There are mutated flying creatures, but most are not flying constantly and are searching for food and fighting below." Isabe felt what Erix and Rin said made more sense, and it was more secure in a way. Bloodwood Eagle had 100% loyalty towards Erix, and if hemanded Bloodwood Eagle to protect Aaron at the cost of its own life, the eagle would do it. Moreover, the Bloodwood Eagle would be flying over them constantly, so it could just descend toward them quickly if some flying monster tried to attack it. "Alright, I''ve thought it through," Isabe said with a smile filled with determination. "I''ll fight the danger and get stronger with you." "Some people areing here," Erix saw several civilians and soldiers walking towards them. Isabe turned around and stood beside Rin as the three looked at iing people. "Hello, new folks. We are forming a group of people who have weapons and skills gained from defeating creatures and zombies outside. Would you like to join us?" "After gathering people, we can go out and hunt those high-level zombies with fast abilities and power and those mutated creatures for more loot." "Yes. If we are more in number, we can fight stronger and more creatures and, in turn, get stronger quickly." "Not interested," Erix said before he turned to Rin and Isabe, "Get on." Rin jumped before sitting beside Erix and grabbing his arm as she smiled at those people, "We''ll hunt on our own." Isabe also sat beside Aaron and put his head on herp. Some civilians and soldiers showed dissatisfaction as they saw the Bloodwood Eagle flying up and leaving the military base. "Hmph, they don''t know what''s good for them." "Let''s go. We are enough people anyway." "Yeah, with twenty-six of us, we can progress fast. Heh, they will regret not joining us when they encounter trouble in the city." Chapter 17: Plan

Chapter 17: n

The Bloodwood Eagle was flying slowly on Erix''smand. "Let''s find a good spot andnd," Rin said as she and others observed the devastated city. "By the way, what did you get from that treasure chest we got in the vige?" Erix asked. "Ah, I put it in my inventory instead of opening it," Rin said as she stuck out her tongue with a smile and took out the treasure chest. [ Treasure Chest (Umon Grade) ] "Nice. Let''s open it," Erix nodded. "Wait. Sis Isabe, you open it. Let''s see your luck," Rin said as she presented the palm-sized treasure chest to Isabe. "Are you sure?" Isabe asked as she felt that this thing was fairly important. "Yep. Just open it. If it has a weapon, then you should use it to fight and level up," Erix said with a nod. "Yes. That''s a good idea," Rin said, agreeing with Erix as she smiled. "Alright," Isabe said as she touched the treasure chest and pressed on the lock. The treasure chest shined before opening and spewed out two small orbs. One orb was white colored, with a tiny chime bell in it. The other orb was a cyan-colored orb, and in it was a wooden branch that looked like a magic wand with a tiny ck crystal at its end. Rin touched the white orb as it shined a bit before a chime bell appeared in her hand. [ Wild Caller Chime (umon-grade): Ringing this chime will attract creatures below level 50 to you. Radius: 2 kilometers ] "Hmmm, we can use thister," Erix said as he took the chime and put it in his inventory. "If we use it now while we are still not even level 20, we''ll die in no time." "Yep," Rin said with a nod before she touched the cya-colored orb. The orb shined briefly before a magic wand appeared in her hand. [ ck Wind Wand (Umon-grade) ] -Magic: +30 -Mana points: +100 -Wind attributed Attacks deal an additional 30 wind damage. "This is nice, alright. Sis Isabe, you take it," Rin said as she handed over the wand to Isabe. "But I don''t even have any attacking skills yet," Isabe said with a wry smile. "Don''t worry, you will get one soon," Erix said. Afterward, all of them continued looking below. Three minutester, they saw a massive mansion of some wealthy family and even some people alive with barricaded fences further blocked by cars and other things. In the front garden of that mansion, there was a big fountain, and ten people stood there with guns in their hands. Aside from them was a muscr middle-aged man with a katana in his hand. There was also a woman wearing a crimson dress as she held a gun in her hand. Unlike the normal guns in those ten people''s hands, she had a handgun with blue and red patterns. It looked magical. When Erix, Rin, and others flew over them, they also saw them and were surprised. "Hey!!" The middle-aged man shouted as he waved his right hand toward them. "Should wend there?" Rin asked with doubt. "Nah. Let me go down first," Erix said as he took out his hammer. "I also want to try out a new thing." "What new thing?" "Flying," Erix grinned with an exciting glint in his eyes as he dropped his hammer down before he also jumped off! The people below were startled seeing that, and Rin and Isabe also eximed in shock at the sudden unexpected move by Erix. However, they were even more shocked when Erix manipted his hammer as it flew below him before Erix straightened his body and put his feet on the hammer''s head as he started flying! Since he could control the hammer with his Metal Control, he kept controlling it while standing on it to fly! Since the control range was 10 meters and the hammer was always 10 meters within him, he could literally fly! ''Control¡­'' Erix finally stabilized his feet on the hammer''s handle and flew smoothly. ''I did it.'' Suddenly, he felt something in his head. [ You can evolve Metal Control to a Tier-2 skill Metal Maniption afterpleting some tasks ] [ Kill Mortal-Order enemies above level 50: 0/100 ] [ Kill Supra-Order enemy. 0/10 ] [ Mortal-Order skill stones: 0/10 ] [ Supra-Order Skill Stone: 0/1] "Skill stone?" Erix muttered, and following that, he saw another window panel with details along with a monotone voice. [Skill Stones are drops you get from killing enemies above level 50] ''Oh¡­'' Erix put all that aside for now and controlled his hammer to descend on the ground while controlling it. He was flying slowly since he hadn''t mastered this flying method. But he nned to find a better flying mediumter and master flying via his metal control skill. A few secondster, hended before the middle-aged man, whom Erix assumed was the leader. "What''s up?" Erix asked. "As you can see, we are in a pinch. Zombies are constantly pushing in, and it won''t be long before they break through our defense here," the middle-aged man said with a loudugh. "If you can help us, we won''t forget this favor," said the beautiful woman standing beside the middle-aged man. Erix thought for a moment as he looked at the middle-aged man and his wife. They looked wealthy and influential and should have contacted the military for rescue before the inte and electricity disappeared because of that mysterious bright light. "Did you contact for help from somewhere else?" Erix asked. The middle-aged man nodded. "Yeah, we did. We contacted the military multiple times, and they also said that they would send people to rescue, but all electric devices are not working anymore, probably because of that bright light, so we can''t contact them anymore." ''I guess that group formed by military and civilians with power nned toe here,'' Erix thought. ''Probably some big shot in the military would order them a route to here, so they can rescue them.'' A n formed in his head that involved future benefits if it seeded. ''I can also put down that bastard before leaving this city.'' "Alright, let''s go," Erix said with a grin behind his mask. "We''ll go to the military base on foot. Killing everything on our way." "B-But, can''t you make some rounds on that big flying mutated eagle?" the woman asked with a wry smile as her eyes slightly twitched. "No," Erix shook his head. "That Eagle doesn''t let anyone sit on it except us four. If you want to die, I can let you ride on it. What do you think?" "Uh¡­" "Haha, it''s fine. I can feel that you are powerful, and I also have skills and weapons. I agree that we should go on foot to kill zombies and mutated creatures, so we can also get stronger," the middle-aged man said with a wide grin. "You can call me Toshin, and this is my wife, Lena." "Alright. So, are there only twelve of you or more inside the mansion?" "My son and daughter are inside the mansion. They are at level 10, slightly below us. I''ll call them here," Toshin said before he walked towards the mansion behind the fountain. Erix waved his hand in the sky andmanded the Eagle to fly down. "Will it be safe to be with them?" Isabe asked as the Eagle flew down. "It''s fine. Erix must have a reason for doing this," Rin said with a smile. After theynded, Erix used the Iron Flower skill to cover the Bloodwood Eagle into a flower barrier. "Aaron will be safe on the eagle," Erix said as hemanded the Eagle to fly and follow them while flying above them in the sky. *Whistle¡­* The Eagle nodded before flying up, making circles around them thirty meters off the ground. Chapter 18: Power

Chapter 18: Power

Everyone was ready to move, so they created a formation. Erix and Rin stood at the front of the group. Isabe was in the middle of the group, while Lena and Toshin respectively took the leftmost and rightmost positions behind Isabe. Jacob and Serin, the son and daughter in their twenties, stood behind their parents in the group. The formation was roughly circr, with Isabe at the center and the ten bodyguards spreading out of the circle at the back with Toshin and his family. "Stay in this formation. Rin and I will send some zombies behind so that you all can kill," Erix said as he turned back to look at the others. "Mr. Toshin and Mrs. Lena can kill from the sides while Jacob and Serin can handle the back part with ten bodyguards," Erix continued before he nced at Jacob and Serin, "You can do it, right?" "Heh, we can," Jacob scoffed as he held a traditional long sword in his hand. He had sort brown hair, both ears pierced, wore a ck jacket with jeans, and was 5.8 ft tall. "We''ll handle it. After all, my parents and you two will take most of the burden," Serin nodded with a smile. She was a beauty with long maroon hair like her mother and a well-developed figure. "Erix, you are not nning a frontal attack, right? There are hundreds of zombies on the path in front, and it''s connected to the main road, which is also filled with zombies," Toshin said with a frown. "We will get overwhelmed by the numbers." "Don''t worry. I have a n," Erix said as he lookedrge gate blocked by cars and big wall fences surrounding the mansion. The zombies flooded the path outside the gate but couldn''t get inside. However, it was only a matter of time before the gate was broken by either some evolved zombies or powerful mutated creatures when they got attracted here. "What''s the n?" Lena asked. "We obviously can''t go to the military base in one go. So, our first target is a shopping mall roughly one kilometer away. You should know about that because it''s on the main road," Erix said. "Ah, so that''s the n," Rin said as she realized. She had also watched that mall, and it was a bit unique because a ten-meter-tall monster flower resided there, and it surrounded that mall''s entrance with a thick vine border and a mysterious faint mist with dark green hues. That giant flower monster was positioned on the destroyed fountain in that ground, possibly for a constant water source. No zombies or mutated creatures wandered there, nor could they pass by that thick vine border. "Yes," Erix nodded at Rin before turning to Toshin and the others. "There''s a big nt monster at the mall, and that''s our destination." "If we kill that monster, I am sure we will get a big loot and a significant power boost," Rin said as she grinned with excitement visible in her eyes. "Big nt monster? Are you sure we can kill it with our current strength?" Toshin asked with doubt. He didn''t want to risk his and his family''s life needlessly. "We will decide that after reaching there. Don''t forget that we still have a journey of roughly 1 kilometer to cross, filled with monsters," Erix said before he turned to face the gate. "Now, let''s move. I''ll clear the path first." "Clear path?" Everyone was initially confused, but then they saw Erix walking towards a car before he bent down a bit and yanked it up! The car flew up several meters before Erix stood below it and held it over him with his hands bybing his physical strength and Metal Control. After that, he exerted his full strength and bent down his legs and arms before throwing the car high in the air by pushing it up! "Damn¡­" Jacob cursed in awe. He had tried lifting a car but couldn''t do it even though he had 29 points in Strength. ''What is his level, and how many points he has in his Strength stat?'' "But what is he nning?! He threw the car straight up and not towards the zombies outside," one of the bodyguards said with a dumbfounded expression. But not even a secondter, they got the answer! Erix exerted his full strength on his legs before jumping up like a bullet and passing by the car before kicking it from a top arch angle toward the zombies outside! *Smash!* The car was kicked with a powerful force as it flew straight toward the horde of zombies in front of the gate! *Crash¡­Boom!* A loud explosion urred, killing tens of zombies as Erix got notifications. However, he didn''t get any attributes from their deaths. Afterward, he consumed two petals of his iron flower as two big blooming flower projectiles appeared on both sides before releasing glowing metal seeds pulsing with red patterns. Flower Barrage! Each flower shot ten seeds in a straight line as they hit the zombies further away before exploding. Those seeds could explode! To test something, Erix consumed 5th andst petal of Iron Flower for another Flower Barrage. This time, he focused when the flower shot ten seeds and used his Metal Control skill. Suddenly, those ten shooting seeds going in a straight line stopped and came under Erix''s control! Erix smiled behind his mask as he controlled those seeds with his will and kept them in the air for two seconds before shooting them a hundred meters away, at another road beside theirs. *BOOM!* He killed several zombies by exploding three cars with those explosive seeds. [You have killed a level 7 Zombie] [You have killed a level 4 Zombie] [You have killed a level 21 Zombie] ¡­ ''Eh? A level 21 Zombie died identally?'' [¡­. Reached level 20. You have gained 2 unassigned stat points] [Congrattiosn! You are now a Mortal-Order being.] [Your Life Orb has been upgraded] +===+ [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Level: 20 (Mortal-Order) _Title: Beast Subjugator _Job: None _Life orb: 200/200 _Stat points: 36 ¡ª> [ Strength: 70 / Agility: 66 / Health: 38 / Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic: 78 / Mana: 200/200 ] _Skills: ______Active Skills: ______ ¡ª¡ª> [ Metal Control (1st Tier) ] ¡ª¡ª> [ Iron Flower (1st Tier) ] ¡ª¡ª> [ Repairman (Normal Tier) ] ______Passive Skills: ______ ¡ª¡ª> [ Aura Vision (1st Tier): Can see the residual aura of things and living beings. ] ¡ª¡ª> [ Punch Force (1st Tier) : Punch damage +50%. ] ______Special Skills: ______ ¡ª¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] +===+ ''Good,'' Erix nodded as he looked at his status and then at the result of hisst attack. Chapter 19: Battle Rush, Isabella鈥檚 First Skill

Chapter 19: Battle Rush, Isabe''s First Skill

After hisst attack, many zombies entering the main road started walking towards the street, where he sted the ten iron seeds by controlling them with his Metal Control skill. It didn''t decrease zombies on the main road much, but it was helpful nheless since the iing zombies were directed elsewhere. "Now we can go out with less trouble," Erix said as hended on the ground. "Powerful," Serina muttered as she looked at Erix. ''Humph, we will also get stronger,'' Jacob thought with slight envy. Rin grinned and waved her sword as she unleashed a sword beam and destroyed a car and the gate behind it. "Let''s go." The group moved forward while maintaining the formation. Isabe was still a bit nervous, but after Erix''s and Rin''s disy of power, she felt better. "Isabe, I''ll send a zombie towards you. Be sure to kill it with the gun Rin gave you." "A-Alright," Isabe said with a slight stammer. "Get hold of yourself. No need to be nervous or scared," Erix said without looking back. Isabe took a deep breath and nodded, her eyes filled with determination. ''I''ll get strong!'' She held a magic wand in her left hand and the me Barista pistol in her right hand, which was her main hand. After the group passed through the gate and burning remains of the car, they quickly encountered zombies! "Bodyguards! Disable zombies with your gun, butnd a killing blow with your fists if you want to level up," Toshin shouted as he shed a zombie into two with his sword before kicking another. "Smash their heads with a melee weapon or crack their skull with your gun." Jacob and Serina also killed three zombies while Lena was shooting with her Umon-grade Handgun. Unlike the bodyguards'' guns, her gun was dropped by a zombie, so she could still level up and make monster drop loot if she killed with her Handgun. As indicated by her uracy, she was good with guns, which mostlynded headshots. The bullets of her gun were special as they would turn into a fist-sized drill after hitting a zombie and proceed to pierce it before drilling another zombie. One bullet, Two zombies! Erix and Rin bore the most burden, but their killing speed was the fastest. Erix''s dagger was flying and killing all zombies below level 20 instantly, while a single swing of his hammer could push back multiple zombies as he cleared the path by shoving them away. Isabe also killed her first zombie with me Barista as she put a hole into the zombie''s head at ck point range after Erix sent it behind. Her first killed zombie dropped a white patterned treasure chest, while no treasure was dropped from the zombies that Erix and Rin killed. "I guess newbies have a higher chance of dropping treasure chest. We already dropped some when we were lower level," Rin said. "Yep. We need to kill monsters above our level to get that invisible exp to level and chance to drop treasure chests." On the other hand, Isabe looked at the various notification after putting away the treasure chest in her inventory. [You have killed a level 5 zombie. +2 Strength, +3 Stamina] [You have reached level 1. You have gained 2 unassigned status points] [Your random defensive skill is being generated] [¡­ Congrattions! You have acquired a 1st Tier active skill, Frost Shield] === [Frost Shield (1st Tier active skill): Conjures an icy rectangle shield of pure frost power. The shield can block physical and magical attacks depending on how high the user''s magic stat is.] -Cost: 30 mana points -Duration: 5 minutes === Isabe saw the skill''s information as a smile appeared on her face. ''I can protect with this.'' But she had no time to be distracted as Erix sent two more zombies toward her. Holding the pistol, she shot twice as the ming bullets instantly burned those zombies. [You have killed two level 6 zombies. +5 Strength, +6 Stamina] [You have reached level 2¡­] "Everyone! Watch out for those big bees!" Erix said as he saw six giant bees the size of dogs flying toward them. The shining sting in their asses made everyone shiver as they saw the bees. They didn''t want to get stung by that! Isabe quickly used hertest acquired skill as she waved her hand. Erix and others had stopped moving after seeing bees and soon saw a rectangle Frost Shield towering in the front. Those bees wanted toe closer, but they crashed into the Frost Shield that suddenly appeared and got angry as their eyes turned brighter red! *Buzzzz¡­* All mutated Bees angrily buzzed as they shot their big sharp stinger from their asses! Their attack was fast, and nobody could react. In their consciousness, all of them hoped Frost Shield to block their attacks. *Crrrerere!* The stingers hit the Frost Shield and¡­. Itpletely blocked the stingers! The Frost Shield was utterly unharmed, not even a crack! "So tough?!" Toshin and others were surprised. Those bees were over level 20, but their attacks were blocked easily! "Stop gawking and start attacking!" Rin said as she jumped high with her high strength and agility beforending on a Bee. *sh!* After cutting that Bee into two with her sword, she jumped again tond on another Bee and cut off its wings with her sword before kicking it toward Isabe. "Sis Isabe, kill this one! You might get a better treasure chest," Rin said as she jumped off and arrived beside Erix in the formation. Isabe nodded while quickly pointing the pistol toward the iing giant Bee. This time, she infused 10 mana points into the pistol for more damage as a stronger ming bullet shot out and hit the Bee! *Cris!* The mutated Bee issued a short cry before it turned into ashes! Out of everyone present, Isabe''s magic stat was highest, at 124 with the magic wand, so her mana was more potent! Her high magic stat was also why Frost Shield was so strong. [You have killed a level 23 Enraged Bee. +4 Agility. +2 Health] [You have reached level 5 from level 3. You have gained 4 unassigned status points] As expected, the Bee also dropped a treasure chest! It was a cyan-patterned treasure chest! [ Umon Treasure Chest ] "Open itter!" Erix said as he punched in the front with his full power, creating a powerful force as several zombies directly exploded! Most of the zombies were below level 10, so creating a path and killing them was easy for him. Everyone continued moving while Isabe manipted the Frost Shield with her wand and circted it around the group once to push all the zombies away and make some space. "Thanks, Miss Isabe," Serina said as that shield routing helped her. Before the zombies closed in again, everyone continued moving forward while killing zombies. All bodyguards also managed to drop at least one Common Treasure Chest after killing zombies and leveled up several times! On the other hand, Isabe was getting used to fighting and actively started killing zombies with the pistol. Chapter 20: Rotten Tar Bulldog, Jacob鈥檚 Idiocy

Chapter 20: Rotten Tar Bulldog, Jacob''s Idiocy

The group sped up as they focused on clearing the path and killing the necessary zombies to continue moving. "We are close," Erix said as he could see the mall two hundred meters away from him and the group. Everyone was killing independently and to the best of their ability while maintaining the formation. After killing a Blue Fire Frog on the way, Toshin got a skill called Fire Enchantment, which could give a fire attribute to an item for additional fire damage for a certain duration. Toshin and Lena also collected 100 Mystic Essence shortly after they left the mansion and got options to awaken a job ss. Jacob and Serina also collected 100 Mystic Essence ten minutes ago. All of them chose to awaken a job but had toplete tasks. On the other hand, Erix was still ahead of Rin in terms of killing speed, reaching level 27, while Rin was level 26. Isabe reached level 14, and her shield skill was a blessing to the group, proving very useful to the party. [Congrattion! Your skill, Sword Beam, can be evolved to 2nd Tier afterpleting some tasks] Rin heard the notification and grinned as she continued killing and shed a zombie into two with her sword. She improved at the Sword Beam skill and even learned to use it better. *Growl!¡­ Bark!* Suddenly, they heard a loud growl before a powerful bark resounded. As they were moving on the main road and passed by a dark alley over twenty meters away from the other side of the road, a creature in that alley smelled them and came out while growling. It was a mutated bulldog! But unlike those small bulldogs, this bulldog was freaking four meters tall! Everyone in the group looked at it and felt a chill looking at its appearance. The bulldog had dirty brown-white fur while its face was majority ck with white spots and two red eyes. Its sharp but rotten-looking teeth were the most terrifying, looking even more chilling when the beast growled toward them. *Bark!* The dog loudly barked before it jumped by exerting its strength and crossed a vast distance as itnded just five meters away from the group! "Fuck!" A bodyguard cursed. [ Rotten Tar Bulldog ] _Level: 32 _Vitality: 400/400 __Status: ¡ª> [ Strength: 73/ Agility: 71 / Health: 65 / Stamina: 83 ] Several zombies were squashed below it after itnded. Afterward, the dog swiped its giant paw with sharp and thick nails to kill the zombies in front of it and used its tail to sweep away iing zombies behind it. "Grrrr...." The mutated dog''s eyes were glued on the group. "W-What do we do?" Jacob said as fear was evident in his eyes. Serina was also scared as her hand trembled. "Focus!" one of the bodyguards shouted towards the siblings as he waved his hand and shot a wind sh to kill three zombies that were staggering toward the siblings. This bodyguard was lucky to receive a powerful 1st Tier active skill: Sharp Winds. It allowed him to shape sharp winds and shoot them. "Leave that dog to us," Erix said before turning to Rin. "Let''s kill it." Rin nodded, with excitement already dancing in her eyes. "We''ll hold off the zombies, so quickly kill that monster," Toshin said as his sword was now on blue fire! "I''ll get its eyes," Rin said as she jumped high before waving her sword while activating the skill, Sword Beam! ''I''ll try that way of using the skill and see if its works.'' Usually, the sword beam was like a short burst of beam, leaving the sword''s point in a straight line. However, Rin understood the skill more while fighting, became better at it while finding a different way to use it, and decided to try it out. As she waved her sword while using the Sword Beam, a short burst of beam unleashed from her sword like usual. But this time, the beam was still connected to the sword as she maintained the connection with her magic control and channeled more mana in her sword aside from the usual skill cost! The sword beam increased in intensity, and she even managed to change its direction upon moving her hand that was holding the sword. *Bark!* That Rotten Tar Bulldog quickly moved to the side to dodge it, but Rin moved her hand as the beam continued towards the beast''s right eye! *Chreee!* *Bark!* -93! ''Its defense is high.'' But Rin gritted her teeth, and despite feeling a sudden headache along with some notifications and voice in her head regarding Sword Beam, Rin controlled her mana forcefully through her sheer will and broke through her magic affinity limit as she managed to converge the sword beam back a bit before moving her hand to hit the beast''s left eye as well! -105! "Rin?!" "I am fine!" Erix frowned as he saw blood trickling from Rin''s mouth, but he had to finish off the dog first since it was enraged. Both of its eyes were blinded, but its nose was still sharp as it could smell the group''s unique scent from the rest of the zombie horde. ''Iron Flower will take time, but since I can use mana and try something like Rin did...'' Erix quickly thought while rushing towards the iing enraged dog. He gathered mana in his right fist by consuming 40 mana, and with his magic control, he created threeyers of mana waves before condensing them into the flesh of his fist! Right as he finished, the beast also swiped its ws toward him. In response, Erix punched with his empowered right fist! ''With punch force passive skill and this punch empowered by forty mana, it should do a lot of damage,'' Erix thought as his fist connected with the w! The w was shattered while Erix''s hand also started heavily bleeding! *hiss...* ''Damn!'' Erix cursed. ''But you are dead!'' But it was not over! A powerful force unleashed from Erix''s punch as it squarely hit the beast''s paw and burst it into a bloody mess! The punch force continued as it traveled through the dog''s paw and entered its body before raging inside and destroying its organs! -302! [You have killed a level 34 Rotten Tar bulldog. +5 Strength. +6 agility] Erix felt a sharp sting in his head as some information entered him, and he heard a voice with a notification. [Your attack met the requirement of creating a skill. Skill adjustmentpleted] [Congrattions. You have acquired a 1st Tier active skill, Imposing Fist] "Hmm? That''s a blue patterned treasure chest!" Jacob shouted. ''I''ve never seen such a treasure chest.'' Seeing Erix''s fist bleeding while he stood in a daze and Rin looking in a simr state as Erix, Jacob''s eyes trembled. ''I¡­If I can take that treasure chest and get anything from it, I''ll be powerful!'' Jacob thought as greed overtook him, and he made a dash! "Stop!" Lena shouted upon seeing her son''s action. "Idiot!" Toshin angrily spoke as he sliced three zombies in session with his sword before dashing towards his daughter since she was getting overwhelmed because Jacob suddenly broke away from the formation. Isabe also shot some bullets, supporting all sides of the formation using her gun. Having no other choice, she used Frost Shield to protect the party. ''Only 23 mana left now,'' Isabe became anxious. Erix narrowed his eyes as his headache quickly subsided after he got the skill. Rin recovered a brief earlier as she right out snorted and waved her sword towards Jacob when he was going to touch the treasure chest by stretching his left hand. *sh!* "Arrrghhhh!!¡­ M-My arm!" Jacob shouted in horror and pain as his left arm was cleanly cut off from near his elbow. "Idiot, your sister could die because of your carelessness and greed!" Rin red daggers at Jacob, causing him to cower. Erix quickly dashed and touched the treasure chest before putting it in his inventory. "Trash," Erix spat as he nced at Jacob before quickly controlling his hammer to push away zombies surrounding the group as they were starting to get closer and overwhelm them. His dagger also sliced many zombies and instantly killed them. "Bastard! Stop crying and get back into the formation," Toshin shouted at Jacob while quickly pushing away iing zombies. If they didn''t have skilled fighters, a few could have been scratched or bitten because of Jacob''s idiocy. Lena bit her lips looking at her son''s sorry state, but there was no time as the group quickly focused back on the formation. Jacob didn''t want to die by getting left behind, so he quickly used all of the status points he had saved in the Health attribute, hoping for quick recovery and regeneration of his arm. s, the pain stopped, the bleeding stopped, and the wound closed, but his arm didn''t regrow! Chapter 21: Field Dungeon

Chapter 21: Field Dungeon

''Fuck,'' Jacob cursed internally upon seeing that his arm didn''t regrow. This affected hisbat power a lot, and he was starting to struggle to hold off zombies. "Serina, help a bit here," Jacob said to his sister. "Idiot," Serina muttered as she worked harder to push back and kill more zombies because of Jacob. But overall, the group had an easier time because all bodyguards also reached above level 10 and became stronger. They already had above-average fighting capability, so getting a boost in their body stats and acquiring skills made them stronger. The group was getting closer to the area where the mist was present. Erix and Rin were the first to enter the misty area and vanished when they entered! "T-That¡­what happened?" Toshin and others were startled to see Erix and Rin disappearing. Isabe bit her lips and entered the mist area as the scenery changed. She saw a vast garden before her with that giant flower monster at the center. [You have entered a field dungeon. Defeat the Helix Flower to get a Rare Treasure chest and other random rewards] Erix, Rin, and Isabe stood at the corner of this garden and couldn''t get out as everything outside this five hundred square meters area garden was only a thick fog on all sides. Rin tried to put her hand out but quickly took it back as her skin started burning and her Vitality decreased by a point. "We can''t leave this garden," Rin said somberly. Soon, Toshin, Lena, Serina, Jacob, and those ten bodyguards also entered the misty area. "Aaron is outside¡­." Isabe said with a worried expression. "Don''t worry. I still have a connection with my pet and canmunicate with it. They are fine," Erix said before he turned to the giant flower monster. "We must kill that monster to leave this so-called field dungeon." [Helix Flower] _Type: nt Monster _Vitality: 2000/2000 _Attack: 300 _Defense: 100 _Status: ¡ª> [ Strength: 135 / Agility: 103 / Health: 164 / Stamina: 164] ¡ª> [ Magic: 50 / Mana: 500/500 ] "It''s not moving to attack us," Rin said with a thoughtful expression. "I think it will only awake and attack us if we attack it, which means we have a resting time." Toshin looked at bodyguards and said, "Quick, open treasure chests and gear up." He also took out the three treasure chests he got: twomon and one umon grade. Lena also got twomon and one umon grade treasure chest. Jacob got onemon and one umon, while Serina was lucky as she got four treasure chests, two umon and twomon. Each bodyguard also got at least two or more treasure chests. On the other hand, Isabe got five treasure chests, twomon and three umon. But Rin and Erix only got two treasure chests total: one Umon-grade from a Bee that Erix killed and one Rare-grade from that bulldog monster. Everyone started opening their treasure chests as they received various things. Isabe got three 1st Tier skills and two normal-ss skills from her five treasure chests. She learned all five skills one by one as she felt a bit of a headache because of the information entering her head regarding the skills. [~Isabe~] _Race: Human _Level: 18 _ss: None _Vitality: 200/200 _Status points: 36 ¡ª¡ª> [ Strength: 32 (+60)/ Agility: 33/ Health: 35 / Stamina: 34] ¡ª¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 94 (+30) / Mana: 200/200 ] _Skills: ______Active Skills: [3/5] ______ -> [ Frost Shield (1st Tier) ] -> [ me Whips (1st Tier) ] -> [ Wind Dash (1st Tier) ] ______Passive Skills: [2/5] ______ -> [ Vital Power (1st ss): Strength +60, Vitality +100 ] -> [ Soldier Combat Art (normal ss): Acquires soldier-level fighting knowledge and expertise.] ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ -> [ Mother''s Unbounded Love ] "I feel so strong now¡­." Isabe muttered as she got knowledge of the skills. The one that affected herbat ability was Soldier Combat Art. She now had a simr level of fighting expertise as a soldier. That skill could be said to be the most useful skill! Such fighting expertise would immensely help her in fights, especially in the current early stage of this apocalypse. "Erix, Rin. Should we use our stat points before fighting that monster?" Isabe asked. "Yeah, assign your stat points." "Alright," Toshin and others nodded. Toshin wanted to use his saved stat points to boost himself. He and his wife had reached level 21 in this short journey, but that flower still intimidated them. "Let''s open our treasure chests," Erix said as he opened the umon treasure chest. A cyan-colored orb came out with a scroll in it. "A skill, huh? Hope it''s a passive skill that boosts my stats," Erix muttered as he touched the orb, causing it to vanish, and grabbed the scroll before learning the skill. [You have learned a 1st Tier passive skill, Metacyber Arm] ''Hmm?'' Erix was surprised as he felt a strange sensation in his body as if something had appeared inside him. Then, two secondster, a ck metallic arm appeared in front of him with brown and blue patterns. It was a meter-long arm with a sci-fi-like design and looked incredible. The hand part had web-like patterns with a blue hue exuding from it, looking magical even with its sci-fi appearance. "A robotic arm?" Rin was surprised. A faint blue electric-like thread extended from the arm''s end before it connected to Erix''s forehead briefly before vanishing. [ Metacyber Arm (1st Tier passive skill): A prototype Hyperphysique object with pre-defined powers that can be upgraded. Its metaphysicalponent can connect to the user''s mind for them to freely control it and possibly unleash skills through it]. "This is a strange passive skill," Erix uttered with a surprised expression as he could control this arm with his mind. He could also see the Metacyber Arm''s status! _____ [ Metacyber Arm ] -Physical power: 80 -Magic: 80 -Durability: 1000/1000 -Usable skills: Imposing Fist, Repairman, Punch Force (passive). -Note: It takes two days to restore once destroyed. _____ "Eh, I also got a skill," Rin said as she opened her Rare-grade treasure chest. [ Budding Sword (1st ss passive skill): Your mind is like a sharp sword, and your movement is like graceful swordy. A budding intent of sword is present in you. +20% Damage on sword attacks and attacks unleashed through a sword ] "It''s a Rare-grade treasure chest, so why did it still drop a 1st Tier skill?" Erix frowned. "Who knows? But it''s good," Rin shrugged as she took the scroll and learned the skill. "Alright, we are ready to rumble now," she said with a grin upon feeling the new skill''s power. "Yep," Erix nodded with a smile as he and Rin approached each other. Rin wrapped her arms around Erix''s neck while Erix grabbed her waist and pulled her in before they shared a passionate kiss. "What are you doing?" Isabe asked with confusion. "It''s our special skill called Ignis Ad intimacy," Rin said with a chuckle as she swung her sword in the air and nodded. "Our overall stat and magic are increased by 30% for an hour." "Let''s start attacking. We don''t have time to make ns because Aaron is outside," Erix said as he jumped on his hammer and flew up. "Rin and I will go first, while Isabe will protect us from the back with her Forst Shield. "The rest of you attack however you like with your new skills, but don''t get too close and keep eyes on us and the flower monster both when you attack," Rin added. Chapter 22: Tough Battle, Deaths

Chapter 22: Tough Battle, Deaths

NOTE: Even if two skills are in the same Tier, like if two skills are 1st Tier skills, that doesn''t mean both skills have the same potential when evolving. The evolution of the skills is also affected by users and how they use them. So, a seemingly trash 1st Tier skill can possibly be better than the majority of 2nd Tier skills after evolving to 2nd Tier. ¡ª Erix and Rin focused on the monster and attracted its offense by attacking it first. Rin unleashed her Sword Beam and attacked. This skill showed the requirement to evolve when she used it while fighting the mutated Bulldog, and she was looking forward topleting the required tasks. [ Kill enemies with a sword. (0/100) ] [ Kill Supra-Order enemies. (0/50) ] [ Get 10 Mortal-Order skill stones. (0/10) ] [ Get 1 Supra-Order skill stone. (0/1) ] The flower monster had four vines, and they were attacking Erix and Rin, but they nimbly dodged the vines while attacking. Isabe also joined the battle right after Erix and Rin started attacking. She started by using her newly acquired skill, me Whip. [ me Whip (1st Tier active skill): A whip made of me that inflicts burning damage to enemies hit. Inflict a stack of burn upon hitting that deals 14% of the user''s magic stat per second for five seconds. Maximum 5 stacks.] -Cost: 60 mana points. -Duration: 5 seconds. Isabe held a whip made of me in her hand after using the skill. *Swoosh!* She swung the whip as it extended up to 10 meters and hit the Flower monster''s petal. -84! 1x Burn! She didn''t stop and continuously attacked five times and managed to inflict five stacks of burn. -84! 2x Burn! -84! 3x Burn! -84! 4x Burn! -7! 4x Burn! -84! 5x Burn! -7! 4x Burn! Although 14% of her current magic stat was 18, the burn stacks dealt 7 damage to Helix Flower due to its resistance. Still, 7 damage each second five times for five seconds meant the burns dealt 175 damage + 420 damage of her whip attacks total! All because of her 124 magic stat and the newly acquired skill. It cost high mana, but the damage was worth it. "Attack!" Toshin shouted as he, his wife, and others also used their skills. The battle only started, but the monster was brought down to less than a thousand vitality! Toshin dashed forward and cut off a vine after seeing Rin cut one of its thick deadly vines. The monster''s attack weakened by having two of its vines cut. However, after its second vine got cut, the monster released a weird cry! The flower stopped attacking with its vine and suddenly bloomed before spraying dark green pollen in arge area that was not avoidable by moving around! Isabe quickly used her Frost Shield skill and floated it horizontally. "Everyone! Come under the shield!" "Some of you,e here!" Erix shouted as he used his Iron Flower skill and consumed two petals to create a flower barrier! ''Welp, I''m out of mana now,'' Erix thought as using the Iron Flower skill only left him with 5 mana points. Upon seeing the barrier, which was bigger with more space, Serina, Toshin, Jacob, and all bodyguards went there before the pollen started falling after that flower sprayed it out. While under Isabe''s Frost Shield, Rin, Lena, and Isabe continued attacking using long-range attacks. Isabe used her pistole to shoot the monster flower''s petals, and Rin spent thest of her mana points to unleash sword beams, while Lena also unleashed some ck orbs before she continued shooting with her handgun. Erix and others couldn''t attack from within the barrier as they would hit the barrier instead of passing through it. The pollen was falling on the barrier and shield but was not doing anything. "This must have some other effect instead of direct damage," Erix said as he observed the magical pollen that didn''t damage his barrier or Isabe''s shield. *Criririirr¡­..* The flower monster dropped to the brink of death, with only a bit over 100 vitality remaining. Erix also deactivated the barrier since all pollen fell on the ground. Everyone rushed out and started attacking again. But instead of seeing the monster dying in the next second, they saw it brightly glowing before it issued a sharp cry. "What''s going on?!" Jacob shouted as he backed away. "Just attack and kill it!" one of the bodyguards said before he waved his hand to release a wind de. This was the same bodyguard who got a 1st Tier skill called Sharp Winds. However, when his wind de hit the flower monster''s head, it was absorbed inside before the same wind de returned with double its initial speed. It zoomed straight toward that same bodyguard and cut him into two! "Wh-what?" The bodyguard was shocked before pain flooded his brain. His upper half fell backward as he saw his lower half in front of him before falling on his back and facing the sky. His eyes soon lost focus as he died without uttering any scream. "Fuck!" Everyone backed away and didn''t dare to attack. It was only left with precisely 100 Vitality! The monster started regrowing its vines and started attacking everyone with higher intensity. The vines now had sharp spikes on their bodies. "Watch out!" Everyone jumped up, down, and rolled sideways as they tried to dodge, but the rampage of those vines was truly fast, powerful, and chaotic! "Arghhh!" "No!" Two bodyguards with big body frames were hit as they were smacked with such intensity that their chests caved in before they shot out of the garden''s border and vanished into the darkness. "Arrghhhhhh!!" Horrifying screams reverberated from the darkness, indicating the agony they were suffering. But their screams soon stopped. *Puchi!* Toshin''s left leg disappeared from a bit below his knee as the vine hit him there with blinding speed! Blood sprayed and formed a pool as he fell to the ground after a scream! "Toshin!" Lena dodged a vine attack, but her husband''s scream and the sight distracted her as the vine neared her head! However, Erix''s Metacyber Arm pushed her and saved her from the attack before Lena quickly adjusted herself. On the other hand, Rin and Isabe noticed the glow on the flower monster subsiding and attacked simultaneously! Isabe could easily dodge with her special soldier passive skill and movement-type 1st Tier skill, Wind Dash. She quickly dashed ten meters at the front and neared the Helix Flower before using her Wind Dash skill and attacking it with her pistol while Rin somersaulted ahead and dashed forward before jumping up and throwing her sword towards the monster''s head! "Arghhh!" Before the monster died, everyone heard two more screams as Jacob and another bodyguard got hit by the berserk vines and died! At the same time, the flower monster lost 100 vitality and finally died with Isabe''s and Rin''s attack. Everyone living heard a ding in their heads and a notification about them leveling up. The flower monster also turned into motes and disappeared while leaving three glowing orbs, two white and one cyan, on the ground. Aside from the orbs, there was a blue-patterned treasure crate, a blue-patterned treasure chest (Rare), and two cyan-patterned treasure chests(Umon). "J-Jacob¡­" Lena looked at her son''s spattered body. Her gaze turned nk before tears spilled like rivers from her eyes. Toshin was also devastated after losing his son and howled. No matter how ipetent, Jacob was his son, after all. Serina''s eyes also started dropping tears as she fell to her knees. The remaining bodyguards turned sorrowful as they also lost their fivepanions with whom they had been together for a year. "Erix!" Rin shouted with wide eyes when she turned around to look at Erix and saw his condition. "Well... I fucked up," Erix said with a wry smile as his right leg was gone from the knee. A vine also hit him, but he was already focused on two ces, so he couldn''tpletely dodge that vine attack. Although that nt monster only went berserk for several seconds, it literally gave everyone hell because of its quick vine attacks and...caused deaths. Chapter 23: Opening Rewards, Roulette Devil

Chapter 23: Opening Rewards, Roulette Devil

Despite many treasure chests, orbs, and a single treasure crate shining in the middle of the garden, the atmosphere was heavy. After that flower monster died, the darkness outside the garden disappeared as they returned to the real world. However, the vine border of the monster was still there, so all of them were safe within that two thousand square meter area. *Whistle!* The Bloodwood Eagle released a sharp whistle as itnded beside Erix, but Aaron was still sleeping. After all, it''s barely been two hours since they left the military headquarters and arrived at the mansion of Toshin and his family. "There''s no blood dripping out¡­" one of the bodyguards muttered in surprise as he looked at Erix''s leg. Rin and Isabe arrived beside Erix in worry. "Rx. My pain tolerance has shot up because of...you know what," Erix said as he sat down on the ground. "This is going to cause you trouble," Isabe said as her eyebrows creased. "I can fly, so my mobility won''t be affected. However¡­." Erix trailed off as he looked at Toshin and Lena, who were mourning their son''s death Toshin''s leg was also cut off. But he seemed to have closed off the wound using his mana. "Wish we could regain all of our health and everything after leveling up," Rin said with a sigh as she felt pain looking at Erix with only one leg. "I''m sure there are means to regenerate limbs in our current world," Erix said. "A healing skill, maybe? Or an item that merges with the body to fill the leg part like this Metacyber Arm? I feel like anything is possible." On the other hand, a bodyguard with a ck mustache and ck military cut hairstyle approached Toshin, Lena, and Serina, who were crying and mourning. "Mr. Toshin, Mrs. Lena. I can understand your pain because I also lost my son when he was four." The bodyguard said with a sorrowful expression as he bent and put his hand on Toshin''s shoulder. "But we can''t stay here forever. We have to move on." "Let''s open those treasure chests and continue moving," Erix said as he adjusted his posture and robe before lying on the ground on his back. "Let me find you a metal board so you can fly on it," Rin said before dashing towards the mall''s entrance. The mall was empty since this apocalypse happened at midnight, and at that time, malls and such locations that were void of people were not flooded by zombies. *nk..* After breaking the door of the mall, Rin went inside and brought out a steel shopping trolley! "Will this work?" "Yep, It will work." Erix nodded. Isabe and Rin helped him stand up before he sat in the trolley. He used his Metal Control skill afterward and easily flew up. "You all, open the treasure chests and distribute the rewards. We can move morefortably after powering up," Toshin said as he wiped his face of tears. "Lena, Serina. Dig the ground, please. We have to bury Jacob and others." "I''ll help on that," Erix said, using his Metacyber Arm to help them dig four spots quickly. Serina and Lena buried Jacob''s remains inside while the bodyguards buried the three dead bodyguards in the other three spots. "Jacob..." Lena''s tears couldn''t stop. "Mom, stop crying," Serina said, her eyes red. "I understand the pain of losing your loved one," Erix said, his voice indifferent. "I lost my mother when I was ten, cried for days, and almost died of hunger. But now is not the time to waste time. Please understand." Toshin cleaned his eyes with his fingers and firmly nodded. "We understand. Lena, Serina, please get hold of yourselves." After a minute, everyone surrounded the treasure chests, three mysterious ck orbs, and a big treasure crate that dropped from the Helix Flower monster. "How do we distribute them?" Serina asked as she nced at Erix, Rin, and Isabe. "Let''s open them first and then distribute the rewards ordingly," Erix responded before turning to Rin. "Rin will open them one by one." "Alright," Toshin and Lena had no problem, and the bodyguards agreed. "I''ll leave those three ck orbs for thest and open the treasure crate first," Rin said as she walked towards the big blue-patterned treasure crate. [Rare Treasure Crate (level 50-100): Contains multiple rewards] Opening the crate, a burst of lights flew out before turning into orbs as they fell on the ground. Two blue orbs and two cyan orbs. One blue orb had an image of a four-piece ck outfit set with beautiful moonlight-colored designs: A ck tennis cape. A long skirt. A ck t-shirt with a white skull symbol. A pair of ck boots. *** [Dawnless Armor Set: Dawnless Cap, Dawnless Skirt, Dawnless T-shirt, and Dawnless Boots.] - Set Effect (2-piece): Mana points regeneration increased to 0.5 mana points per second. - Set Effect (4-piece): +25 all stats. Infusing 20 mana in the boots increases your movement speed by 20% for 10 seconds. *** All stats meant that it also increased Magic stat! "This is a female armor set. I''ll rece my current one with it." Rin touched the orb and reced her current set with the new Dawnless Armor Set. Her current set was reced while the old set appeared on the ground. "Who wants this Set?" Rin said as she showed the armor set she previously wore to others. [Novice Merciless-Merc Set: Includes a pair of gloves, a pair of boots, a robe, and a level 15 knife]. [-Set effect 1: Stamina +10, Strength +10, Agility +10, Health+10]. [-Set effect 2: 5% chance to deal a critical hit that doubles your attack] "Who among you want it?" Erix asked as he looked at Toshin and his group. He didn''t want this, and Isabe also didn''t need it since she could get something betterter from the remaining treasure chests. "Monty, take it." Toshin turned to a bodyguard who looked like he was in his early thirties and nodded. After Monty touched the set and wore it with a thought, everyone looked at the second blue orb. This blue orb had no particr image in it. It was all just a whirling blue mass. "Let''s see¡­." Rin bent down and touched the orb as it glowed for a second before turning into a spinning roulette with five sections! However, it was covered in a cloud of smoke for a second before everyone heard a peal of creepyughter! It was sharp and quick, something not possible for a human throat. "Yeihehehe... Congrattions to you for summoning the great Roullete Devil. That is me! Yeihehehe¡­" The one speaking was a miniature joker with dark red horns, the size of a palm, who stood on the roulette that manifested in the middle of the group. "W-Wha¡­" Serina stammered and stumbled back as she felt creepy goosebumps. The others were also startled, while Rin jumped back and took out her sword with a cautious expression. "Yiehohehe¡­rx, rx. I am just a wish-fulfilling great roulette devil, so now, now¡­ who is going to spin this devil? Oh, wait, before that~." "Yiehehe, let me exin to you about this roulette. Out of those five sections, the one with the scroll symbol means a skill." "The one with the box symbol means an item." "The one with the DNA symbol means an innate talent." "The one with an egg symbol means a beastpanion." The devil narrowed its creepy dark red eyes with gray pupils and showed a wide grin before continuing, "Andstly, this one with the skull symbol means a delicious death." Chapter 24: Wish?

Chapter 24: Wish?

"I am not doing it." Serina firmly shook her head. Her gaze was on the skull section of the roulette.'' 20% chance of dying? No thanks.'' Erix nced at Rin and Isabe before shaking his head. "We are not doing it." In the end, nobody wanted to spin the roulette. "Yeiheheheh, that won''t do. Unless one of you spins the roulette, you will be trapped here forever," the Devil said as he creepilyughed. A faint dark mist appeared as it surrounded everyone after the Devil finished speaking! Erix narrowed his eyes at the Devil and focused to see his status. [~Roulette Devil~] _Level: 199 (Noble-Order) Erix could only see his level, but that was enough. ''Troublesome,'' he thought, internally clicking his tongue. ''Impossible to defeat it, alright.'' "Come on! If you stay scared in this situation, you won''t progress. Yeihahaha¡­" "Show some bravery and spin the roulette. If not, I will forcefully choose one of you to spin it." Erix fell into thought, his eyes narrowing at the roulette''s skull section. ''I didn''t die of a zombie bite and instead became powerful. If I can dodge that bullet, then this 20% chance of death¡­ I can beat it too.'' "I''ll spin it," Erix said before he was a bit startled as the moment he spoke, the Devil and his roulette disappeared from the group''s center and floated right in front of him. "Erix? What are you thinking?" Rin frowned. "You don''t need to take a risk like that, Erix." Isabe said as her brows also creased at Erix''s decision. "Before I spin it, I want to ask some questions," Erix said, looking straight at the Devil. "Ask away, but know that I am not obligated to answer them, yeihehehe." Erix nodded before he asked his first question. "Does that skull symbol indicate certain death?" "Interesting question," the Devil grinned before releasing a sharp creepyugh. "No! It''s not certain death, but almost certain. You will be bestowed a random death sentence if you get a skull symbol. "For example¡­ Forcefully fighting to the death against a random human of this world, or¡­ "Forcefully fighting against a creature more powerful than you," the Devil harrowingly grinned as he continued, "You might also get thrown into a torture cell or a deadly maze with a time limit survival." "All in all, the Skull symbol is 99% death and 1% chance of survival. How you turn that 1% into 100% depends on your capabilities, yeihehehehe¡­ Now, spin, spin." Erix spun the roulette with his hand without saying anything anymore. Rin and Isabe stood on both sides of Erix to see the roulette, and Serina, Lena, and bodyguards stood behind Erix for the same reason. Toshin just sat on the ground with his cut-off leg, but his eyes were also focused on them as he wondered, ''What will happen?'' The roulette''s needle was hitting the borders of each section as the spinner started slowing down. Erix was calm, but Rin and Isabe were the opposite. Finally, the roulette slowed as the needle entered the skull section! But it was still spinning and hit the border before slowing down. By now, Erix was not calm. ''Move forward!'' The needle bent while the roulette still spun a bit. In the end, the needle stuck at the border between the skull and the Innate talent section. "What the fuck?" One of the bodyguards muttered with a dumbfounded expression. Others were also taken aback at the development. "Oya, Oya¡­ This is interesting, yeihoeheoheoheheh!" The Roulette Devilughed manically in his weird way at the result. "What do you make of this?" Rin fired a question at the Devil. The Devil was stillughing as he held his belly and squirmed on the ground. "Yiehohehehoehe¡­ T-This is too funny. The chance of this happening is so low that it has never happened to me until now.'' ''This young man is strange. His race is already a unique one, but It seems that Luck, which is normally unaffected by external factors, is somehow affected by him. Although that almost killed him, it reached an equilibrium of good and bad due to his effect, but that ended him giving him this rare reward.'' Erix looked at the roulette and then the Devil before asking, "What do I get now?" The Devil stoppedughing but still grinned wide as he floated in front of Erix and said, "You get the best reward, hahaha. ording to the rule, you get a wish if the needle doesn''t point to any section." "A wish?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Do you mean I can wish for anything and have it?" "No. If you wish to reach level 100, it won''t happen. There are also other things you can''t wish for," the Devil said while shaking his head before looking at Erix''s eyes and grinning. "If you ask for a wish that can''t be fulfilled, your wish will be wasted. So think carefully and ask. You have one minute." "One minute¡­" Erix frowned and started thinking. Isabe blinked once as she got an idea. "Erix, how about you ask for all rewards of this roulette except for that Skull symbol?" Isabe suggested with a thoughtful expression. "I am sure such a wish can be fulfilled." "Hoho, thisdy says some wise words," the Devilughed. "That''s a good idea," Rin also nodded. Serina, Lena, and the bodyguards also nodded as they agreed with Isabe. "Thanks for the suggestion, Isabe. But I want to try something else," Erix said as a smile formed on his face. Chapter 25: Toy, Encounter

Chapter 25: Toy, Encounter

"The wish I am going to ask might not get fulfilled¡­ But, I want to ask for it." Erix took a deep breath after speaking before stating his wish. "I wish to have three life substitutes." "What?" The Devil was confused. "Give me three things that can substitute Life. For example, if I somehow get fatally wounded and die, my injuries and all will be transferred to that one thing, like a doll or something, allowing me to survive. The one to die will be that substitute." "So, you want three chances at a life¡­ The way you stated made it an easy wish to fulfill," the Devil muttered with a speechless expression. "Oh?" Erix was surprised, and so were the others. "There''s an item called Life Doll. Hard to get, but if you are fatally wounded and close to death, it will transfer all of your injuries and allow you to live." "Yeihehehe, I have Life Dolls in this roulette''s random item box section, but the chance to get it from a random item box is 3%." The Devilughed before waving his hand and taking out three Life Dolls. "But I have a question, why did you ask for three Life Dolls? You could ask for more." "Uhh¡­ I wanted to ask more, but then I thought that asking more would instead negate the wish. So, I settled for a bnced number, three." Erix spoke with a wry smile. "You could ask for five maximum, Yeiheheheho," the Devilughed. "After all, these dolls cannot revive you but save your life by meeting certain conditions." Everyone''s face turned a bit sour hearing that. "First condition, these dolls must be attached to your skin." "Second condition, you must be above level 50 to bind with these dolls and make them work for you." ''Fuck¡­'' "Third condition, you must be below level 300. The dolls won''t work for beings above level 300." "And¡­" "There''s more?" Rin was speechless. "Yeiehahah, just kidding. That''s all the conditions," the Devil grinned. "Now, I must bid farewell. Yeihahaha, it was fun." The Roulette Devil disappeared along with his roulette with a small burst of smoke. Erix took the three dolls and put them in his inventory. "The dolls are useless for now," he said with a rueful smile. "But they are useful after you cross level 50," Isabe said with a smile. "Not only me but you two as well. That''s why I asked for three dolls instead of one." Erix said and gave Rin and Isabe a doll each. "Here, take it. Just put them in your inventory for now." Serina, Lena, and others looked at the dolls enviously but didn''t think of doing anything stupid. "I don''t need it," Isabe said with a smile. "Remember, I have a skill that can save me. So, you keep this doll." Isabe returned the doll, and Erix and Rin also found it reasonable as they remembered her skill and took it back. "Alright, I''ll continue opening the treasure chests. Our 30% boost is still active, so we should finish our journey to the military base before it expires." In the following two Cyan orbs she opened, one had a fruit that increased Magic stat by 10. But the second Cyan orb was a bit different. When Rin touched it, it glowed with a ck sh before a miniature thumb-sized ck truck-ss jeep toy appeared. Rin picked up the toy but was surprised after looking at its information. *** [ Jeep diator Corvette: A durable truck-ss open jeep with six wheels, four seats, and a big bed floor at the back. ] -Effect 1: Unlimited gas. -Armor: Attacks of enemies below level 50 won''t work against the vehicle. -Durability: 1000/1000 -Note: Once Durability reduces to 0, the vehicle will vanish. *** [A/N: You can google the name of this vehicle to see how it looks] ¡­ Rin threw the toy jeep at an empty area, and the moment it hit the ground, the toy turned into a real deal! "This is good. Since it''s an item from the treasure chest, it will surely run." "Yeah. And the space is enough for all of us." The bodyguards spoke, bing delighted to have a working vehicle. After talking for a bit, the Jeep''s ownership was left undecided since it was big enough to house 8 to 10 people or more if squeezed. On the other hand, Erix ate the fruit to increase his Magic stat by 10. "Next," Rin said as she moved beside a Cyan-patterned treasure chest(Umon) and opened it. A Cyan orb dropped. However, before Rin could touch it, everyone heard loud fighting sounds. Rin was also startled and stood up as she turned her head. That sound was increasing as everyone turned to look at the main road. "Voices¡­" Lena uttered in a surprised tone. Soon, they saw several zombies sting away at the border of the vine fence as a group of people stood there while killing zombies around them. A few people at the back looked at the mall as they got curious about the vine border and were surprised to see Erix and others. Those people were none other than people from the Military base! Chapter 26: ...They Shape, Make, and Destroy Your Life

Chapter 26: ...They Shape, Make, and Destroy Your Life

"Treasure chests!" One of them shouted upon seeing four treasure chests! Everyone in thatrge group of twenty-six people nced back. "Everyone, jump above this vine fence!" A man in a military uniform shouted. He was one of the people who came to recruit Erix, Rin, and Isabe. After that shout, people jumped above the border of the vine fence while some people at the front killed and pushed the zombies away. Soon, they also jumped over after making some space. In this group of twenty-six people were sixteen civilians and ten soldiers. Toshin was happy seeing military soldiers. ''With those many people, we can safely reach the military base.'' However, Erix and Rin frowned because one of them shouted treasure chests! "Soldiers, did that fatty General Tark send you? I called him for rescue, and he said he would send people," Toshin quickly spoke. "Yes, sir. That''s why we moved this way in our expedition to get strong," Lieutenant Ralph said with a smile. "That Jeep looks brand new. Is it working? Wait¡­how did you drive it within this vine fence?" asked one of the powerful civilians with a spikey baseball bat as his weapon. The border of the vine fence was roughly three meters tall. Erix and others didn''t need to climb it since they automatically entered that mysterious space when they came into contact with the mist surrounding that border. "If you have extra skills and weapons, please share with us, hahaha. I mean, you have plenty right now. Four treasure chests and three ck orbs," another civilian said. He wore a tank top on his muscr body and had a big cleave in his hand. Hearing him, Lena''s face turned dark as she spoke in a severe tone, "These things are what we earned with hard work and losing six people, including my son! If you move closer to us before we distribute them, expect at least five of you to die with me." "Stop it, you all." Lieutenant Ralph turned around to look at the group with a frown as he continued, "We came out to kill these zombies and beasts to get strong, not to loot other people!" "Tsk¡­" ''Three of them are above level 20, thirteen are above level 10, while the rest are below level 10¡­'' Erix could see their levels but not other things. However, his gaze was watching them, and he ordered the Bloodwood Eagle to fly up. "Rx, we won''t approach you until you distribute those rewards," Lieutenant Ralph said as he turned back to Erix''s group. "Now, now, Mr. Liutenent. You are not our leader," the man with a spikey bat said as he walked forward and stood beside Lieutenant Ralph. "Galdot¡­" Lieutenant Ralph''s face turned dark as he looked at the man beside him. "Come on, man. I know you are also greedy for those treasure chests and those three ck orbs," Galdot said as he licked his lips while looking at the front. "Nobody will know what happened here," another man said as he stood at the other side of Lieutenant Ralph. "Arlo?" Lieutenant Ralph was shocked to see Arlo siding with Galdot. Arlo was a soldier; Among the soldiers, he was the highest-leveled one, at level 18. On the other hand, Galdot was overall the highest level in the group, at level 24. Five group members walked out and stood beside Galdot; they had been Galdot''spanions since this apocalypse started. The two women and four men in Galdot''s group were rtively high-level. Three were above level 20; the others were level 18, level 17, and level 19. They sided with Galdot on the decision to loot the treasure chest. The other ten civilians consisting of middle-aged men, women, and young adults, revealed hesitant expressions. Seven of them were below level 10, while three of them were between level 10 to 15. "You should know who is more powerful among us. You wouldn''t have survived without our group, humph," said Tan as she snorted at the civilians and soldiers. She was one of the two women in Galdot''s group. "You all, if you don''t want to die, then leave those things on the ground and get out," Galdot said with a nasty grin as he looked at Rin and the others. "You all¡­" Lieutenant Ralph was in disbelief. ''T-This is not a good idea.'' "Sorry, sir. We have to side with Galdot on this one." "Senior Ralph¡­ I am sorry." The rest of the soldiers also sided with Galdot! All of them became greedy and wanted those rewards to get strong. ''Hehe, a bunch of idiots¡­'' Galdot internally sneered. "W-What is going on? You can''t be serious, right?!" Toshin shouted with anger. "Lieutenant Ralph, if you want to side with them, then get out." "And you all get out of this border vine fence in ten seconds, or we will attack you," said a man from Galdot''s group. "I-I have no choice, Mr. Toshin," Ralph stammered as his expression turned downcast. He sighed heavily before taking a step back. "Are you done?" Rin questioned with a cold, indifferent expression. The bodyguards, Serina and Lena, also prepared forbat. At the same time, Erix already sat in the shopping trolley''s handle part after Rin stuffed a square rock in it from the broken fountain''s structure so that he could sit adequately, while his only leg was in the space where people put items. "Haha, you want to fight us? Twenty-six against you nine?" Galdot scoffed as he crossed his arms. "I am giving you thest chance. Use some brain and make an intelligent choice, hahaha. Instead of throwing your lives, get out in the next ten seconds." "Giving us a chance?" Rin replied with a mocking expression as she unsheathed her sword. "Leave it, Rin. They made their choice. " Erix slowly flew up on the trolley while shaking his head. "Choices are important. They shape, make, and destroy your Life." Erix''s deep tone reverberated as he floated in the air. "Unfortunately for you all, the choice you made today will destroy your Life." *Swoosh!* Chapter 27: Slaughter

Chapter 27: ughter

The poison dagger flew forward, and he only aimed at people below level 20! *Dhoof!* "Kill them!" Galdot said as he waved his hand and used some skill as two ming shurikens flew towards the group. "Behind me!" Isabe shouted before she used her skill, Frost Shield, as a giant shield of ice appeared and easily nullified the shuriken. "No way!" Galdot was shocked upon his fire shuriken getting nullified! They just turned into steam and vanished without substantially damaging the frost shield. "Arghhh!" "W-What is this?!" "No!" On the other hand, Erix was flying up on the trolley while manipting his poison dagger. Just a slight graze, and people below level 15 were dead! Normally, it would be hard to kill so many people with this dagger because it was a melee weapon with short range. However, in Erix''s hand, it became a death reaper that would let no one escape. Some could deflect the dagger, but only once before the reaper took their life. *Swoosh!* Rin was like a fearless swordmaster as she dashed with her fast speed after releasing her Sword Beam to kill a level 22 woman in Galdot''s group. "Fuck!" Galdot cursed as he saw Rin arriving in front of him. He quickly used his Burst Step skill as a st of air left his feet''s sole, and he jumped six meters backward to dodge Rin''s sh. "You are not getting away!" Rin hissed coldly with her clenched jaw and focused expression as she unleashed a Sword Beam toward Galdot before hended on the ground. The Sword Beam directly hit his head before it burst into blood mesh. Perfect Aim! Deader than Dead! "Bitch!" Tan furiously cursed as she attacked Rin with her w gauntlets. ''Lightning Charge, Thunder Blitz!'' Rin calmly dodged Tan''s dash attack before she used two skills in quick session. Lightning Charge empowered her sword, while Thunder Blitz allowed her to dash five meters away as she passed Tan and the other four people of Galdot''s group before shing her sword at thest person. *Chriiii! Crackle!* A thunderp reverberated as the person struck with Rin''s sword died instantly before a lightning bolt passed through the other three people, andstly, Tan! [You have killed a level 22 human.] [You have killed a level 19 human.] ¡­ All five of them died! "No¡­" Ralph despaired as he saw the scene he was not expecting to see. Lena, Serina, and the bodyguards also killed those soldiers. One bodyguard was fatally injured in his stomach and fainted, but the whole fight was one-sided! The average level and stat difference were big! After all, killing that Helix Flower monster caused everyone to level up multiple times! Four of the five bodyguards reached level 17, and one was level 18. Lena and Serina reached level 23 and level 22, respectively. Isabe also reached level 22, while Rin and Erix reached level 31 and level 32. Moreover, Erix and Rin were too overpowered because the effect of the Ignis Ad intimacy effect was still ongoing. They took out 80% of the enemies! It was a one-sided ughter, and the fight ended in a minute. Interestingly, some orbs also appeared on the ground after those people died. A total of six orbs, three Cyan and three White. Galdot and two others from his group dropped three Cyan orbs while those three White orbs were from other people. Everyone died except for Lieutenant Ralph. "What do we do with this guy?" Rin said as she put her sword at Ralph''s neck. "That depends on his choice," Erix said as he descended and floated in front of Ralph. "I was against their decision! Spare me," Ralph became desperate and started begging. "He''ll join our group ande with us to the Military to tell them the story that happened here," Toshin thoughtfully said. "Yes, I will tell them how these guys turned into greedy wolves seeing your treasure chests. All you did was self-defense!" Ralph quickly spoke while nodding desperately. Erix looked at him with narrowed eyes behind his mask before he calmly uttered. "Kill him." *sh!* Rin''s sword moved swiftly, separating Ralph''s head from his body. He dropped a Cyan orb. "Why?" Lena asked with a frown. "Exactly," Erix said as he turned to Lena and others. "Why should we leave him alive and tell the military we encountered them?" "Once we drop you to the military base, we will separate. There''s no need to say that we met this Lieutenant Ralph''s group or whatever," Rin said as she swung her sword powerfully to remove the blood before sheathing it at her waist. "I agree with them," Serina said as she crossed her arms under her boobs. "Who knows what they would have done to us if they knew that we killed these people and soldiers, even if Ralph told them that we just self-defended." "Sigh¡­" Toshin sighed heavily as he looked into the sky and muttered, "Why did this have to happen?" Isabe''s face was not okay. She didn''t kill anyone and just defended the group from enemy skills by controlling the frost shield. ''Those people died¡­.'' Rin noticed and quickly appeared beside her, "Sister Isabe, don''t overthink. In such times, people be unpredictable. If we were less powerful, we would have died instead." "That''s right," Erix said as he floated beside her. "But if you still feel that our decision was incorrect and you can''t travel with us because of that, we won''t force you." Isabe sighed and shook her head. "I understand. It''s just¡­ This is all so extreme for me. I didn''t think they would want to kill us for those treasure chests." Rin side hugged Isabe and wryly smiled, "You have to get used to this, sister Isabe. Erix and I trust you, and I believe you also trust us. In such desperate times, the most important thing to have is people we can trust." "True¡­" Serina muttered with a slight nod. Others also instinctively nodded as Rin''s words resonated deep in them. Surviving alone was a choice, but the chance of death was high, so it was always good to have people to whom they could entrust their back. ¡­ After a few minutes, four bodyguards went inside the mall, hoping to find first aid kits and other useful things since a sharp weapon fatally injured one bodyguard in his stomach. They stopped his bleeding right after the fight, but that bodyguard hadn''t regained consciousness yet. Meanwhile, Rin gathered those orbs dropped from people with treasure chests. Lena and Serina helped Toshin and put him inside the diator Jeep since he couldn''t walk with one leg and needed to rest. Toshin needed treatment, which he hoped to get in the military base. Erix''s leg was also gone, but he had the means to fly because of his Metal Control skill, though he also hoped to find a way to regenerate his leg. After the bodyguards returned with first aid kits, bandages, and water, they treated the injured bodyguard before treating Erix''s and Toshin''s legs. "Alright, let''s quickly continue the distribution of things and leave," Rin said as she went to touch the Cyan orb (Umon-grade). The orb glowed before turning into a pair of thin pitch-ck gloves. [Power Gloves: Increase Strength by 20 and physical attack by 5%] Chapter 28: Talent

Chapter 28: Talent

Gonty, a bodyguard, took the Power Gloves. Afterward, Rin moved beside the 2nd Cyan patterned treasure chest and opened it. A cyan orb appeared, which had a bow weapon. A green bow with a tiny vine weaved around its body. *** [Druid''s Bow(Rare): Consume 5 to 30 mana points to shoot an arrow. Hitting a team member will heal them, and hitting an enemy will deal them wood-attributed damage. ] -Damage depends on the Strength and Magic stats of the user and mana used to produce an arrow. -Heal depends on the Health and Magic stats of the user and mana used to produce an arrow. *** "Who can use a bow here?" Erix asked as he looked at others. "I can use it," Serina said before throwing her long Baton to a bodyguard, "Ponty, you use this." The bodyguard named Ponty caught the Baton and swung it in the air a few times before grinning, "This is more suitable for me." The Baton was of lightning attribute and had a chance to numb enemies where they get hit by the Baton. Rin gave the bow to Serina and said, "This bow produces magic arrows by consuming mana. So it won''t be usable for constant use. You still need a normal weapon that doesn''t consume mana." Serina looked at the bow''s information and frowned. "Minimum five mana per arrow? That''s expensive. Alright, I''ll use Jacob''s sword as a normal weapon." "Jacob, give me your swor-"Serina turned her head while speaking but suddenly realized Jacob was no longer alive. The atmosphere turned heavy as Lena became tearful again but held back and wiped her face before saying to Rin, "Rin, please continue." One of the bodyguards named Jonty gave Jacob''s sword to Serina. On the other hand, Rin opened a blue patterned treasure chest (Rare). A blue orb appeared, which turned into a palm-sized stone tablet with entric symbols. [ Defense Talent Stone: Put a drop of your blood on the stone to active the stone tablet, which will give you a random defense-type talent. ] "Sister Isabe can use this. Her defensive skill has helped us a lot, so I think this talent might enhance her protective capability, " Rin said after showing the item''s details to everyone. "No problem," Lena nodded. Serina and the bodyguards also nodded. Isabe''s Frost Shield had indeed helped them a lot. Rin helped Isabe make a small cut on her thumb to drop blood on the stone tablet and activate the item. The stone tablet started glowing before it turned into motes and entered Isabe''s forehead at a blinding speed. Isabe felt a slight headache before she heard a sound in her head. [You have awakened a talent, Renewed Defense ] [ Renewed Defense (Rare talent): After your projectile defensive skill is destroyed, It instantly renews with half its initial effects and properties. If the renewed defensive skill is destroyed, it won''t renew again. ] Isabe showed her talent to everyone with a thought as they saw a small window of talent''s description appearing outside like a hologram. "I see, so talents are like that. This one can enhance skills and is quite powerful." Erix was impressed as he continued, "Renewing a defensive skill with half of its effects and properties without any cost is big." "I just checked. It seems we can only have three talents max," Isabe said after she asked the question in her head and got an answer in a monotone female voice. "Talents seem hard to get anyway," Rin said with a wry smile before she moved to thest treasure chest. It was the 2nd blue patterned treasure chest, and after opening it, everyone saw a blue orb with a talisman image in it. Rin touched the orb, which turned into a yellow talisman with entric red symbols. *** [ Fire Talisman (Rare): Infuse 1 mana point to activate it. You can control it with your index finger after throwing it, and it will explode in a five-meter radius upon hitting the first thing to deal 2000 t damage that ignores defense. ] -Note: It will not damage this world''s native beings and will only work on zombies, mutated beasts, and other monsters below level 100. *** "Alright, this item is like that Jeep. I''ll hold on to it for now. Or, if any of you want to hold on to it, I don''t have any problem," Erix said as he nced at everyone from Lena and Serina to all bodyguards. Toshin was resting inside the Jeep, so he was not participating in the distribution. "You should hold on to it." Lena decided on behalf of everyone, and with an understanding expression, she continued, "You can fly and use it better than us. Even in the fight, you three had the highest contribution." "Yep. You can use it better," Serina said with a nod. "Now, let''s move on to thest three things, the ck orbs." Saying that, Rin moved towards the ck orbs with anticipation in her eyes. The ck orbs were mysterious since they couldn''t see anything, as there was only a whirl of chaotic ck clouds inside. Chapter 29: Quest, Dungeon Call!

Chapter 29: Quest, Dungeon Call!

"Wait, what if those ck orbs spawn out something bad?" Ronty questioned with a frown. "Ronty, don''t be pessimistic. Since they were a reward for killing that monster, it ought to benefit us," Serina said as she looked at the orbs. "There are three ck orbs, so it''s more like a new type of reward." "Ronty?" Rin was stunned as she remembered the names of the other four bodyguards and uttered, "Monty, Ponty, Gonty, Jonty, and Ronty¡­ What''s going on? You five also don''t look like brothers." The bodyguards wryly smiled while Serina let out a chuckle. "All ten bodyguards were named like that after they joined us." "Haha, we are fine with that. Our name doesn''t mean much," Monty said with augh. All those bodyguards had no family. They had rtives in the past but no parents or kids anymore since Toshin only recruited such people as his bodyguards. "Alright, I am opening one," Rin said as she rubbed her palms and touched a ck orb. It glowed, burst, and spewed a hand-sized mirror. *** [ Rebound Mirror (Special): Infusing 100 mana points into the mirror to conjure a giant mirror up to 10 meters tall and wide for three seconds. The mirror will disappear after a single magic attack hits it. The magic attack that hit it will be rebounded back. ] -Note: The Rebound Mirror will be destroyed after two uses. *** "So, the ck orbs give special items? That''s nice," Rin said before she touched the second ck orb. However, the second ck orb burst like a bubble and dispersed. "So, they also give nothing¡­." Ponty wryly smiled. Rin went to touch the third ck orb, but it also gave nothing and burst like a bubble. "Alright, you handle this mirror, Mrs. Lena," Rin said as she gave the mirror to Lena. "Thanks. I''ll use it wisely," Lena said with a nod. Afterward, everyone entered the Jeep. Rin sat in the driver''s seat to drive, and Erix sat beside her. Lena, Serina, and Toshin sat in the middle seats while the five bodyguards sat at the back on the bed floor seats of the Jeep. There was enough space, so everyone wasfortable. As for Isabe, she was on top of the Bloodwood Eagle with her sleeping son. "T-This is fast," Serina uttered in surprise at the Jeep''s speed and power. It broke the vine border easily! The Jeep then moved onto the main road and showed its power! "This Jeep is awesome," Rin said with augh as she pressed the paddle and increased speed. All zombies and everything in their way were thrown away with no hups! Moreover, the Jeep didn''t even get a single dent on it. The Eagle flew in the sky at the same speed as the Jeep as they moved toward military headquarters. While the Jeep was moving, Toshin was deep in thought. After a few minutes, he suddenly said, "Let''s not go to the military base." Everyone was surprised. It was Toshin who wanted to go to the military base in the first ce. "What changed your mind?" Erix asked. "This jeep is awesome," Toshin said with a wry smile. "Indeed," Erix nodded with a smile behind his mask. He also understood why Toshin didn''t want to go there. "They will take it from us?" Serina asked, raising her eyebrows. "We are only this many, while there are many people in the military base," Erix said as he licked his lips. "But I am not afraid. Mr. Toshin, it seems that you''ve realized that the influence and power you have is not usable anymore." "Sigh¡­ Money is no longer the most important asset in the current world. There''s now anymore; everyone can have power if they fight for it and survive. People would awaken greed, lust, envy, vain pride, anger, and such emotions in these crazy times, which can make them unpredictable." Toshin sighed and continued, "I changed my mind because we have this vehicle and other items that can awaken greed and envy in them." "Sorry, but I want to go to the military base now. With our current power, there should be no one that can oppose us," Erix said nonchntly. "Who knows? One of them might have a healing skill that can regrow our legs." Rin coldly snorted and added, "And if they get funny ideas about us and our belongings, they will cry in the afterlife." "Yep. Most importantly, I got something interesting, and for that, I''ll have to go to the military base," Erix said with a smile as he leaned to the side and put his head on Rin''s thigh... s, her breasts were blocking full sight of her face, but this was also not too bad. "What interesting thing?" Serina asked. Rin lightly chuckled and answered, "That''s a secret for now." The interesting thing that Erix mentioned was none other than¡­ A quest! Erix got this quest right after Lieutenant Ralph died. [ Dungeon Call ] -Task: ¡ª> Take control of Targon City''s military base and willingly make the people of the base recognize you as their leader. -Rewards: ¡ª> A random talent mon to rare grade). ¡ª> Spawning of a random Dungeon Gate in the military base. ''Might as well leave this military base afterpleting this quest and getting the rewards.'' Chapter 30: Return

Chapter 30: Return

*Dhoof!* *Smash!* The Jeep was bulldozing through the road easily and quickly. The bodyguards at the back didn''t let go of the chance to kill one or two zombies every often by using their weapons and skills. After ten minutes, they entered the city''s periphery, where the military base was situated. Zombies followed them for a while, but their speed was slow, and they stopped chasing after a minute or so whenever they bulldozed through a horde. The military entrance had several barracks with spikes, and it was fully defended so that no zombies could go there. The horde there was spaced out and aimlessly roamed at their slow pace, but their speed would slightly increase upon discovering live targets. "The stop is here, and here''s the n," Erix said as he looked ahead and saw several people on the watch towers in the military base. He was sure they should be observing them now that they had arrived. Erix looked ahead at the horde and barracks as he continued, "Once we arrive at the barracks, we will get off the Jeep. After turning it into its toy form, Rin will store the Jeep in her inventory." "But how do we go inside?" Serina asked as she looked at therge gates of the base. "We can''t jump over it." Erix grinned and said, "I willmand my pet to pick you up in pairs with its talons and drop you in the military base. But¡­" Erix turned around and nced at everyone before stopping at Toshin as he said, "Once we are inside, you will support me. I am sharing a quest with you, so you will understand what I mean." "A quest?" Lena repeated in surprise, and soon, she got a notification. "Dungeon Call?" "Conquering the military base?" "What the fuck?" The bodyguards, Toshin, Lena, and Serina, were shocked. "We will not cause any bloodshed as long as it''s possible. I don''t want to kill people without any reason," Erix calmly said after he shared the quest. "We are reaching there, guys," Rin said as she saw the barracks nearing and pressed break before steering the wheel to the extreme right! *Chreeeeee!* The Jeep turned sideways and continued moving briefly before stopping and throwing zombies as they flew several meters away. "Move out!" Everyone got off the Jeep. Toshin only had one leg, but he could stand on one leg fine in the middle of the group as everyone started aiming at iing zombies'' heads to kill them. *Whistle!* The Bloodwood Eagle descended upon Erix''smand. "Mr. Toshin and Mrs. Lena. You two go first," Erix said as he stood on one leg while Rin put the miniature Jeep inside her inventory and started shing zombies with her sword. Lena and Toshin saw the Eagleing down while baring its talons and gulped. "Be gentle..." Toshin muttered, looking at its dangerous ws. *Swoop!* The Eagle grabbed both of them with its talons. It trapped them in the deadlock space of its talons, so they were not injured. After flying over the ground of the military base, it dropped them from ten meters height. Lenanded sessfully, but Toshin fell since he only had one leg. Of course, they were not injured despite falling from such height since they were not normal humans anymore. Their level and stats were high. While the Bloodwood Eagle returned to make another delivery, themanding general of the military base and Minister Ben were informed. "What did you say? A working jeep?" General Tark was startled. "Who are they?" Ben asked. "Sir, it''s the group that left the base on their monster eagle pet. But they''ve returned with Toshin Dusk and his family," the officer reported. "Toshin is here?" General Tark raised his eyebrows. ''Hmm, if Toshin and his family are here, then the group led by Ralph will return empty-handed.'' "What about the Jeep? Was it any special or a normal jeep?" Ben asked urgently. The thing he needed was a vehicle so that he could go to Pheonix City with his family. "It was surely something special because after they got off the jeep and started fighting with the zombies, the jeep suddenly disappeared." "Let''s go and meet them. I assume the monster eagle is carrying them inside the base, right?" Ben guessed. "Yes, sir. Before I came here to report, I saw it picking up Mr. Toshin and his wife before throwing them inside. Also, Mr. Toshin only had one leg left. Same with the guy with a mask. One of his legs was cut off from around the knee part." ¡­ Senator Ben, General Tark, Lieutenant Pollyn, and other officers arrived at the ground and saw Toshin, Lena, and two bodyguards. *Whistle!* They heard the Eagle''s whistle and saw three bodyguards caught in its ws in the sky. Then, after arriving inside, the Eagle dropped them on the ground before returning. Isabe also saw General Tark and others arriving before the Eagle went back. "Erix, Rin. That general and other big wigs came outside," Isabe said after the Eaglended beside Erix. The ground around them was littered with dead zombies, but more wereing. *Smash!* Erix killed a few zombies with a metal spike that Rin cut off from the spike barrack behind them. "Good. The first task is to regrow my leg. I want to see if anyone there got a skill that can do that," Erix said before he bent his one leg and jumped on the Eagle. "Let''s go, Serina," Rin said as she released a sword that pierced through several zombies before she and Serina jumped on the Eagle. *Woosh!* The Eagle pped its wings and flew up. Chapter 31: Plan In Motion

Chapter 31: n In Motion

"We meet again, young man," Ben said as he smiled at Erix before looking at Erix''s cut-off leg. Then shaking his head with a wry smile, he continued, "It seems you had a rough journey." ''Tsk, I can easily reach Phoenix City if this brat can tame another flying monster or give me this one,'' Ben thought as he looked at Erix with an annoyed glint deep in his eyes. "Did you meet another group of people on the way? Or heard any fighting sound by any chance?" General Tark asked after exchanging a greeting with Toshin and his wife. "Another group? Did you send people to rescue me?" Toshin asked with a surprised expression. "Yeah. Judging from your tone, it seems that you didn''t encounter them," General Tark said before he put his hand on Toshin''s shoulder. "Go and rest for now." "Marlo, lead them to Bunker A." ''Heh, he is already calling shots,'' Rin thought as she saw General Tark arranging things. "As for you¡­." After briefly ncing at the giant Eagle behind them, General Tark turned to Erix, Rin, and Isabe. "Do you three n to leave again?" "Nope. We''ll have a bit of rest. We need that, as you can see," Erix said with a in smile. "Your bnce is superb. Standing straight without swaying even a bit." Lieutenant Polly said as he was impressed by Erix, who stood on one leg without trouble or swaying. "It''s a basic thing for those who seriously learn martial arts. I wonder if the military also teaches about having a good bnce?" Rin said with a smile. "Ahem¡­ You are wee if you n to stay here. Tony, show them their ce as well. "Fortunately, we have enough space for people to sleep," General Tark said after a fake cough and nced at a soldier for some signal. "We also saw a working jeep since you traveled here on that. Would you mind showing us that vehicle?" a soldier asked with a smile after getting General Tark''s signal. "We''ll talk about that after we take some rest," Erix said as he stretched his arms. "You see, we are pretty tired and also need treatment. Can we finish that first?" "Sure, haha. Soldier, please lead them to Bunker A," Ben said with a gentle smile. "Erix, are we really going to do it?" Isabe whispered while walking left side of Erix. "Of course," whispered Rin, who was walking right side of Erix, snickered. The soldier at the front heard some whispers but couldn''t listen to them properly. "Rx, don''t worry too much about it," Erix said in a low voice to Isabe. ... People inside the military thought they were safe, but the danger was soon approaching the base. No. It was already there, but just not on the surface. Over a hundred pairs of red eyes sparked in darkness, longing for food and blood. On the other hand, mutated creatures were devouring zombies and other animals while proliferating in the city. Many people were still alive at various spots in the city, trying their best to survive after finding a safe base. Most of them were moving towards the military base while carefully proceeding and killing monsters to grow strong. ... "You guys have a lot of power, right? Should we go out and attempt to kill zombies as well?" People gathered around Erix, Rin, and Isabe in the hall of Bunker A, looking on with curiosity and hope. Aaron was sleeping in a room while Toshin was resting with his family in a different room. The bodyguards were also resting in another room. Unlike Erix, Toshin has been in persistent pain since his leg was severed. Fortunately, a few doctors present on the base treated him. Erix, however, declined the treatment because he was aware that he would not benefit from regr medical care and didn''t want to expose his unique body structure¡ªa hybrid Zombie. He wasn''t in pain because he was a half-zombie, and his wound wasn''t bleeding either, so he was fine. But to move at his full capabilities, he wanted to regenerate his leg quickly if possible. "I heard a group went out to get strong. If they return safely, I want to join them." People surrounded Erix, Rin, Isabe, and others as they asked questions and talked to each other. They all wished for a way out and desired some hope of survival because they were all in a grave situation and thought the world was ending. "Did anyone among you kill a zombie or other mutant animal?" Erix looked around at everyone before asking. "No. We lived near this base, so we rushed here when zombies starteding out of the ground, and people started turning." "We lived a bit far, but I rushed here in my car with my family." ''Families... And all of them seem well-off,'' Rin thought as she looked at people in the bunker. Kids, teens, young adults, parents, old folks¡­ ''Since they''ve never killed a zombie and are level 0, they will get good drops if they kill zombies,'' Erix thought as he formed a n in his head. ''Some of them might also get healing skills.'' Erix was slightly desperate to regrow his leg because he felt iplete with only one leg. Hisbat ability was also affected, and he didn''t like it. "Can we get strong like you and get powers?" a young man looking simr age as Erix questioned with desire in his eyes. "You all can get strong like us and get powers," Erix said with a smile behind his mask and moved his finger a bit as he controlled some metal tes on the table several meters away. Seeing him moving around metal tes, people were startled, and young ones got excited. Isabe wryly smiled upon seeing their expression. ''They are getting baited. But it''s good if Erix finds a good way to make them strong. Hmm, I guess he wants them to kill zombies so they can get good drops like a healing skill since they are level 0 people.'' While Erix and Rin spoke to the people, Ben Melkan''s family was in their room in Bunker A. "What''s going on?" Ben''s wife, Bertha, the woman with red hair and fair skin tone, and her two neen-year-old kids, Hathor and Marisa, exited their room upon hearing themotion. The first thing they saw was arge frost shield. "Even bullets can''t pass through this shield, so safety is guaranteed," Erix said as he told a soldier beside him to shoot. The people watched with anticipation as the soldier pointed his rifle at the Frost Shield and fired! "No way, right?" Marisa muttered. She had red hair like her mother, but hers were dark maroon, and kept a short ponytail hairstyle. She also had a developed and hot figure like her mother, with a fair skin tone and a more beautiful face. *Thak, Thak, Thak!* The bullets hit the Frost Sheild, but the shield didn''t even crack! "Woah!" "T-This¡­ just how tough is this Frost Shield?" "It didn''t even get a single scratch!" "Yeah. Those were rifle bullets, not pistol''s!" Erix and Rin nced at each other upon seeing people getting excited. Chapter 32: Progress In Plan

Chapter 32: Progress In n

By now, all the people in Bunker A were gathered into a group in front of them to watch the wonders. "I will choose some of you and take you with us to hunt zombies so you can get strong and acquire powers like us," Erix said. "Sis, let''s go!" Hathor said with excitement. He raised his hand and waved at Erix but couldn''t grab his attention. He walked around the group so Erix could see him before saying, "Brother, can you take me, please? I know how to fight!" Erix saw Hathor and was startled at first since he called him brother. But he knew his identity was safe as he had never removed his mask. The only ones who knew he was a half-zombie were Rin and Isabe. "Get back, Hathor!" Bertha and Marina arrived beside Hathor. "You don''t need to go outside. Just wait for your father," Bertha said with a frown at her son. "And you," Bertha narrowed her eyes at Erix and said, "Why are you wearing a mask? Show us your face before making empty promises to people." ''This bitch¡­'' Erix cursed in his head but remained calm. It was good that he was better at controlling his emotions after turning into a half-zombie race. "Remove his mask? Humph, why should he do that? Who do you think you are tomand us?" Rin said as she coldly snorted at this woman who spoke to Erix in a condescending tone. Bertha was going to say something but then realized that her backing and influence wouldn''t be effective in this apocalypse. Erix put his hand on Rin''s shoulder and shook his head slightly before saying, "I am not making empty promises, and I won''t force anyone. I just wish the best for you all." "Umm... Hi, everyone. My name is Isabe. I was also powerless before meeting them. They helped me get strong after saving my son and me," Isabe said. Her tone was honest, and her expression sincere. Seeing all attention gathered on her, Isabe lip''s twitched a bit in slight nervousness, but she continued, "I-I think you all should level up while you have our help and while zombies are still low-leveled. Unlike people who are dead and don''t have a chance to get strong, you all are lucky to have survived." "So please don''t waste this chance and your life by doing nothing," Isabe finished before taking a breath. Erix and Rin smiled as Isabe''s words were super useful, and her bodynguage and tone were humble and easily believable since what she spoke was essentially a truth, a fact. "Young man, I am ready to go out and take the chance. Please help us get strong." "Me too, big brother," said an eighteen-year-old boy while clenching his fist. "Sister, I will go out and fight!" a high-school girl said as she looked at Rin with determination. "Me too!" "Please take us too!" The soldier was dumbfounded and thought, ''I should report to General Tark about the situation here.'' "We will take five of you first, but not right now. We''ve just returned from outside and need to rest," Rin said. "No problem, miss. Please take some rest." "Yes. You can choose the first five among us after you finish resting." Rin, Isabe, and Erix went inside a room and started discussing in a low voice since Aaron was still sleeping on the bed. "We''ll make it quick by letting five people batches reach level 5 quickly. They ought to get at least one skill around that level," Erix said. "True. It will give them a sufficient sense of power, and they will also witness our powers, which will give them stronger desire," Isabe said with a nod before wryly smiling as she added, "It''s like we are doing something bad by talking like this." "Haha, of course not. This n is actually good, Erix. Once we make them strong, we need to dere you the base leader since people will be willing to follow us after we make them strong." Rin said with a grin and locked Erix''s head into her arm before ruffling his head as she continued, "But, your control is better than before, haha. If it were previous you, you would''ve roasted that woman alive with your words." "Eh, is he that sharp with his tongue?" Isabe asked in surprise. "You don''t know, sis. When I first met him, he was a mean brat, and we got into arguments often, haha," Rin joviallyughed as she remembered her early days with Erix. "I am still a bit shocked at your official student-teacher rtionship," Isabe said with a wry smile. "I thought those only existed in fiction." Erix smiled as he rested his head on Rin''s thighs and said, "There''s only four year age gap, and it''smon in reverse. You see many men dating younger girls and their marriages, and vice-versa." "True," Isabe nodded with a smile. "Umm.. Mum, I am here¡­" Aaron muttered in his sleep. "Sis, we''ll go to our room beside this one. You two rest here." "Alright. You cane to call when it''s time to leave," Isabe said with a nod. "Have a good rest." "Yep, you too." Rin and Erix got off the bed and left. Isabe looked at sleeping Aaron beside her with a tender smile and kissed him on his forehead as she felt blessed to have been saved and alive. After locking the room, she also slept beside Aaron to rest. Chapter 33: Rin & Erix

Chapter 33: Rin & Erix

Rin and Erix went to their room. "Let''s take a bath first," Rin said, supporting Erix to walk as they entered the bathroom. "Good. It''s not that small," Erix said, looking at the bathroom. "Yep," Rin nodded and put her armor set in the inventory before raising her arms. Seeing that, Erix smiled and pulled up her t-shirt before throwing it to the side. Her fair skin and beautiful figure appeared in full glory, with her plump breasts hidden behind her bra. Next, Erix raised his arms after putting his robe and mask in the inventory as Rin removed his t-shirt. Erix''s six-packs and perfectly lean muscled body forged through daily intense training also appeared in full glory in Rin''s eyes. "Good. You are already getting hard," Rin giggled as she looked at Erix''s crotch and removed his pants. She bent down and removed his pants before pulling down his underwear as Erix''s stiff meat rod sprung in front of her face. "Wait, let''s take a shower first," Erix said before pulling up Rin and unclipping her bra as her beautiful breasts with pink nipples took a fresh breath of air after getting released from their prison. "Yep. We are a bit dirty because of all the fights," Rin said with a wry smile as she removed her long skirt before pulling down her panties. "I''ll wash you, and you wash me," Erix said with a grin as he turned on the shower and took soap liquid before rubbing Rin''s breast shamelessly. He even softly pinched her nipples. "Anh, you naughty! I''ll have to teach you a lesson." Rin chuckled as she took soap liquid and started rubbing Erix''s chest and put his dick between her thighs. "Don''t underestimate me," Erix grinned as he foamed Rin''s breasts while rubbing them before taking more soap liquid and started washing her belly. "Ahh, that tickles~ Hahaha, s-stop¡­ You are doing this intentionally now," Rin started chortling in bouts as Erix tickled her more and more at her side belly and rubbed his dick on her pink cave. "S-Stop or I won''t wash you." "Fine, Fine." ¡­ After several minutes, Erix and Rin foamed each other''s entire body with soap liquid before starting the shower again to get clean. "Erix¡­" Rin hugged Erix under the shower, resting her head on his shoulder with a peaceful smile. "Yes?" Erix responded with a gentle smile as he put his hands on her back in a hug before softly caressing her hair. "Is it wrong that I like our current world more?" "Well, I feel the same, and there''s nothing wrong with liking this new world. It''s a jungle with the literalw of survival now but with more dangerous beasts, and I like it." "Facing death everywhere but still getting strong and strong and strong after oveing odds¡­ I love it! It''s thrilling," Erx grinned. "Mhmm¡­It''s better than our previous boring world," Rin nodded as she tightened her hug while Erix''s meat rod rubbed at her pussy. "Daarling~, I''ve birthed an ambition for us." Rin kissed Erix''s neck and continued. "I want us to be truly powerful people, both with individual power and supreme authority like¡­.like, king and queen, and Emperor and Empress of old times, but better." "That sounds exciting," Erix grinned before kissing Rin on her shoulder and neck. "But for now, you are rousing me for something else." "Heh, do you think only you are getting antsy about that?" Rin stretched one of her hands below her crotch and grabbed Erix''s dick. "It''s hot and twitching, haha. This dragon is indeed raring to go." "Hey, don''t think I can''t tell you are wet just because we are showering," Erin grinned. He put his finger in Rin''s pussy and slightly rubbed her clitoris, making her body twitch in pleasure. Rin separated from the hug and looked at Erix with a loving smile and heart-filled passionate eyes, "Let''s see who climaxes first and whosts longer." Saying that she inserted his dick in her pussy in one go. "Aaanh~" "You said it! Now, prepare to lose because you are challenging a half-zombie with unlimited stamina!" "Aaaaahh~" Chapter 34: Big Monster

Chapter 34: Big Monster

With higher physical stats, their need for rest also decreased. After four hours of sleeping, Erix and Rin woke up feeling fully refreshed. But they actually spent a total of five hours in bed since they had a passionate battle for an hour before falling asleep. "It''s five of the evening," Erix said as he looked at the clock in the room. "Let''s finish the quest by night." "Today''s night will be the darkest for people all over the world," Rin said with a wry smile. After that bright light appeared on the horizon, all electronic devices stopped working. So naturally, people would have to light candles after sunset. ¡­ Rin and Erix didn''t wear their old clothes after bathing and went to bed naked. So after waking up, the dilemma was to get clothes. Their previous clothes were dirty because of all their adventures since they met on campus. "Unlike you, I am fine because this armor set is a perfect outfit," Rin said with a grin as she wore her Dawnless Armor set. The Dawnless Armor set didn''t have actual armor, as it consisted of a ck t-shirt with a ck skirt, a cap, and boots. Rin looked sexy and beautiful in this outfit. The T-shirt was pitch ck with long sleeves, made offortable material. The skirt was unique. It was twoyered, with the ck outeryer having sun-shaped holes and the backyered being wholly white and soft. "What do I wear? Just this robe?" Erix ruefully smiled as he wore his ck Star robe. [ck-Star robe: It can defend against physical attacks of creatures below level 15]. "I think it''s fine if you button it, haha. It''s a long robe, anyway." Erix rolled his eyes and buttoned his robe before saying, "I''ll ask for some clothes. The military should have some outfit of my size." *Knock¡­knock¡­* "Erix, Rin! Are you awake?! There''s trouble!" *Kncok¡­knock¡­* Erix and Rin were startled as they heard Serina''s voice. They opened the door and saw Serina with a slightly anxious expression. "What happened?" "T-There is a big monster outside the base trying to enter inside," Serina quickly said. Lieutenant Polly and another soldier stood behind her with somber expressions. "We need your help," Lieutenant Polly said with a severe expression. "Get me some clothes or a military uniform that fits me," Erix said as he came out of the room wearing his mask. "And give us the details of the monster." "I''ll go first and take a look. You cane after wearing clothes," Rin said as she dashed outside. A hint of excitement in her eyes. ''What kind of monster is it?'' Erix felt Rin''s excitement when she spoke and wryly smiled. "We''ll bring you a set," Lieutenant Polly nodded and left with a soldier to get an outfit for Erix. "Should I wake up, Miss Isabe?" Serina asked. "Yep," Erix nodded. ¡­ *Crash!* "What should we do? Its health is too high, and our guns are not working at all," the General said with a deep frown as he watched the frog from the watchtower. He had fear in his eyes as he looked at the giant six-meter-tall frog with red eyes attacking the. Of the three barrackyers that protected the base''s gates, the frog had already destroyed the firstyer of the barricade, and the secondyer was almost finished. *Swoosh* It shot out its powerful tongue again, destroying a section in the second barrier. The metal spikes and tes broke and started melting as saliva on the frog''s tongue had potent acidic powers. All people from Bunker A, B, and C had gathered on the ground as they heard loud sounds and guns firing. "What is happening?" "Something is trying to break inside." "Damn! What kind of monster is breaking through?" Ben looked at the public and saw his family on the ground as he frowned. "The public is getting worried. If only we could contact those twenty-six people that went out." Their high-leveled soldiers and civilians were in that group! Suddenly, Ben saw Rin dashing towards the gate before she made a long jump andnded on top of the gate. "That''s way more than the world record for the high jump," Ben muttered, seeing Rin''s jump. "This girl and that boy¡­ Let''s hope their group can kill this monster," General Tark muttered as he felt helpless. "Also, let''s also get strong." "Do you want to join them about their five-person leveling method?" Ben raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. No need to wait for those who went out. I want to get strong fast," General Tark said as he clenched his fist. An uneasy feeling was welling up in his heart. "Why is she not attacking?" Ben questioned as he saw that Rin was just watching the frog. Rin was looking at the frog''s status and was waiting for Erix since she deemed it dangerous to attack it alone. She also got a notification about the frog being a rare encounter, like the Centipede they killed at the back of the campus. [~Corpus Toxin Frog~] _Level: 52 _Vitality: 4000/4000 _Attack: 200 _Defense: 200 _Status: ¡ª> [ Magic: 100 / Mana: 1000/1000 ] To check her skill damage against this monster, Rin pointed her sword at it and used her Sword Beam. [ Sword Beam (1st Tier active skill) ]: Unleash a straight beam from your sword that deals prative damage¡ª20 meters range. The skill''s damage further increases ording to the user''s Magic stats and the weapon it is used from. *Swoosh!* General Tark and Ben finally saw Rin attacking. -147! *Greee!* The monster frog made a painful sound after Rin''s sword beam hit it on its head. ''One hundred forty-seven damage¡­ Tsk. It''s tough.'' Rin''s magic power was low, and the sword was also not that powerful, so considering that the skill was quite powerful as it dealt that much damage against this tough foe. Rin thought as she decided to use half of her stamina and unleashed four more Sword Beams, each costing her ten mana points. *Greeeeee!* Sword beams injured the monster frog, and it started bleeding. s, it couldn''t reach Rin because of the barricade since the range of its tongue was only 10 meters. "Woah, he is flying!" "How?!" People on the ground saw Erix flying while standing! Like Mao. Rin turned around and saw Erix approaching her while Isabe, Lena, and Serina jumped on Bloodwood Eagle and flew out. "How?" Rin asked with curiosity as she saw Erix flying like that. "Hah, I put two small metal tes inside the boots under my sole," Erix said with a grin. He was in a military uniform, and over this uniform, he wore his ck Star ck robe with silver patterns. "Nice, that''s clever," Rin chuckled. "Anyway, let''s hurl our long-range attacks at this frog before it destroys the barricade and reaches here." Chapter 35: Bombardment, A Harrowing Dodge

Chapter 35: Bombardment, A Harrowing Dodge

Erix controlled the metal te below his only foot''s sole and slowly but steadily flew beside Rin. "Erix,mand your pet to fly over 10 meters away from the frog," Rin said. "From what I observed, that frog''s tongue can stretch 10 meters in length." "Attack it from long range if you can and target its legs to stop it from jumping!" Erixmanded his pet, told it to stay over ten meters away from the frog, andmanded it to aid others in attacking it from afar. The Frog Monster couldn''t jump toward the military since it was heavily barracked with a tall wall, but it could still jump away to run or attack, so Erix wanted to prevent that. *Whistle!* The Eagle cried loudly in response and maintained proper distance while Isabe, Lena, and Serina started attacking the monster frog while sitting on the floating Bloodwood Eagle. Isabe used her me Whip skill and some additional mana to extend its range before she started whipping the frog. Lena used her mana-empowered bullets from her pistol while Serina used her Druid Bow to attack its legs. "They are attacking. Look! That me whip is so fucking cool!" A youth shouted as he saw Isabe''s long fire whip strike below. "That''s a magical bow! It''s glowing!" They couldn''t see the frog, but they could see the Bloodwood Eagle floating in the sky as Isabe, Lena, and Serina attacked the Frog monster. General Tark and Ben turned silent, but a fire of desire started burning in their eyes. They also wanted such powers! Rin used all her mana points by shooting five more Sword Beams before turning to Erix, "How will you attack?" "Well, let''s see how powerful my Metal Control skill actually is," Erix said with an anticipating glint in his eyes. He spread his arms and looked at various metal spikes, boards, and other metal structures lying outside before muttering, "Rise." All metal structures in Erix''s range flew up and started gathering! "T-That¡­" Ben stammered as he saw a shocking sight. "Powerful," General Tark muttered. "What the fuck?! He can control metal!" "Mao!" All those people from Bunker B and C who didn''t know about Erix were shocked. Erix controlled all the metal objects before gathering them in one ce. "Are you trying to mesh those metal objects into a ball?" Rin asked in surprise as she saw those metal objects bending. "Yeah," Erix nodded as his face turned severe. He got his hands together with his palm into a bowl form. Then, as his hands got closer, the metal objects in the sky started bending and meshing. Sweat beads appeared on Erix''s face, and his body trembled at the amount of control he was exerting. "Uhh, it''s a bit hard," Erix frowned as he was feeling resistance in his head and also a headache. It was tough and exhausting to his mind and body to control metals in such a way. "You can do it!" Rin said with a clenched fist and a fiery smile. *Greee!* On the other hand, the frog was annoyed by the attacks from the sky and jumped despite the attacks and injury to its legs! "Shit! Fly up, quick!" Serina shouted, but the Bloodwood Eagle was faster as it instantly flew forward in upper trajectory at full speed. But the frog was also smart and opened its mouth to try to hit the Eagle with its tongue after jumping. Fortunately, it fell short of several centimeters and failed to hit the Bloodwood Eagle! Isabe, Lena, and Serina got sweaty in just a few seconds of that event. They could also feel Bloodwood Eagle''s heart beating faster. If that tongue hit the Bloodwood Eagle, it would''ve died in a second! "We must not get hit by its attack, or we will instantly die," Isabe said as she put her hand on her chest to calm her pounding heart. "Yeah." Lena and Serina nodded as they sighed in relief. The people watching also sweated hard at the scene. It happened too fast, such that they weren''t prepared for such a counter-attack, but the Eagle also dodged quickly, so it barely escaped. "Damn, that was dangerous!" "Death brushed past them." "But they are safe! And they are winning!" "What is thatd doing?!" "Erix is preparing a big move," Serina said as she saw a meshed metal ball in the sky that was as big as the frog! The monster frog''s vitality had reduced significantly since Rin, Isabe, Lena, and Serina could freely attack it from afar. They had done all they could in the first two minutes andpletely exhausted their mana. The barricades and Bloodwood Eagle proved very helpful in damaging this tough foe and keeping it suppressed. "But the frog can dodge Erix''s attack unless it can''t move," Lena said as she creased her brows. Suddenly, the Bloodwood Eagle started moving back toward the base as Erix gave it amand. Erix flew up andnded on the Eagle before saying with a grin behind his mask, "I am going to make a big attack, and for that, I''ll have to stay alone on this bird. You three must leave, quick." "If you are going to attack with that, then I will use my Frost Shield," Isabe said as she consumed the remaining mana she had saved for an emergency skill to conjure the Frost Shield. "I''ll let this shield float on top of it so that it doesn''t detect or see your attacking." "We''ll also distract it!" The bodyguards shouted. "Hmm, it will still hear the sound of my attack. So, when you see my attack nearing it, hit it with your Frost Shield," Erix said. Rin guessed something as her eyes widened, "do you want to fly very high in the sky and drop that metal ball?" "Haha, yeah," Erix nodded and said, "It weighs over three hundred kilograms, and I can''t constantly control it forever, so I must go now." *Whistle!* The Eagle flew up, taking Erix upon hismand while he controlled the metal ball to fly it alongside them. On the other hand, the monster frog saw all of its hateful prey standing on top of the gate and started fiercely attacking the 3rd fence. "Uh, I think you need to use your Frost Shield to block its attack," Lena said with a wry smile. The soldiers had long stopped shooting from the corner towers as the bullets did not affect the frog and simply bounced off. "Is he nning to drop that rough metal ball on the frog?" General Tark spoke as he saw Erix flying high with the metal ball. "Yeah. If itnds on the frog from a high height, it will surely die," Ben said with a nod. ''It will gather more kic energy from higher heights and deal more damage. So, he has a brain that works with brawn, huh? Tsk, so how do I get him to give me a tamed beast?'' On the other hand, the main reason why Erix wanted to kill it with one shot was that he feared some near-death skill of the frog. That Helix Flower became super nuts when it fell to 100 vitality. Although the flower was a special monster, and this Frog was a normal monster, Erix still wanted to kill it with one shot. Chapter 36: Spectacle of Plan

Chapter 36: Spectacle of n

After flying two hundred meters high in the sky, Erix sent the metal ball further 50 meters above. His forehead was already full of sweat, and his mind was in pain as he controlled this heavy metal ball. [Metal Affinity Building Up] [Progress Phase...] ''What the fuck?'' Erix didn''t have time to pay attention to notifications as he ignored them. "Buddy, you have to swoop down at the fastest speed possible. We need to reach below at the gate before that metal ball," Erix said to Bloodwood Eagle and even got a thoughtful response that he could somehow understand. "You need mana? Alright," Erix said as he put his palm on the Eagle''s back and infused 50 mana points into it. *Whistle!* "Let''s go," Erix grinned. *Swoop!* Erix released his control over the metal ball while the Bloodwood Eagle swooped down at its fastest speed possible. [Metal Affinity Building Failed] [Progress Reset] Ignoring the notifications, Erix tightly held onto its feathers. People saw Erixing down while Erix saw the monster frog attacking Isabe''s Frost Shield as it protected the 3rdyer of the barrack. "Nice speed, hahaha." Erixughed as the Bloodwood Eagle flew super fast and arrived at the entrance. The metal ball gained kic power as it traveled below like a rocket, increasing its speed each moment. "It won''tnd on it!" Serina suddenly eximed as she saw the trajectory. "It will," Erix narrowed his eyes and rubbed his temple as he focused on the Metal ball. Just when it came within his fifty-meter range, Erix controlled the metal ball and moved it slightly before... *BOOM!* -2389! [ You have killed a level 52 mutated creature, Corpus Toxin Frog. +10 Strength, +10 Agility, +10 Health. ] [ You have reached level 41. You have gained 20 unassigned stat points. ] He leveled up 10 times! From 31 to 41! Not just him, but Rin, Isabe, Lena, and Serina also leveled up a lot! Rin reached level 40. Isabe reached level 33, Lena reached level 29, and Serina reached level 28! Everyone leveled up ording to their contribution to the battle. "Woah¡­" Lena was shocked but pleasantly. "Nice. More stat points to save," Rin chuckled. "But I think we''ll have to use them soon. We all have chosen a job ss that needs to meet the requirement, but it won''t be easy toplete those tasks," Isabe said with a wry smile. "Hey, young man! Can you bring that treasure crate inside? Since it says it contains multiple items, can you give us a few?" Ben shouted towards Erix when he saw Erixnding towards the squashed and meshed monster frog. The frog dropped a scroll, two Mortal-Grade skill stones, and a blue-colored treasure crate(rare). "That asshole wants something without even working for it?" Rin said without holding back as she snorted. "You¡­ he is a Senator. Don''t you know how to hold back?" Serina was speechless. "Sounds like a beggar to me, humph." Isabe and Lena wryly smiled after hearing Rin''s words. Of course, Ben couldn''t hear Rin''s words. Otherwise, he would''ve surely puked blood out of anger. "Let''s go inside,dies," Erix said as he brought the treasure crate. "Are you really nning to give them things?" Serina asked upon seeing Erixing back with a crate. "Heh, of course not," Erix scoffed before lightly chuckling as he said, "But I want them to see the boons." ¡­ "Make some more way, please. Don''t surround closely." "You all, back away a bit more." Over a hundred people made a circle on the ground while Erix, Rin, Isabe, Lena, and Serina stood in the center with the treasure crate. General Tark and Ben stood at a side in the circle while soldiers maintained the circle''s border. "I am opening it," Erix said as he touched the Treasure Crate''s lock part. The people looked on with rapt attention as they saw the treasure crate glowing and spewing out four orbs: two blue and two cyan. However, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Serina, and Lena were startled to hear a notification in their heads. [A rare-grade treasure chest has been stored in your inventory] [A rare-grade treasure chest has been stored in your inventory] [A rare-grade¡­] ¡­ All of them got a notification of getting a rare-grade treasure chest! "Is that symbol of scroll into that orb indicate a skill?" Ben asked with a hint of greed in his eyes. Well, not just him, but many had that hint. "Correct, old man. But you won''t get anything." Rin said it in a clear-cut manner before she swept her nce at everyone and continued, "If you want to get power, then you have to fight for it!" "But fret not because we will help you get started. We''ll make sure that you get at least one skill and an item," Rin finished with a smile. A great pitch. From their knowledge, reaching level 5 at least ensured a single skill and an item. Of course, they didn''t n to help every single person on the base, but only a certain amount because the rest would be able to get help from those that Erix, Rin, and their group helped for greater benefits. After all, Erix and his group were too high-leveled, so no matter how many low leveled monsters and zombies they killed, they wouldn''t drop treasure chests or orbs. "I am opening the orbs first," Rin said before she touched a blue orb. Two of those four orbs had skills, and the other two had items. [ st Crossbow(rare-grade): A crossbow that has a chance to produce a powerful exploding arrow. The damage of arrows depends on the user''s Strength and Magic stats. ->Cost: 5 to 30 mana points to produce an arrow. ->10% chance to trigger an explosion that deals 200% of damage. "That''s so magical¡­ It''s like an MMO game item." "Wish we could revive like in an MMO game." The people started talking while General Tark and Ben gulped. The other soldiers also wanted this weapon. After all, it was a fundamental desire to acquire a powerful weapon, especially in the current state of the world. The weapons gained from treasure orbs or chests could be stored inside the inventory, but the man-made items and weapons couldn''t be stored, so everyone had to rely on items from Apocalypse. Guns only worked on low leveled zombies and weak mutated creatures, but not on high leveled monsters. Moreover, killing creatures with native weapons didn''t drop items and prevented people from leveling up. "Can you let Mom have this crossbow? It''s better than her current drill pistol weapon," Serina said as she looked at Rin and Erix. "Yep, that''s better," Rin said, and Erix nodded. "Thanks." "Jonty, take this pistol," Lena handed over her drill pistol to the bodyguard. "Now, I''ll open the skill scroll orb next," Rin said as she rubbed her hands while grinning. The people around them also revealed eager expressions. Chapter 37: Mass Progress

Chapter 37: Mass Progress

Rin opened the blue orb containing the skill. *Plot¡­.* The blue orb burst as dark green sparks appeared before a scroll appeared. Just like all skill scrolls, this scroll also had its unique style, design, and some mystics like dark green wisps floating around it. Everyone got information about the skill when they focused on the scroll for a bit. [Nether Grasp (1st Tier active skill): From theherworld, a lurking spirit''s anger manifests into a cursed grasp. Consume 20 mana points to conjure aher hand synched to your hand.] -Duration: 5 seconds. -Range: 15-meter radius around the user. Everyone read the skill information and was amazed at the description. "Since I have three hands and I can use my floating Metacyber arm to use skill, I''ll take this skill," Erix said as he felt he could use this skill better. ''Grasp, huh? Is it a control-type skill?'' "Wait. You already have three hands, so why don''t I take that skill? I am at the backline, and I can use the skill to snare and support," Lena said. The people around them were surprised and wondered if they would have a conflict now or not. Ben and General Tark also raised their eyebrows. ''Conflict?'' However, Erix looked at everyone and said, "When you are in a team, a situation like this will ur. But there''s a simple way to solve this." Lena smiled and continued after Erix. "Since Erix here had the highest contribution in defeating that monster frog, this skill will belong to him," she said. "Solve such matters calmly, looking at both contribution and efficiency of the loot," Rin said next. "Since Erix has a third arm that he can control and use this skill through it, this Nether Hand skill will shine more if he learns it." Erix learned the skill while touching the skill, causing the skill to turn into motes before it entered his head and disappeared. Afterward, Rin went to open a cyan-patterned treasure chest, and it had a w-gauntlet weapon. [ Bear-ws (Umon-grade): A pair of bear-w-shaped gauntlets filled with pure rage. +10 Strength. Physical damage increases by 20 while attacking with the ws. ] This pair of gauntlets were given to a bodyguard who was good at close-rangebat. Finally, Rin opened thest cyan-patterned treasure chest, which gave them three Mortal-Order skill stones. Erix took the skill stones and put them in his inventory. "Brother, can you use that Nether Hand skill, please? I want to see it," said Hathor with excitement glinting in his eyes as he walked out of the crowd. "Sure. I want to try it as well," Erix said with a smile behind his mask as he controlled his Metacyber Arm and used the Nether Hand skill through it. Soon, everyone saw a big dark purple hand manifesting in one second above Erix. The demonic hand had four fingers and one thumb. It was two meters long from its longest middle finger to the wrist! Erix manipted the hand and grabbed Hathor with it. "Stop!" "Woah!" Everyone was startled while Ben shouted at Erix. "Rx," Erix said in a nonchnt voice as he put Hathor on top of the gate before the Nether Hand dispersed since five seconds had passed. "Honey, are you hurt?!" Bertha shouted towards her son with worry before she red at Erix. "How could you use that on normal people?!" Erix picked his ears and ignored her before looking at the group, "Climb the watch towers and watch the show. We''ll take four more of you and help you level up outside." "Erix. You and I will take five, while others in our group can take five people. This way, we can quickly make everyone reach level 5," Rin said. "Yep, hahaha. I was about to suggest that as well," Erix said with a nod before he turned to General Tark. "General, open the gate." "What?! Why do you want to open the gate? You can take people out without opening the gate," General Tark replied with a frown. "We still have oneyer of barrack and cars in front of the gate. Just open the gate so people can stay back and watch it while waiting for their turn. Those two watch towers don''t have enough space for all people," Erix said. "But zombies¡­" Lieutenant frowned. "Don''t worry about them," Rin said as she unsheathed her sword. "All of us will be at the front line and send five crippled zombies at the back so the first five people can kill them. If all goes well, we will send more so that people who are watching cane forward and kill them." "Just take any handy thing and use it to burst their heads," Erix said as he pointed at the gate. "There are many such things outside the gate since that frog destroyed twoyers of barracks." The people who listened to them felt hopeful and eager instead of fearful. "I wille! Open the gate, please." "Yeah, I also want to go out and kill zombies. We must get powerful to survive!" "That''s right! Open the gate, General Tark!" ¡­ After ten minutes, all preparations were done, and the gate opened. Erix, Rin, Isabe, Lena, Serina, and five bodyguards stood at the front and started hitting Zombies'' legs and arms before Erix threw them backward by grabbing them with his Metacyber Arm. Hathor and the other four young men, who were the first five to fight, got ready with steel rods and thick wooden sticks broken off from Barracks, and cars got prepared as they saw zombies crawling towards them. But many people who didn''t see much of the outside puked at the brutal and bloody scene ying before them. However, many were still eager and hyped. "I''ll get those three zombies first," Hathor said as he tightened his grip on the broken wooden stick with a multi-spike head and dashed forward before precisely hitting a crawling zombie''s head! Right after that, he jumped and kicked another zombie''s head before bursting it. [You have reached level 3. You have gained 6 unassigned stat points] Hathor didn''t stop and killed another one, which was a pretty high level at level 8, and also killed it with his wooden weapon since it was beaten to a pulp and its head was already slightly cracked. [You have reached level 5¡­] "I am already level 5¡­ and two treasure chests!" Hathor shouted. "Take those treasure chests and get back!" Erix shouted before he threw three more zombies at the back. "Yes!" Hathor replied with a smile and also felt something familiar. ''This person''s name is also Erix, and that shout reminded me of him¡­ Don''t tell me that person with the mask is my brother Erix?!'' ''But his voice was a bit different... Sigh, I hope brother Erix is fine.'' Hathor wondered while walking back with his treasure chests, one white patterned mon) and one cyan patterned (umon). "Damn, bro. You did good!" one of the guys than Hathor said to Hathor as he returned and pped his shoulder. "It''s easy. Just hit them properly in the head, and they are dead," Hathor said with augh. Ben was also happy and quickly told his son to open the treasure chest. "I am going too," a middle-aged man started walking from the group standing behind the barrackyer. "Me too!" Erix saw more peopleing and grinned. "Alright, we will send more crippled zombies back! But once you reach level 5, you will return to the base!" "Haha, this will be over in no time since most of the zombies are above level 5," Rin said with a chuckle as she cut a few zombies with her sword. "Indeed. These zombies are like ants to us now," Ponty said with a grin as he quickly killed fifteen zombies with thebination of his lightning baton and a skill called a lightning chain. Seconds and minutes passed as people gradually got strong, and Erix''s group also started improving inbat and efficiency. And finally, every person in the military base reached at least level 5, and every single one of them got two or more treasure chests after two hours! "Hell yeah! I got a Fire-rted skill called Burning Fangs!" "I got a saber¡­ tsk, I wanted a long-range weapon." "Want to exchange that saber with this shock wave gun?" "Oh? A shock wave handgun? Let me see." The base became lively and cheerful. Chapter 38: Quest Completed

Chapter 38: Quest Completed

"Ahem, I got a dagger with water poison effect," General Tark said with a cough and continued, "I want to exchange it with a long-range weapon if possible." "General, I have a pistol here that shoots a snake projection bullet of a random element between fire and wind," a soldier said as he decided to exchange. Erix, Rin, Isabe, and others just watched the gathering on the ground while standing in the corner. The gate was closed, so none of them were farming. Instead, they were exchanging weapons and skill scrolls. "Seniors, did you all already get your job ss?" Hathor suddenly asked. "Of course, they would have gotten it. We got one mystic essence for killing one zombie, so they should have definitely killed more than by now." The topic attracted everyone''s attention as they looked at Erix''s group. "I know that. But I didn''t see any special power rted to job ss when they fought. That''s why I was asking," Hathor said with a wry smile while scratching the back of his head. Hathor had yed games, and even though this was the real world, the term was the same, and every job ss would give an extraordinary power or some other boosts, but he didn''t see it while Erix and others fought. "Once you collect a hundred Mystic Essence, you can choose a job ss. But to awaken it, you need toplete tasks, which are a bit tricky-" Erix exined. "-so, we have yet to finish those tasks." "Anyway, since you all are done, then we have something important to announce," Rin said with a smile as she decided to drop the bomb. "What is it?" General Tark asked curiously. "As you all know, our group is the most powerful, and we also helped you get strong. So, I think we need a powerful leadership group," Rin said before she spread her right arm toward Erix and others with a smile. "This group." "I agree!" "Yeah! I also agree!" "Without you, that frog monster would''ve killed all of us!" "That''s right." Everyone started shouting excitedly and agreed that Erix and his group should be the leader! However, there were two whose faces turned sour. Ben and General Tark! "I think Senator Ben and General Tark also don''t have any problem with it, right?" Rin said with a smile as she looked at General Tark and Ben. "Cough¡­" Ben coughed and felt everyone''s gaze on him. General Tark also saw people looking at them, with some even having slightly fanatic expressions. All of them were given a path to live and hope by Erix, Rin, and others, so many were determined to follow them. Although their determination contained a core selfish reason, it was normal. People wanted to follow them and let them lead because they were strong and reliable. Staying with and following them would make them stronger, but it would mainly give them a strong pir and reliance¡ªhence, a sense of protection. ''If we disagree¡­'' Ben thought as he felt a chill crawling his spine and immediately broadly smiled before saying, "Haha, you are joking. We, of course, don''t have any problem with this arrangement." "You saved everyone in this military base and helped everyone get strong, so it''s only natural that you are fit to lead in our current situation," Ben added. "Indeed. The world we knew is no more. Our meager and rigid experience wouldn''t be helpful," General Tark said eloquently with a wry smile. Right after those two finished speaking, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Lena, Serina, all bodyguards, and even Toshin, who was in his room, heard a voice in their heads about the quest. [ The quest: Dungeon Call has beenpleted. ] [ Congrattions. A random talent stone has been stored in your inventory] [ Dungeon Gate opening: 9 hours and 59 minutes.] "We''ll open our boxester," Erix said. Rin, Isabe, Lena, Serina, and the bodyguards nodded. "Everyone!" Erix shouted as everyone''s attention was directed at him. Seeing that, he continued, "All of you have reached level five or six and got at least one or two skills." "Yes!" "Did any of you get a skill that can regrow limbs?" All of them instantly looked at Erix''s missing leg. "I got a healing skill. It says it can cure wounds but doesn''t mention regrowing limbs. Want to try it?" a middle-aged man with short white hair and a slim build said. He was a doctor. "Yes. No harm in trying," Erix said in a wry voice as he dryly chuckled. The doctor walked towards Erix from the group and sat on one of his knees before his hand touched Erix''s thigh and used his healing skill. s, it didn''t work. Erix''s leg was not regrowing. "Unfortunately, it''s not working." "No problem. What''s your name, mister?" Erix asked. "John Rees." "Thanks for trying," Erix said with a nod. "I also have a healing skill. How about we try it?" A college girl with twin blond ponytails said. "Sure," Erix nodded. Everyone wanted to help Erix if possible, and over ten people had healing skills. Unfortunately, none of them could regrow his leg. Chapter 39: Unexpected Surprise

Chapter 39: Unexpected Surprise

"Since all of you still have energy, go out in batches to kill zombies and level up. We won''t help you this time, but if you go out in groups and carefully fight while using your skills and weapons properly, you will progress fast," Rin said. Everyone was fired up. "But you are leaders now, so shouldn''t you help us more?" Ben said with a worried expression. However, his internal thoughts were different as a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. Hearing that, Erix saw people looking at them. ''This trash,'' Erix cursed. Narrowing his eyes behind his mask, Erix snorted loudly, "Listen, everyone! We are not your babysitters. If you get food directly on your te, you will not improve when these zombies and other mutated creatures get strong." "That''s right!" Rin said with a stern expression as she crossed her arms. "You must learn to fight and get stronger since you have skills and weapons!" "These zombies and mutated creatures are getting more powerful as time passes. Yesterday, there were only level one to level three zombies, but now, all zombies are above level four and above, so you also have to get used to fighting to be powerful!" "We understand! I am ready to go out. Who is with me?!" Hathor fervently shouted with a hint of excitement in his eyes. He wanted to get stronger like the group that stood before him. ''This idiot!'' Ben looked at his son with a dark expression. "I wille!" "Let''s go!" "Hathor, I wille with you," Marisa said with clenched fists. She also wanted to get strong! "Mom, let me go!" Marisa broke her mother''s grip and ran towards her brother. Over twenty people were ready to go as they walked towards the gate. "Wait," Erix loudly said to stop them before turning to give bodyguards. "Would you five go with them this time and supervise them?" "No problem," Ponty said with a smile while nodding. "You five also fought that frog and then helped everyone for hours. So please, take some rest. We still have energy and also recovered mana." "Everyone. Don''t get lost in the excitement, and stay cautious. A zombie scratch or their bite might turn you into a zombie, so make a proper formation to fight when going out," Jonty shouted at the group of people raring to fight. The people were happy they still decided to help by sending those five bodyguards to look out for them. ¡­ Erix, Rin, Isabe, Serina, and Lena went to Bunker A for a meeting. They stayed in Isabe''s room since Aaron had woken up as well. "There''s nothing to talk about Dungeon. We''ll see when ites in ten hours," Erix said. "So, let''s first open the treasure chests we got," Erix said as he took out his blue patterned (rare) treasure chest and opened it. [Berserk Veins (1st Tier passive skill): Increases your strength and agility by 5% upon getting injured. Up to 20% increase. The increment resets after not fighting for ten seconds. The others also took out their Rare-grade treasure chests. "Let''s hope one of us gets a skill about recovering limbs from these chests," Isabe lightly sighed with a smile as she opened her blue patterned (rare) treasure chest first. A scroll appeared from the chest, and she learned the skill before a stunned expression appeared on her face. **** [ Regrow Spirit (1st Tier active skill): Manifests a spirit of life that can heal wounds and recover missing limbs or organs. ] -Cost: 100 mana points. -Cooldown: 1 day. ***** "I-I got it. I got the skill that can regrow your leg," Isabe said with tion as she looked at Erix with shining eyes. Everyone was dumbfounded. None of them had expected to pop out a skill that could regrow limbs from their treasure chests, but there it was! "Yes!" Rin cheered as she side-hugged Isabe. "Haha, you are our lucky charm." "Finally," Erixughed. "Lucky charm indeed." "Let''s heal you first," Isabe said, gently smiling and feeling joyful at the development. A light-green blob with cute eyes and white wings appeared as Isabe used her skill, and it flew towards Erix since Isabe used the skill on him. The spirit of life entered Erix''s leg, where it was cut off before a burst of white-ish green motes appeared thatpleted Erix''s missing leg part. Two secondster, that leg-shaped mass of motes turned into the actual flesh! "Done already?" Erix moved his leg and did a few jumps beforeughing in amazement, "Perfect! Thanks a lot, Isabe." Isabe nodded with a smile before she turned to Lena. "This skill has a cooldown of one day. So, I will heal Mr. Toshin tomorrow." "Thank you, Isabe," Lena said with a smile. Now her husband would be able to fight as well. Serina was also d as she smiled in joy. Toshin''s situation was terrible as he struggled to fight with one leg. He also couldn''t fly like Erix, so his missing leg was a significant setback. "Mum, I finished," Aaron came out of the bathroom after he finished potty. "Good boy. Now sit on the bed for a bit, okay? After that, we will get you to eat something," Isabe gently said with a smile. Erix, Rin, Serina, and Lena opened their blue patterned (rare) treasure chests one by one. Erix got a 1st Tier active skill, Meteore Boost. It was a straightforward skill that boosted Erix''s next attack''s offensive power and speed depending on his Magic, Strength, and Agility stats. Nexst, Rin got an item. It was a weapon, a sword! Now that she had two swords, she couldn''t help but get excited. After all, she was a martial artist, but her mastery of sword arts was higher than her unarmed martial arts. The sword was a rare-grade sword called Butcher''s Festive Sword. ***** [Butcher''s Festive Sword (Rare-grade): A sword made from butcher demon''s bones and blood. It causes excessive bleeding to targets cut by it, giving them a bleed debuff that reduces their vitality at a higher rate.] -Attack: 70 ***** Next, Lena opened her treasure chest and got a 1st Tier skill called Poison Sac. [ Poison Sac (1st Tier active skill): Conjures a poison sac that automatically imbues your attacks with poison damage. Your next five attacks of any type will be poisoned to deal extra poison damage. -The poison damage depends on your Magic and Health stats. -Poisoned target''s wounds recover 20% slower for one minute. ] "Nice skill, Mom. Using your crossbow to attack after activating this skill will deal powerful damage," Serina said with a grin. Afterward, Serina opened her treasure chest and got a passive skill that boosted her Agility and Health and increased her movement speed by 10%. "Let''s use our Talent Stones now," Rin eagerly said, taking out her Talent stone from her inventory with anticipation in her eyes. [Random Talent Stone] Use: Infuse 1 point of mana. Rin infused mana, causing the mystical white stone to vanish into her hand. [Congrattions, you have acquired...] Chapter 40: Knowledge

Chapter 40: Knowledge

Rin infused 1 mana point into the talent stone, causing it to shine briefly before it disappeared. [ Congrattions. You have acquired a Talent, Dexter Deer. ] [Dexter Deer]: Increase your movement speed and jump power by 10%. After using a movement-type skill, your overall speed is increased by 20% for thirty seconds. "That''s handy. It will increase yourbat ability further," Erix said with a nod. "I got this," Serina said as she showed the talent she got from her Talent Stone. [Scope Vision]: Increase your vision range to 100 meters, and slowing down your heartbeat would allow you to zoom in at any particr spot in your vision with focus. "This talent is useful," Rin said as she smiled at Serina. "It''s perfect with your bow, and you can also scout." Serina smilingly nodded. Next, Erix infused mana in his talent stone. [ Congrattions. You have acquired a Talent, Muscle Enchant. ] [Muscle Enchant]: Increase your Strength stat by 1 point each second you hold your breath¡ªmaximum increase: 50 Strength. Losing your breath will reset the enchantment. "So-so," Erix said before he looked at Isabe. "I got a talent called Recovery Rune," Isabe said before she showed her talent at the party. [Recovery Rune]: Increase your stamina and mana recovery by 15%. "It looks like everyone got useful talents that can enhance ourbat ability and efficiency," Rin said before turning to Erix. "So, what''s the n now?" "Let''s take some rest to recover and freshen up. After that, we''ll go on a tour of the city." "True," Rin nodded. "We don''t know how dangerous the dungeon will be, so we should get stronger and learn more about what''s happening." ¡­ After an hour, the team gathered again and went out. "Only Isabe, Rin, and I will go out on my Eagle. More people on the bird will make it hard to fly." Aaron was also with them since he was awake and wouldn''t stay away from his mother. "Alright, we''ll look around the base at its front and back," Serina nodded. Erix could use the Corvette Jeep, but it was not efficient to move on wheels if they just wanted to look around. Flying was a quick and better alternative. As they flew out of the base, they saw many people of the base were still hunting in groups to level up and get more powerful or get used to fighting. Erix nced at the groups. "They are doing good." Further away, they saw two groups on the road to clear stronger zombies and mutated creatures. One of them was Hathor''s group, and Erix curiously checked his level. ''Level 16? Not bad.'' "Erix, this military base can''t be the only ce where people are gathered. This city is big, so there ought to be one or two more ces," mused Rin as she looked at the vast city. "Do you think there are people in that tower?" Isabe said as she pointed at the Targon Tower. "Let''s check it out," Erix nodded andmanded the Eagle to fly towards the tower. After a few minutes, they arrived at the tower while observing the city''s state from above. The tower was an attraction spot as people could go up on elevators and enter the ss dome at the top. "I''ll make a hole," Rin said as she took out her Oni-Taijin Katana and took a deep breath before using Sword Beam. Her katana released a constantser-like beam as Rin swiftly circted it on the transparent ss to make a circr cut in two seconds. After that, Erix flew out using his Metal Control since he had put metal tes below his feet and punched the ss using his Metacyber Arm to break open the circr cut. The Eagle flew inside the empty dome from the hole andnded. "There''s no one here." They searched around but found no living soul in the dome. [Anomaly detected! This is a rare encounter in which you have to fight something far stronger than you. Defeat it by forming a group and receive a treasure crate] A sudden notification startled the three of them. "Where is it?" Rin frowned. Erix flew out of the hole they made and looked below with narrowed eyes. Right at the ample space under the tower, a giant spider was resting on itsrge web while eating a meter-tall mutated Dog! Erix got goosebumps looking at its appearance. It was approx three meters tall with those eight sharp-hairy brown legs. Its dark red eyes, those sharp fangs dripping with dark green liquid, and some strange mutation on its head that had a single giant ck horn made it look horrifying. While he was observing the spider, it suddenly moved as if sensing something, but Erix quickly went back into the dome before it could see him. ''Damn, this spider got some sharp senses. To avoid casualties and risks, we have to kill this spider with a swift and foolproof strategy.'' "What happened, Erix?" "There''s a monster spider below this tower, a powerful one," Erix said, his voice somber. "We have to distribute our stat points and be on our peak power to kill it." "Yeah, I felt it was time for that," Rin nodded. "What''s that monster''s level?" Isabe asked. "Maybe it was too far, but I couldn''t inspect it," Erix shook his head. "My guts tell me it''s more powerful than the Frog and more tricky than the Helix Flower we killed." "So, let''s distribute our stat points first." Rin and Isabe nodded as they started. On the other hand, Aaron was ying with the Eagle. "Strange, I can''t add stat points to my Strength after it reached one hundred," Erix rubbed his chin. "And I can''t add any points in the magic stat," Rin was speechless. "Same," Isabe blinked. She turned to Erix and asked, "What about you?" Erix tried adding stat points in the magic stat, but it didn''t work. "You are right," Erix furrowed his brows. "But why?" The three of them discussed and experimented as they learned multiple things, as some strange monotone voice gave them information when they focused on any single thing they wanted to learn. First, their fundamental stats were capped at 100 until their rank increased from Mortal-Order to Supra-Order, but they could go above 100 if any items or passive skills boosted those stats. Second, the stat points didn''t work on Magic and Mana, as they seem to require a Magic Core to upgrade them, which they could form upon reaching the Supra-Order rank, level 50. Third, they could get brief information on how a single stat affected them if they focus on that stat and think about it in their mind. From that, they found information on the stats. - Strength: It increases various aspects of their physical body, such as muscle strength, bodyposition, and cell enhancement. This allows people to exert higher physical power of their physical body at the cost of their stamina. - Stamina: It increases one''s endurance of physical exertion and the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity. - Agility: This stat affects two main aspects. First, it increases one''s capability to control their physical body, thus increasing their nimbleness. Second, it increases one''s ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; this also helps one coordinate physical actions to make them efficient, thoughter is rted to an individual''s mental capability for performance. - Health: It increases one''s recovery speed from injuries, recovery speed of stamina, resistance against status ailment, and how quickly they recover if they are affected by any status ailment. "I am done. I maxed my Strength and Agility and put the rest on Health," Erix said as he showed his status. Chapter 41: Arrangements, Nasty Fangs Spider

Chapter 41: Arrangements, Nasty Fangs Spider

[~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Level: 41 _Rank: Mortal-Order _ss: None _Life orb: [200/200] _Stat points: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 100 / Agility: 100 / Health: 68 / Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 88 / Mana: 198/200 ] _Talent (1/3): . _Skills: ______Active Skills: [5/5]______ ¡ª> [ Metal Control (1st Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Iron Flower (1st Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Repairman (Normal Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Nether Grasp (1st Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Imposing Fist (1st Tier) ] ______Passive Skills: [4/5]______ ¡ª> [ Aura Vision (1st Tier): Can see the residual aura of things and living beings. ] ¡ª> [ Punch Force (1st Tier): Punch damage +50%. ] ¡ª> [Berserk Veins (1st Tier): Strength & Agility +5% each time you get injured. Up to 20%.] ¡ª> [ Metacyber Arm (1st Tier): An additional arm capable of using skills.] ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ ¡ª> [ Ignies Ed Intimacy ] ========== "I couldn''t max my Strength, but my stats are higher than yours because of passive skills and outfit set," Rin said with a wry smile. "However, I have less mana than you two, probably because my Magic affinity is rank B while yours is rank A." [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 40 _Rank: Mortal-Order _ss: None _Vitality: [200/200] _Stat points: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 84 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 100 (+50) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Health: 57 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 48 (+90) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 51(+25) / Mana: 100/100 ] _Talent (1/3): . _Outfit: Dawnless Armor Set. _Skills: ______Active Skills: [3/5]______ ¡ª> [ Lightning Charge (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Sword Beam (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Thunder Blitz (1st Tier active skill) ] ______Passive Skills: [3/5]______ ¡ª> [ Body Boost (1st Tier passive skill): +20 all stats, + 100 Vitality.] ¡ª> [ Stamina Motor (1st Tier passive skill): +60 stamina, +20 Agility.] ¡ª> [ Budding Sword (1st passive skill): +10% Damage on sword attacks and attacks unleashed through a sword ] ______Special Skills: [1/3]______ ¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy (3rd Tier skill) ] ========== "I am sure there will be a way to increase our magic power and mana," Isabe said as she was also done and showed her status to them. "And I decided to save 13 stat points for now," she added. [~Isabe~] _Race: Human _Level: 33 _Rank: Mortal-Order _ss: None _Vitality: [200/200] _Stat points: 13 ¡ª> [ Strength: 46 (+60) / Agility: 100 / Health: 51 / Stamina: 48] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 94 (+30) / Mana: 200(+100) ] _Talents (2/3): , . _Skills: ______Active Skills: [4/5]______ ¡ª> [ Frost Shield (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ me Whip (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Wind Dash (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Regrow Spirit (1st Tier active skill) ] ______Passive Skills: [2/5]______ ¡ª> [ Vital Power (1st Tier passive skill): Strength +60, Vitality +100 ] ¡ª> [ Special Soldier (Normal ss passive skill): Combat expertise of a soldier. ] ______Special Skills: [1/3]______ ¡ª> [ Mother''s Unbounded Love (2 triggers left) ] ========== "Good. Let''s get on the Eagle and descend." "Erix, if that creature is really that dangerous, then should we get Serina and Lena on the team?" Rin suggested. "Let me go and inspect it first," Erix said after thinking for a second. He jumped out of the window and slowly flew down while focusing on the spider. When he was approximately thirty meters away, he finally managed to get its information. [~Nasty Fangs Spider~] _Level: 57 _Vitality: [3000/3000] _Attack: 270 _Defense: 210 _Status: ¡ª> [ Magic power: 100 / Mana: 1000/1000 ] ''Alright, this can be tough. Its Vitality is less than that Frog, but the attack is higher, and who knows what kind of abilities it has.'' Erix fell into thought as he started forming a strategy to defeat the spider. ''Rin''s Strength and Agility are off the charts. I''m sure her attacks with her two swords will devastate that spider.'' ''To let her freely attack...'' Erix looked around and saw a few metal boards and other metal objects. ''Good. Isabe and I must control and obstruct the spider while Rin butcher it.'' Erix flew up and went back into the dome before he started detailed nning with Isabe and Rin. After ten minutes, the three of them were ready. "Aaron, can you stay here for a bit with this Eagle? We''ll be back soon," Isabe said as she patted Aaron with a smile. Aaron pouted but still nodded. "Okay, bute back soon." Erix looked at the Eagle andmanded. ''Stay here and y with Aaron.'' Afterward, Erix approached Rin and grabbed her waist with his right arm while Rin also put her arm behind him to get a hold. "To his left side, Sis Isabe," Rin said. Isabe''s cheeks turned a bit red, but she quickly recovered and nodded before approaching Erix. Erix grabbed and pulled her waist while Isabe also put her arm behind Erix. Her hand touched Rin''s arm and tentatively held it to get hold. "Let''s go," Erix flew out of the dome with Rin to his right and Isabe to his left while his arms held their waists. ''This is bad...'' Isabe thought, her heart beating faster. It had been long since she got close to a man like this. Her left breast was also touching Erix''s chest, causing her to feel a sensation she had forgotten long ago, but she tried her best not to let this bother her. ''Sigh.'' Erix noticed Isabe''s heart beating faster and was amused but ignored it and flew down carefully while avoiding the spider''s vision. "Don''t look at the spide since it can sense your gaze. We''llnd twenty meters away from it behind that rubble and then ambush it." Because of the aura and deterrent of the spider, no other mutated creature roamed near it. As for zombies, there were none. Most of them were eaten by mutated creatures and this spider. Chapter 42: Efficient and Quick

Chapter 42: Efficient and Quick

Behind the rubbles twenty meters from the giant Spider, Erix observed a few things before saying, "I''ll go first and distract it, so the moment ites to attack me, you have to rush and impair it by destroying its legs." "Isabe, you can act ording to the situation. If I get into trouble with the Spider''s initial attacks, you can use the Frost Shield to help me. But if all goes well, you can join Rin in attacking it." Rin and Isabe nodded as they took out their weapons. Rin took out her two weapons, Oni-Taijin Katana and Buther''s Festive Sword, ready and raring. Isabe took out her wand and took a breath as she was also ready. "Stay sharp," Erix said before he kissed Rin to activate Ignis Ad Intimacy, increasing their overall damage by 30%! Afterward, he picked up a two-meter-long and wide concrete piece of a nearby destroyed structure with his Metacyber Arm and controlled a metal board with his Metal Control skill before flying up and moving towards the Spider at full speed. He also held his breath to use his Muscle Enchant talent, increasing his Strength by one each second. On the other hand, the Spider instantly noticed Erix and released a shrill cry, spitting out a dark green venom ball towards Erix before it also rushed forward. Erix quickly threw the concrete piece towards the iing Venom Ball as it managed to nullify it, but the Venom Ball was so powerful that the piece of concrete got entirely corroded! ''Nether Grasp!'' Erix quickly used his skill through Metacyber Arm while throwing his controlled metal board toward the Spider. The Nether Grasp appeared behind the Spider and grabbed its two rear legs to immobile it, causing the metal board to hit its head but dealing no damage. However, he didn''t use it to damage it in the first ce. The metal board and Nether Grasp sessfully distracted the Spider, giving a chance to Rin and Isabe as theymenced their moves! *Swoosh!* Paired with her insane 175 Agility was a Lightning Charge on her legs and a single Thunder Blitz as she crossed ten meters distance in a jiffy and appeared at the Spider''s left side before sweeping both of her swords at a blinding speed using Sword Beam! *Shaaa!* -540! -478! In just a second, all eight of its legs were cut off! Isabe also used her Wind Dash to arrive there before using me Whips. But instead of attacking it, she wrapped her whips around the Spider to keep it from moving. -112! me Whip! -48! Burn. ''Perfect,'' Erix grinned as the n worked out perfectly, and without hesitation, he flew to the Spider''s right side before both his fist and Metacyber Arm''s fist glowed with Imposing Fist skill as he consumed 80 mana at once! Moreover, the Punch Force passive increased his punch-type damage by 50%! *Boom!* -639! Erix''s Imposing Fist. -328! Metacyber Arm''s Imposing Fist. Right after that, Erix used Nether Grasp and covered the Spider''s head, blinding and applying pressure! Isabe also wasted no time using Frost Shield and pped it on the Spider, further suppressing it! Losing its legs and being suppressed by the Frost Shield and me Whip, the Spider couldn''t move or see anything due to Nether Grasp grasping its head and applying pressure. Meanwhile, Rin has been attacking non-stop with her swords since the start! Theirbined efforts rapidly shaved away the Spider''s vitality! In just five seconds, its vitality dropped to zero while it couldn''t do anything! [You have killed a level 57 mutated creature, Nasty Fangs Spider. +3 Mortal-Order skill stones into each party member''s inventory] Erix reached 50. Rin reached level 50. Isabe reached level 44. [Complete Rank-up Quest to continue to level up and ascend to Supra-Order rank.] Both Erix and Rin got the notification about the rank-up quest when they reached level 50. "It finished easier and quicker than I thought," Isabe said with slight disbelief. "Yep. It really couldn''t do anything after our suppression. I guess we were a bit paranoid because of our first encounter with a powerful monster, that Helix Flower," Rin said with a wry smile. Helix Flower killed several people and even cut off Erix''s leg, so that experience was truly hellish for them. One mistake and anyone could die in that fight. Of course, an important factor was that they were much stronger in this fight, both stat and skill-wise. All three of their Agility was maxed, so theirbat efficiency and instant decision-making drastically increased. Still, due to that encounter with Helix Flower, Erix and others never held back and gave their all in every fight, especially against giant higher leveled monsters. "Anyway, it''s better to be careful in every fight to avoid injuries and casualties," Erix said while observing his surroundings using his Aura Vision. On the other hand, the Spider''s body faintly shone before it dispersed into motes and left behind a Treasure Crate. "Sister Be, you should open this," Rin grinned. "Your luck is better." "Don''t me me if we get bad things." Isabe teasingly smiled before she rubbed her palms and touched the Treasure Crate. A secondter, It opened and spewed out several things. [ 1x ck Fang Ranger Set. ] [ 1x Supra-Order skill stone. ] [ 1x Dark Venom Knife. ] [ 1x Magic Fruit: ck Grape. ] [ 1x Vemon Ball skill scroll. ] "A set!" Erix''s eyes shone as he touched the orb containing the set. The set was ck colored with a few dark green and dark brown patterns to make it look ominous. [ ck Fang Ranger Set ] _Grade: Rare. - ck Fang light leather armor. - ck Fang Gloves. - ck Fang Pants. - ck Fang Boots. ¡ª> 2-piece effect: Poison Resistance +50. You can consume 10% of your vitality to recover 30% of your mana. Cooldown: 1 hour. ¡ª> 4-piece effect: +35 all stats. You can consume 30 mana to enhance your next melee attack that deals 200 additional damage as poison damage and reduce the damaged target''s heal recovery by 50% for ten seconds. "Finally, a man''s armor set," Erix delightedly chuckled as he touched the set to equip it, causing it to appear over his body while his ck Star robe went into his inventory. "Take this skill stone too. Hold on to it until one of us meets the requirement to upgrade the skill," Rin said before she picked up the knife to check its information. ========= [Dark Venom Knife (Epic-grade): A knife made from toxin-cultivated metal. Targets hit by the knife will have their poison resistance reduced by 70. Only effective against targets below level 100.] _Attack: 120. ========= "Eh?" Rin raised her eyebrows in surprise. "This is our first Epic grade item, right?" "Indeed. But it doesn''t feel Epic to me," Erix said before his gaze moved to magic fruit as he picked up the bottle-cap-sized ck grape. "Let''s see what this tiny grape can do." Chapter 43: Demons & Magic Circle

Chapter 43: Demons & Magic Circle

[ck Grape] _Grade: Rare. _Effect: It can increase Magic by 50 points for one hour and can also be used as a material for Alchemy. "Alchemy?" Isabe was surprised. "Interesting. Maybe we can eventually use Alchemy as we progress?" Erix mused. "I wonder what else is there for us to discover in this changing world," Rin sighed in amazement. Suddenly, Rin, Erix, and Isabe saw a notification window popping in their vision, along with a voice ringing in their heads. [ World Announcement: The first floor of all ten Labyrinth Towers will open in 10 days. ] Not just them but every single person in the world got this notification. "Why does this f-feel like a game?" Isabe asked, stammering in slight fear as she spoke. "Is someone controlling and observing our world? Is this punishment of humans?" "No!" Erix narrowed his eyes. "There is something happening, but we are on our own. If not, I would''ve turned into a zombie and got killed by someone instead of standing before you two." "Whatever it is, I feel like we will get answers gradually. The first stop is thatbyrinth tower in Phoenix City," Rin sharply grinned. "After weplete the dungeon here, we''ll go there without any stop." ¡­ Erix put the ck Grape in his inventory and gave Venom Ball skill and Dark Venom Knife to Isabe. She needed a melee weapon, so this Venom Ball skill and Dark Venom Knife were perfect for her as abo. After all, the knife could reduce the target''s poison resistance, and then Venom Ball could make quick work of the target. [Venom Ball (1st Tier active skill): Conjure a ball of venom capable of corroding even metal and dealing poison damage. The corrosion effect and poison damage depend on the user''s Magic stat.] After the trio was done, they started roaming to find monsters around or above level 50 to kill. They needed to fulfill several requirements, which they could onlyplete by killing certain monsters. First, their ss awakening requirements. Second, their skill upgrading requirements. Isabe had also chosen an advanced ss, , so she also needed to kill certain Supra-Order monsters of nt types toplete her tasks. Currently, they were flying on the Eagle to observe the city, but they didn''t find their targets despite roaming for half an hour. "This is a bit tricky. Where do we even find our targets?" Rin sighed as she looked at her ss task progress. "With our current capabilities, we just need to find and kill the targets." [Tasks] -8 days left. -> Kill fifty sentient beings or mutated monsters below level 50. (50/50). -> Kill one Supra-Order (level 50+) random monster. (0/1). -> Kill one Supra-Order (level 50+) demon and absorb its origin core (0/1). "There you go again," Erix lightly chopped on her head, "They are not mindless monsters like that frog, spider, and that flower. Our targets are proper intelligent beings, and anyone who has reached above level 50, the so-called Supra-Order rank, is bound to be strong." "Tsk, I know. I was just saying," Rin stuck out her tongue before she let out a dry chuckle. "I am just being impatient because I want to see the power of our sses." "Guys, I think there''s something in that ce," Isabe pointed at a factory below. "I saw a few red humanoid creatures with horns entering inside. They seemed different than the ones we saw in my vige, but¡­ they are demons, I think." "Let''s go there," Erixmanded the Eagle to fly there as a glint passed through his eyes. "If they are demons, then we have some business with them. I want to capture and speak with them if possible, like how the hell they arrived here and why." "That''s a very good idea," Rin chimed in as her voice and eyes became lively. Finally, the situation she was seeking arrived! "Mum, are we going to beat bad guys like we saw in our vige?" "Yep." "I also want to beat them. When can I do that?" Rin chuckled and ruffled Aaron''s head. "You can do that after you grow up, okay?" "Grow up? Like brother Erix?" "Exactly." "Ok," Aaron seriously nodded with his tiny fists clenched. "I will eat lots and grow up quickly." Isabe smiled and kissed his forehead. "But for now, just do what we say so you can grow up, okay?" "Mhmm," Aaron nodded. ¡­ After silently descending into an alley, the trio moved towards the broken wall leading into the warehouse from the back. Meanwhile, Erix told the Eagle to fly up high and roam with Aaron on it. "Ew, this stench is way too thick," Rin frowned as she neared the broken wall with a hole and peeked inside. "What the hell are they doing? It''s simr to what we saw in the vige," she whispered. Isabe felt like puking because of the stench, but her stomach churned intensely when she saw the scene inside. She immediately turned around, bent down, and started puking. "Let them continue. I want to see what they are going to do with that magic circle and that mountain of corpses," Erix squinted his eyes as he saw five demons around level 35 standing in a circr formation with a small mountain of corpses in the middle. "I hope they summon a Supra-Order demon so I canplete my ss task," Rin grinned. Below the corpse mountain was a magic circle, and they were seemingly doing something akin to a ritual while pouring mana for a purpose unknown to the trio. Time passed as seconds turned into minutes, and the magic circle started glowing with a crimson re. After the magic circle started glowing, the mountain of corpses started vanishing as if getting absorbed by the magic circle. Every corpse disappeared in just several seconds, not even leaving behind a single drop of blood on the magic circle. *Shaaa!* And then came a burst of demonicughter as a malevolent aura started oozing out of the magic circle along with a humanoid creature that slowly emerged from it. Its prominent head had two long and curvy ck horns, its skin dark red with gray markings, and its eyes were dirty yellow with a red hue. It stood three meters tall aftering out of the magic circle as he let out another roaringughter. "Good work! Now, go and bring me some living delicacy! I need to stabilize myself before going out!" The demon spoke before he sat down cross-legged on the floor and crossed his arm. ''I better get some energy before going out since I heard some humans immediately killed Toeaj after he was summoned.'' Despite thinking that, his mouth still drooled upon seeing the warehouse littered with the flesh of humans and creatures that those minor demons ate. ''Damn, I can''t wait to eat some lively fresh blooded humans!'' On the other hand, Rin''s eyes shone upon inspecting the demon. ''This is it! A supra-order demon!'' [ Euat-Hell Blom Demon ] _Level: 56 _Rank: Supra-Order. _Type: Demon. _Vitality: [1000/1000] _Status: ¡ª> Strength: 228 ¡ª> Agility: 195 ¡ª> Health: 212 ¡ª> Stamina: 225 ¡ª> Magic: 186 / Mana: [ 400/400 ] _Skills: ??? She turned to Erix and saw that he was also looking at her. "Darling, we got to kill him." "Of course, but let''s quickly get out for now because I have a n." The three of them quickly left the alley while Erix called his Bloodwood Eagle to descend fifty meters away from the warehouse. "What''s the n?" Isabe asked. Erix smiled. "Since he is staying in the warehouse, let me drop a bomb as our starter attack." Rin tilted her head before asking, Are weing up with you?" Erix shook his head, "You two will stay at the end of that alley with Aaron and enter after I drop my attack. I will go all out because I want to test something." "Alright." Rin and Isabe nodded. After the Bloodwood Eagle arrived, Erix started controlling several metal boards and objects before creating a condensed, thick, and big sphere of metal weighing approximately 1000+ kilograms. Erix still remembered that notification about building up Metal Affinity, so he wanted to go all out and break his limit to make that notification appear again. "After dropping the bomb, I''ll put Aaron back on this bird to keep him safe in the sky." Isabe nodded. "Erix, you better not kill that demon with that single attack," Rin said speechlessly. "I need to kill it for my ss task." Erix wryly smiled. "I know, and I doubt this will be enough to kill it even though he has low Vitality. Alright, now go take your positions, I am going up," he said beforemanding the Eagle to fly up. Chapter 44: Power!

Chapter 44: Power!

As Erix flew high in the sky while controlling the boulder, the pressure on his mind and control started increasing. Five hundred meters. Eight hundred meters. One kilometer! *Whistle!* The Bloodwood Eagle cried as he sensed Erix bing unstable and lowered its speed. ''Continue!'' [Metal Affinity Building Up] [Progress Phase...] Despite the pressure, Erix gritted his teeth as he maintained control over the 1000-kilogram metal boulder. The Bloodwood Eagle continued flying high as it sensed his master''s determination. One thousand five hundred meters! Two kilometers! ''Urghh!'' Erix''s head had unique veins popping while his pale skin adopted a dreamy light blue hue. He was exerting his full mental effort and trying to stabilize his consciousness, but to no avail. '' S-Shit¡­.'' His consciousness got wobbly as the Bloodwood Eagle reached three thousand meters of height before finally stopping. [Metal Affinity Progress Phasepleted and recognized.] [Congrattions. You have sessfully awakened Metal Affinity.] The moment he heard the notification and felt a jolt in his entire being, he lost control of the metal boulder. ''Fuck!'' The boulder started descending rapidly, but Erix''s mind was vibrating, causing his vision and consciousness to be chaotic. The Bloodwood Eagle didn''t need to hear its master''smand as it quickly flew down and caught up with a boulder. ''Good job!'' ''Ugh, when will this end?'' Erix internally grunted as he tried to exert his willpower and focus on stabilizing himself. The boulder was changing its direction without Erix''s minor interference, which was an essential step to making his n work. Even at the meteoric speed of the boulder, he needed to asionally exert his control to keep itsnding point on the Demon inside the warehouse. But his current situation prevented him from using his Metal Control skill. ''This is not good!'' However, when the boulder was 1.5 kilometers away fromnding, Erix suddenly felt liberated from his chaotic situation and¡­ felt a new realm of power flowing in his mind. He looked at the boulder and instantly exerted control over it, stopping it in mid-air despite its fast speed! ''What the fuck¡­.'' The Eagle also cried out in shock and widened its wings to make a sudden break seeing the situation. "Hahahah!" Erix burst outughing at how easily he was controlling this metal boulder of one thousand kilograms, feeling no pressure or pain anywhere! "Let''s go up, buddy! This time¡­ even higher than before!" [ Metal Affinity ] _Realm: Alpha. _Description: Attunded to Metals and Absolute Telekinesis over Metal objects with no limits on their size and weight as long as you have mana or stamina to consume for higher exertion and actions. ''I am no longer feeling even the slightest difort,'' Erix internally grinned at having his power developing in such a way. If he had to describe it in another way, he was controlling this one-ton metal boulder like holding a softball in his hand. *Whistle!* The Eagle stopped and tilted its head towards Erix. ''Nah, one kilometer more.'' Erix decided to drop it from four kilometers into the sky! The Eagle continued while Erix fell into thought, looking at his Metal Affinity panel. ''If this Alpha is starting realm, then it means 1 ording to the Greek letter number equivalent. So, the next realm should be Beta since it means 2.'' ''But I already have absolute control over metal objects, so what kind of powers I''ll have in the next realm of Metal Affinity?'' Erix couldn''t imagine it, but he was already bubbling with excitement in anticipation of his future. After all, gaining power in every man''s first romance. ¡­ "Why did he go up again?" Rin muttered while squinting her eyes toward the sky. "No idea, but I think he must have some n," Isabe was cautiously looking around instead of observing the sky. "Mum, I want to pee," Aaron said. While Isabe helped Aaron with his peeing, Rin saw the metal boulder descending in heating fury. But when she saw carefully, she was dumbfounded. "Erix! What is he doing standing on that boulder?! Wait, that speed¡­ Sis Be, quickly use your Frost Shield in this direction to cover us!" The bloodwood eagle also flew alongside the boulder, folding its wings and using all its power to descend at a speed surpassing sound. On the other hand, Erix finally saw the warehouse and thending point as he ferociously grinned and jumped up, exerting his strength and giving his all to increase the metal boulder''s speed further! *Zeeeeeeeeeesh!* Inside the warehouse, the Crimson Demon indeed managed to sense the sudden threat descending on him and quickly erected a half-assed barrier for the defense to protect himself. ''WTF!'' *BOOM!* -948! The crash created a loud reverberating sound and a massive crater as a powerful shockwave spread in all directions! Even Rin, Isabe, and Aaron were affected, but the Frost Shield blocked the shockwaves and kept them from being injured. Still, they were considerably pushed back when the shockwave hit them. *Crackle¡­Blitz!* The moment shockwave ended, Rin''s leg muscles tightened as she used Thunder Blitz and Lightning Charge before dashing towards the crater''s center and swinging both swords in an X motion while using Sword Beam! The Crimson Demon was trying to stand while being on the verge of death. ''Heal, potion!'' In utter panic due to his dying condition, he quickly took out a potion from his storage pouch, but just as that potion touched his lips, his ears rumbled with a thunderous lightning sound while his eyes looked toward the iing attack. An X-shaped sword beam projectile which had his death written on it. ''Bloody Hell!'' *Puchi!* His already messed up body was clearly cut into four pieces as Rin heard a melodious sound in her head, causing a satisfying smile to appear on her face. [You have killed a level 56 Crimson Demon. You have gained +15 Health.] The Demon''s body vanished into motes as a treasure chest appeared. It was not white, cyan, or blue but... dark pink. Epic. [ Treasure Chest (Epic grade) ] However, Rin''s eyes were attracted to a dark red crystal orb beside the chest. [ Origin Core (Supra-Order) ] _Type: Demonic. ''Now, how do I absorb this core toplete the ss task?'' [Pleaseplete the rank-up quest and create your origin core (magic core) to absorb this.] ''Ah, the rank-up quest. Got it.'' Chapter 45: Crimson Blood Flare, Crimson Hell Staff, Rank-up Steps

Chapter 45: Crimson Blood re, Crimson Hell Staff, Rank-up Steps

"So that''s the origin core?" Isabe looked at the glowing dark red crystal-like ball. "Mum, did Brother Erix destroy this ce?" Aaron looked around with childish amazement on his face, his eyes shining. "I will also be strong like Brother Erix and beat the bad guys!" When they saw Aaron''s expression, Rin and Isabe didn''t know what to think. The little guy was too young, and based on what he had experienced so far, he wasing to love this. Especially since he had seen demons and zombies in his vige, and then Erix and Rin killing them and saving him and his mother. After all, five years of age was sensitive, and he would develop and start thinking based on his experience. "Well, it''s a good thing considering our world''s current situation," Rin wryly smiled. "Yes, but I''ll have to talk to him more and guide him," Isabe said, her expression serious. ''If hees to like pure violence, it will be bad.'' Meanwhile, Erix also descended beside them. "All creatures and those demons are scared toe here, but some other things might get attracted here, so let''s get going first," Erix said before he put Aaron on the Eagle and turned to Isabe. "Go with him. We''ll meet up at the top of the tower." "Alright," Isabe nodded before she jumped on the Eagle. ''Go. Take them inside the tower''s dome,'' Erixmanded the Bloodwood Eagle. On the other hand, Rin picked up the core and treasure chest before wrapping her arms around Erix. "Good work, darling~" "It was awesome right?" "Yeah, except that you almost killed him." "Hahaha, I guessed he would try to defend with a skill after sensing the attack, so I went all out, and that benefited me a lot as I awakened Metal Affinity." "Eh? Metal Affinity?" "I''ll tell you on the way, so let''s get going first." ¡­ After arriving in the tower''s dome, everyone sat down before Rin opened the treasure chest. One dark pink orb, one crimson scroll, a mortal-order skill stone, and a supra-order skill stone. Erix put both skill stones into his inventory while Rin touched the scroll first to check its details. [ Crimson Blood re (Tier 2 active skill): A magic skill belonging to Crimson Demons of Euat Hell. Unleashes a crimson blood re from your hands with a blood fuel effect and inflicts Burn debuff on the target for five seconds. The skill''s damage depends on the user''s magic and strength stats. - Blood Fuel: the me burns higher when ites into contact with the target''s blood. - Scaling: Magic-6, Strength-4. - Cost: 50 mana points, 70 stamina points. -Do note that using the skill will cause intense burning pain in your hands for a minute and might make your hands unusable for the duration. Only learn the skill if you are able to endure the pain. ] "Woah, this skill is powerful!" Rin eximed after reading the description. "But that note at the end is troublesome. I don''t know if I can use it," Isabe shook her head. "I also can''t use it because I have to use swords with my hands," Rin smiled and turned to Erix. "But you can use it without any trouble. I remember you told me about your pain tolerance significantly increasing." "Yep, and I also have unlimited stamina physically, so as long as I have mana, I can use this skill," Erix nodded as he picked up the scroll and learned it after removing the Repairman active skill from his slots. Next, Rin touched the dark pink orb, causing a staff crimson wooden staff with shining red patterns toe out. [ Crimson Hell Staff (Epic grade): A staff for channeling magic, made from materials from Euat Hell. Holding this Staff will cause it to attach a me resistance aura to you, increasing your me resistance by 70 and granting immunity to burn debuff. - Fire-attribute skills used through this Staff deals 15% more damage, ignore 50 fire resistance, and increase burn debuff effectiveness by 20%. - Note: Although you have immunity from Burn debuff, it doesn''t protect you from higher versions of Burn debuff such as ze, Ignite, and Incinerate. "This item does look like an Epic-grade, unlike that Epic-grade Knife we got," Erix was impressed at the Staff''s power upon reading its description. "Here you go, Sister Be," Rin handed the Staff to Isabe with a grin. "You have a me-attributed skill and needed a better magic weapon, so this is perfect." "Thank you. This will indeed increase my power by a lot. By the way, I reached level 50 thanks to you killing that demon, so I also need toplete the rank-up quest." "Yep, that''s why we are here. We canplete it in this undisturbed tower dome since we''ll need time and focus to create our cores," Erix said before opening the Rank-up Quest for all to reread the steps. [Rank-up Quest] _Task: Create your magic core by following the steps. _Important Note: Please find a safe and undisturbed ce to create the core. ¡ª> Step 1: Meditate and find the Origin Region of your body, which is an ethereal space connected and situated between your body and soul. ¡ª> Step 2: Use exactly 99 mana points to condense and create a solid mana crystal. ¡ª> Step 3: After creating the mana crystal, keep it intact until your magic power in Origin Region automatically refines it for an hour and transforms it into a Magic Core. _Rewards: ¡ª> +10 magic, +50 mana. After reading, Rin and Erix started meditating toplete the quest, while Isabe talked with Aaron briefly before joining them. Erix and others had to focus for half an hour before they finally managed to sense and discover the Origin Region with their consciousness. At first, they were surprised because it had many things inside! The most prominent things were strange floating runes, which were the skills they had learned! Skill Runes! The second thing was a box of transparent space with slots, which contained the items they put in the inventory function. The box was the inventory! It seemed that they were given this storage power upon reaching level 1. Aside from that, the Origin Region was filled with magic power and mana. After observing it for a bit, they proceeded ording to the Rank-up quest''s steps. However, the initial step was already proving difficult as they had trouble condensing a proper mana crystal. Fortunately, the mana remained there even after their mana crystal broke and dispersed, allowing them to try again and again. As time passed, Aaron was soon tired of ying and fell asleep on the Eagle''s furry back, while the big bird also decided to take a nap because it was exhausted. From noon to evening, Erix, Rin, and Isabe kept trying despite their crystals breaking many times and even had to take half an hour''s break as they discussed their discovery. And then, they finally seeded in the second step. ''This... I think this is perfect,'' Isabe looked at the perfectly round thumb-sized mana crystal she created with 99 points of mana properly spread and condensed. It didn''t crack or break after she finished condensing. Moreover, the mana crystal began attracting magic power as it started turning darker blue from its initial whiteish blue as the refinement began. ''Final step, I have to keep it intact, so I can''t lose focus now,'' Isabe determinedly controlled the mana crystal and allowed her magic power to refine it. On the other hand, Erix and Rin also finished creating their mana crystal around the same time as they internally sighed in relief and resumed their focus to keep it intact for an hour. However, the final hour seemed torturous to the trio as they could feel their mana crystal bing vtile, causing them difficulty in keeping it intact. They felt several hours had already passed despite only thirty minutes passing. But if they lost their focus and control, it would break, and they would have to start over, so they firmly kept their focus and control despite exhaustion creeping up on their mind and body. Aaron woke up after a long nap and saw them sweaty and exhausted, but he didn''t dare to disturb them. ''Mom told me it would be dangerous to disturb them.'' ''But what do I do... Everyone is sleeping.'' After spending five minutes staring at the sky in silence, his stomach made a growling sound. "When will they finish?" Aaron muttered as he rubbed his tummy. "I am hungry." Chapter 46: TreeBug resort, New groups of people

Chapter 46: TreeBug resort, New groups of people

[ Congrattions! You have sessfully created your magic core and ascended to Supra-Order. +10 Magic, +50 Mana capacity. ] Right after that, all three of them leveled up once, reaching level 51 and gaining 2 unassigned stat points. "Phew, finally¡­'' Rin wiped her face off sweat and stood up. Meanwhile, Isabe used her Frost Shield skill before them to get cold air from the rectangle ice block. "This went longer than I expected," Erix said upon seeing the dark sky. "I have an idea," Rin''s eyes suddenly shone as she thought of something. "How about we fly to TreeBug Resort? There are swimming pools and other facilities, so we can cook something delicious in one of their kitchens and eat. We can also rx, which we urgently need." "I am hungry!" Aaron shouted with a pout, his eyes teary. *Grrrr¡­.* "Alright, let''s have some fun before returning to the military base," Erix nodded with a chuckle. "The food in the base is simple and not that tasty anyway." "Let''s hope there are no monsters there," Isabe sighed. "It will be hard to fight any tough battle with our current weary minds. We won''t be able to focus." Rin stood up and stretched her limbs. "Right. All I want to do now is to bathe, eat, and sleep." "Let''s go." While the trio flew towards TreeBug resort, several powerful people arrived at the military base. It was a group of nine people consisting of four females and five males, all of whom were around level 40 with their ages ranging fromte teens tote twenties, with one being a middle-aged man with a fit body. Although it was only 8 PM, most of the people in the military base were sleeping because they were mentally and physically tired after fighting so much all day and getting stronger. However, Senator Ben and General Tark happily weed the new group and took them to the meeting room. They saw the chance to get back the authority of the base with these new people who they thought were as powerful as Erix''s group but more in number! ¡­ As the trio neared the TreeBug resort, they saw a few sections lighted up with torches and bonfires. There were people inside! "So, people who were already there survived, or a group went there after surviving in the city," Rin spected. "Will it be safe there?" Isabe hesitantly asked. "We should at least take a look," Erix squinted his eyes to observe and count the number of people. It was impossible to see people with naked eyes in the dark, but Erix could see and count because he had the passive skill, , which allowed him to see the presence aura of living beings. "There are many people inside, I think over forty," Erix informed them andmanded the Bloodwood Eagle to fly at a lower altitude. The resort seemed to be under a proper guide since four people sat at the top on a terrace around the bonfire, indicating that people were taking turns to be on the lookout. When the Bloodwood Eagle neared the resort while flying at a lower altitude, they all stood up to observe the new guests. "Damn, they are enjoying," Rin clicked her tongue upon seeing women and girls in bikinis and swimsuits while men in shorts at two different swimming pools. They were eating, drinking, and swimming! Soon, the rest of the people also saw the Eagle and became cautious as they turned toward them. "Just fly around here while I''ll go alone first to check things out," Erix said. "No, I aming with you," Rin said, her expression unwavering. Erix knew there was no other choice after seeing her expression. "Tell the Bloodwood Eagle to fly around thirty meters near you, so I can use my skills if something happens," Isabe said with a serious expression. "And be careful." "Got it." Erixmanded the Eagle before he grabbed Rin''s waist and flew towards the resort. Seeing them flying, all people in the resort were startled and amazed as they started discussing how they could fly on top of getting a flying beast as their mount! They soon descended at the first swimming pool and saw a lean middle-aged man wearing a maroon suit and rimmed sses approaching them with a smile, "Wee to the TreeBug Resort. I am Jin Tyler, the leader of this ce." "Leader, my ass." Rin and Erix heard the taunting rough voice as a muscr mannded with his back facing Jin. He was a dark-skinned bald man in his thirties wearing only a vest and pants. "This four-eyes is not the leader of this ce," the man grinned at Erix and Rin and crossed his arms. "Of course, I am also not. The name''s Khalil; nice to meet you." "That said, you two seem powerful, eh?" Khalil narrowed his eyes while smiling. None of them had the means to check each other''s level, but perceptive people could feel one''s aura and roughly gauge one''s strength based on their guts. He could feel that Erix and Rin had lots of blood on their hands, which was expected since they managed to arrive here after surviving in the city. "You have settled quite well here," Rin nced around. "It was thanks to the joint effort of our two groups here, andter, we saved more people while some arrived here," Jin walked forward and stood beside Khalil as he adjusted his rimmed sses and looked at Erix and Rin with a sharp smile. "We wee people here, but you must join one of the two groups." He obviously meant to join him or Khalil since both upied half of the resort and used different swimming pools. "No thanks," Erix shook his head. "We''ll leave after eating some hot food and taking a bath. I''m sure there are many rooms empty here." "Haha, th-" "And we already have arge group of over two hundred people at the military headquarters," Rin interrupted Khalil. "If you want, you can head there since it''s just several kilometers from here." "After all, this area is close to the forest, so who knows what kind of mutated monster might suddenly pounce on you?" Rin''s words rang with a kind smile on her face. "You have to be careful." Naturally, she was faking her kind words and expression, which was obvious to Khalil and Jin. "Your concern is appreciated, but we have settled here quite well, as you''ve said, and do not n to leave until we get more powerful and have the means to travel quickly," Jin tly replied with an indifferent expression. "Not even for the Labyrinth Tower that''s opening in ten days?" Erix raised his eyebrows. Khalil wryly smiled. "We want to, but we need working transportation to reach there. Jin''s group has a mini-bus that dropped as an item, but that''s not enough to carry everyone." Jin nodded in agreement with Khalil, "For now, our groups are focusing on two things, one is exploring the city, and the other is exploring the forest, so we hope to get one big or two small transportation items as soon as possible by killing monsters from both areas." "As for the food and bath, you can have that as long as you give us something in return or simply join one of our groups and help us." Saying that, Jin turned to Khalil, "What do you say?" ''As expected¡­'' Erix didn''t believe they would get free lunch here after seeing people in the resort. Since they survived until now and even managed toe here, it was obvious to the other party that they had items in their inventory. Although people should help each other in these challenging times since so many had already died, that was not logical anymore because people could get power and continue to get stronger. They were experiencing things that they believed only gods could do. Magic! Powerful skills! Evolution! As such, people have different mindsets and ways of doing things based on what they have experienced so far and what they anticipate for their future. That''s why Khalil grinned when Jin turned to him and replied with, "No." Turning to Rin and Erix, Khalil continued, "You cane to my area and get food. The chef in my group is better anyway." "What I want from you is not your item or your help if you don''t want to give but an effortless thing on your part." "What?" Erix narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "Information." Chapter 47: Khalil鈥檚 request, Discussion

Chapter 47: Khalil''s request, Discussion

''Information? What does he want to know?'' Erix and Rin were slightly confused because they had no essential information except one. Dungeon. They received a quest to make the military headquarters their base and received a dungeon gate as a reward, so it was highly likely that some people here, most likely Jin and Khalil''s team, received a simr quest to make this resort their base. "Even if you don''t have what I want to know, I won''t ask for the food back from your stomach, hahaha! So,e on, eat first." Erix and Rin decided to take up the offer as they were hungry, and Aaron was even more. ¡­ After they finished eating, Khalil put a table outside near his area''s swimming pool and invited Erix and others there. "So, what do you want to know?" Erix asked. "You said you came from the military base, right?" Khalil''s expression turned somber. "I am looking for my wife and kid, and since our house is the south of the military headquarters, I am hoping they are there at the military base." "That''s why I told all of you to go there," Rin calmly said. "There are many people there, so you might find your families." Erix nodded. "If all of you go in groups, you can reach there without trouble. You are forty people, so I doubt it would be that hard." "That''s where you are wrong," Khalil sighed. "Not all people want to leave this ce. Around half of the people here have already lost their families, so they just want to stay here and get gradual power-ups instead of risking their lives." "A few also took their own lives after losing their families when the groups went out to explore and died or turned zombie." "Well, I can only say good luck then," Erix lightly said. "If you want to ask something else, go ahead." "This is more of a request," Khalil took a photo from his pocket and gave it to Erix. "This is my family. I want to leave, but I can''t since people are relying on me. I''ve been saved by them before." "So, if you see the people in this photo at the military base, can you please tell them I am alive and wille to them as soon as possible?" Seeing his expression, Isabe hoped Erix and Rin would ept this request. "Alright," Rin smiled as she took the photo. "Leave it to us." "Now, let''s get on with another topic," Khalil''s voice turned lower as he spoke. "I am sure you three are high-level individuals armed with skills and weapons, so¡­" Taking a short breath, Khalil narrowed his eyes, "There is a dangerous mutated monkey in the forest, agile and powerful. We were no match for it because we couldn''t hit it due to its speed and forest advantage and barely managed to run away because it stopped chasing after killing one of our lowest-leveled members with a strange long-range skill. "It knows who to target and seems more intelligent." "That sounds like a troublesome monster," Rin raised her eyebrows. "That beast knows that some of our groups are exploring the forest, so we can''t explore it as freely as before since it wants to hunt us." Shaking his head, Khalil sighed. "And if we go inrge numbers, it just goes into hiding because it can escape very quickly and can detect us since the forest is like a home to that bastard." "Brother Khalil!" Hearing the shout, everyone looked behind Khalil as they saw a short light brown-haired man in his early thirties wearing a karate robe walking towards them. Kharil turned around and raised his eyebrows, "Gordian, where were you?" "I told you I''ll defeat that monkey soon. I fought with it today, but just as I couldn''t hit it, I also managed to remain unscathed and returned." ncing at Erix, Rin, and Isabe, the man sharply said with narrowed eyes, "No need to ask help from kids and amateurs just to split the loot unevenly. We need movement expertise andbat experience to kill that darn agile monkey." "Well, there you have it," Erix said before he stood up, not giving in to the provocation or whatever the man was trying to do. "We''ll get going now, so thanks for the delicious meal, and good luck killing that monster." *Whistle!* The Erix called the Bloodwood Eagle as it descended from the Terence. "We don''t have the energy to stay awake in the first ce, so we wouldn''t be able to help either way," Rin wryly smiled before she jumped on the Eagle. Isabe took Aaron and sat on it before Erixmanded it to fly towards the military base. "I''lle in a minute." "Alright," Rin nodded. While the Eagle flew away, Erix turned to Khalil and asked, "What''s the level of that monkey beast?" "It''s a level 53 Sanguine Ape," Khalil replied. "Nah," Gordian shook his head. "It was already level 55 when I went to fight it just now." ''He went to fight in the forest while it''s already so dark?'' Erix was surprised. ''Looks like he has some capabilities and means to see in the dark like the mask I have.'' "I see. I hope you can kill it and acquire transportation items soon," Erix inly said with a nod before he flew up using his Metal Control skill. After Erix left, Gordian turned to Khalil with a somber expression, "Brother Khalil, you know that each of us needs to kill two specific Supra-order monsters toplete our time-limited ss task. It will be for naught if one of them deals a killing of that monkey instead of us! They didn''t seem weak, after all." "I know, but our weaker teams can''t explore the forest because of that monkey. We have to kill it as soon as possible." "We''ll do that tomorrow. I have a perfect n because I got a new Tier-1 skill to help us against it." "How short are you to reach level fifty?" "I am stuck at level 49 since we can''t level up by killing lower-level monsters than us. I either need to kill that darn monkey or another monster above level 50 to level up." "Jin''s main team killed a level 54 mutated boar today, so two of them reached level 50," Khalil somberly said, "We have to hurry." "I know. We''ll ughter that ape tomorrow, no matter what!" ¡­ On the other hand, Erix quickly caught up to the Bloodwood Eagle and sat beside Rin. "What do you say, Rin? You only need to kill one monster above level 50 to awaken your ss, and that monkey can fulfill that task." They wanted to kill the monkey since it was a Supra-order monster of level 50+, but not with others. Monsters above level 50 were still rare. After all, only several mutated creatures could progress quickly due to their mutation and talent in each area as they eat and kill other creatures around them. "Yeah, we can go to the forest and kill it afterpleting the dungeon," Rin nodded with a grin. Erix opened the dungeon opening countdown and fell into thought. [ Dungeon Gate opening: 2 hours and 23 minutes.] "So, we can sleep for two hours." "That''s enough," Rin nodded. They only needed two to recover their mind and body because their stats were superhuman, making it such that they didn''t need to sleep for several hours to recover. "Be, do you want toe with us after the dungeon?" Erix asked. "Of course. If there are more level 50 monsters in the forest, we can kill them toplete our ss tasks." "Haha, Sis Isabe finally started taking Initiating about killing." Isabe shrugged. "It is what it is. We need to get stronger to survive further, and I need to hunt a nt-type supra-order monster and a beast-type monster, so we might be able to encounter them in the forest." Aaron suddenly burped and rubbed his stomach before smiling. "The food here was so delicious, Mum. Can we eat there again tomorrow?" "We''ll see, but don''t cry for it, okay?" "Ok." After the trio returned to the military base, they saw it was almost silent due to everyone sleeping. However, they didn''t make amotion since they also wanted to lie on the bed and sleep, so they went to their bunker, entered their rooms, and locked them. In just several seconds, they all fell asleep like logs since they finally let down their guard and tension to rest. Chapter 48: Dungeon Gate!

Chapter 48: Dungeon Gate!

[ Dungeon Gate Opening: 00:00:01 ] Erix, Rin, and Isabe were ready for a couple of minutes while waiting outside their bunkers in the open ground. When the countdown hit zero, they saw a small window showing the dungeon''s name, type, and Requirement. [The dungeon gate is opened. ] [Crypt of Stygian Ogres] _Type: Item/Material dungeon. _Requirement: level 51. _Tasks: ¡ª> Kill at least 10 Ogres. ¡ª> Kill Ogre Chief. _Reward: ¡ª> A treasure chest of Tier-1 items. ¡ª> A treasure crate of Tier-1 materials. _First Clear Reward: ¡ª> Guild Creation te. Erix and others were surprised when they saw that it was an Item/Material dungeon. This indicated that there were other types of dungeons as well. Moreover, the rewards seemed unique. So far, all the items they got didn''t have any Tier rank listed, which meant that the items of Tier-1 would be stronger than those they got so far! But the most striking reward was none other than Guild Creation te. They didn''t know how it would benefit them, but they were looking forward to getting it by clearing the dungeon. "But, where''s the dungeon gate?" Isabe looked around while standing on the empty ground outside the Bunkers. "Actually, I got the gate in my inventory," Erix said as he took out a palm-sized dark green gate with ck and red patterns and mist whirling around it. "ording to its description, I can put this gate anywhere in this military headquarters, so I''ll just put it here since there''s a big space here." Erix put the miniature gate on the ground, and a secondter, it became four meters tall and three meters wide! "Let''s go. I also have a surprise for us," Erix smiled as he stepped forward, followed by Rin and Isabe. They felt a weird sensation when they passed through the gate and soon arrived in a dark cave that was dimply lit with glowing stones. The small cave was empty, but there was a passage leading to somewhere at the end. "So, what''s the surprise?" Rin curiously asked. Erix looked around the ground of the cave while his eyes showed a very faint silver-gray luster. Suddenly, Rin and Isabe saw countless tiny dotsing out of the ground and condensing together. His mana was consumed due to condensing Iron, but it wasn''t much. After several seconds, two dark silver steel des formed before Erix, shining with a unique metallic luster! "How did you do that?!" Rin and Isabe were startled. "Iron," Erix grinned. "After sleeping and recovering, I could sense Iron in Earth. I''m sure this ability came from my Metal Affinity." "But the reason I am able to condense it into steel is thanks to my Metal Control skill that transformed into Metal Conduct after I got Metal Affinity." After all, Iron was also a metal, and it was in abundance everywhere. It was the mostmon metal on Earth! From now on, he could manipte Iron and condense it into steel using his mana! "And here''s my transformed skill." [ Metal Conduct (1st Tier active skill): You can conduct any metal with mana to enhance it.] "What''s the requirement to get an Affinity?" Isabe asked. "I think you have to break your limits regarding your skills," Erix mused. "I used my Metal Control skill beyond its limit and my limit until I lost consciousness. "Anyway, you will get a notification if you meet the requirement to build your affinity, so execute your skills in more ways and with higher exertion than just what its description says." "We''ll try that in this dungeon; let''s go," Rin clenched her fist with a grin. "We can''t stay behind you in progress." At that, the trio finally moved towards the passage. "It''s not that long," Rin said upon seeing the end of the passage just a hundred meters away from them. "The Ogres are there," Erix informed them since his ears could pick up sounds in the next cave. "But I don''t know how many." "The task mentioned ''at least ten ogres'', so there might be more than ten," Isabe remarked. ''Iron Flower.'' Erix used his skill as a small metallic flower with six petals floated beside him. Soon, they arrived at the end and saw five ogres roaming in the vast cave with giant clubs in their hands. Each one was two meters tall with a fat stomach and dark violet skin with powerful muscles. Their levels ranged from level 51 to 54. [Stygian Ogre] _Level: 51 _Rank: Supra-Order. _Vitality: [2000/2000] _Defence: 300 _Attack: 310 _Skills: ¡ª> Empowered Smash, Dark Stomp, Rage Rush. "This level 51 Ogre is more powerful than that level 57 spider we killed¡­" Rin was speechless. "And there are five," Isabe''s expression was ufortable. "Will we be able to clear this dungeon?" "It''s fine. We can read their skills, so all we have to do is to look out for the attacks that match the skill name," Erix said before he narrowed his eyes. "Also, they haven''t noticed us yet." "You are right; they are just roaming." This second cave was fifty meters long and seventy meters wide, so it was huge. There were boulders, some grass, glowing stones, and natural rocky pirs attached to the ceiling from the ground. "Alright, I have an idea," Erix said as he manipted a steel de and sent it toward the nearest Ogre. "I''ll attract that one here, and we''ll kill in a few seconds with our best attacks." Rin and Isabe nodded. Rin took out her swords while Isabe took out her Crimson Hell Staff. They first walked out of the passage and hid behind a pir with dark purple grass around it. As the steel de approached the nearest Ogre that was twenty meters away, the trio looked on with nervous anticipation. The de appeared before Ogre''s eyes, making it confused. It tried to grab it, but Erix manipted the de to dodge the grab and started controlling it back. The Ogre slowly followed the steel de as Erix manipted it towards the passage. Soon, the Ogre went inside the passage they came from! "Let''s go," Erix whispered before he silently but quickly flew towards the passage. Erix manipted his second steel de and pierced its neck after arriving at the passage entrance. The front de that Ogre was following also pierced its throat! -32! -32! The damage was minuscule since Erix didn''t use much mana to strengthen the des further, but it disabled and disturbed the Ogre, which was his aim. It wanted to speak but couldn''t. However, it started thrashing around in the passage as a rumbling sound spread out and alerted other Ogres! *Swoosh!* Rin quickly shot two Sword Beams toward its upper half from behind while Isabe used me Whips around its arms and bound it. -439! Sword Beam. -344! Sword Beam. -639! me Whip. -98! Burnx1 -98! Burnx2 ¡­ ¡­ All Isabe nned to use was her me Whip skill since her Crimson Hell Staff considerably boosted it! Erix also used two flower petals from his Iron Flower as ten iron seeds manifested and attacked the Ogre! Each seed dealt 86 damage! *Swoosh!* For the final blow, Rin pierced her swords behind the Ogre and killed it. *Dhum Dhum Dhum¡­!!* While the first Ogre died and turned into motes, not even dropping anything, the other four Ogre rushed towards them with red eyes and their giant clubs raised high! "Don''t panic!" Rin turned to Isabe and pped her back. "They look scary and are powerful, but we are more powerful!" "Focus, Dodge, Attack, that''s all," Erixmanded before he flew towards iing Ogres. His lips curled into a wide smile while his eyes contained an excited gleam in each. Rin also dashed forward as her swords crackled with lighting. ''Exerting our skills to the extreme and breaking our limits. It''s going to be fun!'' Isabe took a deep breath as her expression also turned somber. ''I''ll have to support them!'' Chapter 49: Class Awakening! Razing Blade Dancer!

Chapter 49: ss Awakening! Razing de Dancer!

*Swoosh!* Erix nimbly dodged a smash from the Ogre before he kicked it in the head and manipted fifteen iron petals that he manifested by consuming the remaining three flower petals! After arriving behind its back, Erix and his Metacyber Arm used Imposing Fist! His Imposing First hit the Ogre''s head while the Metacyber Arm''s fist hit its chest from the front. *Boom!* -423! -289! *Roar!* Meanwhile, Rin was like a dancer on the battlefield, as none of the Ogres could see her correctly, let alone hit her! She was swinging her swords to attack the first three Ogre''s legs to make them limp, so they could quickly kill them and prevent them from attacking. She even used Ogre''s club attacks against each other with her positions. From behind, Isabe had already erected a Frost Shield so she could use it to defend in case of a sudden attack, but her main attack was her me Whip, as she dealt the most damage so far! The Ogres were giant and powerful but also slower, so against experts like Erix and Rin, their clubs couldn''t even hit them! Suddenly, the third Ogre that was furthest roared after two Ogres died before they could use their skills. It threw away its club and rushed towards Isabe while glowing in a strange dark aura, clearing using its skill, Rage Rush! Erix used Nether Grasp to grab its legs to make it stumble, but the demonic hand was instantly destroyed when it hit the Ogre! "Careful!" Erix shouted, shocked at the futility of Nether Grasp against Rage Rush. Isabe didn''t panic at the critical juncture and quickly used her Frost Shield to m it toward the iing Ogre. She saw how Erix''s Nether Grasp was destroyed, so she channeled her mana into the shield to keep it intact and tried to enhance its structure, giving her all! *Crash!* The Frost Shield crashed against Ogre, slowing it a bit, but it was still not stopping while the shield had cracks all over it! "Rin!" "Doing it!" Rin''s heart was beating quickly because if they failed to stop that Ogre, Isabe would be severely injured or worse, die! Even if Isabe dodged the Rage Rush, Ogre could still use the stomp that deals area damage, and its vitality was also at 80% since it was at the back and was not attacked much. That bastard directly went for Isabe because her attack was the highest, and it resulted in the deaths of two Ogres this fast as her burns and me whips seemed counter to their dark physiques. ''Please work!'' Rin was giving her all to use her Sword Beam skill. She had to kill it, one attack, one shot! Rin jumped on the Ogre''s head that she was attacking and used its momentum to make the distance, all while using her most powerful Sword Beam yet. She had channeled 100 mana into her Oni-Taijin Sword, shaping the beam and condensing it to the extreme. *Zoom!* *Crack!* When she unleashed the attack, her Sword''s de intensely glowed before disappearing into a condensed thumb-sized golden sphere. The stupifying thing was that her Sword''s de was destroyed and became fuel for the sword beam sphere as it hit the Ogre''s back when it was two meters away from Rin. *BOOM!* -1859! All 1859 of its Vitality was gone as the Ogre exploded in blood and gore before vanishing shortly! It also dropped a Core! *Roar!* But the battle was not over since the Ogre behind Rin raised its leg as it glowed violently! "Shit!" Rin cursed before she jumped up! *Boom!* Even though Rin jumped high, the stomp''s shockwave still hit her and injured her. -38 Vitality! "Rin!" Erix quickly finished off the low Vitality Ogre with his 20 mana Imposing fist before flying towards Rin and catching her before she fell and flew towards the other side of the cave. Meanwhile, Isabe powerfully smashed her Frost Shield at the Ogre that attacked Rin, causing it to fall to the ground. Taking this chance, she quickly used her me Whip and finished it off! Thest Ogre also dropped a core. "I''m fine," Rin spat some blood since the shockwave damaged her internally, but it was not that serious because it would heal soon with her current Health state. "Phew, it''s finally over," Isabe sighed in relief as she walked towards Rin and Erix. "Good news. My three ss tasks will bepleted after I absorb that crimson demon''s core," Rin grinned. "You two should also absorb a core since two Ogres dropped one each." She needed to kill a random supra-order monster, which waspleted in this cave after killing an Ogre. On the other hand, Erix needed to kill an Undead-Being of supra-order and absorb a holy being''s core, while Isabe required to kill a Supra-Order nt-type monster and absorb its core. As such, Rin started absorbing the crimson demon''s core, while Isabe and Erix started absorbing the core dropped by Ogres. The process was simple. They just needed to touch the orb, focus, and link their own Magic core to the orb to absorb the power within the core. The cores in their hands gradually turned smaller and fainter as they started absorbing them. After ten minutes, they entirely vanished while all three of their magic cores gained magic power and mana! Rin''s magic stat was increased by 4 while her mana pool capacity increased by 10. On the other hand, Isabe and Erix got 2 magic power and 5 mana pool capacity from Ogres'' cores. "ss awakeningpleted!" Rin grinned as she saw the notifications. "Let''s look at your ss," Erix smiled in expectation. "Eh? The ss has a different section of skills! And, I have options to choose my first ss skill." "Moreover, we have one more energy pool, and I can even sense it in my body. Wow." "Show us already," Erix rolled his eyes. "Hahaha¡­" Rin teasingly smiled and shared her ss status with others. [ Razing de Dancer ] _ss rank: S _Level: 1 [ 0/100 Exp] _de Energy: [1000/1000] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: de Tune. ¡ª> Passive skills: de Eater. _ss Domain: ¡ª> de Domain: Undeveloped. "You already chose the skill?" Erix asked upon seeing the skill name. "de Eater was already there, but I chose de Tune out of three options." "What''s the deal with level?" Isabe pointed out. "And why is the required Exp so low?" Erix was confused. "It''s not low," Rin wryly smiled. "We''ll get one experience point by killing one Supra-order monster." "We need to kill so many just to reach level two?" Erix raised his eyebrows. ''Then what would we need to get it to level 3? Maybe there are limited levels of ss?'' "Wait, let me first get the full information of my ss," Rin said before closing her eyes. Since they could get all details via notification as long as they focused on the aspects, Rin started doing it. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and grinned. "So first, there are ten levels of this ss. Once I reach max level, I can upgrade this ss to the next rank." "Second, after each level up, I can choose a passive skill and an active skill creation attempt. It seems we have to create our own skills via some means they will provide when we use our skill creation attempt." "So, we can only choose a single starting active skill while the rest depends on us," Erix nodded smilingly, "I like it." "Yep. Now, for the ss domain," Rin''s smile widened. "I can''t use it right now since I''ll have toprehend and create it myself, but I am sure it''s going to feel awesome when I use it based on the term." "Moreover, ss domains are different for everyone, like ss skills, since it depends on the person on what kind of domain they can create even if people have the same ss," she added. Afterward, Rin showed them the details of her new skills. "Before we go to that passage and fight more at the next cave, I want to learn this de Tune skill properly," Rin said as she stood up. [de Tune] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: Depends (de Energy). _Effect: You can use this skill on a skill of your teammate and harmonize with it using de energy to bring out unique enhancement andbos. The effectiveness of de Tune depends on your control, senses, and the amount of de energy needed to harmonize the targetted skill sessfully. Erix and Isabe understood why Rin wanted help to learn this skill. It seemed tricky to use! "Come on, help me out. Sis Isabe, you use your Frost Shield and Erix, the Nether Grasp. Let''s see what I can do with them using my de Tune." Chapter 50: Blade Tune & Blade Eater!

Chapter 50: de Tune & de Eater!

"I am attacking it," Erix said as he looked at the Frost Shield with unique golden patterns. The steel de controlled by Erix shot forward and hit the shield, only to get counter-attacked as the Frost Shield shot three ice des toward Erix at breakneck speed! "Yes! It works," Rin''s eyes shone. After practicing with Isabe and Erix for half an hour, Rin finally managed to use her de Tune skill properly. In simple terms, Rin could use de Tune to harmonize with a teammate''s skill and enhance it as long as she could sense the structure of the targetted skill. Unlike Fire, Ice, Metal, and such elements, the de element was an Ethereal element that could harmonize andbine with other elements. This was the essence of de Tune. The skill was a support skill in a way, while the passive skill, de Eater, turned out to be her primary weapon and attack that the ss gave her. [ de Eater ] _Type: ss skill (passive). _Use: de Eater is an ethereal de that you can wield. You can feed it other ded weapons to absorb its properties and power it up. _Note: Base damage is equal to the highest base attack of the weapon the de Eater consumed, while extra effects arepletely retained. You can also temporarily power up de Eater''s base attack by infusing de energy into it. "Rin, I think you can do much more with de Tune," Erix thoughtfully said as he rubbed his chin. "Since it can harmonize with other skills, how about we give our skill''s control to you after you harmonize it with your de Tune? You can try to do morebos with it." "I can try," Rin nodded. "But let''s get going for now. We''llplete this dungeon first since I need to use my de Eater against monsters, or it won''t digest the sword I fed." "Alright." Rin''s hand had a golden de with blood-red patterns. It was her de Eater that had eaten Butcher''s Festive Sword! ¡­ While the trio proceeded further into the dungeon, the new group of people stood before the Dungeon Gate in the military headquarters. They were awake and nned to roam in the forest a few kilometers behind the Millitery headquarters, but they immediately saw the tall dungeon gate when they went out and gathered there. Ben and General Tark also arrived shortly. "Let''s wait here until the people insidee out," the muscr group leader said as he crossed his arms. They tried to enter but couldn''t since only one party could enter at a time. ''So this belongs to that group,'' Ben thought with narrowed eyes. "Still, I can''t believe there are dungeons as well. I wonder what kind of rewards we will get after finishing it?" said a young man in his early twenties with anticipation. While this group waited outside, Rin, Erix, and Isabe were steamrolling through the next cave. Erix''s Nether Grasp transformed with Rin''s de Tune as its demonic fingers turned sharp like des, and upon grasping someone, it would produce several demonic des from its palm to pierce the target! Since using de Tune consumed de Energy instead of mana, Rin freely used the skill Erix''s and Isabe''s skills. She spent 300 de energy in the second cave to kill seven Ogres with Erix and Isabe. Three of those seven Ogres dropped origin cores, so the trio sat down and started absorbing them. After ten minutes, they stood up and looked at two pathways. "So, which path should we choose?" Isabe asked. "I think one leads to the boss cave, and another leads to more Ogres," Rin spected. "We can even see which one leads to where based on those symbols above the entrances." "We might as well kill more Ogres to increase our Magic Power and Mana. I believe we''ll encounter boss cave passage again even if we go to the cave with more Ogres," Erix said. Rin and Isabe nodded. If they could get more Magic power and mana, then why not? As such, they went inside the left passage and saw seven Ogres roaming around in the vast cave. "Alright, we''ll try something new with my de Tune this time." "Erix, use your Crimson Blood re," Rin grinned. "Eh? But it''s a quick attack," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Will you be able to harmonize it quickly?" "Yep. I sensed its structure when you used it in thest cave, so I can use my de Tune with it." "Alright." Erix stood at the edge of the passage''s exit and pointed his palm forward. Rin stood beside with his focus, her eyes faintly shining with a golden hue. "I am releasing it," Erix said as his body heated up and his arm turned crimson! "Let go of your control after you release it." "Got it," Erix nodded. A secondter, Erix''s palm released a burst of crimson re akin to a me thrower''s attack. The re released and shot forward, while Rin''s eyes brilliantly shined as she consumed 300 de energy AT ONCE! *Swoosh!* The Crimson Blood re started twisting as a golden aura merged with it and transformed into a two-meter-long thick burning crimson de with golden patterns! It hit the first Ogre, pierced it, and came out of its back while the pierced Ogre screamed in rage while burning! -1694! -239! -189! Its blood fueled the crimson re, so it died shortly after suffering such an attack! But the attack was not over! The crimson de continued and pierced another Ogre. One by one, it pierced a total of five Ogres and started burning them, with their blood being the fuel to the burn! Of course, the Crimson re was consumed slightly after each attack, so the crimson de finally dispersed when it pierced thest Ogre. "Wow!" Isabe eximed, amazed at the result of thebo. The first three Ogres died while the remaining Ogres were losing their heads over the burn! "Haha, that was great, Rin! Now, let''s finish them off!" Erix flew forward with five Steel Chakrams flying around him! Since he could shape Iron any way he wanted, he decided to create chakrams instead of des since he could also spin chakrams with his control, and¡­ spinning chakrams with sharp edges proved more annoying to the enemies than des! A minute passed, and Isabe finished off thest Ogre with her me Whip. But right after that, they heard an ominous notification. [You have killed all Ogres under Ogre Chief and angered him. Ogre''s Chief''s attack, speed, and defense have been increased by 50%!] Chapter 51: End of the Dungeon with a Hidden Quest

Chapter 51: End of the Dungeon with a Hidden Quest

"So that''s why we had choices. Well, let''s hope we get more rewards for more trouble," Rin chuckled. "That''s how it usually works, right?" "Indeed, but we''ll see," Erix nodded as he sat down. "Let''s recover our mana first." "Yea, I also spent a lot of de energy, so I need to recovery it before fighting the boss." "Erix, why is your Life Orb not recovering even after resting like our Vitality?" Isabe confusedly asked. Erix shook his head, "I need blood to fill it up. It doesn''t recover naturally for me because of my race." "Oh¡­" Isabe was surprised, and then as if remembering something, a realization dawned on her. "So, that''s why you stopped at that blood bank when we were in the city." "Yep," Erix nodded as he put his hand inside his leather armor and took out a blood pouch. "Human blood is perfect for me since I am half-human and half-zombie. I can quickly recover it even if I drink a bit." Erix opened the pouch and took a big sip, causing his Life Orb to fill up to full. It was only 23 points short, so that sip was enough to fill it up. Afterward, the trio sat in meditation to recover their mana and absorb the origin cores of Ogres. Fifteen minutester, they finished recovering to full and proceeded to thest cave. "Let''s give it our all right from the start since a fifty percent boost to a boss is no small amount," Erix said with a serious expression. "Then let''s kiss," Rin smiled as she wrapped her arms around Erix and then nted her lips on his. Ignis Ad Intimacy, activated. The trio arrived at the passage''s exit and saw an Ogre four-meter tall! It had a dark gold crown on top of its head and a club with dark gold patterns as its weapon. Moreover, it immediately noticed when Erix stepped out of the passage and rushed towards them with red eyes and a dark aura around it, simr to Rage Rush! "It started with a skill right off the bat," Rin was dumbfounded, and so were the other two. *ROAR!!* Isabe quickly used her Frost Shield and hurled toward the iing Ogre Chief. *Boom!* The moment it hit the shield, it almost broke with cracks all over it. "Legs! We have to impair it," Rin said and immediately saw Nether Grasp forming to the left side of the cave. Rin understood and quickly used 300 of her de energy for her de Tune to harmonize with the Nether Grasp. When Chief Ogre neared the transformed Nether Grasp, Rin immediately controlled it and grabbed its legs! *Chaa!* Its left leg broke out of the Nether Grasp, but its right leg couldn''t, so the des skewed its flesh and bones, finally stopping its rush! -1496! The damage was great, but the vitality of this Ogre Chief was also high! [Ogre Chief] _Level: 60 _Vitality: [4504/6000] _Attack: 550 _Defence: 465 _Skills: ¡ª> Rage Rush, Destructive Stomp, Break Swing, Call To Chieftess. Despite Rin using 300 of her de energy that managed to kill three Ogres while injuring four and raising their overall power by 30% with Ignis Ad Intimacy, it only dealt 1496 damage to this Ogre Chief. *Roar!!* "I''ll distract it. You all rain attacks!" Erix flew towards the Ogre while Iron elements gathered around from the ground! The Ogre saw Erix and quickly swung its club while standing on one leg! Erix narrowly dodged the attack and arrived behind it before using Crimson Blood re on its head! *Growl!!* The crimson blood re covered its head in an intense burning me, causing it to growl ragefully. -783! This 2nd Tier skill was truly powerful to be able to deal this much damage with just 50 mana! It was also the only attack skill that scaled with dual stats: Strength and Magic. Meanwhile, Rin unleashed her Sword Beams from her de Eater sword that had digested Butcher''s festive sword, and Isabe used her me Whips while holding her Crimson Hell staff. Damage rained down on the Ogre chief in just a few seconds, bringing its Vitality down to roughly 50% of its original. *Roar!* Suffering such injuries without being able to hit anyone, the Ogre Chief angrily roared and jumped with its single leg! It glowed dark as the trio could sense powerful energy gathering towards its single leg! "Erix!" Erix quickly backed away because the shockwave would still severely injure him if he remained in the attack''s range, even if he was flying. *BOOM!* s, none of them had expected that the range of this Destructive Stomp would be so extensive! All three of them were affected and got mmed by the shockwave and pushed back as they fell. Blood rushed into their throats before it came out forcibly, indicating the internal injury they just suffered. But it was not serious since they were still not in danger range of the skill, so they quickly stood up and resumed the attack while feeling slight internal pain due to injuries. Meanwhile, Erix finished forming a new structure as a sort of iron armor covered him from head to toe! He even poured 100 mana into this iron armor to strengthen it and flew toward the Ogre Chief at full speed! *Boom!* -283! mming into Chief Ogre''s back, Erix caused it to fall down before he flew up again and descended with force for another m! Right on its head! *Boom! -382! Isabe and Rin resumed their attacks as the Ogre Chief quickly reached 30% of its Vitality when it finally stood up! *Roar!!* A strange aura oozed out of it before a portal manifested beside it, bringing with it another terrible and angry roar! "Call of Chieftess," Erix murmured before the trio saw another giant Ogreing out. A female Ogre. However, this Ogre had rotten flesh and a stench of death on it. ''Undead?!'' Erix eximed upon seeing its status. ''It looks like the Ogre Chief''s skill calls her from death to aid him.'' She was weaker than Ogre Chief, but their trouble still doubled. To finish this without significant loss, they must quickly kill the Ogre Chief! "Continue attack! I''ll hold them off!" Erix put anotheryer of iron metal over his body from head to toe as he increased his toughness and mmed into Chief Ogre, who had barely stood up! Meanwhile, Rin closed in and started shing the Ogre Chief''s chest with her sword while using de energy to enhance her de Eater sword for more damage. Her damage per second was highest with that, so with Isabe using her me Whip, the Ogre Chief was quickly brought down to 10% of its health. But the Chieftess didn''t remain idle for even a second and immediately mmed Erix with her Rage Rush. -58 life orb! ''Shit!'' Erix quickly retreated but didn''t n to leave their range since he was sort of a tank in the battle. He continued with his antics to let Rin and Isabe freely attack but suddenly got an idea. ''Imposing Fist through this metal fist¡­ It should have a higher impact!'' Erix didn''t hesitate and quickly empowered his fist and also conducted the metal glove over his fist with mana! *Boom!* Without hesitation, he punched the Chieftess''s face! -841! With his Punch Force passive skill that literally increased his punch damage by 50%, it dealt massive damage to the Chieftess and threw her several meters, causing Ogre Chieftess to m into a pir! On the other hand, Rin and Isabe finally finished off the Ogre Chief! "I''ll deal her the killing blow, so I canplete one of my tasks," Erix said before he flew towards the Ogre Chieftess with the fastest speed he could muster and mmed into her again. From behind, Rin dashed forward and quickly started shing her while Isabe used her me Whip. Erix''s mana was almost empty, so he just physically brawled with her in exchange for several points of his Life Orb dropping. In the end, he dealt a killing blow and sessfullypleted a task of his task. Now, he only needed to kill a holy being of supra-order and absorb their origin core. "Finally, it''s over." [ Congrattions, you have sessfully cleared the dungeon andpleted the hidden task of killing all Ogres and enraging Ogre Chief ] [ Extra Reward forpleting the hidden task: a random Tier-1 passive skill scroll. ] Erix removed his full-body iron armor and felt wobbly in his head. "Are you okay?" Rin quickly grabbed him before he fell. "Yeah, it''s just that the loss of Life Orb seemed to reflect first in my mind," Erix stabilized himself and sat down before taking out the blood pouch to heal himself. "You two should absorb the cores," Isabe arrived with Ogre Chief''s origin core and put it on the ground before she also sat down to recover. "Nah, you two should absorb it," Rin said before she handed over the Ogre Chief''s origin core to Erix and gave Ogre Chieftess''s origin core to Isabe. "I am more powerful, so you two should power up this time." [ You can exit the dungeon within ten minutes. After ten minutes, you will be automatically kicked out.] [The rewards will enter your inventory once you exit the dungeon.] An exit portal appeared at the center of the cave as the trio heard and saw the notifications. Chapter 52: Tier-1 Item Chests! A brand new type of Item!

Chapter 52: Tier-1 Item Chests! A brand new type of Item!

Erix gained 5 magic power and 20 mana from Ogre Chief''s origin core, while Rin got 3 magic power and 10 mana. Yes, Isabe didn''t absorb the Chieftess''s origin core and gave it to Rin since Rin''s magic power and mana were the lowest in the team, while Isabe''s magic and mana were the highest. They also realized another thing. They never leveled up even once in the dungeon! But after focusing on that in their mind, they got the answer that it was not possible to level up in dungeons! "Alright, we''ll be kicked out soon. Let''s see how it happens," Rin curiously said. She wanted to know how they would leave this dungeon automatically without going through the portal. Shortly when the countdown hit zero, the scenery rapidly changed before their eyes, and they appeared right outside the Dungeon Gate, facing a young man and a young girl in their early twenties who sat on a chair while talking to each other. "Oh, they are out!" "Leader and others just went towards the forest twenty minutes ago¡­ haha, bad luck." "Who are you?" Erix frowned at the unfamiliar face but powerful presence. These two didn''t feel low-level, but they also didn''t feel stronger than him. "Hi, I am Barkha," the girl said with a smile. "Nice to meet you. I am Ronaldo," the young man with light brown hair said while grinning. "Brother, can you tell me your level?" "You should be able to guess if you try to enter this dungeon," Erix said. "Eh?" Barkha walked forward and touched the dungeon entrance, only to get stunned. She turned to Ronaldo, her expression speechless, "We can''t enter this dungeon even if they are out now because¡­ we need to reach level 51 to enter the dungeon." "Oh shoot, then we better get going," Ronaldo eximed. "Leader and others should have reached the forest by now and would soon start killing higher-level monsters to level up!" Both of them actually used some movement skills as the wind gathered around their legs and quickly hurried away towards the back exit of the base! Although Rin, Isabe, and Erix were slightly confused, they were also bombarded by rewards notifications, so they focused on it instead. "Let''s return to our room. This dungeon will no longer reward us even if we enter again," Erix said. Rin raised her eyebrows. "Not even origin core?" "Nope." Suddenly, Erix heard a message from Bloodwood Eagle and smiled. "Be, we got a nt-type supra-order monster ready for you." Erix had sent Bloodwood Eagle to scout the nearby areas for supra-order monsters before they went into the dungeon, and it had just found one. Moreover, the eagle was also gradually getting stronger since it hunted other monsters whenever getting an opportunity and sessfully reached level 43. Of course, they didn''t go there immediately and returned to their room to check their rewards first. A treasure chest of Tier-1 items. A treasure crate of Tier-1 materials. And a 1st Tier passive skill scroll. First, they opened the treasure chest of Tier-1 items at the same time. A colorful glow enveloped the room before they saw the orbs lying in the ce of the treasure chests. Rin touched her orb. It shined and produced a metallic box with digital sci-fi blue and white designs. [ Weapon Selection Box ] -> A random Tier-1 Bow. -> A random Tier-1 Sword. -> A random Tier-1 Shield. -> A random Tier-1 Dagger. -> A random Tier-1 Wand. -> A random Tier-1 Staff. "Eh? So, we can also get something like this," Rin was surprised and didn''t hesitate to select the Tier-1 sword. The box opened with a glow and turned into motes before dropping a single-edged sword with a dark orange de! -> [Ruined ze Sword: A single-edged sword with the ability to turn mana into concentrated heat on the de to increase prating and shing power and increase base damage to a maximum of 500 by consuming 25 mana. Duration: 1 minute. _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Rare. _Base Damage: 300. _Perk: +50 Fire Resistance Shred, +30 defense shred. "Alright, this is powerful!" Rin eye''s shone. "It''s also beautiful." "Dangerous beauty, just like you," Erix chuckled. "But you are going to feed it to your de Eater, right?" Isabe asked. "Yep. I need to feed it five des to level it up." Rin manifested her de Eater in her hand and lightly hit the Ruined ze Sword. The de Eater started pulsing a secondter while Ruined de Sword shone and turned shapeless. Just like flowing water, it entered de Eater. [de Eater (Materialized)] _Level: 1 ( Exp: 1 /5 digested des. ) _Effect: Devour other des to absorb their powers and can take the form of digested des. _Base Damage: 110 _des: ¡ª> Butcher''s Festive Sword (Digested) ¡ª> Ruined ze Sword (1% digestion) "I think it will take longer to digest this than the Butcher sword," Rin put away her de Eater as it returned to her origin region. To increase the progress of digestion, she needed to fight using de Eater in the first ce. On the other hand, Erix touched his orb as it spewed out a type of item they never got before! A pair of mystical feathered wings! The feathers were half blue and half purple with unique luster, looking otherwordly and exquisite! [Lightning Spark Wings] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Epic. _Speed: 150 meters per second maximum. _Description: A pair of wings with wind and lightning attributes that can merge with one''s back and allow one to fly freely in the sky. Infusing 20 mana in the wings will increase its maximum speed to 300 meters per second and give a lightning attribute to the melee weapon for lightning damage based on the user''s magic power. Duration: 1 minute. [A/N: is this description format better, or is the Ruined de Sword''s type better? Or if you have any idea to make it even better, tell me in thements :) ] "Well, now we got something very cool and useful," Erix rubbed his chin. "But I don''t need this. Rin, take it." "This is perfect for Rin," Isabe nodded with a smile. "She is a meleebatant, so with this pair of wings, she can be quicker and more agile." Rin didn''t hesitate and took the item with shining eyes. "It''s fantastic!" She touched the wings and infused some mana into it as it shone and got absorbed into her body. After a second, the pair of wings appeared behind her back, stretching into a four-meter wingspan! "Nice, I can even put it back in my body with a thought," Rin grinned as the pair of wings vanished into her back. "Now let''s see what Sis Isabe got." Isabe nodded and touched her orb. *Shiin!* A bunch of items spewed out! A ck garb made of cotton-like material with dark gold embroidery, a ck hood with dark blue patterns, a pair of ck female trousers, and a pair of dark blue gloves. A joyful smile appeared on Isabe''s face upon seeing the items. Finally, she got her armor set! "Perfect," Erix smiled and inspected the set. "This was the only thingcking, and we got it. Now, Be also has her set." After all, sets could significantly increase their overall stats, so they considered it essential. "Next, let''s open the passive skill scrolls," Erix took out his and opened it. Chapter 53: Guild Creation Slate, Progressing World

Chapter 53: Guild Creation te, Progressing World

[Overload Flux (1st Tier passive skill): When your mana pool bes empty, your five senses are significantly heightened, and all your physical stats are increased by 10% of your current stats + 20 for 1 minute. During this time, you won''t be able to recover mana via any means. Note: To trigger this passive again, you must recover your mana pool to full first.] "Wow, this is great," Erix was surprised. He felt that this passive skill was the best he got so far and immediately learned it. "It''s really good," Rin nodded and opened her scroll. "Let''s see what I got." [ Fire Aura: Increase your fire-attributed damage by 10% and your me resistance by 15% + 20. ] "Eh¡­ This is more useful, Be-sis," Rin ruefully smiled. "Indeed," Isabe nodded and opened her scroll. "Let''s see what''s mine. If you want it, we can exchange it." The scroll opened, and the trio inspected it. [ Precise Hits (1st Tier passive skill): Attacking the same spot with your melee weapon on a target will deal 20% extra damage. ] "Great! Let''s exchange." "Yep." "Let''s not open the material crate for now," Erix suggested. "We won''t be using them anyway." "True," Rin nodded. "As for the Guild Creation te," Erix took out the te and inspected it. "Let''s see..." [Guild Creation te] _Guild Name: ______ _Members: _______ (Maximum ten members for level 1 guild.) _Use: Fill in the details above after infusing mana and put it on the ground where you want to build your guild. The guild''s area is fixed to 500 square meters at level 1, and you get a random structure-type dungeon gate in your guild area after using the te. _Note: You can only add structure models you got from Structure-Type dungeons in the guild areas. "It looks like we also won''t be using this Guild Creation te now," Erix said after reading the details. "Yep. We should use it in Phoenix City," Rin nodded. "Preferably near that Labyrinth Tower." Erix nodded and put away the te. "Then off we go to the forest now?" Isabe spoke, slightly tilting her head. "Humu," Rin smilingly nodded. "Time to resume our hunt toplete your ss tasks." The trio went out, and then Erix called Bloodwood Eagle as it flew down from the top of the watchtower. After a couple of minutes, they arrived at the west periphery of the forest and could even hear the sounds of fighting. "Don''t tell me those two we met are fighting against the nt monster with their team¡­" Rin muttered. "Probably," Erix nodded. "Because the monster is indeed there." They arrived at the location and saw nine people surrounding a huge nt monster. It was a white flower with dark green spots, bowl-like leaves covered around it, and several big vines with spikes on them. "They got good teamwork," Erix said upon seeing how four people were purely dedicated to defending using their defense skills and parrying the attacks while the rest attacked and controlled the monster. "What do we do?" Rin turned to Erix. Erix shrugged. "Of course, this monster is their prey now." "Yes. Let''s go find another," Isabe nodded. "We also wouldn''t like it if someone stole our prey and loot, so I don''t want to do that to them and create needless conflict." "Alright," Rin smilingly nodded and saw that the monster was on the verge of death. "It''s dead, anyway." Someone released a dark red bolt akin to a fireball, but with lightning and dealt the finishing blow. "Let''s go," Erixmanded the Bloodwood Eagle to continue as they went deeper in search of monsters. On the other hand, the muscr middle-aged group leader looked up and saw a monster eagle flying deeper into the forest. "A flying eagle and people are riding on it. It looks like they are the people Senator and General talked about." "Leader Kan, I feel like General Tark and Sor are plotting something," Ronaldo frankly said with a snort. "I don''t think those people are bad. At least, not like the bunch we encountered who were greedy fucks and wanted to steal our loot." Kanughed and nodded. "They probably want to use us to drive them out, so they can regain their authority over the military base. Those old fogeys. They should have started fighting outside to get strong instead." "Yeah, it''s not like their aged bodies will hinder them after getting stat points," a man in histe twenties chimed in. "That group has means of flying, so I don''t think they will stay here. Leader Kan, when are we leaving for Phoenix City?" Barkha asked. Ronaldo nodded while grinning. "Yes! We have to go there and enter the so-called Labyrinth Tower. I am too much curious and excited about it." Of course, the sentiments of Ronaldo and Barkha were shared by others in their group, but they were not as excited or curious because they had lost their family yesterday, but the time and ce didn''t allow them to mourn or pause in their tracks. It''s just¡­ they survived, got stronger, got saved, and joined the group. The original group consisted of Barkha and Ronaldo, whom Kan saved and led them. Then the rest joined separately after getting saved by the trio. "Since we have a military base to rest, then we''ll stay here and explore the forest to kill monsters for our ss tasks and until we find a proper transportation," Kan said. "We''ll depart for Phoenix City after getting transportation." "There''s also that dungeon in the base. Let''s quickly reach level 51 and enter there," Ronaldo enthusiastically said. "Eh... leader! This treasure chest spewed only two orbs, b-but there''s a vehicle inside one orb! It''s a frigging chopper! A green chopper with leaf-like rotor des! Wtf?" "Are you serious?!" Everyone was dumbfounded. ¡­ While Rin, Erix, and Isabe were exploring the forest, the famous Phoenix City was bustling with people in various bases led by powerful and influential people. Although the city was filled with zombies, the living poption still numbered roughly thirty thousand. But some people who survived still lost their lives due to recklessness and carelessness, so having powerful groups to lead, guide, and help them relieved many normal civilians. Some still just wanted to live safely, while some wanted to fight and get stronger. Some were depressed because of losing their family members, while some had gone insane. Some had given in to their bare desires and evil, while some were trying to fight for others and help. Some had various plots in their mind, while some were maniptive. There were all sorts of people among those who survived, and only those whose performance was good and were getting stronger had gotten quests simr to one acquired by Erix''s team. Although many groups got quests, not all had a Dungeon Gate in their reward pool. Moreover, the downside was that whoever or whatever was responsible for giving the quests was indifferent to lives and human morals. So, the lot that had bases and groups under them was a mix of good, bad, and gray, but mostly gray because, withoutws and regtions, it was hard for people to survive alone. ... The city''s most famous spot was the Labyrinth Tower, situated three kilometers away from the city''s periphery on a vast open meadow. However, the meadow, the mountain range to its north, and the forest to its east were filled with approximately ten thousand people. Many had also gotten means to fly with wing-type items, but most were still on foot. A portion of the ten thousand people was hunting monsters in the mountains, another portion was in the forest, and a tiny portion was resting on the meadow in beautiful named structures that looked like open courtyards with various types of buildings inside! Guilds! More precisely, nine guilds had situated themselves in the meadow using Guild Creations tes, and one of them belonged to no other than Rin''s parents! Most people and groups actively hunting in cities, towns, mountains, and forests aimed to get a quest with a dungeon gate as a reward or find dungeon gates that had automatically spawned to acquire Guild Creation tes while getting stronger. But in a matter of days, a storm would soon descend to add more colors to this changing world and put it on a solid moving track with multiple pathways. A storm in which only those with sufficiently solid resolve and hunger would rise! Chapter 54 Forest Hunt 54 Forest Hunt After several minutes, the trio arrived at the forest part behind TreeBug resort to kill the supra-order monkey monster. Isabe needed to kill it toplete her second ss task, so they directly started searching for it. "Eh? Stop," Erixmanded the eagle to stop and narrowed his eyes. His Aura Vision showed him a bright presence in the forest below. *Growl!* A pair of red eyes glowed below and looked above at Erix. "That''s a beast-type supra-order monster. It''s not a monkey, but this is also fine," Erix informed before standing up on the eagle''s back. "Let''s descend." "Let me start with an opening attack," Rin said with a grin as she unfurled her Lightning Spark wings and infused 20 mana to activate its ability. *Swoosh! Crackle!* As Rin descended with a crackle of lightning, the beast below issued a roar, and along with it came an attack. A wide wind sh! However, Rin took out her de Eater, infused 100 de energy into it to empower it, and swung it powerfully! *sh!* The iing wind de was cleanly cut into two because its spell structure was destroyed, causing it to disperse! "So there you are," Rin narrowed her eyes with a sharp smile as she maximized her speed while aiming towards the beast. As she descended with her glowing and lightning-crackling sword, the tree was cut off while the beast beneath it swiped its paws at the iing sword attack. A sh urred, but it didn''tst long as Rin''s attack cut off the beast''s paw cleanly! -648! -129! Additional lightning damage. *Roar!* Rin finally saw the beast clearly and inspected it. [ Zephyrion Lion ] _Level: 53 _Rank: Supra-Order. _Vitality: [2723/3500] _Attack: 280 _Defence: 226 _Magic Power: 110 [A/N: Do I show this type of monster format or the one I showed in Crimson Demon, like Strength, Agility, Stamina, Health, and Magic type?] The Lion rushed towards Rin, its speed quick as the wind gathered around it. However, it was not quicker than Rin as she easily dodged the charge without using her Thunder Blitz skill. ''Erix said to exert our skills over the limits to acquire affinity¡­ I have to try.'' Rin had two lightning-attributed skills, so she decided to do something with them. But before she could do that, Isabe''s voice rang. "Rin, Erix, can you leave this Lion to me? I want to kill alone," Isabe said after she descended with Erix and immediately used her me Whips to bind the Lion as it roared in anger. -749! -45! Burn "Alright." The Lion suddenly burst with wind power as the me Whips dispersed. It opened its mouth towards Isabe as a whirling wind sphere formed, which quickly shot towards Isabe. However, Isabe was calm and determined. She used Wind Dash and dodged the iing attack before using me Whip again. Since me Whip was her most powerful skill, she only nned to use her other offense skill, Venom Ball, if the situation required it. Seeing Isabe calmly handling the Lion, Erix and Rin stood away from their battle. "Erix, I am going to try something to acquire the Lightning affinity," Rin said as she took a deep breath. "Oh?" "The lightning charge skill mentioned that I can use any object or a limb of my body to empower it, but¡­ how about I charge my entire body with it?" "That¡­" Erix was taken aback. "It might harm you, though." "Hehe, that''s not all, darling," Rin grinned with a fiery glint in her eyes. "I will use Thunder Blitz after charging my body with Lightning Charge for abo." After saying that, she outright started doing what she decided. Spending whooping 70 mana at once, she used Lightning Charge as powerful blue lightning immediately started crackling over her body. Instantly, her eyes rolled backward, and she swayed back. Erix quickly grabbed her waist to prevent her from falling, but the lightning around her body was out of control and transferred to Erix as a jolt passed through his entire body. "Ouch¡­" Despite his high pain tolerance, Erix let out an ouch from his mouth as he wryly smiled. The lightning gradually dispersed, and Erix lightly pped her cheeks a few times as she opened her eyes. "It h-hurts, alright. I was not expecting that," Rin said as she stammered due to the skill getting out of her control since she tried to use it in an unusual way. "Sit and recover your mana," Erix said as he helped Rin sit down since her body became slightly stiffy. *Shrr¡­* Erix''s ear perked as he heard a faint growl and turned to his left. Seeing a pair of red eyes belonging to a strange creature, Erix grunted and tried to exert his aura pressure. After using Aura Vision many times, he learned to ooze out his physical body''s prowess and magic power in an aura form. Only perceptive people could sense such a thing, but wild animals were always highly perceptive since they lived in dangerous environments all the time. However, when Erix saw that the pair of eyes belonged to a giant mutated praying Mantis that was one meter tall and had sharp hands and slender legs, he didn''t bother scaring it and quickly used his Nether Grasp skill to grab it tightly. He had learned about mantises from martial arts movies and martial art forums on the inte that Mantises were highly fearless as they would even retaliate and fight foes of bigger sizes. They were not emotionless but just very daring and highly fearless. So Erix instantly judged that this mutated praying Mantis would surely be more daring than normal Mantises and decided to attack it before it could attack him or Rin. *Shaaa!* It was a level 48 creature, so it was not weak. Using its razor-sharp hands and wind power, it shed apart the Nether Grasp and dashed toward Erix while issuing a low screech! However, Erix simply stood up and formed iron metal gauntlets in his arms before infusing 20 mana in them to empower their structure. *sh!* As the mutated giant Mantis swiped its razor hand towards Erix''s neck, Erix masterfully blocked it with his left hand as a mantis'' razor hand only slightly damaged his gauntlet! The Mantis visibly revealed a shocked expression because its razor hands had always managed to sh all foes it encountered before, even against humans it had killed before, so this oue shocked it. "Time to die, critter." *Shaa!* Chapter 55 Maze of Grand Weed 55 Maze of Grand Weed Erix powerfully kicked it up, causing the Mantis to shoot up before he flew up and punched it even higher! -193! -485! The Mantis, who couldn''t fly, managed to see the whole forest before it descended again, and its gaze met Erix''s grin. Mantis hissed and angrily tried to attack Erix mid-air, but Erix punched it from above before its attack could hit him and mmed it on the ground. *Smack!* -542! Afterward, he snapped his finger and used Crimson Blood re as an arm''s length trail of crimson re shot towards the Mantis on the ground and killed it. Unfortunately, it didn''t drop anything. On the other hand, Isabe also finished off the Lion andpleted her second ss task. It dropped its origin core but didn''t drop any treasure chest or orb. "What happened?" Isabe asked when she saw Rin''s sitting stiffly with faint lightning around her. "She overloaded herself with lightning," Erix chuckled. Rin opened her eyes and pouted, "I am going to do it again and will acquire Lightning Affinity; just watch." "Oh, so it was for that," Isabe smiled with a nod before she adopted a thoughtful expression. "I also want to acquire it but don''t know how to start." "Hmmm, you have to try to use your me Whip in an extreme way," Erix said after thinking for a second. "I don''t know how you use your me Whip, so it''s up to you how you can extremize that skill to use it above its limit and your limit." "Also, Rin, Isabe, try to feel the element¡­like, it''s not visible, but it''s there if you manage to sense it." "Element?" Erix nodded. "Yep. I am sure you can also feel the elemental force of your skills when you use them. They are always there and responsible for transforming our mana into me, ice, poison, and such." "When you use the skills, you try to focus and perceive the element within them, familiarize with them, and... feel them while trying to control them?" Erix pondered. "I can''t exin it clearly, but it''s something like that." Erix didn''t know, but he was a prodigy at acquiring affinity if one considered how fast he got it. He also gave an urate way to acquire it, even though he just described his experience. The starting point was to familiarize oneself with the element''s power by using the skill many times and then trying to sense the element''s true factor, which would only happen when you go to extreme lengths and enter the same wavelength as the element of the skill one use. Thus, starting the affinity-building progress. That progress would only advance if they continued to feel the element while trying to control it. So, If one finally grasped the control, the progress would reach 100%, thus acquiring level 1 affinity of an element. Rin and Isabe tried for half an hour but only made minor progress. At least the affinity-building progress notification appeared, but they couldn''t reach 100%. "Alright, let''s continue moving. We can try againter," Rin said. "We have toplete the tasks first so that we can depart." They nned toplete the ss tasks, regrow Toshin''s leg with Isabe''s skill, and depart for Phoenix City as soon as possible. The trio continued walking in the forest, killing a few monsters that attacked them while leaving those who couldn''t catch up. After all, most of them were around level 30 or 40, so they didn''t even drop anything nor gave them any progress on leveling up. It would waste their time and energy to kill worthless monsters. But soon, they found a worthy and useful monster. It was a tree, and Isabe was eager to kill it. *Khreeee!* A tree monster with two hollow eyes containing dark green wisps and its moving branches covered with dark green liquid. "Those seem poisonous, so let''s not get hit by it," Erix said. It was a level 54 Tree Monster, and it could not move from its position, so Erix, Rin, and Isabe didn''t have much trouble bringing it down as it turned into motes with Isabe''s killing blow. Still, none of them leveled up from 51 to 52, and the monster didn''t drop the origin core, disappointing Isabe since she only needed to absorb the origin core of a nt-type monster to awaken her ss. Although it didn''t drop its origin core, it dropped a single orb. "It seems like our leveling considerably slowed down after reaching supra-order," Rin picked up the orb as it opened and revealed the item. It was a towering rectangle shield 2 meters in height. [ Dark Wood Shield ] _Rank: Tier-0 _Grade: Rare _Durability: [10,000/10,000] _Perk: Takes -10% damage from physical attacks and -5% damage from magic attacks. _Description: A shield made from mutated dark wood. Infusing 10 mana in the shield will create a barrier in 3 meters radius around the user for one minute. Damage to the barrier will reduce the shield''s durability. _Note: This shield is not repairable and will be destroyed once its durability reaches 0. "Good. This can be useful," Erix nodded and put it in his inventory. Indeed, they had to use the shield after ten minutes to fight four supra-order blood-bone wolves at levels 53 and 54. They had mutated into undead-type wolves! It seemed that monsters reaching Supra-Order were also increasing in number, though it was also no wonder if one considered the number of animals, insects, and nt life in areas like forests. The battle against the wolvessted three minutes, and the shield''s durability decreased by 490 since Erix used it. In a sense, the wolves were tougher than Ogres because they were quick and also used long-ranged attacks by shooting blood balls from their mouths that exploded on impact. After defeating those four wolves, the trio finally leveled to 53 from 51. "Let''s take a small break to recover our energies." Out of those four wolves, two dropped origin cores. Erix and Isabe decided to let Rin have them to increase her magic power and mana. After she finished absorbing them, she gained a total of 6 magic power and 20 mana. When they finished resting, they continued moving for a bit when Erix suddenly stopped as a bright aura blinded his eyes when he looked in a particr direction. "What''s that?!" He deactivated his Aura Vision to look at the thing clearly, but Rin''s surprised voice informed him before he could see it. "Why is there a dungeon gate here?! Do they also spawn randomly?" It was at the foot of a hill filled with a thick array of trees! They quickly rushed there and inspected the gate. [Dungeon: Maze of Grand Weed.] _Type: Consumable dungeon. _Requirement: Level 51. _Tasks: ¡ª> Kill 50 Weedlings. ¡ª> Escape the Maze within one hour. _Rewards: ¡ª> A Tier-1 Consumable crate. ¡ª> A Tier-1 Healing Fruit. The dungeon gate had an alluring mist covered around it, causing Erix to narrow his eyes. ''Don''t tell me this dungeon has THAT type of weed?'' "Erix, we have to go in this," Rin grinned as she had a simr guess regarding the dungeon gate. "Let''s also look out for hidden tasks," Isabe said as she was slightly fired up. "It doesn''t mention, but I think every dungeon must have a hidden task." "Wait, this one doesn''t have a first-time clear reward," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Did a group already get it, or do wild dungeons not have such a reward in the first ce?" Rin shrugged and walked forward as she touched the gate. "Whatever, let''s go inside and clear it." As such, the trio entered inside, not knowing what awaited them would be one hell of an experience bordering on their life and death. Chapter 56 Delirious Dungeon (1/3) Chapter 56 Delirious Dungeon (1/3) As the trio entered the dungeon gate, they arrived on a small hill under the starry sky. The atmosphere was breezy, and the night dark. But, they could clearly see the green maze''s entrance before them as it shone under the moonlight of two moons. [ Tip: Exit may not be the end, but the end might lead to a surprise, and surprise is all you need.] [ 00: 59: 58] Looking at the glowing dark-maroon texts floating before them, the trio understood one simple thing: the maze had a different kind of exit, and they only had an hour to finish the dungeon. "We don''t know the directions in this strange ce with two moons, but let''s consider our front as North and move ording to that," Erix said before taking the lead and walking towards the entrance. The maze''s structure was magically grassy since its tall grass walls faintly shone with green luster. The path was also four meters wide, so plenty of space existed. After arriving at the end of the first pathway, they saw that the pathways leading to East and West had fog that prevented them from seeing what awaited them on the path. "East or West?" Rin crossed her arms as she observed her surroundings. "You stay here," Erix turned to the East. "I''ll take a peek." He put his hand inside the fog first to see if something was wrong, but the moment he touched the mist, it started clearing. *Shrshsrshsr* On the other hand, the west path ceased to be a path as tall magical grass buried it, creating a maze wall. "Look out!" Rin quickly pushed Erix since she saw a glowing green thing shooting towards Exit from the east path, but since Erix looked back at the west path upon hearing the sound, so he didn''t notice. It didn''t make any sound! Rin pushed aside Erix, but the green thing hit her. "You¡­" Erix frowned and quickly checked her arm where the thing hit her. "Eh? It doesn''t hurt, and my vitality also didn''t go down," Rin confusedly said. "Guys, we have enemies...I think," Isabe interrupted them as she saw ten half-a-meter tall round dirt balls with weed heads and tiny brown root legs dashing towards them from the East Path as they shot palm-sized green orbs from their weed heads. [Weedling] _Type: Special Monster. _Vitality: [500/500] _Attack: 0 _Defence: 200 _Magic: 150. Erix and Rin were hit by multiple green orbs from approximately ten Weedlings but weren''t injured. "Strange, what kind of attacks are they?" "Let''s kill them first," Erix said before he dashed forward and punched the earliest Weedling to death. The vitality of these monsters was low, so they died with one attack from Erix and Rin. Isabe practiced her Knife against them since she didn''t want to use mana on these small fries that died quickly. ''Why do I feel like my senses just got boosted,'' Rin thought. ''Is it my imagination?'' "Let''s continue because we shouldn''t waste time in this time-limited dungeon," Erix said before going ahead into the East path. After arriving at the end, they saw a fog-blocked path to the front, to the left, and the right. "We have a path to North, East, and South. Hmmm, How about North?" "Yep." "Yes." Erix touched the fog on the north side as it dispersed, but instead of revealing a simr path of the maze, it showed an empty garden that spawned fifteen Weedlings from thewn ground. Since they only had one type of attack, they used it immediately as a bombardment and then once every other second. A few initial attacks hit them, but then they started dodging and killing the Weedlings. After clearing them all, they went to the maze wall of the north, where three passage entrances were situated. All three entrances had three different glowing symbols on top of them. The first entrance had a cauldron-like symbol, the second entrance had a weedling symbol, and the third entrance had a skull symbol. Without wasting time discussing, they quickly entered the entrance with the Weedling symbol. After all, they were familiarized with Weedlings after killing 25 of them, so they decided to enter that entrance. After touching the fog of that entrance, it cleared up to reveal a smaller garden, but¡­ "Wtf¡­" There were over fifty Weedlings already standing, and the moment the fog was cleared, they all unleashed their green orb attacks! Isabe quickly used her Frost Shield before Erix, "Rin, hurry!" They also went behind Erix as the Frost Shield blocked the green orb attacks. The Weedlings started dashing towards them, with each of them releasing a green orb every two seconds. "I am going to try it," Rin said as her body crackled with lightning. She jumped up high and used 70 mana to empower her entire body with Lightnin Charge. Instantly, her eyes shined! After practicing a bit in the forest, she could already stay awake when charging her body with 70 mana, but she couldn''t maintain or increase the mana to reach extremes. However, she felt confident now because her boosted senses and some other effects of the green orb that hit her made her more sensitive to elements, or at least, that''s what she felt! "Erix, Isabe! I think the green orb attacks are useful!" *Crackle!* Rin added 30 more mana andpletely charged her body with Lightning Charge. [Affiinity Building Progress Initiated] Rin took out her de Eater and further used Thunder Blitz skills as she crossed a distance of 15 meters. Her arms moved at break-neck speed as she dashed, swinging ten times in quick session and killing ten Weedlings in one go! "I feel great!" She did several dashes in the next five seconds and killed all Weedlings. Erix and Isabe approached her as she stood in the center with her eyes closed. "Should I also try?" Isabe muttered, seeing Rin in a trance. "You can try when we fight them again," Erix agreed. "Although we alreadypleted the task of killing 50 Weedlings, there''s no harm in killing more." "Yes, let''s bulldoze through everything," Isabe smiled. "We might alsoplete a hidden quest that way if there''s any." "Damn it!" Rin shot open her eyes with a frustrated pout. "The progress stopped after crossing 50%." "Darling, how did you even do it that quick?" "Haha, maybe I am a genius in magic and affinity?" Erix joked with a chuckle. "Anyway, Isabe''s peal ofughter interrupted Erix. "What?" Erix questioned with a confused smile on his face. ''What the fuck is going let''s continue. You two can try to awaken your affinity in this dungeon since it doesn''t feel that dangerous." As such, the trio looked at two normal path entrances, one to the East and one to the West. This time, they decided to go in the West direction path. After crossing two normal passages and killing more Weedlings while getting hit by a few of their green orbs, they arrived again at a different type of ce. The fog cleared, and what they showed startled them. It was a thick jungle! But not wasting any time, the trio entered the dense jungle with trees, nts, and afortable fragrance permeating everywhere while carefully looking around and moving ahead in the dark. But Isabe suddenly stumbled on a vine and fell t on her face. Rin and Erix paused upon hearing the sound and looked behind as they saw Isabe tilting her face up and meeting Rin''s and Erix''s gaze. "Are you f-" "Pfff! Hahahahaha¡­" Isabe''s peal ofughter interrupted Erix. "What?" Erix questioned with a confused smile on his face. ''What the fuck is going on?'' Something was affecting his mind! "Hahaha!" Rin also burst outughing. "Sister I-Isabe, how can you fall like that, hahaha¡­." "You tell me¡­pff..." Isabe stood up while trying to stop herughter. She looked at Erix with a mix ofughing and crying expressions as if she was trying to stop herughter. "I think we are fucked, haha haha¡­I-I can''t stopughing." Chapter 57 Delirious Dungeon (2/3) Chapter 57 Delirious Dungeon (2/3) "I am feeling strange in my head," Rin said as she suddenly stoppedughing and adopted a serious expression. But it onlysted for a second before she burst outughing again, "My head! Fuck¡­ hahaha¡­" Erix was trying his best not to get influenced, and he also quickly judged that this situation arose because they entered this jungle. ''What is this fragrance¡­ is it the cause?'' "Hey, you two! Quick, we have to get out of this jungle!" Erix said as he grabbed their hands and flew up. However, just as he crossed a tree, he crashed into an invisible barrier, and a force threw him on the ground. ''Shit!'' Rin and Isabe were also trying their best and had turned silent after Erix took them up to fly over the jungle instead of walking through it. Still, when he crashed into the barrier, and the three of them smacked on the ground, their fuse again short-circuited as they burst outughing. "Honey, you can''t be serious! Hahaha¡­" Rinughed while holding her stomach while squiring about. "It hurts¡­need to stop this¡­" "E-Erix, we have to leave," Isabe stopped herughter. Her face was full of sweat, and she was trying her best despite her vision changing between clear and blurry while everything looked wobbly. Erix grabbed Isabe''s hand and carried Rin on his shoulder before he dashed forward. But his vision was also bing weird as everything was bending while he was rushing through the jungle. This caused him difficulty maneuvering around the trees and nts, and he shortly crashed into a tree. "Fuck!" Erix stood up and put Rin on his shoulder again before grabbing Isabe''s hand. "Wait. Put me down, Erix. I am fine. I am trying," Rin said, her body full of sweat and her eyes showing internal struggle. On the other hand, Isabe''s eyes couldn''t remain open anymore as she started swaying. "I-I can''t walk. Something''s wrong with my mind." "Erix, carry her," Rin said as she took a deep breath. "Let''s get out." Erix nodded as he put Isabe''s arm around his neck before slightly bending down and pulling her up with a firm arm grip around her legs to carry her on his shoulder. "If you can see the path clearly, then lead me because my mind is mostly fine except for everything bending in my vision, and my Aura Vision is also not working properly." "I am having the same problem," Rin bit her lips and squinted her eyes, trying to stop the bending vision. "Let''s not move quickly then. I''ll stay front to see if we are not crashing into any tree." They continued moving while resisting the strange effects of the forest. But it was proving difficult. Ultimately, they were having problems walking and had to stop moving. Erix looked at Rin''s sweaty face, and her smell wafted into the nose, causing him arousal. But he knew that it was this jungle''s effect. "Erix¡­" Rin''s eyes turned slightly glossy as she approached Erix before pushing him onto the ground and sitting on him. "What? Rin?! Hey, snap out!" With a finger tap on her armor, she put her armor set in the inventory and appeared in her t-shirt and shorts before she removed her t-shirt. "Rin!" Erix pped her cheek. "We don''t have time for this!" "It sting¡­" Rin snapped out of the effects and entered a daze as she rubbed her cheeks. Erix got up and put his hand behind her neck before pulling her face and kissing her with the highest intensity as a loud smooch echoed. "We don''t have time for that, so bear with it for now." Rin helplessly sighed and quickly wore back her T-shirt. "I am fine now. Sigh, this jungle is screwing with us." After wearing her armor set, she stood up and took a breath. "Let''s continue moving." After some bumpy moments, they finally saw moonlight in the gaps between trees and nts, indicating they were close. "There it is," Rin sped up. When they exited the jungle and saw the foggy passage, Erix sighed in relief and sat down after putting Isabe on the ground. "What kind of crazy dungeon is this?" Rin wiped the sweat off her face after sitting down. "It''s messing with our heads." "Maze of High Weed," Erix murmured. "It is really rted to intoxication-type weed, but on a strange level." "What happened?!" Isabe''s eyes opened as she quickly got up. However, she soon understood the situation after not seeing trees around her and sighed in relief. "So, we got out of that jungle¡­" "We have to leave this dungeon quickly," she stood up as the relief in her eyes was reced by fear. "This is too strange." Rin and Erix nodded as they got up. There was no time for rest. The trio moved towards the North directional path. The fog cleared and showed a normal maze path. But just as they walked a few steps, the ground slightly shook before a giant Weedling emerged from the ground. It was four meters tall and looked like it could harm them, unlike those small Weedlings. [Giant Weedling] _Vitality: [4000/4000] _Attack: 200 _Defence: 300 _Magic: 200 The first one to attack was Isabe as she used me Whip, but instead of how she Rin also lighting charged her body with 100 mana directly and dashed forward with de Eater in her hand. normally uses it, the me Whip in her hand turned brighter with condensed me bumps protruding on it. She was trying to control the fire element of her me whip to make changes and empower it, but how much she could control and affect would depend on her effort and breaking her limit. As she started attacking the iing giant Weedling with her me Whip, the bumps on the whip would explode for a bit more damage. Rin also lighting charged her body with 100 mana directly and dashed forward with de Eater in her hand. Erix didn''t do much except for releasing a single Crimson Blood re by spending 50 mana because the monster was almost dead by then with quick and powerful attacks from Isabe and Rin. Rin dealt a finishing blow with a sh of her de Eater. But when its vitality hit zero, it didn''t directly turn into motes but sted and released a pollen-like substance that rained on them. "Don''t inhale!" Erix shouted before he closed his nose and mouth. He dashed toward Rin and Isabe before grabbing their hands and continuing towards the North passage before him. He didn''t know what that substance would do but didn''t dare to inhale or let the other two inhale it! Chapter 58 Delirious Dungeon (3/3), Otherworldly Phenomenon 58 Delirious Dungeon (3/3), Otherworldly Phenomenon After entering the following passage quickly, the mist slowly dispersed and revealed a garden with a small pond in the center. However, the strange thing was that there was only a single passage leading further in this section, while the passage they came from was buried by the mystical grass maze wall like usual. That single passage was strange because it looked simr to the entrance of the dungeon, meaning that it was likely an exit. The trio felt foreboding in this closed garden''s silent and reinvigorated yet bizarre atmosphere, but it was natural. Fear of the unknown was always present in everyone, but for Rin and Erix, such a foreboding didn''tst long. Both Rin and Erix curiously looked at the pond. Isabe put her hand on her heart and took a deep breath. "Am I the only one feeling palpitation?" "We really entered one hell of a dungeon," Erix wryly smiled as he approached the pond. Rin and Isabe also followed. "An exit may not be an end, but the end might bring you a surprise, and surprise is all you need," Rin repeated the tip texts they saw when they arrived in the dungeon. "So it says we need a surprise, but... do we really need it?" Isabe said as she saw her reflection in the pond after leaning forward. Suddenly that reflection transformed into a creepy red-skinned demoness with an ugly, rotten face that resembled hers! Isabe was startled as she screamed and backed away. "What happened?" Rin and Erix were startled. "My reflection¡­" Isabe took a deep breath to calm her already fast-beating heart that sped due to that incident. "My reflection transformed into something scary, sigh¡­ sorry for the scream." "It''s fine. Anyway, what I am sure is that we shouldn''t enter that passage that looks like an exit," Erix pointed at the passage. "Then where do we go?" Isabe asked. "Hey, look!" Rin called the other two upon seeing changes in the pond. The still water in the pond was a mixed shining silver aura shaping into texts. [ Take a leap of faith or exit the maze by entering thest passage. ] "Leap of faith? Does it mean we jump in this pond?" Isabe muttered. "No way, right?" "I like leaps of faith," Erix calmly said as his lips curved into a smile. "If this is a choice, I want to choose it." In the first ce, Erix wanted to jump on the pond when they arrived here because it was the only thing that mattered in this garden. As for the exit passage, he didn''t even consider it because of the Tip text. "Isabe-sis," Rin turned to Isabe. "How about taking the leap with us?" Isabe looked at Erix and Rin, but her inner turmoil didn''tst long as she released a long sigh and helplessly smiled, "It''s insane, but¡­I strangely have lots of fun with you two." Rin and Erix smiled. The things Isabe had done so far after the cmity urred were more than she had ever done in her entire life, which was mostly spent staying holed up in the vige. After meeting Rin and Erix, she always wanted to stay and adventure with them because staying with them caused her to feel the excitement, thrill, and exhration she never felt before. She also trusted them as they became closest to her because everyone she knew died in the vige. Even though she had fear mixed within her feelings, she still wanted to experience a new life with them. They were like bright lights to her eyes, and she couldn''t help but get attracted to them! "I want you two to know that whatever happens in the future, I''ll never regret meeting with you two," Isabe smiled and grabbed their hands. "So, I am also ready to take this leap of faith." All her fear vanished at this moment, and a bright smile shaped on her beautiful face. Erixughed and said, "Well then, let''s jump on the count of three." "Three." "Two." "One." *Ssh!* When their feet touched the water, a strange force pulled them with irresistible power, and darkness overwhelmed their vision. Their mind went nk shortly before they found themselves in a new world. A world of an endless and beautiful sea, yet lively and full of life. Flying above the uncountable inds and myriad creatures, they experienced bliss and exhration as an otherwordlyfort overtook their mind and body. They could only passively experience this new world while their body moved independently. They saw humans living on the inds; they saw exotic flying creatures, sea beasts, dragons, phoenixes,... All sorts of creatures they heard about, and even those they couldn''t have imagined if they didn''t see them. But this was only the start of their otherwordly journey. ¡­ In the same forest was a mountain range at the end where a long ck haired captivating woman wearing ayered ck dress with exquisite dark blue and dark orange embroidery design sat on a rock atop the tallest mountain''s peak, exuding a carefree and peaceful aura around her. Her gaze was in the same direction where the Maze of Grand Weed was located as her lips shaped into a small smile. "Tenebria, that''s unfair and overboard. You shouldn''t create a dungeon in the first ce, but you even put your faction''s journey pond in there." A voice rang around her, but no being was visible anywhere on that mountain peak. "Don''t tell me what to do and what not to. If you want toin, go ahead." "You know it''s up to them if they want to join your faction WHEN the timees. I''m afraid they won''t be impressed." Tenebria just smiled in response. Her silence seems to have triggered the other person into throwing another mockery. "It appears your desperation stems from your faction''sst-ce ranking. A sore point, isn''t it?" "Whatever you say," Tenebria uncaringly uttered, a peaceful smile still on her face. "Well then, suit yourself because I have better candidates than you. You didn''t even roam this world to look at others and just decided on these three. Heh, no wonder your faction is dying. How many are even left there?" "That''s why I kicked you out," Tenebria rolled her eyes. "I like surprises, unlike you. I coincidentally noticed them because I arrived here first, and I like them. Simple as that." "I still don''t know why you suddenly changed that day and expelled me, but I''ve grown beyond caring about it. Wait for the penalty because it''sing soon." "Your predictability is underwhelming," Tenebria quipped, her expression unchanged. Chapter 59 Throughout Heaven & Earth, I Alone Am Unfettered 59 Throughout Heaven & Earth, I Alone Am Unfettered Their flying adventure in this beautiful world stopped at a town after rapidly flying through vast distances with time flowing quickly. They couldn''t control their body and could only absorb what was experienced by their consciousness and subconsciousness. Then, they experienced life. They experienced joy together, of theirs, of others. They traveled together and met people. Not just humans but the various races that they had only believed existed in fantasy literature. They met elves. They met vampires. They met dwarves. They met demons. They fought, theyughed, they cried together as the time flow continued fast. Years flew by. And then, they experienced the start of a downfall. The world they believed to be a paradise gradually transformed into a living hell. The people they met and traveled with died. The people theyughed with got killed. All because of and by one entity. A faceless shadow that seemed to have only one goal. To make their lives as miserable as possible. As such, their seemingly beautiful lives turned hellish. They fought back, failed, and ran. Wherever they went, death followed them for years upon years. In the end, the shadow stood before them with a wide grin reaching its narrowed eyes, looking as malevolent as possible. They could no longer run. Erix, Rin, and Isabe felt despair, for this was no longer a dream. It was a bonafide reality for them. And that reality ended with the shadow cutting their heads off with a wave of its hands that turned into a reaper''s scythe. Darkness overtook them, but it also quickly vanished as their eyes opened, and the moonlight of a familiar moon shone on them. However, none knew that all three had actually experienced different lives in three parallel dreams. Rin''s life with Erix and Isabe was different, Isabe''s life with Erix and Rin was different, and Erix''s life with Rin and Isabe was also different. Only one thing was the same, and it was the end where the faceless shadow killed them. [ Congrattions. You havepleted the dungeon, Maze of Grand Weed. ] [The rewards have been sent to your inventory.] "What did we just experience¡­?" Rin muttered dazedly. Strangely, she could tell that what they experienced was not reality, but she couldn''t deny that the experience felt real. "Whatever it was, I am d that we are here and alive," Erix said, a smile of relief on his face. Isabe said nothing but stood up and tightly hugged Rin and Erix. "Are you okay?" Erix asked as he caressed her back. "Everything is fine now, Isabe-sis," Rin said, slightly concerned. "I know," Isabe lightly said, a smile of dness on her face. ''Thank you.'' She separated from the hug and took a deep breath, her faint smiley expression serene and peaceful. "So, what''s the n now?" she asked. "We don''t know the purpose of what we just experienced, but it was surely not a hidden task from the look of things," Erix mused. "What''s this? Hey, look at our status. We got something new!" Rin eximed in surprise. [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 53 _Rank: Supra-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer _Vitality: 200/200 _Spiritual Art: Way of The Unfettered. ¡ª> Imaginary ne: Limitless (One hour every day) _Stat points: 26 ¡ª> [ Strength: 84 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 100 (+50) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Health:72 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 48 (+90) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 78(+25) / Mana: 210/210 ] _Talent (1/3): . All three of them had the same addition in their status. "Spiritual Art, what is that?" Erix wondered and then focused on it to get answers. [ Spiritual Art is a medium to improve oneself in certain aspects. Different Spiritual Arts bring different benefits. ] "It''s inside our origin region," Isabe spoke with her eyes closed as she saw a strange object in her Origin Region. Rin and Erix also closed their eyes and focused as their consciousness entered their origin region and saw the same object. It was a mystical ck rock with golden letters carved on it. They couldn''t recognize the texts, but the intent they contained immediately informed them of their meaning. [ Throughout Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Unfettered. ] The moment they spoke this sentence in their mind, a sense of grandness enveloped them before their consciousness vanished from their mind, and they appeared in a mystical world. The same world where they experienced their lives for decades in a rapid flow of time! But this time, they could control their body. "Hello, little one." Erix suddenly saw a faint avatar of a woman appearing before him. He couldn''t see her face clearly as it was just a mystical golden avatar with a vague face shape and a figure wearing a flickering multyered dress. She also appeared before Rin and Isabe in their world. "You might be a bit confused, so I''ll exin the use of this world in a simple way," the woman spoke, her voice gentle andfortable. "This world is an imaginary ne you acquired after going through that journey pond and getting my spiritual art." "May I know who you are?" Erix asked calmly and politely as he slightly raised his eyebrows. He was not wary of her but just curious. "You''ll know who I am in due time," the woman softly chuckled. "But for now, you only need to know that the Spiritual Art''s verse will allow you to enter this world where your learning speed will be quicker, and roaming this world may also give you insight if you are stumped." "You can freely use your skills and powers here without worrying about mana or exhaustion and let your imagination run wild to improve yourself." "Whatever you learn here will stay with you, so feel free to spend one hour daily here. You can also invite others with the same spiritual art to practice together." "And-" the woman paused as a smile appeared on her face, "-If you choose to practice another spiritual art, this one will disappear." The woman spoke the same things to Rin and Isabe simultaneously. And then vanished. Chapter 60 Pelian Angel of Ouranus Heaven 60 Pelian Angel of Ouranus Heaven Rin, Erix, and Isabe left the Limitless ne and looked at each other in shock. They also saw that the dungeon gate disappeared. "What do we do now?" Isabe asked. "We''ll enter the Limitless ne together, but not now," Erix said, looking into the sky. "It''s probably around three in the morning, so we still have an almost entire day to spend one hour in that world." "And we''ll enter there together," Rin grinned. "It sounds great to practice together without worrying about mana." "About the consumable crates, we''ll open themter once we depart from here since we''ll have much time while traveling with nothing else to do." But for now, they had to continue their ss task hunt, so they started roaming the forest to find monsters. A short whileter, they found another monster tree of supra-order. Fortunately, it dropped its origin core after they killed it. It also dropped a treasure orb, which had a dark green mango fruit that temporarily increased one''s wind damage and resistance. Isabe got the monster''s origin core she needed, but Erix''sst task was quite a hurdle. "Where do we find an angel?" Erix sighed. "And can we even kill angels?" Isabe wryly smiled. "If we can kill demons, then why not angels?" Rin rolled her eyes. "I doubt the angels in reality are simr to ones we hear in myths and folklore." Erix thought for a bit before he helplessly smiled. "Let''s go to the city because we definitely won''t find angels in this forest." Rin and Isabe agreed with that. As such, the trio got on the Bloodwood Eagle and flew into the city. Erix activated his aura vision because he was not expecting to find a wild angel. Instead, he was hoping to find a dungeon rted to angels. But as their luck would have it, Erix saw a bright aura of a presence near a destroyed church. "Let''s go there," He pointed at the ce andmanded the Eagle. As they neared the rubbles of charge, they saw a humanoid male with golden hair and ck wings. His eyes had dark gold pupils, and he seemed to be searching for something around the church. Erix saw the Angel''s conduct and narrowed his eyes. But the Angel also noticed something as he stopped his search and looked up. "Humans? Wait, that¡­" Furrowing his brows, the Angel flew up with a p of his wings and appeared before the Eagle in a few seconds. Erix, Rin, and Isabe inspected his status. [ Pelian Angel of Ouranus Heaven ] _Level: 57 _Rank: Supra-order. _Vitality: [1500/1500] _Status: ¡ª> Strength: 145 ¡ª> Agility: 168 ¡ª> Health: 184 ¡ª> Stamina: 144 ¡ª> Magic: 230 / Mana: [500/500 ] "You two, get away from that dirty creature or die with him," the man angel indifferently spoke as his gaze focused on Erix with hostility brimming in his eyes. "Huh?" Rin raised her eyebrows as a vein popped on her forehead. "What the fuck did you just say?" How dare he call Erix a dirty creature! "I said get away from that dirty and ugly creature so I can kill it," Pelian Angel repeated as his eyes turned cold and a golden energy spear appeared in his hand. ''A measly human somehow became a unique creature, eh? He seems to have a potent origin core and mind.'' ''I must devour his essence.'' Isabe felt incredibly dissatisfied. Until now, she thought Angel wouldn''t be hostile like others, but¡­ ''In the end, demons are demons, humans are humans, and angels are angels¡­ it''s simr to races of vampires, elves, demons, angels, and others we saw in that strange world''s journey after entering that pond,'' Isabe thought. Ultimately, as long as an individual possesses intelligence, consciousness, and awareness, they would have an ego that would shape their personality and way of life, barring the external forces that would affect them and force them to adapt. It was the same with humans, and even animals, so why not angels? "If you two want to obstruct me, you can also die. I have no inherently hate towards you measly humans, but if you don''t leave me any choice, I''ll finish you off." "Bastard!" *Crackle! Boom!* Rin immediately spent 100 mana as she charged her entire body with Lightning Charge and unfurled her Lightning Spark wings before she appeared right before Pelia Angel, greatly startling him. And she had already swung her de Eater, which spent 100 de energy. Pelian Angel was not expecting such a quick and deadly retaliation, so unable to take action in time; his head flew away from his shoulders. -749! Shockingly, he didn''t die. Instead, his headless body thrust the spear straight toward Rin''s head. "Wh-" Rin was shocked. There was no way she would be able to dodge that. But! A strange force suddenly affected her waist belt, and she was pulled back before crashing into a familiar body and looked up to see Erix looking at her with a loving smile. "Thanks, my goddess," Erix kissed her forehead and chuckled. "Now, leave him to me." *Swoosh!* Meanwhile, Isabe had alsomenced her attacks as her me Whip wrapped around the Angel before the five condensed fire bumps on her whips exploded. However, her attack strangely dealt a minimal amount of damage. "me doesn''t hurt me much, woman." The me whip dispersed. "And Undead creature, are you sure you want to fight me?" the Angel spoke as his head regrew from his shoulder. "I am a being of light. One hit, and you will cry in agony for hours, though you won''t stay alive that long." ''His vitality recovered by two hundred?'' Erix was surprised. He flew up toward the Angel and floated ten meters away from him. Seeing Erix challenging him, the Angel thrust his golden spear as a powerful beam unleashed from it straight toward Erix''s head. Moreover, a golden barrier also appeared around him since he wanted to defend himself from any other attack. Erix floated before the Angel. His breathing paused to activate the Muscle Enchant. Since he was ready for any attack, he calmly and quickly side-stepped with a thought by controlling the metal tes under his feet to dodge the golden beam before stretching his left arm toward the Angel as the left part of the body was facing him. *Swoosh!* A shining ten-meter-long iron metal spear quickly formed as it pulsed with a powerful, sharp aura. After all, he spent every single drop of his mana to make and empower that iron metal spear! Which also activated histest passive skill, Overload Flux! The spear instantly thrust the Pelia Angel''s chest as his golden barrier couldn''t block Erix''s spear even for aplete second. -549! "Y-you¡­" Erix grinned and appeared to Pelian Angel''s left side before throwing his full-powered punch exerting his maximum physical strength. *Smack!!* That punch was even stronger than his iron spear attack because his physical stats had increased significantly in the Overload Flux state, and the Punch Force passive skill increased that punch attack power by a whopping 50%! Naturally, the Angel had time to create another barrier, even though he couldn''t dodge it. However, that barrier shattered upon Erix''s fist impact, rming Pelian Angel even more. ''This was a stronger barrier!'' The punch squarelynded in his stomach as he finished his thought, and he shot away like a stringless kite. On the verge of death, Pelian Angel decided to escape as he quickly pped his wings and poured the remaining mana into his wings to speed up. "Crescent sh." A soft yet seething murmur rang in his ears before a sharp pain assaulted him. "Aaaaaargh!!" Rin had zoomed towards him when Erix punched him and cut off both wings in a single sh! Erix also arrived and struck a powerful chop on him, cutting him into two from his head to his stomach. Dead. [You have killed a level 57 Supra-Order Angel. +5 Magic power. ] Erix, Isabe, and Rin leveled up, reaching level 54. The Angel''s body turned into motes as he dropped a treasure chest and his origin core! "Erix, I feel like I can acquire lightning affinity now," Rin excitedly spoke, her eyes flickering with lightning. She flew up in the sky and charged more lightning through her body and even wings before shing her de Eater horizontally in the sky! *Crackle_Boom!* A rumbling thunderp echoed as a lightning bolt stretched horizontally across the sky! [Affinity progress: 76%] ''I can do this! Familiar, feel, and control!'' Rin was excited, but she reined it in and focused. And added another 30 mana to charge her body! Despite the pain and numbness coursing through her entire body, she could feel the lightning clearer than ever! Chapter 61 Lightning Rin! ? 61 Lightning Rin! "I hope she can awaken it this time," Isabe said as she looked at Rin, who was trying her best to endure and seed. "She will," Erix smiled confidently. It was inly apparent that Rin was in tremendous pain from her expression and eyes, but she was not giving up. Her progress bar was filling up, and she could sense she was getting close to acquiring the mystical force that would let her control lightning as she pleased and even produce it from her mana without using skills. She could feel it was almost within her grasp. So, she continued despite the pain and pressure that her body and mind were experiencing. Like Erix, she also extensively suffered when sensing and trying to control an element for the first time. Nay, she suffered even more than Erix, given the number of attempts and how she decided to acquire her lightning affinity. Her consciousness could shut anytime if she lost her momentum for even half a second, so she had to stay awake and in focus. It must feel like the element was a part of her body, her mind. By now, she could no longer think properly, but the desire and the feeling of bathing in the element led her to continue. To her, it felt like hours were passing as her eyeballs were rapidly trembling, but not even a minute had passed since Pelian Angel died. Suddenly, she swung her de Eater and sharply screamed, her ferocious voice mixing with the booming thunder, which was no less intimidating than a majestic roar. ? Finally, a burst of lightning exploded from her body as Rin grinned despite her lips and eyes twitching due to pain and shot a trail of lightning in the sky that transformed into a wingless dragon. She felt absolute control and shaped the lightning with her will. [Congrattions. You have acquired Lightning Affinity.] [ Lightning Affinity] Realm: Alpha. _Description: Attunded to Lightning. Ability to turn mana into lightning. Maniption of lightning. ''Eh, this is different than Erix''s affinity panel. He can''t produce metal from mana. I guess it depends on elements: Rin flew down towards Erix and Isabe with a jolly grin. "I did it!" "Good job," Erix smiled. "Now, only I am left," Isabe wryly smiled. "I''ll have to try harder." "You will seed soon, Isabl-sis. Let''s first return to the base so you two can awaken your ss by absorbing the cores. After that, we can enter Limitless ne and practice there." Erix nodded. "I''m sure it will be possible to awaken affinity in the limitless ne." ...G The trio returned to the military base and saw that many people had already awoken and were going out. They also saw Hathor''s group fighting mutated creatures half a kilometer from the military base. All of them had slept early after constantly fighting yesterday, so it made sense that they woke up within seven hours, especially since they had leveled up and gotten stronger. ? When they entered the military base, the people inside quickly approached them. "Leader, was it you that brought this dungeon gate here?!" "It won''t spawn monsters, right? In novels I read, some dungeons sometimes spawn monsters outside." "Leader, are you nning to bring some people with you to train?" Erix, Isabe, and Rin were slightly stumped at the bombardment of questions. "Let me clear this," Erix softly said before he loudly coughed. "Everyone, please listen to me for a minute!" Everyone turned silent. "First, this dungeon will reward you with items and materials, but you can only enter once you reach level 51. Be sure to enter as a party of ten people or more!" "Second, we will no longer stay here after today." Lena and Serina had just arrived there after hearing themotion but were not surprised to hear about Erix''s announcement of leaving. They had already talked about that yesterday. "That''s all, folks! Good luck in your endeavors!" After saying that, Erix, Rin, and Isabe walked away from the group. After Erix, Rin, and Isabe left, Lena and Serina spoke with the people briefly before they returned to the bunker and walked toward Erix and Rin''s room. "Mom, we should also leave for phoenix city after we reach level 51 and clear the dungeon," Serina suggested. "Of course," Lena nodded before she knocked. Rin opened the door and invited them in but suddenly remembered something and almost wanted to facepalm. ''But they won''t really notice...I guess?'' Erix had removed his mask, so his pale skin might stand out, but his eyes were closed, so that was one worry off. ''Hmm, but I don''t think Erix really needs to hide his race... who can even harm us here? Unlike that angel, I doubt people would want to harm us for such a silly reason. It''s not like Erix is roaming around biting people, humph!'' "Eh, Erix without his mask? He looks handsome," Serina smiled. "What are they doing?" Lena curiously asked, seeing Erix and Isabe holding a glowing orb in their hands while sitting cross- legged with their eyes closed. "Absorbing origin core. You can get it from killing supra-order monsters, but they don''t drop from all supra-order monsters," Rin said before she sat on the bed. "So, how did yesterday go for you?" "I reached level 48, and Serina reached level 49," Lena answered with a smile. "It was a fruitful adventure behind the military grounds since the forest is near and the barren area in the middle also had monsters." "We yed safe and slowly killed since we have long-range attacks," Serina added with a grin before she asked, "What''s your level, sister Rin?" She could feel Rin be way more powerful. "Fifty-four. Leveling up bes harder once you cross level fifty." They talked with Rin for several minutes as Rin told them about important information that could help them and their experience in hitting monsters. "Oh yeah, don''t think that angels in reality are the same type you read in books and folklore," Rin snorted. "Just consider them humans who are drunk in power and authority and think they are above others." "Of course, not all angels might be like that since personality is a thing, but the one we encountered was like that." "They are shining..." Serina pointed at Erix and Isabe as her eyes slightly widened in surprise. "What''s happening?" "ss awakening," Rin grinned. "Ah! You crossed level 50. Yeah, you must havepleted the tasks," Lena nodded. "How powerful did your ss make you?" "Very powerful," Rin chuckled. "Did you also choose time-limited tasks for the upgraded ss?" Lena and Serina nodded. "It seems that most people who want to get stronger would choose that option," Rin nodded as it was understandable. ''But people can rank up their ss, so it doesn''t matter in a way. Although it should take longer to rank up than directly getting an upgraded ss bypleting the time-limited tasks. "By the way, why is Erix''s face so pale?" Serina curiously asked. "It''s kinda strange. Was he poisoned?" Erix''s ears twitched. Since he finished absorbing the core and awakened his ss, his focus spread, and he heard what Serina said. However, he also felt that it would be fine to reveal his face. Initially, he feared it to reveal to others since he felt that humans would go after him, but there were not many humans to begin with, and he became powerful quickly as well. ''So what if I am a hybrid zombie? I am still Erix, Erix opened his eyes, ck and red. They faintly glowed, causing Serina and Lena to get startled. "I am no longer a pure human since a zombie bit me. However, I managed to retain my mind and sanity, so I somehow became a hybrid zombie," Erix calmly said with a faint smile. "Don''t worry. I won''t bite you, haha." ''But, I do want to bite someone or, rather...scratch someone, A cold light flickered deep within Erix''s eyes. Chapter 62 Classes Awakenings! 62 sses Awakenings! "How did you survive a zombie''s bite?" Serina was shocked. "Retain mind and sanity¡­ how is that even possible." "No idea, but I am an example," Erix shrugged before he stretched his arms. "Maybe I was just lucky?" "Anyway, we have to rest for a bit since we''ve been through a lot," he said. "Alright, take a rest," Lena nodded with a smile before turning to Isabe. "My skill will be ready in a few hours," Isabe assured with a smile. "I''ll heal Mr. Toshin''s leg when I can use it." "Thank you. Take rest, and don''t push too hard. After Lena and Serina left, Erix showed his ss to Rin and Isabe as he wryly smiled. "I think I got a crazy ss." [Zombie Lord] _Level: 1 [0/100 exp] _ss Rank: SS _Undead Energy: [5000/5000] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: Death Bones. ¡ª> Passive skills: Zombie Fest. _Domain: Undeath Bloom. "Zombie Fest was already there, and I chose Death Bones out of the three options." After saying that, he showed them the skill description. [Zombie Fest] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: Depends on target (Undead Energy) _Use: The zombies you kill will be stored as dolls in your origin region. Upon acquiring ten dolls, you canbine them and add an origin core of any monster to create a new type of powerful mutated zombie. _Note: You can only keep one such zombie under yourmand. "Wow, so you can create a new type of zombie with this," Rin was amazed at such a bizarre skill. Isabe blinked and nodded. "It''s peculiar." "Yep. I''ll have to experiment with itter," Erix grinned. Afterward, he showed the active skill that he chose. [Death Bones] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: 100-??? Undead Energy. _Use: You can refine any alive creature into a unique weapon with potent corrosive property + a single aspect of the refined creature. The cost of refinement depends on the target. Death Bones are highly effective against defenses and barriers. "This is also great," Rin chuckled. "Your ss is bizarre. I want to see how powerful it is." "Do you know why I chose Death Bones?" Erix smugly smiled. "Because I want to create a skeleton made of Death Bones and then give it an iron metal armor using my Metal affinity." Hearing his idea, the mouths of Rin and Isabe opened wide in shock. "So, we are going to see¡­ literal Death Metal! Hahaha¡­" Rin chortled. "This one will rip others'' throats instead," Erix snickered. "I guess we both got one point." Isabe didn''t know whether tough or cry at this. Erix and Rin would always make stupid jokes given the opportunities on campus, dojos, or whenever they went out and counted points forpetition on whoever made the silliest jokes. "Alright, take a look at my ss now," Isabe said as she showed her ss details to others. Her White Elemental Mage evolved into Primo Elemental Mage. [Primo Elemental Mage] _Rank: S _Level: 1 [0/100 exp] _Ether Energy: [1000/1000] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skill: Elemental Zone. ¡ª> Passive skill: Elemental Gears. "Cool. Don''t tell me you can use multiple elements?" Rin raised her eyebrows. Isabe just smiled in response and showed them the skills. [Elemental Gears] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: Depends on usage (Ether energy) _Gears: Fire, Earth, Water, Wind. _Use: You can freely switch between four elemental gears and consume Ether energy to grant those elemental attributes to your skill or weapons, thus increasing their power. _Note: With sufficient control and proficiency, you maybine two elements to create a new one during the action. However, you must have an affinity for one of the two elements in thebination to seed. "Wow, this passive skill is already awesome," Erix was surprised. ''Four elements andbination is also possible, so enhancement too?'' "Be, you can increase the Fire attribute''s attack power by adding wind,bining Earth and Fire to grinned. "If we can do this, then I wonder what kind of powers other people would have?" 15:11 She strangely wanted to see more exotic magic and superpowers. create magma, and even more," Erix''s eyes sparkled. "It''s great." Of course, it would only be possible after Isabe awakened an affinity or two. Her ss was such that she would eventually awaken the affinities for four primal elements as long as she worked hard for them. "Well, it will be even greater when I add my de Tune to herbo-ready skills," Rin excitedly grinned. "If we can do this, then I wonder what kind of powers other people would have?" She strangely wanted to see more exotic magic and superpowers. "My parents are no less active than us, and I could never beat them in martial arts, so I look forward to seeing how they progressed after this cmity descended." "Your parents are also that powerful?" Isabe was startled. This was news to her. "Yep. Our Rin is from a powerful and prestigious martial arts family," Erix chuckled. "That''s great," Isabe smiled. "It''s nothing," Rin modestly smiled and said, "Isabe-sis, show us your other skill now. I want to see what it can do." Isabe nodded and showed them the Elemental Zone active skill. [Elemental Zone] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: 100 to ??? Ether energy _Use: You can consume Ether energy to produce one of the four element''s Elemental zone around you, boosting the effectiveness and power of the skills and attacks that use the attribute matching the zone you formed. The cost depends on the size of the zone. _Note: This skill would be more effective if you produce aplementary elemental zone on an area already containing the same or supportive element''s influence. "Hmmm, so if you use Fire Elemental Zone near the volcano or Earth elemental on a barren ground, it would boost your respective attributed skills and attacks tremendously, but even without such geography, it would still attract elements corresponding to your Elemental Zone¡­" Erix mused. "This is also great, and I think it can do much more than that." "It seems that all of us have unique sses that can help us differently," Rin grinned. Erix nodded. "Yep. It''s indeed good that we don''t have simr types of sses." Rin''s ss was both an offense-support. Her de Eater was offensive if it was in good hands, and Rin was good. Isabe''s ss was versatile and could be helpful in many situations due to having four elements, but she was mostly a long-range caster. As for Erix, his ss was a surprise box. He could create zombies and Death Bones, but their effects and use depended on the monsters he targeted as his skills'' materials. Naturally, he was doubtful that Death Bones would simply produce a bone since the skill mentioned the word ''Weapon'', which meant it might turn into some proper usable weapon of unique style. No matter, he looked forward to creating them. Chapter 63 Ben Melkans Fate, Closure 63 Ben Melkan''s Fate, Closure After the trio rested for an hour to nap, they freshened up and went to the military ground to look around and....meet some people. Since they were departing soon, Erix wanted to finish a necessary goal of his life. "Mum, can we go to that other ce to eat breakfast?" Aaron said with a puppy face. "We''ll get you delicious breakfast if you can wait. But if you are hungry now, let''s eat bread and jam, okay?" Isabe patted his head. "Okay. I will eat some bread and jam." "You go take him to eat. We''ll go check a few things," Erix said. As such, Erix and Rin arrived at the open ground. They also saw Ronaldo and Barkha with their group, and seeing Erix and Rin, they approached them. "Hi, I am Kan. Heard much about you two here," Ka stretched his hand with a grin as he nodded at Erix and Rin. "Pleasure to finally meet you." Erix shook his hand with a faint smile. "Erix." "Rin." "By the way, your eyes¡­" Ronaldo squinted his eyes. "Something happened?" Erix no longer wore his mask, so people could see his pale face and striking ck-red eyes. Erix shrugged. "A zombie bit me, but I managed to stay sane and became a Hybrid Zombie." "W-what?!" Everyone was dumbfounded and in disbelief upon hearing that, but the proof was right before them, so they had no choice but to digest this miracle. They talked about a few things and shared some information before Kan took out an item that looked like a talisman. "We got this item if you want, but only in exchange for a long-range weapon. It''s fine, even if it''smon." Erix and Rin looked at the talisman and saw that it was simr to the one they got, with the ability to deal t damage in arge area. They also never had the chance to use it and no longer needed it since they became stronger. "Unfortunately, we don''t have any extra long-ranged weapons," Erix said before he took out the same Fire Talisman from his inventory. "You can take this for free if you want." Kan wryly smiled. "Well, I''ll give it to some folks here so they can use it in an emergency since it''s also useless to us." "Haha, Mr. Kan! How are you doing?" Erix''s eyes twitched upon hearing the familiar voice, and he turned to left as he saw Ben, General Tark, and Bertha approaching them. "Y-You¡­Erix?!" "Ben...Melkan," Erix unhurriedly spoke as a dark grin loosened on his face. "What? You thought I 15:12 wouldn''t survive?" When Ben saw Erix, his eyes almost popped out of his socket, while Bertha had even stopped walking and just stood there stunned. "Ben...Melkan," Erix unhurriedly spoke as a dark grin loosened on his face. "What? You thought I wouldn''t survive?" "Erix, he is your father. You shouldn''t talk to him like that," Bertha snapped out of her dazed and spoke somberly. "Bitch, if you speak one more word, I will make you run around naked here before killing you," Erix coldly uttered as pressuring aura oozed out of him. His deadbeat father left him and his mother for this woman because of her background, which could help him in his political career. So, her speaking like that, as if she was teaching him, popped a vein in his head. He honestly had no qualms about killing them here, but he wanted to give them asting death. "Young man, you can''t be overbearing just because you got strength. If you lose your humanity, you eventually will be a mere monster for others to hunt," General Tark said with narrowed eyes. "Erix, are these people being real?" Rin was speechless. "Real," Erix crackled with a nod. "A bunch of real braindead idiots." He turned to Kan and calmly asked, "Do you want to interfere in this matter?" Kan grinned and raised his arms. "We''ll meet at Phoenix City. See you there." "Let''s go, yarodomo!" "Yes, boss!" Ronaldo looked at Erix and Rin and waved his hand while beaming. "Let''s spar if we get a chance in the future." Kan and his group went towards the dungeon gate before Kan, Ronaldo, Berkha, and a slim man with dark green hair entered. The remaining five stood outside. "It seems that those four already created their magic core," Rin raised her eyebrows. Erix nodded before he turned to Ben. Since Kan washed his hands off the matter, Ben, General Tark, and Bertha became visibly nervous and fearful as sweat beads formed on their forehead. "E-Erix¡­ I know it''s my fault, but I had no other choice," Ben said with his lips trembling and eyes turning watery as a tired and guilty expression appeared on his face. "No other choice?" Erixughed loudly and approached Ben, standing just half a meter away from him. "You fucking choose that choice! You cut off all connection with us so that none could know about your affair and a woman...." Grinning his teeth, Erix couldn''t hold back as he roared, "SHE WAITED FOR YOU UNTIL HER LAST BREATH! SHE SPOKE YOUR FUCKING NAME BEFORE DYING!" Erix''s already red eyes glowered ragingly. Rin''s eyes turned teary seeing Erix like that, and anger also bubbled in her as she clenched her fists. Erix calmed down with a breath and took a close look at Ben. If not for this cmity, he wouldn''t even be able to get anywhere close to this Senator Ben Melkan! But now¡­. "Haha¡­" Erixughed, looking a bit insane and twisted. He put his hand on Ben''s shoulder and grinned. "Don''t worry. I will not kill you, even though I want to pierce this hand into your heart and feed you to dogs." Ben trembled as intense fear overtook him. He knew that he was the prey before Erix. "Hey, trash," Rin turned to General Tark. "If you don''t want to get involved, then get the fuck away from here." General Tark didn''t even peep and quietly left, feeling a huge relief and cursing internally. ''Damn this world!'' "W-What do you want, Erix¡­" Ben stuttered in fear and nervousness. "I...I-I know I was in the wrong." "Zip it," Erix coldly uttered. He removed his ck Fang gloves before digging his fingernails into Ben''s flesh. "Urghh¡­W-What are you d-d-doing, Erix?" Ben struggled to escape but couldn''t budge Erix''s hand even slightly. "Nothing. I am just putting you where you belong in this world," Erix said, his smile hollow and dark. "This is my choice." Afterward, he turned to Bertha and grabbed her neck. "Brother Erix!" Suddenly, he heard a shout from a familiar voice and turned his head in the direction of the gate. The siblings, Hathor and Marisa, rushed towards them. Although they were shocked to see Erix turning so pale and his ck-red eyes, the situation begged for a different reaction from them. "Big brother Erix, so you were here from the start. W-what are you doing to my mom?" Hathor bit his lips as he grabbed the corners of his my robe in nervousness, not knowing what to do. "Erix, stop! You''ll kill her!" Marisa went to grab Erix''s hand, but Rin punched her stomach lightly, causing her to almost puke before she fell to her knees and started gasping for air. "Hathor," Erix narrowed his eyes. "Your father and mother will die, but I have no grudge against you two." Turning his head back to Bertha, he tightened his grip on her neck as his nails dug into her throat. "You are free toe after me and take revengeter because the current you can''t do anything to me." "I will give you that choice to have revenge, just like I am taking mine. But know that your fate will be worse if you do that." After he finished speaking, he let off his grip as Bertha started screaming in pain and agony. On the other hand, Ben was already acting insane as his eyes and bodynguage became unstable. "W-What did you do to us?" Erix ignored him and turned back to Hathor with a deadpan smile. "I lost my mother at ten, but you are better off than me. Surely, you can choose a better choice than your parents." *Grrr* Ben''s consciousness was slipping away as he had already started turning insane. "Your parents will be zombies, so good luck with that. Let''s go, Rin." Erix felt some exhration and libration after he punished those two in his court, in his way. He did that because he could and felt he should for what they did to his mother and him. The world waswless for those at the top even when there werews, but now, the privilege of beingwless belonged to everyone at the expense of no protection from thews. To survive, one must rely on oneself and those they trust. "There are two zombies in the base! Right here!" Rin boomingly shouted, her voice reverberating everywhere in the military base and attracting everyone, even those who were outside. "Now, we can go," she said before grabbing Erix''s hand with a smile. ¡­ Somewhere in the city, inside a mall''s ground floor. "Damn it, damn it, damn it¡­What do I do?" Felix muttered in a low voice as he looked at the sleeping mutated mastiff dog with two horns. Blood was all around it, and the floor was littered with bones and limbs of humans and animals. "I should be able to kill it, but what if I can''t¡­" *Klech¡­* Hearing something that soon turned into light footsteps, Felix quickly turned around and saw someone familiar. "Do you want some help, Felix?" The one that stood before him was none other than Kanel¡ªthe Desperate Dog. Chapter 64 Wave/Enhance 64 Wave/Enhance 12th April, 6 PM. Felix and Kanel sessfully killed the mutated dog at level 32 and found their way to the military base after several hours. But as their luck would have it, Erix had already departed from the base, so they escaped death again. Before they departed, they also searched for Khalil''s family as promised and found his family in the military base''s poption, which had increased to four hundred people. Lucky man. After leaving the military base, they went to TreeBug resort to give the good news to Khalil and packed 2 KG of delicious food made by the chef there. At around 10 PM, Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aaron arrived at a town. Lemon Town. A small town developed after integrating a few viges in the area in the past few years. Erix, Rin, and Isabe saw a surprising thing as they flew over the town. "That''s a big camp." "Eh, is that a dungeon gate?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "That''s more people than in the military base," Isabe was surprised to see many people in a huge camp filled with many tens while a border of cars and other objects surrounded the area as its fence. The camp was situated on an empty ground between two developing areas of the town, so it was safe in a way. Several people stood at the periphery to stand guard, while Erix also noticed a few groups in the town scavenging for food and other things. A couple of groups were also in the wilderness far from the camp. As Erixmanded the Eagle to descend, the people below noticed them. They descended and talked with some people there. It seemed that there was no single leader here, but three people who handled different things for the camp with their three groups. They were out in the city and the wilderness to hunt. "We''ll stay here for a few hours and help if some monster-rted trouble arises." "We''ll count on you for that," the old man with a wrinkled face nodded while smiling. When getting old, some would go senile, while some would wisen. This old man seemed to be thetter since he was responsible for handling people here. In these tension-filled times, it was inevitable that minor conflicts would arise where many people lived in dangerous environments as their lives were transforming before their eyes. For better or worse, it was up to the people and their adaptability. The Bloodwood Eagle disturbed some people, but people soon calmed down as it was calmly sitting while kids of Aaron''s age yed around it. Aaron was more than happy to y with kids his age. On the other hand, Erix, Rin, and Isabe entered the dungeon gate of a new type of dungeon. They hadn''t entered Limitless ne, but they still had two hours before the day ended, so they decided to finish the dungeon first and then sit in the meditation in the camp to practice using their spiritual art. [Dungeon: Tide of Bloodthirsty Reptiles] _Type: Survival Wave/Enhance Dungeon _Requirement: Level 51. _Tasks: ¡ª> Survive for 10 minutes. ¡ª> Kill 50 Reptiles within 10 minutes. _Rewards: ¡ª> Tier-1 Upgrade Stones x 3 ¡ª> A random Tier-1bat-type item. When they entered, they directly arrived on top of a mountain peak of fifty meters radius in size. Above them in the sky was a huge ten-minute countdown disyed, but it hadn''t started yet as they got three minutes of preparation time. "Yep, we can''t descend. Some magical force is blocking us," Rin nodded. "So we are supposed to stay and survive here for ten minutes while monsters keeping in waves?" Isabe spected. "Probably something like that," Erix nodded. "I''ll try to awaken Fire affinity in this battle," Isabe was determined. Time passed, and the trio soon heard rustling and hissing sounds when the countdown hit zero. Four monsters arrived, one from each direction. They looked like giant lizards three meters long with earthen scales on their body and thick tail. [ Soil Scale Lizard ] _Level: 51 _Rank: Supra-order. _Vitality: [2000/2000] _Attack: 230 _Defence: 300 was the ability to turn mana into concentrated heat on the de to increase its prating and 15:15 shing power and increase base damage to a maximum of 500 by consuming 25 mana for 1 minute. _Magic: 110 "I have an idea," Erix said while watching the Lizards rushing at them. "Let''s take turns killing monsters. This round is your Rin. Isabe and I will watch." "Great, why didn''t I think of that?" Rin chuckled and manifested her de Eater as it crackled with lightning. Her sword took the form of the Butcher''s Festive sword since its de was broader and longer in size than the Ruined ze Sword''s de. She went North, attracted the lizard there, and made a circle before all four lizards were rushing behind her with their tiny legs, trying to catch up to her while releasing condensed earth shards from their mouth that Rin could easily dodge with her keep senses and fluid movements. After she brought them to a corner, she used the effect of Ruined ze Sword on her weapon, which was the ability to turn mana into concentrated heat on the de to increase its prating and shing power and increase base damage to a maximum of 500 by consuming 25 mana for 1 minute. She also consumed 100 de Energy to empower her weapon further! *sh!* She powerfully shed at the iing Lizards as the heating de that also crackled with lightning because of Lightning Charge rumbled powerfully! *Crackle!* -1678! -1678! -1678! -1678! All four lizards were several injured as they got thrown back! And just as they got up to attack Rin again, a quick Sword Beam that Rin unleashed horizontally finished them off. [Wave 2] Everyone got the notification before they heard more sounds of rustling. This time, four snakes arrived with dark green scales and red eyes. They were five meters long and moved with half of their body in the air as they hissed ferociously. "I''ll take them on," Erix said, forming four iron chakrams that flew around him while spinning by consuming 100 mana. His strategy was simple. He used chakrams to deal minor damage and distracted the snakes with them while punching them to death one by one using his and his Metacyber Arm''s fists. [Wave 3] "Good luck, Isabe-sis. Go all out if you must and attempt to awaken your fire affinity." Isabe tightly held her Crimson Hell Staff and nodded. *Rustle¡­* Chapter 65 Success! Entering Limitless Plane, Competition. 65 Sess! Entering Limitless ne, Competition. The third wave of the monsters consisted of four dark blue slugs covered by some slime-like liquid. Isabe was already prepared as she activated her Fire Elemental Gear and then used her ss skill, Elemental Zone, to create a zone of me elements around her. She had already thought of how she would attack, so when the slugs rushed forward from four directions, Isabe used her me Whip skill twice to conjure two me whips. The skill was significantly boosted because of Fire Elemental Gear and Elemental Zone, but she further poured mana into her two me Whips to empower them. She consumed a total of 150 mana and 200 Ether energy. With her control, she mentally manipted the me Whips after getting them to her current limit of empowerment and attacked two slugs, killing them in one shot because her Crimson Hell Staff also reduced the target''s me resistance and further boosted her fire damage. Isabe was basically an angel of me with her current array of skills. The other two slugs released acid spits from their mouths after they neared, but Isabe easily dodged the attack before killing them. [ Wave 4 ] "Continue, Isabe. Give it your all because this dungeon is a good opportunity to awaken your fire affinity." Isabe herself wanted to continue because her affinity-building progress was barely at 30%, so she wanted to catch up with Erix and Rin! ''More!'' Isabe bit her lips as she consumed 50 mana and modified her me Whips as ten condensed me bumps appeared on one me Whip. ''Urgh¡­'' A slight searing pain suddenly assaulted her mentally, and her control became a little unstable, but she focused and retained it. After all, her current me Whips were so powerful that even Erix and Rin were feeling the heat from them despite their distance, and she was manipting both of them! But she didn''t stop there and consumed 50 mana more to create 15 tiny condensed heat spikes on the second me whip, causing her face to distort visibly. She felt searing heat in her mind and body but endured the pain and continued. ''Focus!'' ''Familiarize, feel, and control¡­ I can do this!'' Isabe was determined! [Progress: 74%] *Rustle* The next wave consisted of five two-meter-long worms with circr mouths filled with sharp teeth. They were quick and looked powerful! However, Isabell clenched her teeth and waved her hand, causing her ten-meter-long me whips to extend by consuming 50 mana and further empowered them as she routed all five worms in one go! -2438! 15:16 -2438! -2438! -2438! -2438! [Wave 5] *Whistle* Erix slowly whistled in surprise at the damage and quickness. "Careful!" Rin''s shout jolted Isabe, who was swaying due to the ethereal searing pain in her mind and her consciousness, which was getting wobbly. She dug her feet into the ground and bit her lips in resolve as the next wave soon arrived. The monsters themselves were of no threat so far. Instead, Isabe''s current enemy was only herself because she must break her limits while enduring whateveres her way! As the pain and pressure increased, she couldn''t help but release a sharp scream and waved her hand again as she maintained her control and attacked five dark green scaled lizards! *Swoosh!* Keeping control and focus, Isabe routed this wave in one go again as she killed all five lizards! After that attack, Isabe shortly nked out, but not before a sweet notification rang her ears. [Congrattions. You have awakened Fire Affinity.] All the pressure and fiery pain she was experiencing vanished. Instead, she feltfortable and could more than easily control her me whips! [ Wave 6 ] *Swoosh!* With brilliant eyes that hid gleams of mes, Isabe waved her hand again and killed all five white snakes in one go just as they arrived! This time, she felt no pain, pressure, or distress as they vanished from her mind and body. It was as if the me suddenly became a part of her! [ Wave 7 ] She still had roughly a hundred mana, so she empowered and reignited her me Whips again and incinerated the seventh wave as well! [ Wave 8 ] "Awesome, Isabe-sis! You did it!" "Congrats, Be. Now, take some rest," Erix smiled and moved forward to deal with the next wave. Isabe smilingly nodded from ear to ear while feeling joy and thrill at having seeded in awakening fire affinity. "How was it?" Rin grinned. "Very hard," Isabe wryly smiled before she sat beside Rin and added with a grin. "But I don''t want to be left behind by you two." "What are you saying?!" Rin rolled her eyes before she sweetly smiled. "Your willpower and determination are nothing to scoff at. We''ve seen that when we first met you." After all, Isabe cut her tongue and bled to death, suffering unimaginable pain and anguish without making a single sound! Even though she did it for her son, not all mothers could do something like that! ¡­ Ten minutes soon passed, and they had no difficulty clearing the dungeon by surviving for ten minutes. They finished 20 waves, and thest 30 seconds were free as no monster spawned. [ Congrattions! You havepleted the dungeon with a perfect performance by defeating 20 waves of monsters within ten minutes! ] [Additional reward for perfect performance: 1x random Tier-1 item of Epic grade] After the trio left the dungeon, they sat cross-legged in a corner of the camp to meditate. They wanted to avoid opening their treasure chests here because it might attract needless attention if they did. As such, they used their Spiritual Art: Way of The Unfettered. By holding their hands and sensing the connection between them formed by having the same Spiritual Art, their consciousness arrived in a single Limitless ne shared by them. "Great. We''re back into this world together again," Rin smiled as she took a deep breath. "It feels more than real, haha." The fresh air, the smell from the ind, and the vast sea before them were a sight to behold. "We have one hour, so let''s make the best of it," Erix said before he looked back at the ind filled with trees and nts. "But how about we do that while checking out this ind? I am sure experiencing things here will benefit us." "It would be great if there were monsters for us to practice, so we can go all out," Rin nodded. The trio entered the ind and soon arrived at a beautiful pond. "So, there are indeed living creatures here." It was a herd of gorgeous light blue deer drinking water. They turned to Erix, Rin, and Isabe, but after looking at them briefly, they continued with their things. They were peacefully drinking water, and the atmosphere in this area was calm and refreshing. "Let''s meditate here for a while and look at the result of awakening our affinity," Erix smiled and sat down. When they awakened their affinity, an additional phenomenon appeared in their Origin Region. For Erix, it was a faint dreamy golden metallic shard. For Rin, it was a flickering dark blue lightning bolt. And for Isabe, it was a wisp of me. "Wow, I can instantly ess my Origin Region here," Rin eximed in surprise. "Same," Isabe nodded. "I think it''s because we are in our consciousness state right now." "That must be why that mysterious woman said we would be able to learn quicker here," Erix grinned. "This is great! Let''s create a bonafide skill in this hour''s session. We should be able to create an elemental skill based on our affinity." "Good idea," Rin nodded before she mischievously smiled, "Then, this is apetition. Whoever creates their skill first will be a winner and can demand anything from the other two." "Bring it on!" Isabe helplessly smiled but didn''t oppose this game. ''Hmmm, will we even be able to create an official skill in an hour?'' However, she didn''t delve into the possibility upon seeing that Rin and Erix were already meditating to make the foundation of their skill creation and quickly joined them. After all, the first step was to decide on what kind of skill they wanted to create. Chapter 66 Wonderful Phenomenon, Beginner-level magic foundation Chapter 66 Wonderful Phenomenon, Beginner-level magic foundation [A/N: Ahem, this chapter is big and wonderful, and I''ve tried to simplify the magic stuff, so I hope you can tell me your thoughts in thement section once you finish this chapter ^.^ Thank you, and happy reading. ---------------- At the ind''s seashore, Erix stood with his Iron Flower skill activated beside him while his gaze was transfixed on a floating octahedral-shaped metal shard. ''No way¡­ Did it work?'' Excitement danced in his eyes as he willed, and another tiny iron shard was conjured as he consumed his Mana. Unlike Rin and Isabe, who could produce lightning and fire by consuming Mana after gaining their affinity, he couldn''t produce metal by consuming his Mana. But when he used his Iron Flower skill, his Mana was surely consumed, and an iron flower was produced. It essentially produced iron by consuming Mana. So, Erix thought he also should be able to do that, but he didn''t know where to start, so he checked inside his Origin Region. The metal affinity''s visible form was the dreamy metal shard in his Origin Region, and he started studying it. There was no written knowledge, so he had to make do by feeling, sensing, and understanding it in his way. After spending twenty minutes on it just trying to pierce through its structure with his consciousness and attempting to understand it, he glimpsed something and understood a vague thing. As such, he stood up and arrived at the seashore before carefully studying the iron he formed from the ground by gathering iron elements. He also studied its structure and tried replicating it since he had the Metal Affinity. At that moment, he felt a closer familiarity with metal elements that he couldn''t describe, and he managed to produce iron by consuming Mana. Naturally, he was not going to do that during fights just to waste Mana, but to create a skill like Iron Flower, he needed to transform his Mana with his metal affinity. ''Now that I can produce iron using mana, how to create a skill?'' Erix waved his hand and used his Iron Flower skill again. Since he did not worry about consuming his Mana in the Limitless ne, he produced ten Iron Flowers while carefully understanding how they formed. He then used the flower petals and saw how they magically transformed into barriers and powerful seeds. ''Wow¡­'' Erix was amazed when he looked closely at how the skills actually took form! He was amazed at the magic, and his thirst to understand it grew exponentially. The Mana was already transformed into a beautiful iron flower, so how could those flower petals contain such power to further convert into barriers and sting seeds?! He had always thirsted for power ever since he had to fend for himself on the streets after being homeless at the tender age of ten when his mother died. On the streets, he had to fight for everything down to the smallest things, like working for a day''s worth of food at a young age. Weakness, especially a weak mentality, was fatal. If you were weak, your hard-earned food would get snatched. If you were weak, your shoe-polish customer would get snatched. If you were weak, your ce to sleep would get snatched. So he lived like a mad dog and bit everyone that messed with him. Even if he couldn''t physically match with older kids, he would still ferociously fight in a destructive way that would injure both him and the other party. The general government hospital for the poor was helpful to him at that time because a poor old nurse who knew his mother would treat him. But she was also poor and abused, so that was all she could do. That was why he thirsted for power. To him, Might was respectable! Might was justice! So having opened this new door to power¡­supernatural, magical, and otherworldly power, Erix was more than excited and thrilled to learn it. His depth of focus was already high in this Limitless ne, where one''s consciousness and subconsciousness would merge to enhance one''sprehension ability. But Erix went even further into the depth of his focus and started studying magic. How did the skill form? What was the first step? How did Mana take the shape of a supernatural phenomenon and transform again into a supernatural force? He thirsted to learn all of them and started with fundamentals. His deep focus allowed him to peer into the very foundation of a skill where he saw a formation in which Mana flowed and transformed. But how did the formation of Mana get created to produce such effects? Not even realizing himself, hundreds of Iron Flowers floated around him as he observed how they formed numerous times. He also used other active skills and found a fundamental difference between them and the Iron Flower skill. Other skills seemed to have some mystical external support that helped him conjure them upon using the skill, but the Iron Flower skill was influenced by his Metal Affinity! ''Hmmm, it also should''ve been like other skills if I hadn''t awakened Metal Affinity, but now that I have it, the tiny nk gap that exists in other skills is filled in for the Iron Flower skill.'' Erix''s eyes danced with excitement. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his thought and did that quickly. His perception andprehension regarding such things were already high as he had learned martial arts andbat by watching movies and watching others in all sorts of media. When Rin arrived as a teacher and started teaching, the shallow foundation of his martial art instantly solidified upon learning some crucial points, so he could also defeat Rin even though she had trained since she was young. As such, his perception andprehension were even higher in Limitless ne! In simple terms, he was a genius at learning such things that his mind had wired towards since he was small, but nobody knew that he would also turn out to be a genius in the path of magic. ''The skill''s foundationy in an ethereal formation that I must create with my mind, and only when Mana enters that formation will it transform into magic. The formation¡­interesting.'' Erix''s eyes had a brilliant sparkle in each as he finally pierced into the depth of his Iron Flower skill and saw its proper formation after using it numerous times. ''So the formation is multiyered nodes in which Mana travels. The more nodes, the more Mana it consumes, and the more powerful the skill.'' ''The nodes, are they created simply within my mind if I imagine it?'' Erix randomly created a bunch of nodes and let his Mana pass through them. But the Mana sped up and took an active form as it sted from his hand¡ªa simple energy st. ''I see. I-I get it¡­'' Erix''s body trembled. Once again, he created a formation with simple nodes simr to the ones he instinctively created when he formed his Imposing Fist skill. A mix of martial art and magic skill. The nodes in that skill were scattered and not properly formed, but since Imposing Fist was a pure mix of physical and magic, it was still power. After all, it was about forming multiple waves of Mana and forcing them through his enhanced fist or palm for a powerful strike, so the nodes in them were scattered and not arranged. But this time, he added the ethereal force of his Metal Affinity in the formation and slightly altered the nodes. Stretching his palm forward, he activated the formation and counted 10 points of Mana consuming as a shining iron orb shot from his palm, crashing into a rock and sting it into pieces! But this was not even considered a Normal-Tier skill. After all, the Iron Flower skill had precisely one hundred and six nodes in threeyered formations! Mana passed through all of them in an instant before he could conjure the Iron Flower beside him and keep his connection to it! ''So, out of threeyers of Iron Flower skill, the first and foundationalyer of nodes represented its base form with six petals. The secondyer of nodes represented the barrier form, and the thirdyer represented the seed form.'' ''What the fuck, this is too much fun, hahaha!...'' ''Now I can finally create a skill. But, what kind of formation should I form using nodes to create a powerful metal-attributed skill?'' Rin and Isabe had also studied and even attempted to create a skill, but it was just raw power and no skill form. It wasn''t even recognized as a skill, so they were in the middle of studying their skills and how they formed when they were kicked out. Rin was studying her lightning-attributed skills: Thunder Blitz and Lightning Charge, and also looking at other skills while Isabe was studying her me Whip and other projectile skills. But before he could finally start getting serious about creating nodes to shape and conjure his first self-created Metal-attributed skill, the scenery changed before him as he was kicked out of Limitless ne. Rin and Isabe had also studied and even attempted to create a skill, but it was just raw power and no skill form. It wasn''t even recognized as a skill, so they were in the middle of studying their skills and how they formed when they were kicked out. Rin was studying her lightning-attributed skills: Thunder Blitz and Lightning Charge, and also looking at other skills while Isabe was studying her me Whip and other projectile skills. They didn''t reach the depth that Erix reached, but their progress was good. When they opened their eyes outside after their consciousness returned from Limitless ne, they saw Erix''s frustrated expression as he cursed, "Damn it! I was about to finally start it." "Eh? It''s rare to see you this frustrated," Rin was surprised. "What happened?" "Did you guys find out about the skill''s formation and nodes?" "Nodes?" Isabe revealed a confused expression. Rin blinked and said, "I saw the formation of our skills, but I don''t know anything about nodes." "Same," Isabe nodded. "Nodes are the most important and are the foundation of a skill''s formation" Erix rolled his eyes. "When you imagine your lightning taking the form of a dragon, you have to create nodes for your mana to travel such that they end up forming the lightning dragon!" With shining eyes, he continued, "You put moreyers of nodes in the formation if you want your skill to have more additions and variations of effects! The amount of Mana a skill takes also depends on nodes, which also decides the skill''s power in offense, defense, or other uses depending on the skill." "And yourplete formation''s shape should look like the skill you imagined with proper nodes in it if you want to create a projectile skill! And to have additional effects and changes after the skill is executed, you can formyers of nodes!" Rin and Isabe were stunned. Rin immediately used her Lightning Charge and Lightning Blitz skill as she finally glimpsed at the clear formation of the skills right before they took form! Isabe also conjured her me Whips and glimpsed at the same thing! They managed to gain such insights into magic, Mana, and skill thanks to Limitless ne and their Spiritual Art: Way of the Unfettered. N?v(el)B\\jnn Of course, Erix managed to uncover the foundational depth of beginner-realm''s magic and skill due to his ability on top of Limitless ne and spiritual art. Even now, Rin and Isabe didn''t know how to properly arrange nodes since they would have to practice with itter after entering Limitless ne the next day. But Erix¡­ he had even understood that, so he was raring to finally start creating a bonafide skill before reality pped him and sent him out of Limitless ne. "Sigh, we''ll continue this tomorrow. For now, I actually need a nap since my mind is heating up," Erix wryly smiled as he rubbed his temples. "Come here. Sleep on myp," Rin lovingly smiled and patted her thighs. "Ah, great. My favorite pillows," Erix grinned and put his head on her thighs before closing his eyes. It didn''t even take a few seconds for Erix to sleep. That was how much he exerted his will in the Limitless ne while trying to uncover how skill and magic worked! "He slept so fast," Isabe eximed. "It looks like he exerted himself greatly in the Limitless ne." "Hehe, Erix is awesome, isn''t he?" Rin giggled with a pridefully smug smile. "Thanks to him, we also got a sh of insight and will understand the foundation when we enter Limitless ne next time." "That, I can''t deny," Isabe smilingly nodded. "Thepetition you wanted will truly start after that, but I don''t think we would be able to beat him, haha." "If I understood it correctly, the formation made of nodes depends on our imagination and how well we can build the nodes and theiryers in formation to bring out their true potential in the form of magic," Rin smugly smiled as she also understood the crux. "Of course, we haven''t seen and felt it ourselves, so we don''t know how hard it will be." "But ultimately, it will depend on our creativity and control." Isabe nodded before she stretched her limbs. "We should also take some rest," she said before she leaned against a board behind her and looked at the sky, losing in random thoughts while resting. Chapter 67 Beast evolution, Conflict Chapter 67 Beast evolution, Conflict After resting at camp in the town for an hour, Erix went to kill zombies for his ss skills while Rin and Isabe went into the wilderness on Bloodwood Eagle for a small task. Making Bloodwood Eagle stronger! The beast was on the verge of entering Supra-order rank, so they decided to give it a push. After half an hour, Rin and Isabe sat on a boulder while the Bloodwood Eagle was covered in a glowing red cocoon. It only stayed there for a minute before the cracks spread and the cocoon broke. The Eagle released a sharp whistle as it came out of the cocoon and disyed its new,rger appearance! Its new feathers were dark maroon with ck patterns, and its talons looked sharper with added dark red markings! [ Sanguinite Eagle ] _Level: 51 _Rank: Supra-order n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om _Vitality: [2600/2600] _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 165 ¡ª> Agility: 173 ¡ª> Stamina: 170 ¡ª> Health: 170 ¡ª> Magic: 150 / Mana: 300 _Skills: ¡ª> Empowered Talons: Enchanting talons with stronger blood to increase their power. ¡ª> Empowered Wings: Empowers feathers to attack with wings physically. ¡ª> (New) Sanguinite Armament: covers the whole body with a solidified bloodwood exoskeleton to enhance overall capabilities. ¡ª> (New) Blood sh: Unleashes sharp and powerful blood shes from wings. "Wow, it became so strong after evolution," Rin approached the Eagle with a surprised expression. Isabe nodded and approached the Eagle while smiling before gently rubbing its head. "Continue to look after us, okay?" The Eagle squinted its eyes in pleasure and looked like it was smiling. Although if others saw it, they would be scared at its appearance since this Sanguinite Eagle looked more menacing than Bloodwood Eagle. Its wingspans stretched to eight meters, and its back became more extensive, so morefortable ride for Erix and others. "Our work here is done, so let''s return," Rin said, jumping on the Eagle. *Rustle rustle¡­* Suddenly, they heard some rustling sound and soon footsteps. Rin and Isabe quickly looked toward the sound and immediately saw a group of five mening out of the woods. The eldest was a middle-aged man, but the leader was a blond-haired man in his mid-thirties. The other three looked like they were in their twenties. However, they were also stunned to see two women beside the Eagle. They came here after hearing the sharp beastly sound since they wanted to hunt mutated beasts but didn''t expect people there. "What''s the deal with you two and the eagle?" the blond-haired man asked with narrowed eyes containing confusion. He had a muscled figure with a height of 6''2. However, before Rin could answer, a brown-haired man in his twenties in the group spoke while smiling wryly, "Can you leave that Eagle here, please? I need to hunt a supra-order beast toplete my ss task." The blond-haired man was visibly irked when this guy spoke before his question was answered. "Are you brainless and blind?" Rin snorted with a displeased expression. "Can''t you see that this beast is with us?" "I mean, it''s just a mutated beast. What''s wrong with us killing it? You can just find another one since you seem to be able to tame this one," the brown-haired man spoke again while frowning. ''It''s level 51 only! It should be easy to kill and will alsoplete my ss task.'' "Calyan, can you shut up?" the blond-haired man snapped. He then turned to Rin and Isabe before nodding, "Hi, I am Luke. We heard a sharp beastly cry, so we thought we could hunt it, and that''s why we came here." "But this eagle is not for hunting, and you know that by now," Rin inly said before she turned to Isabe. "Come on, Isabe-sis. Let''s go." Calyan clenched his fists and looked at the other two men near his age before he pointed his hand toward the Eagle. "Stop! I will use a powerful skill called lightning bullet if you don''t stop, and it will surely hurt or even kill you!" Right after that, another man who was Calyan''s friend shouted while pointing his hand at Rin and Isabe, "That''s right! It''s just a mindless beast who must have killed people before! We must hunt for ss tasks, so leave it alone if you don''t want to get hurt!" The third man also pointed his right hand and a sword in his left toward Isabe. "Don''t force us, please. We must kill that Eagle since it''s just level 51 and weaker than other supra-order beasts. I''m sure you also don''t want conflict with us over a beast." ''These fucking idiots,'' Luke wanted nothing more than to strangle these idiots! His guts and instincts, trained from his service in the military, told him that those two women were way more powerful than them. Even if not, he wouldn''t create needless conflict with others. However, these idiots in this team who lived a smooth life in the town and survived were acting stupid without thinking of consequences just because they got power and outnumbered the opposition. "Are you sure about that?" Rin narrowed her eyes as she unhesitantly materialized her de Eater that took Ruined ze Sword''s form. "Stop being stupid!" Calyan shouted, his expression ferocious. "We are five, and you are just two. You can''t defeat us! Just leave that Eagle alone and go!" "Rin¡­" Isabe bit her lips. She didn''t want to leave the Eagle, who had always protected her son while they were away, but she also didn''t want to fight with others if possible. '' Should I¡­'' a glint passed through Luke''s eyes. He was already annoyed by those three men in their twenties, and the middle-aged man was also siding with them since they knew each other. So even though he was strongest in the group, at level 52, he didn''t want to help them if conflict happened. "Ladies!" Luke shouted, attracting everyone''s attention, and raised his arms with empty palms. "I am not with them anymore because I disagree with their decision, and I am leaving!" Step. Step. Step. He backed away from the four people in his group and distanced himself from them. "Humph, we don''t need you for this," Calyan snorted while keeping his darting eyes at Rin and Isabe. "I am telling youst time! Get away from that beast!" Rin jumped off the Eagle, and her action made them think she wasplying until she pointed her sword at Calyan and indifferently said, "Are you willing to put your life on the line for your decision?" "And if that''s final, go ahead and attack because you will not touch this beast today." *Crackle!* Her de Eater was immediately covered with a lightning crackle as she took a stance by holding her sword with both hands and pulling it back at her head''s height. "So, either scram right now or leave your corpse behind." "Choose," Rin uttered with an icy stare. Chapter 68 Strings of Fortune and Misfortune 68 Strings of Fortune and Misfortune "I-I think we shouldn''t fight," the middle-aged man spoke as he was scared by Rin. Isabe had no choice but to stand beside Rin with her staff even though she wanted to prevent this conflict. Those people were also powerful, all of them near level 50, so she wouldn''t let Rin fight alone and put her in danger. "It''s not worth it to conflict over this," Isabe said with a slightly pained expression. On the other hand, Rin just silently stood with her icy death stare on them. If they even slightly attacked, she would instantly use her Thunder Blitz and Lightning Charge to attack all of them with her break-neck speed. Rin and Isabe were just two, and they were more, so if they attacked, she would have to be decisive to prevent getting severely injured or killed. Calyan started sweating. Even he was intimidated by Rin, causing his greed and inted ego to subside a bit. In the end, his hand slightly lowered. ''It''s¡­not worth it.'' Opening his mouth, he was about to speak before his friend interrupted him. "Bitch, it''s just a beast!" *Swoosh!* The man shouted, his expression confident. A surge of mana came forward before leaving his palm in the form of several ice shards! Isabe''s mouth opened wide. The middle-aged man felt an intense bad feeling. Luke grinned. While Calyna¡­he¡­his face contorted. *Crackle, Boom!!* Thunder Blitz rang as Rin zoomed forward, and iing ice shards were shattered into oblivion by lightning coating her. "NOO!" Calyan shouted, but the one who released the attack died in a second. *Crackle!* With the effect of Thunder Blitz, the lightning trail directly passed onto others as the middle-aged man, Calyan, and his remaining friend were struck by lightning and severely injured. Fortunately for them, Rin didn''t initiate another attack since she heard Calyan''s shout. The middle-aged man barely took out a fruit and put it in his mouth before his charred body started healing. Calyan and the other guy also did the same as they took out the healing fruits from their inventory. Luke internally cursed. ''Damn it, just kill those useless idiots.'' "I-I surrender! Don''t hurt me, please!" The middle-aged man quickly stood up. He had skills and powers, but after seeing Rin''s attack, he didn''t dare to do anything and just raised his arms while lying on the ground. Calyan and his friend also quickly followed as they started begging. Rin softly sighed while shaking her head and walked back towards Isabe. "Don''t pick a stupid fight without considering its worth and consequences. If I didn''t see you hesitate, you would be dead." "Let''s go, Isabe-sis." ¡­ "Idiots." Hearing the sharp remark in an unpleasant voice, Calyan and others looked at Luka, who slowly approached them. "That''s what you get for being brainless," Luke coldly said as he took out a shining dark orange crystal dagger. A Tier-1 weapon. "Give me the vehicle," Luke stretched his hand towards Calyan. "Luke," Calyan frowned. "What''s the meaning of this?" "You dumb idiots, my meaning is that I stayed with you because you had the fucking vehicle! That car! Give it to me." "B-but it doesn''t have enough space for all of us," the middle-aged man stammered. Luke waved his hand, causing a trail of magma to shoot toward the middle-aged''s head, instantly killing him. "I don''t have time for you all to find another vehicle. I want to leave right now," Luke indifferently said. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Argh! You bastard!" Calyan''s friend released a dark purple orb toward Luke. But Luke easily dodged it. "Next time when you attack others, don''t shout. Although even if you didn''t shout, I would have still dodged it." "Oh wait¡­. You won''t have the next time," Luke didn''t even turn to the guy as a condensed magma shot sted his head off. "W-Why?" Calyan backed off with dread in his eyes. "You even helped us when you first came here!" "Seeing you shitheads changed my mind. I want to leave, so give me the damn car now!" Luke shouted, his expression dark. ''H-he won''t leave me alive¡­'' Calyan''s heart turned cold. ''If I die, who will tell big brother Tauran and others that Luke betrayed us?'' "I''ll leave you alive," Luke said upon seeing Calyan''s hesitant expression. "Just give me the car, and I''ll leave the town immediately." If he killed Calyan, he would only drop one item or maybe two, so the chances of the car dropping were low. "Trust me. I am not interested in killing you because it''s not worth it," Luke pressed on, trying to convince Calyan. "I don''t get any levels, and you will only drop one item, which would likely be something useless and not the car." "I¡­will you really leave me alive?" Calyan was scared of Luke. First, Luke was more powerful than him, and second, he was the only one alive, so there was no way he could kill Luke. "I already gave you reasons," Luke narrowed his eyes. "Just give me the fucking car, and I''ll go. You can tell others in your town about me, but I don''t give a shit about that because I''ll be gone far by then." This was the push that Luke needed as Calyan decided to give it to him. But just as he took out the miniature car toy, he quickly returned it to his inventory. Rin''s words rang in his mind about picking up a fight after knowing its worth and consequences. ''I can''t. I can''t trust him,'' Calyan thought as his expression became firm. He had just brushed past death when facing Rin, so something had clicked in him. In simple terms, his caution level increased after encountering Rin and hearing her advice. "Luke, I want to live," Calyan stood up and took a deep breath. "And I know you want the car." "If you agree to my n, you''ll get the car. If not¡­I-I¡­will fight you." ''What the....?'' Luke was surprised and internally sighed. Tough times and situations could really change a person, for better or worse. "What''s your n?" Luke calmly asked. "Return with me back to our camp," Calyan said with a firm expression. "I will not tell anyone that you killed my friends and old man Fobor." Luke scoffed. "And am I supposed to believe that?" "Then why would I believe you will leave me alive after getting the car? I won''t believe it." Luke frowned. "Continue." Calyan clenched his fist. "Once I see the camp, I will stand at the gate and give you the car. You will leave quickly and quietly while I can also guarantee my safety." "If you agree to this n, you''ll get the car. If not, then fuck you." Chapter 69 Zombie Fest, Giant-Category Boss-Type Monster Emergency 69 Zombie Fest, Giant-Category Boss-Type Monster Emergency ''Thirty Zombie dolls and two origin cores. Alright, this is enough,'' Erix thought as he looked at the loot. Although he could only use ten dolls and one core to create a new type of zombie with his Zombie Fest skill, Erix got the stock to create a second one immediately if his first one died in any fight. Thirty zombie dolls floated calmy inside his Origin Region while he put the two beast cores into his inventory. One beast core belonged to a giant mutated ant that could breathe fire and had an earthen exoskeleton. The other beast core belonged to a scarab beetle with powerful defense and the ability to shoot corrosive metal spikes. His adventure in the townsted a bit over half an hour before he returned to the camp and saw Rin and Isabe there with the evolved Eagle. When Erix approached there, the Eagle sent its thoughts to Erix, surprising him with the content. "You want a name? Alright." "If it wants a name, how about Sangle?" Rin suggested with a grin. "Eagle plus Sanguinite. Sangle." "Great," Erixughed. "You guys¡­" Isabe is speechless. *Whistle!* The Eagle whistled and nodded. "Look, it likes the name," Rin chuckled and patted its head. "Sangle?" Aaron tilted his head. "So we call it Sangle from now on?" "That''s right," Erix nodded with a smile. "Oh yeah, something happened after Sangle evolved in the forest," Rin proceeded to tell Erix everything that happened in the forest while Aaron and Sangle went to y with other kids. After listening to the whole thing, Erix nodded and was about to speak before his eyes caught something and changed his words. "You mean those two?" Erix was facing the west, which was the direction of the forest, so he saw two people approaching the camp as they seemed toe from the forest''s direction. Rin and Isabe turned around and saw Calyan and Luke. "Yep. But where are the other two?" However, they saw something strange as Calyan entered the camp, but Luke stayed outside. Afterward, Calyan stretched his fist towards Luke before putting it on Luke''s palm as if giving something to him. And then, Luke smiled, turned around, and dashed in the south direction. A highway roady in the south after crossing a couple of kilometers. "What happened?" Isabe was confused. "No idea," Rin shrugged. "And we don''t need to care. Anyway, Erix, did you use your Zombie Fest skill yet?" "Nope, but I am about to use it. Let''s go to our spot." The trio sat down after arriving at their corner spot. Erix closed his eyes and focused as his consciousness readily arrived in his Origin Region. His origin region contained many things: 1. Magic Core. 2. Mana pool below the magic core. 3. ss Core. 4. Thirty zombie dolls. 5. Two origin cores of the monsters he killed. 6. The Runes of skills disyed in his status slots, self-learned, and ss tree. Without further ado, he used the Zombie Fest skill. He watched as his ss core, which looked like a ck orb with different hues of dark green sparks around it, released a string that attached to the skill rune of Zombie Fest before the skill rune released some mist that transformed into an ethereal ck cauldron with dark green patterns. ''So this is how it works? Crazy,'' Erix thought in absolute amazement when he glimpsed at the formation of this skill. He had seen formations of his Tier-1 skills and the Tier-2 skill, Crimson Blood re, so he knew that this Zombie Fest skill was above them in terms of magic difficulty! ''Let''s see what it creates.'' Without further ado, he put ten zombie dolls in the cauldron and then added the core of Toxin Scarab Beetle. Momentarilyter, his ss core released undead energy that entered the cauldron before a whirlpool of strange undead energy formed inside that drowned the contents. After seconds, all the energy in the whirlpool vanished while leaving a doll of a single unique zombie. The humanoid doll had a muscr build with two ck beetle-like horns on its head, dark green eyes with red pupils, and ck scaly armor on its body. Lastly, the five-centimeter metallic dark green long nails on its hands looked sharp and deadly. Erix''s eyes glinted. ''Looks strong!'' His consciousness left his Origin region, and he quickly summoned the new type of zombie his Zombie Fest skill created. "Here ites," Erix informed Rin and Isabe as he snapped his finger, causing a ck mist to manifest in the center of the trio before it transformed into a two-meter-tall humanoid creature. 17:57 "Here ites," Erix informed Rin and Isabe as he snapped his finger, causing a ck mist to manifest in the center of the trio before it transformed into a two-meter-tall humanoid creature. [Toxin Scrabio Zombie] _Type: Summon. _Life Orb: [1000/1000] _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 200 ¡ª> Agility: 150 ¡ª> Stamina: - ¡ª> Health: 220 ¡ª> Magic: 150 _Skills: ¡ª> Toxin Breath: Releases a poisonous breath from the mouth in a cone-shaped area within a three-meter range. ¡ª> Corrosive Nail Shots: Shoots toxic nails with high prative power and corrosive effect from its hands. The nails quickly recover if monsters die near the zombie. "Not bad," Erix nodded while smiling. "It''s both tough and powerful." "I wonder why our vitality stays the same, but the monsters and other beings have higher vitality," Isabe wondered. "Well, we are still tougher even if our vitality remains the same in number," Rin mused before she pinched her skin. "When I attacked those guys, I thought all of them would die with Thunder Blitz because my current lightning damage is quite high, especially after I got lightning affinity. But they still lived." "Eh, I thought you spared them," Isabe was startled. "I couldn''t afford to hold back when we were just two, and they were four," Rin wryly smiled. "I guess it''s rted to our Health and Strength state," Erix thoughtfully said, "We are physically stronger and tougher because of her Strength and Health state, so our resistance to damage and other injuries automatically increases." Pausing for a bit, Erix continued with an example, "Basically, if we had Defence value in our status, it would be quite high, but if someone cuts our head off, our life would reach zero, and we would die since this is not a video game." "I see," Isabe understood. "So the monsters have higher vitality, but they must have mutated like that by whatever affected this world." "Most likely," Rin nodded in agreement and rested her chin on her head before looking at the day sky. ''And I like this new world more,'' she thought. Erix put away his summon back into his Origin Region before he said, "We''ll leave after an hour''s rest and then only stop after reaching Phoenix City." However, a familiar notification rang in his and every single person''s ears in the camp after he finished speaking. [Emergency Encounter! A giant-category boss-type monster will spawn in one minute. Please gather a big group to fight and kill it.] Instantly, all the people in the camp were startled and looked around in panic. "Don''t panic. Yimaen and others will hurry here!" Matt, the old man who supervised the camp, shouted. "But what if they didn''t get the notification because they are away?!" "Yeah, we have to inform them!" "Old man, I am going to inform Yimaen in the town, so send Calyan to inform others in the wilderness!" Rin, Erix, and Isabe stood up. "A giant-category boss-type monster? It seems that we have a rewarding task at hand," Erix said as he stretched his limbs while a hint of excitement appeared in his and Rin''s eyes. Isabe also felt eager, but she also had concerns for people in the camp. "Let''s kill it quick to prevent casualties." N?v(el)B\\jnn Chapter 70 Departing, Erixs first solid weapon 70 Departing, Erix''s first solid weapon Erix, Rin, and Isabe sat on Sanguinite Eagle, which floated twenty meters above the camp and were fully prepared. The countdown only had ten seconds left, and once that hit zero, a boss would spawn. Three teams of the camp had returned, and a couple of them were on the way from the wilderness. "It wille soon." "Get ready, everyone!" The people of the camp stood as tension filled the area. After all, nobody knew how strong of a boss monster would spawn. Time passed, and everyone waited with bated breath. 5 4 3 2 1 *Roar!!* Everyone heard a distant roar that echoed from afar and gradually came near. A kilometer from the camp in the direction of the forest, a burst of sparkling smoke sted into existence before a giant hand rose from it, light blue and coarse. And then came out a face with a single big eye and a straight horn on its head. Its giant eye quickly spotted the camp as the monster roared again, sweeping away all smoke and revealing its massive twenty-five meters tall appearance! [ Destruction Cyclops ] _Type: Special Monster _Vitality: [20,000/20,000] _Attack: 600 _Defence: 500 "Attack!!" Someone from below shouted as all those above level 40 rushed towards the monster! Rin unfurled her lightning-spark wings and shot forward. Erix flew up with two giant metal boulders with spikes all over them that he condensed by crushing several cars and other metal objects. Each weighed two tons, but he easily controlled them as he flew high up in the sky. On the other hand, Isabe moved towards the monster on Sanguinite Eagle. Seeing the giant cyclops raising its hand with the intention to p on the ground towards people, Isabe waved her hand as she consumed Ether energy after switching to Earth Elemental Gear and created a giant Earth pir 45 degrees from behind the Cyclops and hit the back of its left knee. Its knee bent, causing it to lose bnce as the monster fell backward! Everyone was surprised and then overjoyed as they started hurling their skills at the monster! Rin also started unleashing lightning de strikes on Cyclops'' head from her de Eater for constant high damage. With over thirty people constantly attacking it, its vitality was reducing rmingly. *Roar!* The Cyclops angrily roared before its giant eye glowed, aimed straight at Isabe and the Sanguinite Eagle. *Zeeem!* A quick dark blueser shot out from its eye. The attack was so quick that Sangle couldn''t dodge in time and obliterated its left wing! "Sangle!" Isabe was shocked and quickly used her skill, [Regrow Spirit] on it to regrow its wing, but the cooldown was not over yet! Immediately after failing to heal Sangle, Isabe switched to her Wind Elemental Gear and created gusts of wind around Sangle to help it fly with one wing as they slowly and safely descended. *Roar!* The cyclops then stood up, intending to attack others around it. But just when it stood up after theser eye attack, Erix''s spiky metal boulders descended like missiles! One on its head and one on its left shoulder! *BOOOOOM!* -3628! -3294! n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Holy shit! Whose attack was that?!" "What the fuck is that damage?!" "It fell again! KILL IT!" All the people who were fighting were shocked as that one attack brought the monster to its death door! "Awesome, darling," Rin grinned and raised her sword high before she extended its de by ten meters by consuming 300 de Energy and then spent 100 mana to infuse Lightning energy in it. *sh! Crackle!* The de struck Cyclops from its head to its stomach, dealing the final blow as its vitality hit zero. [Congrattions! You have defeated the Destruction Cyclops!] [Everyone gets Mystic Coins based on the damage dealt and other types of contribution. Mystic coins can be used in Mystic Shop in any Labyrinth Tower.] Afterward, everyone got an individual notification about getting Mystic Coins. Erix got 610 Mystic Coins, Rin got 430 Mystic Coins, and Isabe got 260 Mystic Coins. After everyone returned to camp, people quickly got familiar with Erix, Rin, and Isabe as their contribution was massive and their power impressive. A female doctor had a healing skill simr to Isabe, so she healed Sanguinite Eagle''s destroyed wing. And finally, after staying and resting for an hour, the trio departed from Lemon Town and flew towards Phoenix City in the night at approximately 1 AM. With the barrier present around them on Sangle''s back, they flew at a constant fast speed and expected their arrival at Phoenix City after an hour. "Let''s open treasures and see what items to feed the Tier-1 upgrade stones," Erix said right after they left the town and took out his items. Rin and Isabe also took out their items. -> Tier-1 Material Crate. -> Consumable Crate. -> Tier-1 Combat-type Item box. -> Tier-1 Item box with guaranteed Epic grade item. They first opened material crates, each getting three material-type items like fruits and pieces of ore. They had no use for these items since they were materials to create something out of them. Next, each of their consumable crates gave them three potions with temporary effects: a recovery potion, a magic boost potion, and a mana recovery potion. Next, the Tier-1bat-type item box contained weapons. Rin opened her item box first and got a futuristic-yet magical-looking ck revolver with silver-blue patterns. [Neon Revolvor] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Umon. _Base Bullet Damage: 100 + 100% of the user''s magic power. _Effect: A revolver that produces bullets based on the user''s energy input. You can store six bullets at a time. Upon checking the weapon''s description, Isabe thought of something and said, "Rin, can you give me that for a bit?" "Sure." Isabe took the revolver and infused 50 Ether Energy while her Earth Elemental Gear was activated. The revolver readily produced a brown bullet in its cylinder. Rin and Erix continued to observe as Isabe infused Ether energy again after changing her Elemental gear, causing a fiery red bullet to condense into the second slot of the revolver''s cylinder! "As expected of Tier-1 items," Erix said, his eyes slightly sparkling. "Even though it''s just an umon-grade item, Its structure and the magic formation within it are more advanced." "Eh? Did you manage to see that?!" Rin was startled. "Nope," Erix chuckled. "But it''s obvious, right?" Rin smacked her lips and rolled her eyes at his response while Isabe let out a chuckle. They thought that Erix managed to see through the structure of the item. "Isabe-sis, you can take the revolver since you can use it more efficiently, and guns are not my thing anyway." "Alright," Isabe smiled and then opened her item box. "Let''s hope I get a ded weapon so you can feed it to your de Eater." Unfortunately, what she got was a pair of gauntlets. [Radiant Crush Gauntlets] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Rare _Base Damage: 200 + 200% of the user''s strength. _Magic Punch Gauge: [0/100] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Magic Shatterer: Capable of destroying projectile skill shots. Consumes mana upon impact and consumption is based on the power difference between your punch against an iing skill shot. ¡ª> Magic Punch: Stores residual energy of shattered skill shots to be used as a projectile punch. "Woah, I think I finally got a weapon I can use," Erix''s face glowed upon seeing the item''s description. "Indeed," Isabe nodded with a smile and gave the gauntlets to Erix. "You also have punch force skill, so your damage will be insane." "They are so cool," Aaron said with shining eyes looking at the dark gold gauntlets with red, blue, and silver carving designs. Erix didn''t have a weapon he constantly used, like Rin''s swords and Isabe''s staff, so these gauntlets would help him in the long run. "Since we''ll have solid Tier-1 weapons, we can use the Tier-1 upgrade stones on them," Erix nodded. The Tier-1 Upgrade stones were magical stones capable of upgrading a weapon-type equipment''s effectiveness and damage. "This weapon is powerful," Rin muttered before she urged Erix, "alright, now quickly open your item box." "Don''t worry, babe. This one definitely has a ded weapon for you," Erix grinned and opened his item box. The box glowed before it spewed out a rather long weapon. "This¡­no way!" Rin''s eyes shined like diamonds. It was a type of weapon they had never gotten before, and it was ded! By the way, I have uploaded Erix, Rin, and Isabe''s images in the AUX chapter. Feel free check them out :D Eminent_Vellichor Chapter 71 Stroke of Luck and Strange Interference 71 Stroke of Luck and Strange Interference The ded weapon was a Guandao. It had a meter-long de, powerful and wide, with ck and dark green patterns attached to a two-meter-long shaft¡ªa massive ded pole weapon. [ Neferwind Guandao ] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Umon _Base Damage: 150 + 150% of the user''s Strength. _Description: An ancient weapon invented by General Guan Yu, thus named Guandao. Mastery of this weapon in mighty and quick hands allows one to control multiple enemies, deflect their attacks, and ughter them in the war. Effect: Swirling Dragon. ¡ª> Swirling Dragon: Swinging the weapon masterfully generates gusts of demonic winds around its de that you can shoot when attacking or st an outward wind shock when deflecting or defending. "Do you know how to use this weapon?" Erix asked, seeing Rin''s expression. "Of course! I have mastery of all prominent melee weapons," Rin cheekily grinned. "If we fought with various weapons, I would have more wins than you." *Caw!!* Suddenly, they saw a giant ck mutated crow with dark blue patterns on its body rushing upward from the wilderness below. It wasing straight at them. "Nice. Perfect opportunity to test this weapon," Erix lightlyughed and gave the Guandao to Rin. "Watch," Rin chuckled and grabbed the Guandao before she stood up and flew towards the iing crow with her Lightning Spark wings. The crow saw Rining and ferociously cawed in the signature cry of the crow, but more ear-piercing than an ordinary crow''s caw! It was also not a useless call because a dark blue liquid solidified around its body and shot crystal shards toward Rin. Rin grinned as Guandao was spinning around her hands masterfully as powerful gusts of ck wind had already gathered around its huge de! When those crystal shards neared, she waved her Guandao horizontally in a smoothly quick arc to maintain wind and deflected the shards with a timely move. Out of three shards, two directly shot back toward the crow! Erix and Isabe were impressed. "She is so talented," Isabe murmured. Moreover, the speed at which Rin was spinning her Guandao circrly all the time was fast at an inhuman level because her strength and agility were no longer in the human realm. However, normal humans couldn''t wield this strange Guandao in the first ce because it was made from magical material, causing it to weigh a ton. *Caw!* The crow and Rin finally closed in after the first bout. The crow''s wings were covered in crystal coating, but Rin''s smile widened as lightning flickered in her eyes. *Crackle!!* Lightning Charge! 100 de energy! Her Guandao was instantly empowered as the sh shattered the crow''s dark blue crystal armor before a strange reaction of Rin''s lightning with the dark wind swirling around the Guandao''s de suddenly created a whirling spiral of dark lightning charges as they moved rapidly around the crow as if sticking to it! *Boom!* The strange dark lightning exploded a momentter, resulting in the beast''s death! [You have killed a level 61 Saphire Ice Crow. +3 Health and +3 Strength] [You have reached level 55. +2 unassigned stat points.] "Woah, what was that?!" Rin was startled at the phenomenon that just urred. She looked up at Erix and Isabe while flying back. "Did you see that?" "Yeah," Erix nodded, musing. "So there''s a chance thatbining lightning with the wind will create something like that, but I think that was only possible because you have a lightning affinity." "True, but this is so awesome," Rin grinned. "Alright, this will be my main weapon for a while." Rin excitedly manifested her de Eater and fed Neferwind Guandao to it. "Rin. You also have that de heating power of Ruined de sword¡­" Isabe said with a thoughtful expression. "What if you also empower Guandao''s de with it?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "A reaction of three elements?" Rin''s eyes shined. "I''ll try it when I can wield it again." "Isn''t there a weapon I can use?" Aaron muttered. "I also want to use one." "Aaron," Isabe lightly tapped on his head. "You are still too young." Aaron pouted and then yawned. "I will sleep." The kid theny on the fluffy back of Sangle and closed his eyes. Being a child and a normal human with no power-up yet, he was already tired because he yed a lot with other kids and had loads of fun for the first time after the cmity started. Isabe lovingly caressed his head and lightly sighed. "He actually wanted to stay there for a bit because he had fun with other kids, but he didn''t say anything since he knew we had to leave." "Situations forces even small kids to grow faster," Erix nodded as he remembered a glimpse of his life when living in slums with his mother. Those memories were forgotten naturally as a part of his growth, but after getting stronger, he could recall things from as far as when he was three years old. "Alright, let''s open ourst reward," Erix said in a low voice as he took out the Tier-1 Item box (Epic guaranteed). [Congrattions! Your item box has been upgraded by a stroke of luck generated by your achievements.] [An external interference has caused the item to be specified. Er-.] [You are the 12th person to have acquired a Tier-1 Legendary item. You have been rewarded with 200 Mystic Coins.] Erix heard the surprising notifications before a magnificent dark silver glow emerged from the shining golden item box. It was a strange item. A rope. Two meters long finger-width dark silver, brown patterned rope, with a solidly attached dreadful palm-sized white snake-skull at its end, the two giant fangs and eye sockets indicated that this skull didn''t belong to a normal snake, but a unique creature giving off the scent of something ancient and mythical. It glowed with a faint sparkly silver hue on its pristine white structure after resting on Erix''s palm. "Eh?! How did you get a legendary item?!" Rin was shocked. "It apparently upgraded by a stroke of luck generated by my achievements." [ Babin Maw Hook ] _Type: Artifact: It merges with your hand, allowing you to bring it out at will. _Tier: 1 _Grade: Legendary. _Length: Two meters to one hundred meters at will. _Effect(s): Chapter 72 Phoenix City! Heavenly Melody, Rins Parents 72 Phoenix City! Heavenly Melody, Rin''s Parents _Effect(s): ¡ª>Space Maw: You can throw the hook from your hand and grab onto space itself, be it in the air, on the water, or inside the water at any spot, as it will grab any particr point of space anywhere, even within confines of physical and magical. ¡ª>Babin Shadow: While using the hook to move, you can spend 1 point of mana per second to pass through any physical object or structure and spend 10 mana points per second to pass through magical structures and magic phenomena of skills, including attacks and even barriers as long as they are below the level of Advanced Magic Foundation. _Note: Babin Maw Hook is a cursed artifact. Use it cautiously. "Crazy item," Erix eximed. "And powerful." "But it didn''t tell any details about its curse," Rin frowned. "Yeah, it''s powerful, but¡­Its note is worrying," Isabe was slightly worried upon learning that it was a cursed item. "Worry not, I''ll able to sense if something goes wrong with me or within me," Erix said before he put the item into his inventory. "Also, this item is more situational rather than constant use. We will only use it to our advantage if we require its effect in any strange ce or situation." "Alright, that should be fine," Rin nodded, put her item chest back into her inventory, and smiled. "Isabe-sis. Let''s not open the item box for now. Since Erix''s item box upgraded, our box might upgrade if we do more action and adventure, haha." "Alright," Isabe wryly smiled. "But let''s hope we don''t get a cursed item." "I doubt that," Erix shook his head." I had another notification that some external influence specified the item. Could it be that woman we met?" "Oh?" Rin and Isabe were surprised. "Yep. So, I think I was given this cursed artifact for a specific reason," Erix mused. "I''ll check it when we enter Limitless ne." ¡­ The journey continued, and an hour soon passed as they finally saw Phoenix City and the giant Labyrinth Tower up close. It was truly massive and made an otherwordly, magical sight. And to the trio''s surprise, the city looked way more lively than they expected. "Hey, are you new faces and just arrived here?!" "Haha, all of you look strong." They saw a group of three people in their twenties flying on a big khaki carpet as they approached them. "We are external members of the SkyKnight guild. If you want to join us, approach that white medieval castle at the meadow." "If you are strong enough and pass their test, you can be an official member. If not, then you can be an external member and join teams for expeditions and training. They are helpfulpared to the rest, and ourmunity is more cohesive." "And if you got a Craft-Job Grimoire, you are in luck. That''s a super rare reward that only three people here have, and everyone is searching for one. Any guild will easily wee you if you got Alchemy, Mystic Chef, or Magic Smith grimoire." After saying that, the gang left and went about their business. "It seems that they are the marketing team of SkyKnight guild," Erix chuckled. "Let''s go to the meadow! We''ll establish our guild first," Rin excitedly smiled. While flying towards the meadow and approaching the Labyrinth Tower near, Erix, Rin, and Isabe were constantly surprised by the number of people roaming in the groups throughout the city. And when they neared the meadow, they were even more shocked upon seeing a variety of unique buildings at nine different spots in the meadow! Each area had a unique bundle of buildings of varying sizes and of different ages, ranging from ancient, unknown elegance, eastern traditional, western style, medieval, fantasy magical, and even futuristic. Naturally, the entry of the Sanguinite Eagle didn''t attract much attention because they had already seen three flying beasts with groups of people riding on them! "That board¡­" Rin''s eyes caught something as she looked at a Japanese-style yet more aesthetically designed and structured castle with huge words carved in elegant calligraphy. [ Heavenly Melody ] "That''s my parents¡­I think," Rin said as her heartbeat quickened. She turned to Erix with a slightly flushed face. "Erix, there." Erix smiled andmanded Sangle to descend to the Heavenly Melody guild''s area. "Rin, they are definitely your parents," Erix said with a smile. Rin had told him that her family''s dojo name was Heavenly Melody Dojo. "Of course!" Rin had confidence in her parents, but believing without knowing and finally seeing still impacted her. "That guild is among the biggest here," Isabe said in surprise as shepared the area size of the nine guilds. Only two other guilds matched the area size of the Heavenly Melody guild. The guild area had four buildings. The biggest was the castle. Aside from that, there was an open-air pavilion to the castle''s left, a small mansion to the castle''s right, and a pond pavilion behind the castle. Last but not least, two dungeon gates stood beside the pond pavilion. "This is not a level 1 guild anymore," Erix muttered since the size of the guild area''s border wall covered more than 350 square meters. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Soon, they descended outside the guild''s area and looked at the big gates as Rin took a deep breath. "Senior Rin!" "Y-You are senior Rin, right?!" Rin turned to her left and saw a dark blue-haired sixteen-year-old girl with a long ponytail standing with a shocked and joyous expression. "Mia?!" Hearing Rin''s response, Mia rushed towards Rin excitedly and directly hugged her. "Senior Rin is here!" "Someone call the Masters! Haha, Senior Rin is here!" Her shout attracted many people in the guild''s area since all students of Heavenly Melody Dojo were familiar with their Senior Rin, who left four years ago! A few of her rtives were also there. They were shocked and quickly rushed outside. ¡­ After a slightmotion, Rin, Erix, and Isabe were escorted inside. As soon as they entered the castle, a loud boom echoed as if someonended from the 5th floor of the castle. "Rin!" A hoarse yet deep voice rang as Erix and Isabe saw a 6''7 feet tall long ck haired middle-aged man with a condensed muscle figure covered by a karate robe rushing towards Rin like the wind and hugging her. "Hahaha! I knew my daughter would return safely! I knew it!" But as heughed and shouted, tears still left his eyes. "Humph, whose daughter do you think I am?" Rin smiled. "Alright, darling, now let her go already, and let me hug her." Erix didn''t even notice when a gorgeous dark purple long-haired woman wearing a light purple kimono-like robe with a ck design arrived from behind Rin''s father. She grabbed Rin''s hand and mercilessly kicked Rin''s father as he traveled like someone kicked a football and crashed into a castle pir ten meters away. "Mom!" Rin grinned and hugged her mother tightly, not even slightly bothered by how her dad was kicked into a pir. "I am d you are safe and sound," Rin''s mother smiled and caressed Rin''s head. "If you didn''te here today, we were about to set off since we finally got the means to travel after settling people." "Ahem, Rin," Rin''s father arrived beside Rin as if nothing had happened and looked at Erix and Isabe curiously. "It seems you journeyed here with these friends. Thank you for taking care of Rin." He slightly bowed with a kind smile, not matching his appearance.''That young man''s vitality and eyes are strange. A mutation?'' Erix and Isabe hurriedly bowed in response. Rin side pointed her hand at Erix and grinned. "Dad, Mom. Meet sister Isabe and her son. She is a cool mother like you, Mom." "And meet Erix, my boyfriend, my husband, my darling, and whatever else you two are to each other," Her introduction of Erix was no less than impactful than a bomb dropping as Rin''s rtives, dojo members, and her parents gave a momentarily dumbfounded expression. Chapter 73 Guild Established! 73 Guild Established! Heavenly Melody Castle''s fifth-floor, garden balcony. Erix, Rin, and her parents sat at a table. Isabe was not at the table since she was with Aaron below to feed him some food. "So, Erix. What happened to you?" Kenshin asked, his gaze directed at Erix''s eyes. ''Here ites,'' Erix thought as he revealed a helpless smile. "I''ll keep it short, Mr. Kenshin. A zombie bit me, but instead of turning into a zombie, I somehow became a hybrid zombie." "Oh? That''s interesting," Kenshin rubbed his chin and slowly nodded. "Erix, is everything in your body working fine?" asked Rin''s mother, Sameira. She had an olive skin tone and long light purple hair. Her face disyed genuine concern as she asked, "Like all the organs...are they working as a Hybrid Zombie?" "Mom," Rin''s cheeks flushed. "Yes. Everything is working fine and some better than before," Erix smiled. "It seems my daughter is no longer innocent," Sameira sighed. "If you don''t stop teasing me, I will leave," Rin pouted. "That''s right, Seri. Stop bullying Rin," Kenshin grinned and turned to Erix, "So Erix, we don''t oppose your rtionship with your teacher-" Erix''s lips slightly twitched at how Kenshin emphasized the word ''teacher'' when speaking. "-But Rin is a treasured pearl of the Veiren family, and we Martial Artist families have a group of our own. We even got marriage proposals for her, but we''ve left her marriage decision to Rin from the start." When Kenshin paused there, Sameira continued, "So, although you won''t have any troubles from our side, some men who want to marry Rin will surely approach you and challenge you. Not for Rin, but to see why Rin chose you and, if possible, humiliate you in front of her." Erix chuckled. "So, I get free sparring opponents I can bash? Perfect." Kenshin and Seri were slightly taken aback at his response before theyughed. "That''s right. Beat them as you wish," Kenshin pped the table with a grin. "One wille to you as soon as he hears the news that Rin is here. He is the leader of the ck Swan guild and the heir of the Yagun family, which is the second martial artist family in Phoenix City." "Yagun Mubei?" Rin said with a snort. "He got no chance against Erix. More importantly," Rin continued, "We have a guild creation te, so we will create our guild somewhere in the meadow." 12:03 "If you got it, then use it," Sameira nodded and stood up. "Settle your guild there quickly if you have the te. The sooner, the better." "That''s right," Kenshin nodded as he also stood up. "Let''s go." Rin and Erix also stood up. "You two areing too?" "Of course. We''ll help you clear the Structure dungeon quickly to get the buildings for your guild." ¡­ They shortly arrived at their desired spot, northwest of the Labyrinth Tower. Kenshin and Sameira could also fly, but Kenshin was flying with some invisible wind energy around him while Sameira was flying with a pair of verdant-silver wings resembling butterfly wings but sharper looking. The area that Erix and Rin had chosen was filled with trees and nts and was eight hundred meters from the Labyrinth tower. The nearest guild from their location was none other than SkyKnight guild, situated 1.5 kilometers south in the direction of Phoenix City. After Erix used the guild creation te, an area of 350 square meters was cleared off of trees and nts while the ground was also reced with brown soil. Immediately after that, a glowing sparky trail manifested in the air beside Erix and shot up high in the sky. Erix and Rin were startled, but Kenshin and Sameira just smiled. "Free publicity," Kenshin said before the fire trail sted into a colorful spark in the sky and showed big letters whichbined to be the guild''s name. Guild: Unfettered Fate. Erix and Rin decided on this name for a few reasons, but mainly because it was a cool and suitable name for a guild. A dungeon gate also appeared in the center of the guild''s area. It looked the same as the structure dungeon gate in other guild areas they saw¡ªa gate with a in white structure of a concrete material other than cement. "Let us hurry into the dungeon first since you can only enter once every twelve hours," Kenshin said. "Invite us into your party and enter." ¡­ While four of them entered the structural dungeon, the public in the meadow was startled by the firework disy. "A new guild!" "Who created it?" "Unfettered Fate? Haha, let''s go and see how they recruit official members." "Maybe Gakul''s group finally got the guild creation te?" Many people started moving in the direction of the Unfettered Fate guild. After arriving there, they stood outside the in white ground border that marked the guild''s area. One of the guild''s benefits was that other than official members of a guild, other people needed to get an official member''s permission to enter a guild''s territory. Level 1 guild could have ten official members, and level 2 guild fifty official members. Ten minutes passed before Erix, Rin, and her parents exited the dungeon gate. Erix and Rin were startled at the public that gathered. "There they are!" "Wait? Aren''t those two masters of the Veiren family?" "They are leaders of Heavenly Melody guild!" A small uproar ensued among the people when they recognized Kenshin and Sameira, but they ignored the public. "See what you got from the chest," Sameira said to Erix. "We killed all monsters within the time limit, so the reward should be the best you could possibly get," Kenshin said. Erix nodded and took out the crate. The structure dungeon only rewarded the party leader, and that too with a single crate. [Structure Treasure Crate] Erix opened it before a colorful glow exuded from the crate. It spewed out two miniature building models. "Interesting, a new type of theme on structure," Kenshin nodded and smiled. "Do you want to change this structure to a design simr to Heavenly Melody''s main castle? We have a few spare models." "You are kidding," Rin rolled her eyes. "Our''s is way better than yours." Indeed. The two structure models werepletely different from other guilds'' structures. Since all guilds wanted their own uniqueness, each chose to use structures with varying design styles and themes from others. First, Erix put the one he considered his, Rin''s, and Isabe''s personal residence at the back in the guild''s area. It was a beautiful cherry blossom tree pce. In contrast, he put the bigger building ten meters in front of the dungeon gate. The cherry blossom tree pce was fifteen meters tall and surrounded by a natural wooden fence with a small entry gate. The giant tree was thick with countless tiny pink leaves ranging from light to dark pink. Upon entering, one could climb the wooden stairs to enter the first house, akin to a guest pavilion. But the primary residence of the structure was above that in the giant tree, in the form of a small Japanese-style mansion. The second structure was not tree-based but a mansion with a design style mix of medieval fantasy and Eastern. Finally, their guild was ready. [Guild: Unfettered Fate] _Level: 1 (0/1000 Guild points) _Guild Points: 0 _Members: ¡ª> Master: Erix ¡ª> Members: Rin, Isabe. -[ Guild Shop ]: Requires 100 GP to unlock. -[ Guild Tasks ]: 2 avable to generate. Another chaping in a few hours. Eminent_Vellichor n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 74 Passionate Battle, Yagun Mubei (R-18) 74 Passionate Battle, Yagun Mubei (R-18) "Mum, is this our new home? It''s so big!" Aaron asked with sparkling eyes as he looked at the mansion after entering. Isabe smiled and ruffled his hair. "Yep. This whole area is our new home." Aaron was even more excited after walking to the side and looking at the cherry blossom Tree. "Woah, that is soooooo big, a tree house! I want to go there!" He directly rushed forward towards the tree pce. "Isabe-sis, you go get fresh with Aaron in there since all rooms have good bathrooms,fortable beds, and required furniture. You can also properly rest for a few hours." "Yeah, we can take it easy from now on," Erix nodded. "Alright, then we''ll enter Limitless ne after a few hours." Rin and Erix nodded. Isabe followed Aaron and led him into the tree pce while Rin wrapped her arms around Erix and smiled charmingly. "Now then, how about we check out the bathroom in this mansion?" "Exactly what I was thinking," Erix grinned. ¡­ Half an hourter, Erix and Rin battled passionately on a king-sized bed on the top floor of the mansion. Rin on top and Erix below, both of them were moving in a rhythm as Erix''s strong cock rammed the deepest part of Rin''s pussy as ultimate pleasure filled them in every second. "Ah!" Rin paused shortly as she cummed, causing her whole body to tremble in intense pleasure. Erix felt that and also shot his load inside, doubling both of their satisfaction. "Urgh¡­. Fuck¡­" Erix groaned in pleasure and soon saw Rin bending down as her plump and tender breasts with erect pink nipples rubbed his face, which prompted him to suck one of them into his mouth. His tongue yed with her nipples, causing Rin to let out a moan as an electric pleasure passed through her. She pulled up her butt as Erix''s cock slid down and emptied her insides with some simple mana cirction before putting his meat rod inside her again. Meanwhile, Erix continued sucking her breasts and then started moving his hips in a slow rhythm for a different type of pleasure. The duo continued their love-making session for two hours before they went into the bathroom for a second bath and had a round inside. "Hehe, it feels extraordinary to do it with our current strength," Rin chuckled mischievously. "It seems that we''ll have to try new ys." Erix rubbed her breasts while sitting behind her in the bathtub and kissed her neck. "Let''s go one more round then. I''ll infuse some mana in my dick to enhance the experience...how about hotspeed?'' "That¡­.sounds heavenly. Haha, let''s do it." ¡­ ck Swan Guild''s crystal ck pce, main hall. Yagun Mubei, a man in histe twenties wearing a ck jerkin outfit and maroon leather trousers, abruptly stood up from his cushion chair upon hearing the report of a middle-aged man wearing a ck-white priest-type robe. "Rin is alive and here¡­ Hahaha! Great!" "Indeed, Young lord. But she is here with a man, and they created their guild northwest of the Labyrinth Tower. From what I heard, that man will likely be her husband." "I want to meet her! Lead me there," Mubei stood up, his eyes fiery. "Young lord, you are not thinking of doing something forceful, right?" the middle-aged man''s brows furrowed as he asked. If Mubei did something stupid, it would do more than just damage the ck Swan guild. After all, they were not powerful enough to go against the Veiren n, A.K.A Heavenly Melody Guild, especially after the world weed this supernatural cmity. "I won''t do anything stupid, Uncle Jan," Mubei narrowed his eyes. "This world has changed, and I know how to adapt, so don''t think less of me." The middle-aged man wryly smiled. "As long as you understand. Anyway, Lord Yagun wants you to be at the Lunshin mountain at 8 AM," Jan said. "Father? What is he doing at Lunshin Mountain?" Mubei revealed a confused expression. Lushin Mountain was fifteen kilometers away from this meadow, so the journey was not small if one considered that the way to that mountain was dangerous because of the wilderness in between. "I don''t know," Jan shrugged. "This is all I have to report. Now if you want to visit Miss Rin, I''ll apany you." "Alright." The two of them soon arrived at the Unfettered Fate guild''s gate with a public of roughly fifty people behind them. Of course, they were not rted to Mubei or ck Swan guild except for half of them being external members of the ck Swan guild. But there were other reasons for them to follow Mubei here. The roughly fifty people who had gathered were people of martial art circle from small dojos and families, so they knew about Mubei going to Rin, getting beaten, and being rejected. 12:04 Mubei was a depraved martial artist, and Rin didn''t like that, so he had no chance, but he continued his futile attempt to get her. And now that the world had turnedwless, yet more dangerous for all people regardless of their previous societal status and authority, the people following Mubei wanted to see a good dose of the drama unfolding. "Rin!" He shouted after arriving before the gate while Jan calmly stood beside him. Rin, Erix, Isabe, and Aaron had just gathered in the dining hall of their cherry blossom tree pce to eat some food that Isabe had brought from Rin''s parents when they heard a loud shout. "Is this one of the guys?" Erix asked with a smile. Rin clicked her tongue. "Yeah, it''s the annoying fly, Yagun Mubei." She stood up and said, "Let''s go and finish business with him once and for all." "Eh? You want to kill him?" Erix was surprised. "Unfortunately, we can''t kill him unless we decide to wipe out his family with him. But that''s impossible," Rin wryly smiled and walked towards the exit. "Come, we can just beat him and drive him away. He is used to getting beaten up, anyway." "Isabe, you stay here with Aaron; we''ll return soon," Erix said before he followed Rin. They both flew out and soon saw two people standing outside the gate. "It looks like he is not that weak," Erix said after checking out Mubei''s aura. "Well, don''t underestimate him. We don''t know how everyone powered up after the cmity." After theynded at the gate, but inside their territory, Rin locked her left with Erix''s arm and squeezed against her breast before she scoffed at Mubei. "What do you want?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Mubei silently looked at Rin and Erix as his fists tightly clenched. He had always desired Rin, but after seeing that the beautiful yet dangerous flower hadnded in someone''s hand, Mubei felt intense jealousy. ''Damn it!'' "It seems that you had a good time in Ravinfox City," Mubei finally spoke after ten seconds of silence. "A very good time," Rin smiled and turned to Erix before kissing him on his cheeks. "Thanks to Erix." ''Erix, that''s his name?'' Mubei thought before taking a deep breath and gazing at Erix. ''Hmm? Why does he look like that?'' "If you don''t have anything else to say, then leave," Rin snorted. "Fine," Mubei indifferently nodded. "I just wanted to see you, that''s all." After saying that, he turned around and started walking, surprising even Jan. However, Mubei had a dark glint in his eyes. ''Rin, Rin, Rin¡­You are mistaken if you think I''ll give up. If not the straight way, then the crooked way it is.'' ''But whatever I do and n, I''ll have to keep one main point in mind¡ªnothing must connect to me or ck Swan guild no matter what happens to Rin and that bastard with her.'' ''Now then, what should I do?'' Mubei mused as he left. Seeing Mubei leaving, people were disappointed and scattered. "I thought he would challenge me," Erix scratched his head. "Well, that was disappointing, but I feel like he hasn''t given up." "Maybe getting stronger changed his mentality? Before the cmity, he was a real man-child. Very annoying and a scum bag. We''ll get rid of him if we get an opportunity to do it silently and secretly." "Sure." Erix and Rin returned back to their Cherry Blossom Tree Pce and resumed the breakfast with Isabe and Aaron. Erix opened the Guild status panel while eating and said, "ording to the information from Rin''s parents, we''ll get guild points bypleting guild tasks. Each member canplete two random guild tasks, so we''ll finish ours after our one-hour session in Limitless ne." "Erix, should I ask for some people from my n to fill our guild spots? Seven more peoplepleting guild tasks would give us more points." "Correct, but I have an idea about recruiting people," Erix faintly smiled. "We''ll try that first." Chapter 75 Mystic Roots, Duel 75 Mystic Roots, Duel Erix, Rin, and Isabe finished their one-hour session in the Limitless ne, and their expressions were content when their eyes opened. After all, they had managed to create a skill that the strange system recognized! "Now, let''s go and finish the guild tasks and recruitment." Erix, Rin, and Isabe walked out of the cherry blossom tree pce. Aaron was not with them because Isabe left him in the Heavenly Melody guild. There were people in that guild who had small kids, and they yed safely within the territory, so it was better for Aaron to stay there in Isabe''s absence. "We''ll also have to visit the city," Erix murmured, but enough for Isabe and Rin to hear. "I need blood pouches because myst one will be gone soon." Rin and Isabe nodded. And just as they approached the gate, they saw people gathering anding closer. "Hello! Can you please tell us the requirement to join your guild?!" "I have a powerful offensive ss! I can make all sorts of bombs with it!" "I got two healing-type skills, and my ss is also healer-based, so I can help a lot! Please ept me as an official member of the guild!" People were shouting to be official members of the guild. After all, there were only ten guilds, including Unfettered Fate, so the number of people who could be official guild members was low. Many sought Guild Creation tes, but it was not an easy-to-get item. "Hmm, let''s finish the recruitment first," Erix said with a smile after thinking about something. "Alright." Isabe and Rin nodded. "He can fly!" "What kind of powers does he have?" People started discussing while watching Erix flying up without wings. "Be quiet and listen to me!" Erix''s voice loudly resounded as everyone slowly turned quiet. "If you want to join Unfettered Fate, there is a very basic and important first requirement!" Erix crossed his arms as he sharply smiled. "You can make a team of three people ande at me with your all. If I deem you good enough, you will join the guild." Hearing his words, many were dumbfounded. But seeing as Erix floated calmly with confidence and sternness around him after speaking fluidly, people automatically perceived him as someone superior to them. Not all, of course. "What about a duel between us? If I win, you will transfer ownership of your guild to me." People were shocked at the statement and soon saw a short crimson-haired man in his early twenties flying up from the crowd with ck feathered wings, facing Erix as he floated ten meters away. Erix raised his eyebrows, his eyes toggling on the Aura Vision as he measured the man''s aura. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ''Not bad. Looks like he is at Supra-order rank and also got his ss.'' "Cat got your tongue, mate?" the man let out augh. But Erix just chuckled at his taunt and said, "Sure. If you win, this guild will be yours. But If I win, you will be my subordinate." [ Duel condition recognized by Mystic Roots. ] Suddenly, Erix and the crimson-haired man heard a notification before arge [ Duel ] appeared in the sky above them, startling all people who were watching. "Yo, what the heck is that?!" "Duel? Did the system recognize their duel as an official duel?! Was this possible before?" "Damn, we are getting new shit on our faces every single day!" [Contract formed. Please put your thumb on it if you want to proceed with the duel with your bets. The winner''s bet will be forcefully activated upon the duel''s result.] The conditions that would apply after the man became Erix''s subordinate were simple instead of a ve-like situation: 1. Leo must listen to Erix''smand unless thatmand would result in his death, decided by Mystic Roots. 2. Leo must not betray Erix or the guild or even produce such thoughts about harming him or the guild. Aside from these two conditions, he was free, just like any other human. ''Is Mystic Roots the name of the system that''s responsible for all of this?'' Erix wondered. He narrowed his eyes and slightly nced at Leo as he saw a clear moment of hesitation in his bodynguage. Upon seeing that, Erix cracked a grin and put his thumb on the contract. "Alright, I signed it. You should also go ahead with it unless you''re all bark and no bite." "Don''t worry. If you are not good enough, I''ll free you," Erix said with a cheeky grin. "After all, I don''t want weak people in my guild." Leo clenched his fists and put his thumb on the contract. ''The subordinate condition is not that hard even if I lose since it only prevents me from betraying him and his people, which I wouldn''t do anyway without a good reason.'' "But that is¡­if I lose, mate," Leo grinned and pulled up his thumb. Both contracts disappeared before a strange ray passed through them out of nowhere. [ Erix. HP: 100% ] [ Leo. HP: 100% ] [ You will experience pain and injuries like usual, but once the duel is over with anyone''s HP hitting 0%, the duel will end, and both parties will recover to full. ] [ Duel On! ] "Make your move," Erix said with his hands behind his back. His hands were a bit trembling due to excitement. ''So, I can go all out in a duel against people of simr level and powers¡­ Hope this guy is good.'' Leo took a deep breath and pointed his hand at Erix before a ball of me conjured before his palm. ''That doesn''t seem like a normal fireball,'' Erix''s eyes glinted. ''Interesting.'' "Erix! This is my most powerful attack! It will be my loss if you can defend against it without getting injured!" Erix furrowed his brows. ''He is shooting a fireball with 100 mana plus a simr amount of some other energy, probably of his ss core, at me and calling it his most powerful attack?'' With Aura Vision capable of sensing aura, he could now gauge how much energy was contained in an attack. Leo''s fireball was powerful but clearly not powerful enough to call it his most powerful attack. Even without Aura Vision, he could perceive that much. Naturally, he guessed that Leo was speaking something and nned on doing something else. "Alright, shoot," Erix nonchntly said while modifying the nodes of his recently created skill. The fireball shot forward, but Erix''s gaze was focused on Leo. But a secondter, Leo vanished from his spot when the fireball was just a meter away from Erix. "I am here, mate!" Leo exchanged his ce with the fireball, and in his hand was a fiery, condensed dagger with crimson blood patterns aimed at Erix''s head with ruthless and cold precision. Next chaping soon. Eminent_Vellichor Chapter 76 Metal Diabolicus, Whiff of Ambitions 76 Metal Diabolicus, Whiff of Ambitions Leo was confident. This dagger was his active ss skill, Infernal Stab. His genuine, most powerful attack! And the ability to exchange ces was a Tier-1 skill, Dimensional Exchange. It allowed him to exchange ces with anything that contained his mana within fifty meters radius around him. He practically considered himself invisible after awakening his ss, Infernal Blood Ranger; that was the pure offense. In other words, if that dagger seeded in stabbing Erix''s head, his HP would reduce to 0%, without any doubts. ''I win.'' Leo grinned. His dagger was just a hair''s length away from touching Erix''s temple and sting his brains. *Thud!* "Good move." Erix''s Metacyber arm had tightly gripped Leo''s wrist, not letting him cross that tiny distance. Leo''s smile stiffened. *Smash!* *Snap!* Erix punched Leo with lightning-fast speed but didn''t let him shoot up. Simultaneously, he snapped his finger, indicating his skill''s activation. With that single snap, Leo''s world darkened. A burst of iron elements produced on Erix''smand forged into a body-tight metal suit on Leo''s body without his position changing. His legs stayed wide, the left one slightly bent and the right one straight. Both his arms also froze in the metal suit while keeping their position. The left arm facing his feet, and the right arm in a stabbing motion. But he was covered by painfully tight metal armor, empowered by mana at its every nook and cranny. Leo couldn''t see anything nor breathe in the air-tight armor suit. "Arghhhhh!" Leo exerted his strength and tried to use the skill, but his arms were suddenly stabbed by ten metal spikes produced from the metal armor, causing him to cry in pain. "I call this body prison," Erix smiled as he opened up space on the face area for Leo to breathe and see. Leo quieted down and took gasps of breath. His hazy eyes soon cleared Erix''s face in his vision, and a chill ran down his spine. "You see, I just recently created this skill. A pre-made structure with thousand nodes so flexible that I can shape them into anything and empower the medium to a certain extent based on the structure quality of my formation." "It''s not really impressive in a basic sense because it has no offense or defense or anything particrly powerful¡­unless I pair it with my Metal Affinity-" Erix paused, grinned, and snapped his finger again, "-and with metal, it bes lethal.'' Leo''s eyes widened in both fear and awe. *Kacha¡­Triiii!* The metal body prison that trapped Leo vibrated intensely before numerous metal spikes pierced Leo''s entire body at once, even piercing out from the whole metal body prison for the audience below to see¡­as blood poured like a waterfall from the gaps. [ Duel Off! The Winner is Erix!] [ Congrattions, you have gained 10 Mystic coins. ] Immediately after that, Erix''s new skill vanished, and he recovered his lost mana. Leo''s mangled body also recovered before everyone''s eyes. From dead to a tiptop condition, reverting his state to the same as before the duel started! Afterward, Erix and Leo got a private notification. [You may get rewards from more duels today. ] Erix didn''t even spare any nce at Leo and used his skill, Metal Diabolicus, again. "Next!" Everyone below saw a four-meter-tall slender metal suit with silver and gray patterns, with Erix inside. This metal structure was condensed via a magic-based phenomenon and connected the control threads to his skin, meaning his metal suit was as easy to control as his body. "H-Hey, what about me?" Leo said, his words causing many below to nod. "Didn''t you see the notification?" Erix turned to Leo with a frown. "I nulled the contract by freeing you. You are not my subordinate or anything." "W-what?! What do you mean?" Leo asked as his lips trembled. First, shock and then fury settled in. "Get a hint, mate," Erix helplessly smiled. "You are not worthy. In gamer''s terms, you suck, so I don''t want you." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Erix!" Rin flew up with her Lightning Spark wings and said something to Erix after floating beside him. Meanwhile, her appearance caused another wave of talk among the crowd as many recognized her. Moreover, the public had increased to roughly three hundred people from the initial one hundred. Erix nodded at Rin after hearing her and turned to the horde below. "Everyone!" The crowd turned quiet to listen. "Good news is that you can officially duel ande out unscathed, so form a party of three or less if you are confident and meet us here again at six in the evening." Rin grinned and continued after Erix was finished, "If you are good, we''ll make you official members. And If you can defeat us, you make the choice, but no more conditional duels. I don''t want to form the contract and free every loser I beat." An uproar ensued, and this was the effect that Erix wanted. "Wait, you are not going to fight now?!" "You are saying we can be official members if we beat thedy?" Everyone turned quiet to hear the response. Rin was speechless and crossed her arms. "You, form a team of three ande up. If you can''t fly, I''lle down." Rin took out her de Eater in Butcher''s festive sword form, lengthened it to ten meters long by consuming de energy, and put it on her shoulder before a loud thundering rumble echoed as she empowered her weapon and herself with lightning charge. "If you don''t get butchered in five seconds, I''ll let you join the guild," Rin moved her sword as her big lightning wings pped once, and she slightly descended while pointing her sword below, right at the fatty who spoke the second question. Everyone quickly scattered away from the round-belly guy who looked like he was in his thirties. "I-I''ll make my team and wait here in the evening, Miss," said the guy while his legs shook. The lightning flickering in the sword was so close to him that he almost pissed his pants. "Good," Rin took back her sword with a snort. "We will not hold the entry examination at this moment," Erix replied while shaking his head. "Think of it like I am giving you more time to prepare. The new addition we got is the Duel function, so form a proper party of three before we return in the evening for battle." Erix and Rin descended after that and sat on Sangle before flying towards the Labyrinth Tower. The core individuals of other guilds also watched the whole thing from the sides, and all of them got a whiff from them, simr to what their leaders oozed out all the time. Whiff of Ambitions. B¨¬nhlu?n Chapter 77 [Bonus chapter]Labyrinth Tower, Mystic Shop 77 [Bonus chapter]Labyrinth Tower, Mystic Shop The trio arrived at Labyrinth Tower and saw a giant entry gate one hundred meters tall and two hundred meters wide. "This is massive¡­" Erix muttered, awed at the grandiose. "There''s something inside. Could it be that so-called Mystic Shop?" Rin said as she spotted a colorful glowing structure inside. It was a twenty meters tall shop with unique five-floor structures stered with glowing crystals exuding neon-type colorful lights. "Let''s check it out." They entered but were surprised by the dullness inside. The tower was empty, with no windows, decorations, carvings, or anything else except that shop. "Strange tower. Maybe the first floor will appear once the countdown hits zero?" "Probably, or this first floor could expand into a world with magic," Erix shrugged with a wry smile. "Anything is possible based on our experience so far." "Six days left until we find out," Isabe muttered. She could feel something mystical despite the tower being empty except for the shop. Shortly, they arrived at the shop and stood before one of the many entrances leading into it while seeing nothing from outside except for the constantly changing sceneries of nature in the shop. They pushed the transparent door and stepped inside before arriving at a small shop. The shop was small and void of any other people. "Wee to the Mystic Shop." After the child-like voice echoed, the scenery around them suddenly changed into a mountain peak filled with greenery, sakura trees, and a pond nearby. The shop table before Erix is a few meters away from the pond, under an enormous sakura tree on the mountain peak. "Level 1 Mystic Shop. Please purchase things worth 10,000 Mystic coins to upgrade your Mystic Shop." "Rin? Isabe¡­" Erix saw there was none aside from him on the mountain peak. ''So they were transferred to their personal shop space¡­'' Erix thought. ''If the shop upgrades by amount spent, then it makes sense that everyone have their individual shops.'' ''Let''s see.'' Erix looked at the table and saw it had five sections with glowing text tabs that changed colors every second and roulette with five sections containing the same text tabs floating before him. He couldn''t read the texts, but he knew what to do. Stretching his hand, he pulled down the lever attached to the roulette and started the spin. Five secondster, it stopped at a section, causing its iprehensive texts to transform into English. "Talent Fiesta Shop" The table glowed as all sections merged and showed only a single tab, [ Talent Fiesta Shop ], producing a cloudy screen with a shopping user interface before Erix. The screen contained a heading note, bnce, six items in two rows and three columns, and two functions at the bottom. ================== Note: You can only buy one item per list. To buy another, you must refresh the content. Bnce: 610 Mystic coins. 1. Random Talent Stone: 500 Mystic coins. 2. Random Vision-based Talent Stone: 500 Mystic coins. 3. Random Arms-based Talent Stone: 500 Mystic coins. 4. Talent removal stone: 100 Mystic coins. 5. Random Offense-type talent stone: 500 Mystic coins. [ press ] [ press ] [ Exit ] ================== "Neat," Erix nodded upon looking at the interface and rubbed his chin. ''What should I buy?'' He had to choose carefully because he didn''t know how hard it would get to earn mystic coins, and it was important to choose wisely because the costs were generalized while the content depended on luck. ''Offense-type is canceled. Who knows how many types of offense exist out there? What if I get something like boosting ice damage?'' Erix shook his head. Offense-type had too many variables, and the chances of him getting something useless were high. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ''The thing that would help me most, something I can use all the time and extract its benefits¡­.'' Erix mused. ''Hmmm¡­that would be a vision-based talent, but there''s no guarantee I would get the thing I am hoping to get.'' Erix thought momentarily before he unhesitantly pressed on the Random vision-based talent. ''Everything is random anyway, so I''ll bet on it.'' *Trink!* His bnce of mystic coins was automatically deducted before he heard a notification. [ Congrattions, you have gotten a talent, Beast Potential Scope. ] "This¡­" Erix was so utterly speechless that he was amazed. ''Wow, who knew I would get something so far in the spectrum from what I wished to get.'' He hoped to get something that would give him directbat efficiency, like seeing through things, skill analyzing, debuffing eyes like Evil Eyes, or even some offensive eye powers since they are easy to use. Shoot from the eyes, and the frontal target dies. But the talent he got was...well, it was notpletely useless. Erix sighed. [Beast Potential Scope]: You can get information on the mutated beast''s potential and other information rted to the beast. Note: This talent can be upgraded by using the talent upgrade stone. ''This would''ve been better on someone with a proper taming ss, especially if they had skills simr to mine,'' Erix thought with a wry smile. He had a skill aboutbining zombies with a single beast core to create a new type of zombie, so Tamers could also have skills to evolve, speed up growth,bine, or something along those lines that would affect mutated beasts and monsters. ''Well, whatever. I guess I can use it to pick better beasts to refine with my Death Bones skill,'' Erix thought before he pressed on the exit and arrived back in the small shop. Rin and Isabe were already waiting there. "If we enter as a party, we can only leave as a party," Rin informed Erix since she and Isabe could leave the shop. "I assume you bought nothing," Erix wryly smiled. The trio flew towards Rado Forest. It spanned fifteen kilometers from south to north before meeting the Lushin Mountain range and another big four of the Westin continent, Lushin City. 15:08 "Yep," Rin clicked her tongue. "The good things were priced at five hundred mystic coins, and we don''t have that much money." Rin had 430 mystic coins, and Isabe only had 260, so they couldn''t buy anything good. "Did you buy anything, Erix?" Isabe curiously asked. ''He had six hundred coins if I remember correctly.'' Erix nodded and shared his newly acquired talent with them. "Let''s go into the wilderness to farm. We need to increase our stats by killing monsters and consuming their cores." "And you''ll look for a beast with high potential with your beast scope and use it for your Death Bone skill?" "Exactly," Erix grinned. ¡­ The trio flew towards Rado Forest. It spanned fifteen kilometers from south to north before meeting the Lushin Mountain range and another big four of the Westin continent, Lushin City. Although the forest was only fifteen kilometers from south to north, it stretched longer from west to east, approximately one hundred and thirty kilometers, thus earning the title of the 8th biggest forest in the world. "Many people are hunting here," Erix noted as they already saw many peopleing in and leaving the forest when they arrived. There were also wooden stalls made by people to sell items and other people in groups at various spots to either rest or add more people to the team to increase their power. Erix, Rin, and Isabe didn''t stop and continued deeper into the forest. After crossing three kilometers to the north, the area widened significantly. They arrived at a small mountain range within the forest and flew up to spot some monsters. "There we go," Erix smiled, but his smile vanished as he narrowed his eyes. Those two brown bears with dark soil tes akin to armor around their bodies were eating¡­humans. ''Hmm?'' Erix''s eyes also caught something strange. "What''s that ck thing in the grass beside the bear?" Rin squinted her eyes. ''It''s eating the bear while the other two bearspletely ignore it? Wtf.'' Chapter 78 Amberros Death 78 Amberros Death Besides the two bears who were eating dead humans, a third beary dead, and a strange beast was feasting on it. The beast looked like a panther, two meters tall and four meters long, its figure robust and slender. Its sharp glossy orange crystal teeth were easily cutting through the bear''s bones and flesh while the dark orange crystalized patterns on its pitch ck body faintly pulsed each second. "Woah, they are hiding well enough that people going around the small mountain wouldn''t notice unless they were flying above, "Rin eximed. "Did they bring those people here to eat after fighting somewhere in the mountain?" she wondered. On the other hand, Isabe just lightly sighed at the sight. "Seems like it was a team of three or four that went to a ce they shouldn''t have," Erix muttered as he activated his talent. [ ck Soil Bear ] _Level: 57 _Vitality: [4300/4300] _Potential: D-grade. _Gene Completion: 3%. [ck Soil Bear ] _Level: 53 _Vitality: [4000/4000] _Potential: C-grade. _Gene Completion: 16%. Erix turned his head to the strange Panther. [ Nyx Amber Panther ] _Level: 63 _Vitality: [4500/4500] _Potential: A-grade. _Gene Completion: 64%. ''That sneaky bastard is even eating cautiously, yet it''s already level 63?'' Erix smacked his lips and internally grinned. ''I''ll use Death Bones on it.'' "Rin, Isabe, use your new skills and kill the bears. I want Panther alive to use my Death Bones skill, so I''ll focus on it." "I think it will run instead of fighting head-on," Rin narrowed her eyes as she judged the Panther''s mentality from its behavior. "Yeah, this one seems the type that attacks from the back unless given no other choice, so if you two target the bears first, it might directly choose to run," Erix grinned. "But I''ll be on its ck tail to capture it." "You two are too sharp," Isabe wryly smiled. Rin smiled with lightning flickering in her eyes. "Let''s go, Isabe-sis. Time to practice our newly created skills and hone them further." "Then I''ll start with mine on the bears," Isabe nodded as she took a deep breath and created a Wind Elemental Zone after switching to Wind Elemental Gear. The name that Mystic Roots system gave Isabe''s skill was ''Vortex me Lance.'' And this Fire-attributed skill couldn''t be executed without her Wind Elemental Zone. Isabe consumed Ether energy and Mana as she used her skill rune to activate the skill, immediately sensing the magic formation she created. The nodes were in ance-shaped formation, and they were constantly spinning in the order Isabe formed them, thus creating a spinning Lance of me! As it spun and Isabe controlled, the spinning me of Lance absorbed all wind energy in the Wind elemental zone to boost its firepower and even increase its spinning speed! She couldn''t control the wind elements that were attracted into her Wind Elemental Zone from nature, but she could forcefully use them as fuel to increase her firepower! Although they were high up in the sky, the Nyx Amber Panther noticed something and looked up, only to see a mingnce hurling there. Its tail straightened for a second to indicate the sudden shock it felt, and it quickly scurried away. *BOOM* -3190! -3190! Thence struck the two bears and exploded, causing their vitality to reduce drastically. *Crackle!* Rin shot downward to finish off the bears while Erix''s aura vision was on, and he kept his eyes on the running Panther. ''Fast, but not fast enough. As for its route...'' ¡­ The Panther was running and soon jumped off the small mountain beforending on a tree and jumping again beforending on the ground. It shook its body while the orange crystal patterns on its body shined, and it started running again. Just as it entered the area with a thicker jungle, a huge object crashed into it, causing it to see the stars in daylight. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om *Grrrr* Behind it, Erix''s Scarbio Zombie gripped its upper two legs and immobilized it. The Panther exerted its strength to break away from the zombie''s grip and was almost going to seed thanks to its higher strength. Still, Erix''smand nailed it with the sharp nails of Scarbio Zombie and dissipated its struggles while injuring it. *Smash!* Not even a secondter, Erix threw a full-powered punch at the pather''s head, making it dizzy and injuring it. "Hold it tightly." Afterward, Erix pointed his palm at the beast and used his skill, Death Bones. His palm released a burst of undead energy and enveloped the Panther. Erix consumed a total of 630 Undead Energy. Three secondster, the beast was covered in a ck cocoon with a faint dark green and orange pulsing hue. ''One minute more?'' Erix felt it would take a minute for the process in the cocoon toplete, so he waited. Rin and Isabe arrived shortly and stood beside Erix. "Death Bones, I wonder what kind of power it will have?" Rin curiously wondered. "But I highly doubt you can make a skeleton with Death Bones." "Yeah, well, I thought I could, but it depends on the result that we''ll see soon," Erix said. Isabe nodded. "The cocoon is still big, so it doesn''t look like a single bone or something else made from its body." ''Wait¡­don''t tell me this skill basically turns living creatures into undead creatures?'' Erix thought before shaking his head. ''No, the skill clearly mentions it''s a weapon.'' [Death Bones] _Type: ss skill. _Cost: 100-??? Undead Energy. _Use: You can refine any alive creature into a unique weapon called death bone with potent corrosive property + a single aspect of the refined creature. The cost of refinement depends on the target. Death Bones are highly effective against defenses and barriers. *Crack!* The trio saw a crack opening in the cocoon before bursting into sparkling ck motes and vanishing, leaving behind a meter-long hollow ck cannon barrel with white and dark orange patterns. At the back of the cannon barrel was a hand inserter. It seemed that this was a hand cannon. [Amberros Death]: _Type: Projectile Death Bone. _Cost: 50 - 600 per shot. _Stats: ¡ª> Attack: 400 + 200% of Undead energy consumed + 150% of magic power. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Death Smear: All defenses and barriers gradually die via corrosion upon getting hit. The speed of corrosion depends on the target''s durability and the user''s consumed undead energy. ¡ª> Fiery Shards: When the cannon''s shot hits something, it explodes with fiery dark orange shards that deal fire-attributed damage. "So I get something like this¡­" Erix put his hand in the back of the cannon and could feel a smooth trigger inside. He pointed at a boulder and pulled the trigger, causing the cannon barrel to release a palm-sized ck orb with a faint dark orange and dark green hue by consuming 50 undead energy. *Boom!* The boulder was destroyed with a st while roughly twenty fiery shards exploded and further wrecked it. "Powerful." "It has to be powerful," Rin crossed her arms. "After all, you made it from a level 63 Supra-order beast and your ss skill." "Then, let''s continue hunting?" Isabe said as she looked at the thick woods where the Panther was entering. "This thicker forest stretches ten kilometers to the south," Erix cracked his neck. "Well, I think it''s a good ce to farm. Let''s go." ... The trio went inside and started hunting monsters while time passed by. When the evening arrived, they finally returned with a loot of 28 beast cores, a few items, and a couple of skills scrolls. The number of dropped things was reduced by a lot! "Let''s rest for half an hour and then start ourbat training with people and recruit some who are good." "Two birds with one stone." Chapter 79 World Progresses, First Eve at The Meadow! 79 World Progresses, First Eve at The Meadow! As the evening neared, the people around Unfettered Guild were battling in duels. The new function was handy, and everyone liked it because they could visibly learn and improve and get to know each other. Although some tension, cold wars, and fights broke out on rare asions where people came to like and mesh well with some while not with others. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Some formed groups of three, some twos, and some remained solo. They had spent their day outside, battled evening, and were now here for recruitment so that they could live in those otherworldly buildings with magical andfortable facilities. This new guild was not at the level of other guilds since it was just formed today, but every day, it would get new building structures, and the area would also berger, just like how three guilds leveled up today, making the total number of level two guilds reach five. All of them looked so wonderful to live in for people who were not part of the guilds. Moreover, there were also benefits attached to staying in a guild. Everyone felt it was a necessary step to progress forward and at the frontline, baring some extraordinary individuals across the world who chose the path of solo, going yolo. Erix, Rin, and Isabe soon arrived and told the crowd outside they would start after half an hour. "Let''s quickly absorb the cores and distribute our stat points. We have to show our peak power today," Erix said with a fired-up smile. He sat down, put five cores, and closed his eyes. Rin and Isabe also quickly joined him. But a few secondster, Erix suddenly paused, surprised. ''What''s with this fast absorption speed?'' Rin and Isabe were also started. "Is it just me, or can you two absorb faster now?" Rin asked, looking at Isabe and Erix, who nodded in response. "It''s probably because of our Spiritual Art since the speed at which we can absorb cores depends on our soul, and spiritual art seems to have something to do with it," Erix spected before shaking his head, "anyway, that doesn''t matter. Let''s continue and finish this fast." ¡­ The ten hours of hunting in the forest made the trio reach level 57, surprisingly giving some bonus magic stats on a few hunts, while basic stats as usual on other hunts and gave a total loot of 28 cores. Rin absorbed 11, Erix absorbed 9, and Isabe absorbed 8. This whole day of hunting in the forest significantly boosted the trio, especially the stat points gained from supra-order beasts. 11:50 The benefit of slow leveling showed that they could get more stats points because they would always get some if they killed monsters of the same level as them or higher. [~Erix~] _Level: 57 Stat points: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 184 (+35) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 156 (+35) ] ¡ª> [ Health: 119 (+35) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 140(+35)/ Mana: 350/350] ¡ª [~Rin~] _Level: 57 _Stat points: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 148 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 165 (+50) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Health: 123 (+30) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 78 (+90) (+25) ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 115(+25) / Mana: 300/300 ] ¡ª [~Isabe~] _Level: 57 _Stat points: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 138 (+60) (+30) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 144 (+30) ] ¡ª> [ Health: 126 (+30) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 71 (+30) ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 135 (+30) / Mana: 365(+100) ] [A/M: I am aware I hadn''t shown Isabe''s armor set''s details when she got it, but it will be fixed quickly when the first floor opens in a chapter after a chapter :D] ... Their physical stats were increasing quickly, while magic was left behind since they could only get it from cores. At least, they could start increasing magic and mana, unlike before when they were in Mortal-Order rank. They only took ten minutes to absorb cores, so after resting for twenty minutes, Erix, Rin, and Isabe came out to begin the event. "Rin, Erix! You don''t mind us as an audience, right?" Kenshin and Sameira flew up towards the gate, and Erix quickly gave them permission to enter from the guild interface. Naturally, the crowd was surprised to see the masters of Heavenly Melody Guild here. "Go and tell them you''ll call them on stadiums," Kenshin said, showing three floating miniature earth battle stadiums on his palm. Erix raised his eyebrows. He had also seen various stadiums and avenues around other guilds, so he also needed to do that. He nned to do it with his Metal Affinity and build a proper tform with Isabe''s Earth Elemental Gear and his Metal affinity. ''But his structure is so solid...Affinity! He clearly has the Earth affinity,'' Erix instantly deduced based on Kenshin''s control and ease of flow he sensed in the miniature stadiums. ''This mastery¡­'' A secondter, Erix came to ept with astonishment that Kenshin''s control and attunement of Earth affinity were far higher than Erix''s control and attunement of Metal affinity! ''I guess many foreign martial artists and those various monks and such type of people would progress fast and have higher chances of mastering affinity.'' "I appreciate the offer, father-inw," Erix smiled, a slightly cheeky one, and added, "but since this is our guild, I shall show them our capabilities." "That''s right, Dad. Just watch." Isabe smiled and nodded at Erix and Rin, "I''ll start. You two go." ¡­ "Everyone! Before we choose the teams, I would like those who are ssless and have yet to reach Supra-order to back away!" Erix shouted as he and Rin floated in the sky facing approximately five hundred people. "What?! But we will eventually reach there, so why don''t you test us now?!" A young man with short dark brown hair shouted from below. He had two other youngsters his age in his team, one boy and one girl. "I want those who reached there fast, not eventually," Erix inly replied. Right after Erix finished speaking, three floating circr brown soil tforms expanded in the sky twenty meters from the ground. Isabe didn''t have Earth affinity, so her control and structure integrity of those Earth tforms was not strong. But Erix had Metal affinity! Exir waved his hand as iron elements gathered and coated around the earth tforms in a solid structure like steel! The tforms were ready with metal stands supporting them. His mana was gone, but starting the duel would turn them into their peak condition, so he wouldn''t have trouble fighting, and it would also naturally recover as time passed. "Alright! People were already in their groups and maintained distance, so Erix announced, "Those who can fly,e up first and choose your ring!" After a second of silence, ten people flew up, and after ncing around while flying, they chose their tform. One group of three at Isabe''s tform. One group of two at Rin''s tform. And two groups on Erix''s tform. Both had three people in each. The battle started within a minute after the duel confirmation. Fortunately, one vs. multiple was possible. Rin''s battle ended quickly, within a minute. She won by andslide as her opponents couldn''t even follow her attacks and speed. Isabe was showing her habit of being passive, but her performance was marvelous. Wind Dash to dodge, Frost Shield to block, me Whips to attack. But her Elemental Gears would further give her elemental boost, and Elemental Zone would do the same by concentrating respective elements as her Elemental Gear. So, Isabe''s opponents were helpless against her no matter what kind of projectiles they threw at her. As for getting close to striking with their melee weapons? Out of the question. She was too quick, agile, and more of an expert in closebat than them. Isabe won shortly in five minutes. Aside from levels, skills, stats, and items, there was another difference, the most major difference that separated people of the world at the current stage--Those who had awakened affinity and those who hadn''t. The prime example was Erix just flying while leaving his opponents helpless. "Come on, focus! How are you going to hit me?" "Put a trap! Predict!" "Young man, you are fucking too fast!" Erix had just a thinyer of iron suit around him, but with his powerful telekinesis, which was also thanks to his powerful mind, Erix could move at weirdly high speed since maneuvering even in small spaces only required him to use his mind. He was a wingless flyer, as he could fly with his mind at high micro and macro levels. He hadn''t even summoned his Scarbio Zombie on their ass. That zombie was agile and strong with its high stats and annoying skills! "Alright, stop." Erix stopped flying. "Hyaa! Aaah, s-sorry!" A whirling green orb filled with potent energy shot towards Erix, but Erix just narrowed his eyes and punched at the iing skill shot that was clearly powerful with some extraordinary effects based on dark green and light green sparks whirled around it! Clearly, it was a ss skill. However, Erix''s fist had his best weapon equipped, and he could manifest it anytime since it was merged with his arms. The Radiant¡­Crush¡­Gauntlets! The punch and skill shed before the whirling green orb shattered and dispersed, showing everyone the winner. "W-What the fuck? That skill should have exploded upon impact!" the girl who used the skill shouted. She looked like she was in herte teens. "Not on my fist," Erix snorted before he pointed Amberros Death at them. Erix was already surprised to see someone young at Supra-order, but it was not too rare in Phoenix City, considering there were three major martial artist dojos situated. "You three immediately created a defensive skill when the battle started since you thought I would directly attack," Erix smiled and said, "Well, put your best defensive skills. Combine orbo, do whatever and show me your best defense against my offense." The trio facing him consisted of an eighteen-year-old girl and a couple looking in theirte thirties. He didn''t know if she was their daughter but was not interested in learning unless he chose them. More importantly, he wanted to see his various offenses against the defense of this trio, who all had different defensive skills that looked powerful. Chapter 80 Guild Members 80 Guild Members "We are ready!" The trio conjured their barriers one over another, ready to take on Erix''s attacks. Erix pointed his Amberros Death Cannon at them and unleashed a single shot of maximum output, consuming 600 Undead Energy! A sharp, air-cutting sound echoed as the ck orb with chaotic dark green and dark orange patterns on it hit the first defense, a shield. It was a shining, towering, bronze magical shield. The cannonball pierced it with a st before hitting the second defense, a dark blue crystal barrier. The cannonball sted there properly, spreading a burst of dark green smoke and my orange shards that quickly eroded and destroyed the barrier before continuing towards the third defense, which was another barrier. A shining half-transparent golden barrier of Light-Element. The orange shards sted, but the barrier endured it with minor cracks. However, the dark green smoke that assaulted it readily eroded the barrier. The dark green smoke was considerably reduced, but whatever was left of it assaulted the couple and the girl as their HP reduced. "Hmm? Hey, isn''t it painful?" Erix confusedly asked. "You can turn off the pain in a duel," the girl said as she rolled her eyes. "There''s no way we would be able to continuously duel with others if we experienced constant pain and death in every duel." Erix focused and thought in his mind about it and got a quick monotone response. [Do you want to turn off the pain experience while in the duel?] ''No.'' Erix replied. He didn''t n to turn off pain because he felt he would improve more if he got real valuable experience of experiencing skills'' effect. "Alright, you three can go down," Erix said with a bored expression. ''They don''t even fully know about their own barrier skills. Am I expecting too much, or is everyone here like them?'' Fortunately, Erix would be d to know he was wrong soon. ¡­ The battles were fought twenty meters in the sky, so none of the people below could see their fights, which meant no one could see their skills and moves. This was why other guilds also had their test andbat tforms in the sky, and Erix also followed the pattern for the same reason. Of course, Kenshin and Sameira sat on a floating earth sofa facing the tform at forty-five degrees to watch the show. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as five hours quickly passed by. Erix, Rin, and Isabe fought against many teams. Out of the many fights, Erix lost against one team again, Rin also lost against one team, and Isabe lost against two teams. Isabe could do better if she could fly and increase her movement, but she didn''t have any method of flying like Erix and Rin yet. And although they lost, they also learned many new things and improved themselves significantly in terms of theirbat ability with their current arsenal of skills. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Moreover, the new rule Erix added was that the opponent team who won 1v3 would fight 3v3 against Erix, Rin, and Isabe. Erix did that to know theplete gap between the two teams, but he was surprised that one team still did very well despite losing 3v3. This was the team that defeated Rin. After another hour passed and they fought with everyone, even those who cameter, Erix announced that the recruitment was over. He needed seven more people, but he only chose two teams with three people in each. Everyone in these two teams was in Supra-order and had satisfactory sses, most likely the limited-task ones. One team consisted of red-haired twins in their early twenties, Roy and Tony. The third member was called Samuel--a middle-aged man with a dark skin tone, short ck hair, and a beard. This team readily agreed as Erix gave the invitation to join the guild, but the other team didn''t agree directly. This team was also the one that fought well, even in 3v3. "We have a condition to join! Our original group was made of four people, but since we were only allowed to fight in a team of three, we had no choice but to leave out someone. So, if you want us, you have to add the fourth member of our group to your guild," Leon shouted. He was a lean middle-aged man with short silver hair and a chiseled face, wearing a dark red ranger armor set with boots and gloves. Behind him was a girl in herte teens with matching silver hair as Leon; she was his daughter, Zoe. Standing beside her was a middle-aged man in a tuxedo suit, Alfred. And the fourth member Leon referred was standing behind the trio¡ªElena, a girl in her mid-twenties with a long brown-haired ponytail and her eyes covered by a in cotton white blindfold. She wore abat robe with matching gloves and boots, indicating that it was an armor set. ''Blind? If she is injured, Isabe can heal her,'' Erix thought. ''Alright, she shouldn''t be useless or weak if this team kept her with them.'' "Wee to Unfettered Fate." Leon and others saw a small screen with a guild invitation, and they readily epted it. ¡­ Kenshin and Sameira shortly left while Erix, Rin, Isabe, and new guild members entered the mansion as they sat on three different sofas in the living hall with a firece before they began the proper introduction. 11:51 Kenshin and Sameira shortly left while Erix, Rin, Isabe, and new guild members entered the mansion as they sat on three different sofas in the living hall with a firece before they began the proper introduction. Leon, Zoe, and Alfred were a family. The father-daughter came here with their butler on tour far from their home in Northstar continent but were stuck here because of cmity and met Elena, who helped them. Roy and Tony were twin brothers who lost their parents five years ago and lived with Samuel, their father''s friend. Samuel had some deep background that the brothers didn''t know and didn''t try to find despite the obvious signs because all they knew was that Samuel was their father who cared for them in difficult times, which was enough for them to know about him. "I heard there''s a magic kitchen in Libration Throne guild that can produce new ingredients every day. Do you have it yet, guild master?" Roy asked one of the red-haired twins. "Yeah, I want to eat something decent, no kidding," Tony rubbed his stomach. "Pops can also cook superb dishes, so we just need ingredients." Samuel wryly smiled. ''These brats.'' "Not yet," Erix casually said as he leaned back on the sofa and looked at the time on the wall clock. "But we''ll get new model structures since we unlocked a new mode in Structure-type dungeon. There are two modes now, Residency-mode and Utility-mode." "You''ll know once you go to the dungeon gate tomorrow and touch it," Rin said before she turned to Elena, "Elena, if your eyes are injured, Isabe-sis canpletely recover them." "Ah, no," Elena shook her head before smiling. "My eyes can''t be healed because I see the world differently now. It''s a bit difficult, but I am getting used to it. The colors are gradually filling it as I understand these waves." "Elena''s ss awakening made her blind," Zoe said with a rueful smile. "Her ss is called Six-Eyes Monk. She just awakened it yesterday after finishing her final time-limited task of killing a supra-order demon and absorbing its core." "She is powerful, so worry not," Leon said with a faint smile. Erix nodded and looked at the guild interface before him. "We''ll rest for an hour and then depart toplete the guild tasks. We have to finish them before the next day starts." "Generate your tasks if you haven''t." Everyone had two individual guild tasks, one about killing supra-order monsters, and another was to clear a Field Dungeon or a Dungeon as a team. "We have heard that you can get guild points if members of the same guildplete some random events together," Samuel said as he rubbed his chin. "So, if we encounter any event, let''s group up to finish it." "Alright." ¡­ An hourter, everyone departed towards the city and divided upon entering. The night of Phoenix City was still not dark despite electricity disappearing from the world. It was one of the biggest cities in the world and the 10th most popted city, so survivors were increasing in sight, and many had started living in the city. The people who survived in nearby cities and areas were also arriving each day since the Labyrinth Tower was here. Zombies were no threat to people anymore, and monsters could be vanquished by working together since people were getting stronger. A field dungeon would suddenly manifest at a random area in the city, just like the one that Erix, Rin, and Isabe encountered with the Toshin family at a mall in Targon City, but it wouldn''t manifest where people lived, so that was safe. Naturally, the field dungeon here wasrger and more challenging, and just like that Helix Flower field dungeon, once someone cleared it and got the reward, it would disappear. "Let''s get some blood pouches from the blood bank and thenplete the guild tasks." [A/N: Next chap will start with the First Floor of the Labyrinth tower opening.] Chapter 81 Labyrinth Towers First Floor, Aestians Realm! Chapter 81 Labyrinth Tower''s First Floor, Aestian''s Realm! Time passed, and everyone''s life became slightly easier and less hassling. New guilds stood up every day, and conflicts were decreasing because of the Duel function. There was an emergency event once a day near the Labyrinth Tower, spawning a super-giant and powerful boss that thousands of people worked together to defeat to earn Mystic Coins and purchase powers and items from the Mystic Shop. When only three days were left until the opening of Labyrinth Tower''s first floor, the people who were at the frontier of leveling discovered that their physical stats could no longer go past 200. The answer they got from a monotone voice was that they must reach level 80 before their stats could increase again. But leveling had be slower, and no one had reached level 80 yet because there weren''t many monsters at level 80 in the first ce. Of course, people could still increase magic and mana by absorbing cores, so everyone was focused on them while living a sort of leisurely life amidst the cmity. And finally, the day that everyone had been waiting for arrived. [ 00:00:02 ] Everyone was waiting outside because people were kicked out of the first floor a day ago, and no one could enter inside after that as the tower''s gate closed. The sight was grandiose in the meadow, with a total of sixteen guilds built, twelve of them at level 2, including Unfettered Fate. None had reached level 3 yet, but the Heavenly Melody and ck Swan guilds were close to it. Since the floor was going to open soon, all guilds were standing at the forefront. Their core members were at the front, and the rest behind them. With a total of fifty members in the guild, Erix, Rin, and Isabe also stood at the front and their guild members behind them. "One minute left," Erix muttered as he looked at the countdown. Nobody knew what kind of phenomena awaited them past the closed gate of the first floor, but almost everyone present was eager and filled with anticipation. Although a tiny bit of fear of the unknown was present in everyone, It was overshadowed by the anticipation. When the countdown finally hit zero, all ten towers in the world released a mystical unseen wave that everyone felt, and to their horror, everyone heard dumbfounded notifications that immediately affected them. [The First Floor of the Labyrinth, Aestian''s Realm, has been opened!] [Your equipment and items have been destroyed, but you will get Labyrinth Points ording to your destroyed items once you enter. Please use the points wisely.] [Points can be shared between party members if you get together, trade to others in exchange for items, and use them to purchase things in Aestian''s Realm.] ''If you get together? Does that mean we are going to separate?'' Erix frowned. The armor sets on people were still visible, but all of them had a tiny ''x'' mark on them somewhere, and they no longer gave stat bonuses or set effects. On the other hand, the weapons and items in their hands and inventory werepletely destroyed as they vanished. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "My new Tier-1 armor set¡­" Rin muttered as she had just gotten a Tier-1 armor set yesterday by clearing a level 70 dungeon. "ENTER!" Someone from SkyKnight guild shouted as their members made the first move and entered therge gates of the first floor. Nobody could see anything past the gates since a whirling ck-blue phenomenon in the gate blocked their sight, but that didn''t stop people from entering. "Stay sharp, everyone!" Erix turned to his guild members and nodded. "Enter!" "Let''s go," Erix held Rin''s and Isabe''s hands as he flew up twenty meters and moved towards the giant gate. "We might separate ording to the notification we heard," Isabe said with a frown. "Yea. That''s why I am holding both of your hands and see if that prevents it." "If we separate and don''t have any clue on where to find each other, we''ll focus on whatever is important instead of blind goose chasing, okay?" Rin said. Isabe nodded before she helplessly smiled, "You two better be careful, alright? Don''t be reckless." At that, Erix arrived and entered the portal-like gate of thebyrinth tower. Erix lost sensation of touch with Rin''s and Isabe''s hands and sighed. ''So we are separated.'' ''And where''s the light?'' Erix couldn''t see, feel, or hear anything in the absolute darkness until a ding resounded in his ears, and the scenery changed before him. His closed eyes opened, greeting a clear sky scenery with white clouds as he found himself under a tree on top of a hill while leaning against the tree trunk. He could see a small town two and a half kilometers away from the hill with his talent that allowed him to zoom in to observe things as if they were within 20 meters of him, even if they were three kilometers away. "This world..." Erix was startled when he looked into the sky. This world looked like some fantasy world since there were two suns in the sky and three faintly visible moons! ''This is not a floor,'' Erix stood up and looked around. ''This is a whole damn world!'' [Wee to the first floor of thebyrinth, Aestian''s Realm. You cannot leave this realm until the main quests arepleted, but you can get hour-based leaves to exit Aestian''s Realm bypleting tasks.] [Please note that the main quests will change ording to various situations and are shared among everyone who has entered the first floor.] [Good luck and choose wisely, dear despairer] ''Despairer? Wtf,'' Erix was speechless, ''and choose what?'' Erix opened his stats to see anything abnormal. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Supra-Order _Level: 72 _ss: Zombie Lord (SS) _Life orb: [200/200] _Labyrinth Points: 12,480. _Stat points: 19 ¡ª> [ Strength: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 225/ Mana: 650/650] _Talent (3/3): , , . "Alright, the stats are the same as before I entered the gate, except that I havebyrinth points as a new addition," Erix nodded to himself. He then checked his skills. ______Active Skills: [3/5]______ ¡ª> [ Metal Enchant (2nd Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Crimson Blood re (2nd Tier) ] ¡ª> [ Nether Call (2nd Tier) ] ______Passive Skills: [5/5]______ ¡ª> [ Aura Gear (2nd Tier): Can see the aura of things and living beings, see their residual trails, and store a particr aura for detection. ¡ª> [ Punch Force (1st Tier): Punch damage +50% ] ¡ª> [Berserk Veins (1st Tier): Strength & Agility +5% each time you get injured. Up to 20%. ¡ª> [ Furnace Belly (2nd Tier): Eating an item or a core will give you a temporary powerful buff. ¡ª> [Mega Flux (2nd Tier passive skill): Physical stats are increased by 20% of your current stats + 30, and senses are enhanced for 2 minutes when your Mana pool is emptied. ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ ¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] _________________Created Skills_________________ _Active skills: ¡ª> Imposing Fist (1st Tier) ¡ª> Metal Diablolicus (1st Tier) ¡ª> Roaring Metal Cannon (2nd Tier) _Passive skills: _Metal Affinity (Alpha-realm) "So, where are the quests and tasks?" Erix muttered in a low voice, hoping to get answers, and he got them quickly. [ Main Quest(s) ] ¡ª 29 days, 23 hours left. ¡ª> Find and Defeat the Abyss King (1 left) / Reward: ??? ¡ª> Challenge and Defeat a Lord (10 left) / Reward: ??? ¡ª> Earn a Faction Ticket ( Unlimited ) ¡ª> ??? (More toe). [ Tasks ] ¡ª> Settle in a house and get Adventurer''s ID. Reward: 1-hour leave card. ¡ª> Kill 20 Abyss Servants. Reward: 2-hour leave card. ¡ª> ??? (More will generate as you move) "Okay," Erix stood up and stretched his limbs before gazing at the small town from the hilltop. "A house and an adventurer''s ID? Alright, let''s get it." Chapter 82 Adventurers Guild, Mission Chapter 82 Adventurer''s Guild, Mission Erix created a metal surfboard and flew toward the town. After arriving at the entrance, he stopped upon seeing the guards standing at the semi-opened gate. "Who are you?" asked the guard. They wore silver metal armor with long spears in their hands. Erix could inspect them when he looked at them. [Level 40 Frain Town Guard] ''They are weak.'' Erix approached them while smiling, "I am an adventurer, but I lost my ID. It''s my first time in this area." The guards looked at Erix suspiciously before one of them asked, "What''s your name?" "Erix," Erix said truthfully because it would help if his name spread. ''Adventurer''s life in another world, eh?'' Erix internally smiled as he liked that prospect. "Erix? Alright, go and get your ID at the Adventurer''s Guild. You can''t operate in the town without it." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om ''Is it that important?'' Erix raised his eyebrows before nodding with a in smile. "Sure, I''ll get it right away." After he entered the town, Erix saw three paths, with the middle one being the widest and most extensive, leading straight towards a big bustling circle. After Erix asked a nearby vendor about Adventurer''s Guild, he got the directions and arrived there after two minutes. The town was more like a big vige than a city. The building of Adventurer''s Guild was three stories twenty meters wide, probably the town''s biggest building. Erix entered and went straight towards the central counter in the building, which barely had a few people, before asking the long brown-haireddy in her thirties behind the desk, "How do I get an Adventurer''s ID?" "Renew or first time?" "First time." "Put your palm on his te." Erix put his palm on a square crystal blue te with white vein-like patterns. "Good. You are indeed unregistered. Your name?" "Erix." "That''s all?" thedy looked confusedly at Erix. Nobody had a one-word name. "Yeah, that''s all. Thank you." "Alright. How much money do you want to add to your ount?" "None." "¡­" "I don''t have any money, so I would appreciate your help showing me some high-paying missions." "For World-ss missions that reward in highest payments and exotic rewards, you will have to pay 1,000,000 gold coins to upgrade your membership to World-level in our database." "But since you don''t have any money, you can take up local missions that are posted by people who don''t care how many and whoplete their missions as long as theyplete it. You can check the list on that giant brown board for that." ''Thisdy talks quick and fast,'' Erix thought before he smilingly nodded. "Thank you for the information." "Here, your adventurer''s ID card. You have to add bnce to the card by adding coins to the card''s storage space. Your current storage space is limited to 10,000 units, so ten thousand coins of any value." "I see." "Yes. Add coins in the card because all buy and sell goes through your ID card for quick transactions." "Got it, thanks." Erix took his card and thanked thedy before turning around and walking towards the giant brown board with the magical screen. ''Is this powered by magic?'' Erix narrowed his eyes and activated his Aura Gear as he saw the aura of mana flowing in a magical structure in the giant brown board. ''It seems that the technology here is magic-based.'' ''Can we learn and apply it to our world then?'' Erix mused. ''This first floor is a whole new world, so I wonder how much exploring this world will affect Earth?'' Shaking his head, Erix focused on his priority and searched for the highest-paying mission on the board. Soon, he found it. The third row and fourth column sections had the highest paying mission. [ Finding Mr. Railun''s son and daughter] -> Urgent Mission. -> Mr. Railun''s son and daughter are lost in Netherwind Woonds. -- -> 10,000 gold coins for finding them and 100 for providing useful leads. ''This looks like a good start,'' Erix rubbed his chin. ''I should be able toplete it.'' ''Aura Gear, check.'' ''Zoom, check.'' ''My big zombie brain, check.'' Erix added the mission code to his magic-tech Adventurer''s ID card and got its information. [ Visit Mr. Railun at his Blue Star mansion in the northeast of the town, on the Magic Carp road, or if he is not there, meet him at his camp in the southwest of Netherwind Woonds] ''Was there such a cool-sounding mansion?'' Erix wondered while walking out of the Adventurer''s Guild. After walking for fifteen minutes while looking and learning things about this town and terms, Erix arrived at the Blue Star mansion. ''As expected.'' The mansion had around thirty people standing in small groups and a few solos. ''All of them are oozing out auras clearly in Supra-order rank,'' Erix thought as he swept his nce at the people. "Are you one of the adventurers who took up the mission of Mr. Railun?" asked one of the guards. Erix nodded, "I am." "You came at a perfect time. Pleasee in; Mr. Railun will be here in a few minutes." *Scrreeee¡­Roarr!* Right after that guard finished speaking, everyone heard a sharp draconic roar. A flying beast wasing from the north at a supersonic speed. *Roarr!* It was a majestic ten meters long dark green dragon with red to orange stripes and big wings! It descended on top of the mansion''srge empty terrace. ''It looks like the terrace was made for the dragon''snding spot,'' Erix thought, looking at how smoothly the dragonnded on it. "Everyone! Thank you foring to my aid! As long as you help me find my children, you will have my gratitude and rewards both!" The middle-aged man above the dragon shouted. There was another person beside him, a tall, muscr man with dark blond hair wearing a semi-iron warrior outfit with two swords behind his back. ''Powerful,'' Erix felt a more powerful aura than the rest from that man. "Please follow me! I''ll lead everyone to the southwest of Netherwind Woonds. We''ll have to start the investigation from there!" *Roarr!* The dragon flew up and roared before flying back to the north. The people in the mansion also flew up as some unfurled wings while some took out flying chariots or carriages. Magic Tools. "That''s it?" Erix muttered, slightly surprised at how fast this went, but he flew up nheless and quickly followed the fast-moving band. Chapter 83 Elf Tribe, Abyss Servant 83 Elf Tribe, Abyss Servant They arrived at the camp Mr. Railun built in the southwest of Netherwind Woonds and descended onto the almost empty ground. There were fifteen camps around the ground, wooden barricades, and a magic device in the center that was responsible for the blue barrier around the camp. Erix was impressed with the barrier and hoped to get its technology or a simr device to take back to Earth. Soon, Mr. Railun called everyone before he stood in front of the group of people and said, "You are free to search and investigate yourself, but if you find any leads or my kids, please be sure to report them to me with any big signal like using some shy skill in the sky." After saying that, he murmured something in the powerful blond-haired man''s ears. The blond-haired man nodded before he flew up and went north, which was deeper into Netherwind Woonds. The wind here was biting, and the trees were a mix of green, dark green, and dark purple colors. On this vastnd filled with nature, every single tree and nt also had a faint shiny crystal-like coating of the same color as the tree at uneven spots on them as if some sort of virus-infected them. ''Let''s start.'' No one bothered with Erix, and Erix also didn''t bother with anyone as he flew up one kilometer above and looked at the woond from the sky. Triggering his Aura Gear, his eyes put on ayer of filter as he saw various auras of people and things. ''Focus on humans.'' ''Zoom.'' While Erix was flying above the woonds for his investigation to earn 10,000 gold coins, Rin entered an Elf Tribe after arriving in a lush green forest with giant trees with branches akin to small-sized roads. Forest of Elves, Num Forest. The tribe lived in the forest near ake, in a beautiful wooden structured town where people lived both on the ground and in legit treehouses, but big in size! Rin thoughtnguage would be an issue, but she was surprised to find that she could understand everything when they spoke, and they could also understand everything. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Rin, how did youe here?" asked the elf girl, who was the first person Rin met when she appeared in the forest. "Ie from a far away ce, Nessa" Rin smiled. "This is my first time here." "Oh, first time? I understand," Nessa nodded while grinning as her short yellow-green-haired ponytail moved cutely. "My first time seeing a human." "And my first time seeing an elf," Rin chuckled. "So, how do I get an Adventurer''s ID?" "You go to Adventurer''s Guild for that, Rin. Come, I''ll take you there." As they were walking towards the Adventurer''s Guild at the periphery of the town, the other elves in the town would greet Nessa and even give her food and other things. ''This girl, she is a bit different than other elves.'' After arriving at the Adventurer''s Guild, Nessa said, "You go there and get your ID." "Sure. Thank you, Nessa." "No problem, hehe. Come to my house soon, okay?" "Sure." Rin didn''t know why Nessa called her, but she decided to go there after finishing her business. After entering the adventurer''s Guild, she saw the elf staffdy with a busty figure. ''A human in his here?'' the staffdy thought. "I saw youing here with Nessa. Where did youe from?" Rin was slightly surprised to find a bit of hostility oozing out of thedy, but she answered calmly, "It''s my first time in this ce, and Nessa found me a couple of kilometers away." The staffdy looked at Rin with a half-believe, half-suspicious expression, which was perfectly normal, and Rin didn''t mind it. "I want to get an adventurer''s ID." "First time or renew?" "First time." "It seems that you are otherworldly. Hi, I am Tourina," the elfdy''s attitude changed as she smiled. "Put your palm on this." Rin put her palm on it while Tourina continued speaking, "Nessa is a poor girl of this town. She is powerful and kind, but due to an ident, she lost her parents, little brother, and whoever killed her family also messed with her head to make her¡­." "Sigh. I hope you don''t take advantage of her kindness and unstable mind," Tourina didn''t finish and just sighed, but Rin understood. "I wouldn''t do that to someone who helped me," Rin smiled. ''Nessa looked like she was in her early twenties, but her behavior and speech were different. Getting messed with her head after a tragedy¡­ what happened to her?'' Rin wondered with an internal sigh. ¡­ After taking her ID card, Rin went to Nessa''s house on the outskirt of the town, in one of the smaller treehouses. Each giant tree had big and wide branches, so building strong, magic-enhanced wooden houses was easy. Rin few up and saw Nessa preparing some ingredients outside her treehouse on the branch. "Rin! Did you get your adventurer''s ID?" "Yep," Rin smiled while nodding. "What are you doing?" "I am going to make a pie of mixed fruits. Do you want to eat? If you want to, I''ll make more." "Alright, tell me what I need to do." "Haha, then let''s go and gather fruits. I also need a few more fruits, so we''ll get more this time." As such, Rin and Nessa left the town. After traveling in the forest for ten minutes, they arrived at a valley between the mountains. "Here, we can get lots of fruits in this valley." ''I guess I canplete the first task after I ask Nessa to let me live with her in her house,'' Rin thought while following Nessa. "Hmm? What''s that?" Rin suddenly paused as he saw a ck pulsing round object under a tree. It had an ink-ck surface with strange, uneven patterns and pulsed like a heartbeat. "Woah, that looks strange," Nessa eximed and started walking towards it. "Wait, don''t go!" Rin shouted and stopped Nessa. "Eh? Why? We have to take a look at it." "Wait,e back to me," Rin said, her expression somber. "Okie," Nessa nodded and returned upon seeing Rin''s serious expression. Rin squinted at the strange round object to inspect it and got its information. [Egg of an Abyss Servant] _Hatching progress: 99%. *Chree¡­* A secondter, the egg broke open with a scythe de, and a humanoid creature emerged. It had bug eyes, an insect beetle mouth, ck scythes in ce of normal hands, and a pair of slimy ck wings behind its back. Opening its creepy mouth, the Abyss Servant screamed. "Urghh¡­" Nessa suddenly groaned in pain as she felt mental upheaval upon seeing the Abyss Servant and fell with a thud. "So, you''re the one I need to hunt," Rin''s face showed a sharp smile as she took out her de Eater and transformed it into the straight one-edged sword of Ruined ze Sword. *Crack¡­Boom!* Lightning Empowerment! This was the evolved, 2nd Tier version of the Lightning Charge skill. Previously, it charged things with lightning and gave lightning attributes for bonus lightning damage. And after it was evolved, Lightning Empowerment could even empower her overall lightning damage, the higher chance of paralyzing the target and dealing shock damage. Shock damage: It would ur when the target is afflicted with multiple lightning-attribute attacks and umte shock motes, which the user could trigger if they have a lightning affinity to inflict shock damage to deal a sudden burst of lightning damage and paralyze the target. As such, Rin was confident she could defeat this level 75 Abyss Servant. ''Come on, attack,'' Rin thought while waiting. The Abyss Servant was observing Rin and Nessa but didn''t attack. [Abyss Servant] _Level: 75 _HP: 100% _Attack: 700 _Defence: 700 Seeing that it wasn''t attacking, Rin took the initiative and used Lightning Dash, the evolved version of Thunder Blitz. With a resounding thunder crack, Rin crossed the distance of fifteen meters in a second with her de swinging at the Abyss Servant''s neck like a reaper. The moment her de touched the creature''s neck, tiny thin golden threads produced from her de. It was none other than an evolved version of Sword Beam, Sword Threads! Each thread pierced into the creature''s body when Rin''s de touched its neck and beheaded it. 20:37 Abyss Servant''s head flew while her sword threads pierced out of its body in ck blood like a blooming flower. Since every skill''s evolved, next tier form depended on individuals, even if two people have the same 1st Tier skills, they would be different when they evolved to 2nd Tier. Rin used her Sword Beam in different ways than what just the skill described, which was why her Sword Beam''s evolved form turned out to be Sword Threads, a more deadly and powerful form of the Sword Beam. Each thread pierced into the creature''s body when Rin''s de touched its neck and beheaded it. Abyss Servant''s head flew while her sword threads pierced out of its body in ck blood like a blooming flower. But unknown to her, the creature''s Scythe hand moved silently yet quickly pierced Rin''s stomach and came out of her back. -78! Rin''s eyes widened, and she immediately kicked the headless Abyss Servant while moving back several meters away. *Puchi..* After puking blood, Rin heard a notification. [You are inflicted with Abyss Poison for one minute, causing your senses to lose 50% of their capabilities until the poison disperses.] [Please stay alive for a minute to escape danger or cure the poison with a skill] ''Potions!'' Rin went for her inventory, but it was empty! All her items, including healing and other potions, were destroyed when the first floor opened. *Screee!* Rin saw the Abyss Servant growing a new head, but its HP was reduced by 70%. However, her vision suddenly blurred a bit, and as if Abyss Servant knew that, it dashed forward with its scythe hands pointing towards Rin and released two ck projectile shes! Chapter 84 Deadly Battle, What Are They Cooking? 84 Deadly Battle, What Are They Cooking? Although dizzy, Rin saw the projectiles and pushed her legs to move away from their trajectory and dodged them. ''I have to finish it off,'' Rin locked onto the Abyss Servant as she fell after the jump and immediately used Lightning Dash while pping her lightning wings that she conjured with her lightning mastery. The new passive skill she gained recently also worked wonders, as her speed was sonic! [ Speed Force (2nd Tier passive skill): Movement speed and action speed increased by 20%. If you cross 10 meters distance in a second, +100% movement speed for one second. ] Her eyes flickered with lightning as she controlled the lightning and masterfully maneuvered with her wings as her hands swiped at the Abyss Servant, who had just stopped its dash at Rin''s previous spot. But this time, the Abyss Servant raised its arm to meet Rin''s de, indicating the creature''s quickness that didn''t seem less than Rin''s in this sh! However, a purple ball of lightning that manifested above Rin''s head instantly hit the Abyss Servant, dealing it damage and shocking it. Her recently acquired new talent, Lightning Pool, was such that it would absorb dispersed lightning elements from shes or from the atmosphere if they were present into an Ethereal Lightning pool where the lightning would constantly condense and refine. Ultimately, Rin can unleash a vtile condensed lightning ball based on the amount of lighting it absorbs. Paralyzed and shocked, the creature couldn''t channel power into its scythe arms as the sh onlysted 0.5 seconds before Rin''s de continued ahead. Her attack was stronger, and she had also spent 500 of her de energy to enhance her sword along with the Lightning charge. So, it cut through the Abyss Servant''s scythe arms before proceeding to behead the creature again. This time,plete death. However, that death came at an unexpected cost to Rin because right when Abyss Servant''s vitality hit 0%, all of its sttered strange flesh and the rest of the body gathered into a vtile ck and dark purple energy orb before it sted. -93! [You have killed a level 75 Abyss Servant. An Abyss Chest has been added to your inventory.] [You have leveled up to 72.] [2 unassigned stat points gained.] 20:38 "Urghh¡­" Rin groaned as her body trembled, and she fell. Her vision darkened, and her body coldly numbed. No pain, no difort. All she felt was an eerie numbness in her body and soul. ''W-What''s going on?'' Dread filled Rin as she looked at her status and felt death nearing her. ''No...'' Her vitality was dangerously low, and she couldn''t do anything. Her entire body was numb and out of her reach. She couldn''t even move her fingers. Fortunately, only silence remained in the valley while time passed. Rin calmed down and started meditating to recover herself. After she was able to move, she crawled towards a nearby tree and picked up a fruit. The fruit was a damn magic fruit that had healing effects. Maybe it was because of this energy and life-rich area that the Abyss Servant hatched here, but Rin felt fortunate that her first fight with an Abyss Servant was here. She ate the fruit and started recovering her vitality. After half an hour, Rin recovered half of her vitality while the debuffs that affected her from Abyss poison and that strange after-death st of Abyss Servant werepletely removed. After taking a deep breath, Rin opened her eyes and felt dness like never before. She was alive! "Fuck..." Rin sighed with a huge relief before she looked at her status and clicked her tongue. "These useless stat points. Can''t I do anything with them?" She wanted to recover her vitality, but those stat points were useless! [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 72 _Rank: Supra-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer (S) _Vitality: 108/200 _Stat points: 12 ¡ª> [ Strength: 200 + 20 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 200 +20 + 20 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 200 + 20 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 200 + 60 + 20 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 205 / Mana: 605/605] _Talent (2/3): , . _Skills: ¡ª> [ Lightning Empowerment (2nd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Sword Threads (2nd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Lightning Dash (2nd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Thunder Beads (1st Tier active skill) ] ______Passive Skills: [5/5]______ ¡ª> [ Body Boost (1st Tier passive skill): +20 all stats, + 100 Vitality. ] ¡ª> [ Speed Force (2nd Tier passive skill): Movement and action speeds increased by 20%. If you cross 10 meters distance at once, +100% movement speed for one second. ¡ª> [ Stamina Motor (1st Tier passive skill): +60 stamina, +20 Agility.] n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ¡ª> [ Sword Intent (2nd Tier passive skill): +20% Damage on sword attacks and attacks unleashed through a sword. 50% chance to critical hit when attacking an enemy''s weakness with a sword.] ¡ª> [ Precise Hits (1st Tier passive skill): Attacking the same spot with your melee weapon on a target will deal 20% extra damage. ] ______Special Skills: [1/3]______ ¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy (3rd Tier skill) ] "R-Rin¡­ What happened?" Nessa looked groggy and stood up while clutching her head. "That monster¡­ I-I know about it," Nessa''s expression was pained, and her eyes closed as some blurry memories became clear. "Lots of different Abyss Servants ¡­.they killed everyone," Nessa''s eyes showed ck wisps as he muttered, and her body suddenly quivered intensely before she fell again, unconscious. Rin frowned. ''Lots of them? What exactly happened with Nessa and her family? ''Hmmm, she might be of help in the main quests,'' Rin thought as she nodded to herself and walked towards Nessa. She picked up the basket to gather the magic fruits with different effects in this valley and was surprised when she inspected the basket. "A basket with inventory¡­ Great!" Afterward, she collected lots of fruits from the various trees and picked up Nessa before flying back to Elf Town. ¡­ On the other hand, Erix made a disturbing discovery. "Young man, what''s your name?" Mr. Railun asked with a somber expression. "If you don''t know where to go, I could tell you to go to a spot." "Don''t worry, sir. I am using my special ocr skill to observe the woond," Erix said with a polite smile. ''No way, right?'' Erix thought as he looked at Mr. Railun''s expression and eyes. "Alright, thank you for the help. Please look for them within your capabilities," Mr. Railun nodded with evident appreciation and flew back to the ground. Erix didn''t remain there any longer and flew north of the Netherwind Woond. After half an hour of observing, he found an aura trail going from the camp to the far west of the Netherwind Woond. The most important thing was that the trail started from Mr. Railun himself. ''Should I go there?'' Erix contemted going to the far west of the Netherwind Woond by following the trail to check that spot. ''But this Railun and that blond guy with him feels more powerful than me stats-wise,'' Erix was conflicted. Should he let whatever scheme they were cooking continue and ignore them? Or Should he poke his nose into this exceedingly interesting and curious scheme to satiate his curiosity and, by chance, get out with benefits while treading risks? *Crack..* Erix cracked his knuckles and sighed while smiling, his eyes producing thrilling gleams in them. ''Let''s see what they are cooking. If I tread this carefully, I just might get to eat the final dish.'' ¡­ But he stayed put for now and returned back to the camp. "No luck, Mr. Railun," Erix sighed. "I already appreciate the efforts." Mr. Railun turned to other adventurers and talked to them for a bit while Erix just roamed around the camp and nearby pond. ''Hmmm, I should today''s Limitless ne while waiting.'' Erix returned to the camp and entered one of the tents. The tents were big and spacious, and Erix shared them with a group of three adventurers who looked a few years older than Erix, but they were not in the camp. They were still outside investigating. ''It would be good if they stayed outside for one hour more,'' Erix thought before putting three barriers around him and setting up a simple trap he had learned in Limitless ne two days ago. Erix spent 100 mana and created five visible gray magic circles that appeared with entrically magic nodes in threeyers. After a second, the traps were masked by a simple metal coating with the word ''Trap'' on them. If anyone touched it or used magic around him, the traps would activate and unleash metal spikes toward whoever used magic, and Erix would also awaken. ''Done.'' Afterward, Erix closed his eyes and entered the Limitless ne. The edit I made in the previous chapter is below. Since every skill''s evolved, next tier form depended on individuals, even if two people have the same 1st Tier skills, they would be different when they evolved to 2nd Tier. Rin used her Sword Beam in different ways than what just the skill described, which was why her Sword Beam''s evolved form turned out to be Sword Threads, a more deadly and powerful form of the Sword Beam. Each thread pierced into the creature''s body when Rin''s de touched its neck and beheaded it. Abyss Servant''s head flew while her sword threads pierced out of its body in ck blood like a blooming flower. Eminent_Vellichor Chapter 85 Despairers 85 Despairers [You havepleted the first task. You have gained a 1-hour leave card.] Isabe heard the notification and smiled as she looked around her new house. It was a small house in a vige with one bedroom, hall, and kitchen. The living hall was not that big in this 200 square feet house, but there was a firece and a sofa. Isabe sat on the sofa and lit up the firece by consuming 1 point of Mana because the ce she had arrived was in a snowy region with snowynds and frozen water, and despite her high stats, she still felt cold. *Knock Knock¡­* Isabe went to open the door and immediately greeted the cold air first. ''It''s freezing despite my high stats. I wonder why¡­'' Isabe thought as her body slightly reacted to cold, but she quickly greeted the middle-aged woman standing outside. "Thank you for the help and this house, chief Venisa." Venisa kindly smiled and said, "It''s rare to get humans in our region, and you even helped us fend off that monster. It''s only fair that we help you in return." Venisa and other people in this vige were not humans but Maghas. Magha race people were just like humans except their skin was light blue, with a single 15-centimeter length frosty horn growing out of their forehead and a 1-2 meter long thin blue tail. And Venisa was the chief of one of the many viges in this region. "Sigh, we used to fend off the beasts and monsters, but I don''t know why they''ve been getting stronger recently," Venisa added with a tired sigh. "I see." Seeing Isabe''s rubbing her arms, Venisa smiled, "Follow me, dear. I''ll give you Feiceon''s blessing to rid of the cursed cold." Isabe was surprised, but she quickly responded with a smile and followed her. As she entered the vige center, she saw young Magha kids practicing with ice at an academy far north of a small hill and a few adult Maghas returning with baskets and entering Adventurer''s Guild. Maghas could naturally control ice, but the problem with monsters and beasts in this icy region was that most of them had high ice resistance, making smaller Magha viges without strong individuals struggle against powerful beasts unless they had their ancestor''s blessing. Fortunately, all viges had their ancestor''s statues, and by invoking the blessing with their bloodline connection, Maghas could get powerful ice blessing. Venisa nced at the academy and sighed. "Beasts and monsters are getting stronger quickly. We aren''t able to keep up recently." "Yes. I also felt something wrong with that Tunthrall, something ominous mixing in it," Isabe responded as she remembered the big eyes of that monster that contained strange darkness. But a gust of wind snapped her out of her daze. ''So cold¡­'' She rubbed her arms with her palms again to warm herself and created a few wisps of mes around her to get warm. ''Why is it more cold here?'' Venisa didn''t even turn around and said, "Don''t worry, you will feel less cold soon. This small snowy region is called Faiceon region and is blessed and cursed both." "If you are physically and magically stronger, you will feel more cold, but if you are weaker, you will feel nothing." "Of course, this doesn''t apply to us, but only those who came outside of Feiceon Region." "Don''t worry. You''ll be fine after getting our ancestor''s blessing," she added with a smile. Venisa led Isabe toward her big wooden house attached to a small mountain. Below her house was a cave entrance protected by two guards and a magic-enchanted gate. Venisa told the guards to open the gate before she led Isabe inside. After arriving at the end, Isabe was surprised to see a big natural cave with an ice statue at the center. The statue looked like a draconic humanoid wearing some armor sitting cross-legged. "This is the statue of our ancestors. Every vige has such a statue, which gives us a blessing that increases our ice power based on our bloodline purity." Vinesan bent down and sped her palms before closing her eyes. "To outsiders, it gives them protection from this region''s cursed coldness." Isabe inspected the statue. [ Statue of Feiceon (Replica) ] _Note: Something is corrupting it. ''This¡­'' Isabe was taken aback. ''Something corrupting it?'' n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A few secondster, the statue glowed because of whatever Venisa was doing. ''Should I even take this blessing if something is corrupting it?'' Isabe thought and immediately came up with the answer. ''No.'' On the other hand, the statue produced a dreamy icy wisp. "ept the blessing, dear. Don''t resist." Isabe gulped, clenched her fists, and closed her eyes. ''Reject this. I don''t want the blessing.'' ''Reject!'' Venisa was looking with a kind smile. But the next second, the wisp shattered instead of entering Isabe. Venisa was surprised. "Oh my, what happened?" Isabe feigned surprise and said, "I did as you said and epted the blessing. I don''t know why this happened." "Hmm, alright. Let''s try one more time," Venisa worriedly nodded and faced the statue again before sping her hands. ''Is she aware or not aware?'' Isabe thought as she looked at Venisa''s back. ''My guts tell me she doesn''t know this statue is corrupted,'' Isabe concluded and firmly nodded. ''Erix told us to trust our guts.'' (A/N: Thank you, Erix.) "Venisa, wait!" Isabe said in deliberate exmation and started Venisa, who was praying. "W-what happened?" Venisa turned around with slight panic and saw Isabe pointing at the statue''s eyes. "Venisa, something¡­something is in there," Isabe said with slight hesitance. ''Phew, I almost uttered corrupting.'' If she said corrupting, she feared that it would make Venisa angry. Although Maghas were peaceful and didn''t show any radical behavior despite being tribal and having an ancestor as their deity, back on Earth, Isabe had seen some fanatics of different religions and believers who would take anything negative word about their god to extreme levels and take drastic actions. "Something? Where?" Venisa looked at the statue and squinted her eyes, trying to find ''something.'' "The statue''s eyes. There''s something dark deep within them. Please look carefully," Isabe sincerely said in a stressful tone. There was truly there, something dark and ck whirling in its eyes. Venisa looked at the statue''s eyes with focus, choosing to believe Isabe because she was stronger and had saved their vige. But that was not the only reason because she was also feeling something ominous lingering in the air recently. ''What is it?'' Venisa narrowed her eyes and continued to focus for a few seconds before finally seeing the glimpse of something ck whirling deep within, in the realm of spirituality that connected her to the statue because of her years of prayers. If it was someone else, they might not have noticed it, and Isabe might have gotten into minor trouble. 16:12 "This ominous feeling is the same as what I saw in that Tunthrall," Isabe muttered. "That monster''s eyes?" Venisa was shocked and felt dread. "This is bad¡­ What is happening?" Isabe also wanted to know, and that was when It happened. Announcement notifications in a deep, despairing voice. They rang in every Earthling''s head who had entered the first floor: Aestian''s Realm. [ Despairers, you have found enough pieces and clues. ] Erix looked at where the trail had ended in the northeast of Netherwind Woonds, his expression dumbfounded. ''Seriously, what are they cooking?'' His heart was beating fast, and he was having goosebumps as he heard the first notification while looking at a pool of ck blood and two youngsters, a girl and a boy, nailed on the ground with two magic formations. Around them was a pool of ck blood with various types of flesh and bones belonging to beasts and monsters whirling inside. [ Despairers, you have seen enough to greet the darkness of this world. ] Rin was listening to Nessa telling her experience of the tragedy that took her family, and when she heard the second notification, she felt goosebumps. [ Despairers, you are in a world that is between maws of death.] When Nessa finished telling the climax of her experience, and Rin heard thest notifications, she felt a biting chill crawling down her spine. [ Despairers, the fate of this world depends on no one but you.] [ Save this world, and you will not only survive but also thrive. ] [ Let this world get destroyed, and you shall cease to exist with it. ] "That''s not much of a choice, init?" "Or maybe¡­there is?" [A new main quest has been added.] Chapter 86 Abyss Ritual Pool, Tent-Trio 86 Abyss Ritual Pool, Tent-Trio [ New Main Quest:- Progress and get powerful enough to join the top echelon of this world in resistance against the encroaching Abyss. Reach level 100 / Reward: Abyss Devourer Mark. ] ''Abyss Devourer Mark? Sounds like something very helpful against the Abyss enemies,'' Erix thought after reading the notification of the new main quest. ''Is that why the fate of this world is in our hands?'' [Warning. Abyss Encounter Detected.] [A new task has been added.] ''I guess it''s about that blood pool below,'' Erix opened his quest panel and saw that the new task was indeed about that. [ Tasks ] ¡ª> Settle in a house and get Adventurer''s ID. Reward: 1-hour leave card. ¡ª> Kill 20 Abyss Servants. Reward: 2-hour leave card. ¡ª> Destroy the Abyss Corruption Ritual Pool. / Reward: 2 level-ups, a Tier-1 random item box, or an Item recall box. ¡ª> ??? (More will generate as you move) ''Cool.'' Erix nodded to himself upon seeing the task. ''Better toplete a task when there''s an opportunity.'' ''But¡­'' Erix looked at a blob of aura in extreme zoom while almost three kilometers away from the ritual pool. That aura was just ten meters away from the ritual pool and belonged to the blond man. ''He is clearly guarding the pool.'' ''If I release Roaring Metal Cannon from here, there is a 100% chance of him dodging it, and if he also managed to protect the ritual pool, my efforts would be wasted.'' Erix rubbed his temples while trying to think of a good n toplete the task while minimizing the risks because one thing was clear: Mr. Railun and the blond man were more powerful than him. They were level 85 and 90, respectively. In this unknown world, he wanted to have a 100% chance of hitting his targets when he attacked because he didn''t know what kind of powers and skills they had. He wanted an advantage against his enemies right after any battle started. Erix briefly closed his while thinking of something before deciding. ''Alright, I should go with the second option.'' He quickly and silently flew further up before returning to the camp. After entering his tent, he saw that his tent-mates had returned¡ªthree men in their midte twenties with ck hair and cool outfits. One wore a leather-metal armor outfit, one wore a dark gold robe, and one had a light leather ranger outfit. "Hi," Erix took the initiative to greet them with a friendly smile. "Did you make any progress in the investigation?" "I think it''s none of your business, right?" Erix wryly smiled and said, "I think it is if you want to get those ten thousand gold coins." "What do you mean?" "I know a clue that might lead us to the missing siblings. You see¡­ I don''t want to wander alone in this dangerous ce, but if it''s with you three, we can seed." "Haha, if you have a clue, then why don''t you go to Mr. Railun? You''ll be easily rewarded if your clue is useful and leads them to find the siblings." "That''s right. So, stop with your bullshit." "What do you want from us?" ''They are confident and think they are smart enough not to get fooled. Hmmm. Alright, it will be better to reel them in with the truth. A bait is a bait regardless of it came.'' "What I really want is your help," Erix said with a somber expression before he waved his hand and created a harmless mana barrier that enveloped everyone in the tent to prevent the sound from escaping from it. "Help? We can help, but nobody gives it for free." "We''ll decide its fees after hearing your situation." ''Does being at level 70-75 gives them this much confidence?'' Erix wondered. ''Or do they also have some powerful trump cards?'' ''Good for me if they have it.'' "The situation is not terrible for only me, but for everyone," Erix said as he adopted a somber expression. "Mr. Railun already knows where his kids are, so he is lying about this whole mission from the start." "I told you we don''t want to hear crap." "Shut up and listen you idiots," Erix said with an annoyed expression. "You better have a good reason for calling us idiots." The three of them took out their weapons¡ªone sword, one a staff, and another a pair of daggers. ''Looks like a great team,'' Erix internally nodded. "What I am saying is truth, and if you want proof, I can give you right now if you follow me to the northwest where there''s a big bloody pool and those siblings nailed into a ground of magic circles. It''s like some ritual." When Erix finished speaking, he saw a visible shock in the trio''s eyes that surprised him. ''They wouldn''t be shocked if they didn''t believe me, but they are shocked¡­'' ''So they believe me? That''s unexpected. I thought I would have to do more.'' "What''s the point? We are far away from the capital." "Don''t tell me you two want to destroy the ritual ourselves? That''s dangerous!" ''Ritual?'' Erix was taken aback. ''Do they know about the abyss ritual and shits rted to it?'' N?v(el)B\\jnn "Ahem, if you got reinforcements, you should call them," Erix suddenly spoke loudly to attract their attention. "It''s dangerous for just us four." ''If their reinforcement has some connection with top echelons, I should be able to get more information by joining them.'' ''Even if I am not level 100 yet, I should still be near the higher ranks of power in this world,'' Erix thought as he looked at the trio. ''These three are around my level but still know more than me, so I might also get recruited.'' This was the shortest shortcut to getting information, but it didn''t seem easy. "Reinforment is impossible to arrive in time because we don''t have much time if the Abyss Ritual is active. We have to destroy it before an Abyss Harbinger manifests there." Erix frowned. ''My first missionpletely failed since it''s fake from the start, and now there''s this trouble of an Abyss Harbinger¡­manifesting?'' "We have to gather the help of everyone," one of them said with furrowed brows. "Hold on," Erix interrupted. "You can''t look suspicious in front of Mr. Railun. That guy can probably kill us instantly if he gets the initiative on us." "What''s your name?" "Erix." "So, what do you propose, Erix?" The trio stood arm-crossed, their expression severe. "Let''s go and destroy that Abyss Ritual pool. I have an attack that can destroy it, but there''s that blond man standing guard around it, so I can''t use my obvious attacking from the sky because it will give him plenty of time to prepare his defense." "But if thatnded?" the tallest one at 6''2 height asked with narrowed eyes. Erix grinned. "The entire pool area will be erased." The guy with thick eyebrows snorted, "It doesn''t matter if you help or not, but don''t get in our way in that ce. Even If your attack fails, we''ll still destroy that ritual pool after killing that blond-haired man." "Uhh, sure." "Good." "Lead us to the location of the pool." "Follow me," Erix tly said before he turned around and dispersed his barrier. ''Why are these guys so arrogant? Or are they really confident?'' Erix internally mused as he flew up and led them to the north. "We''ll go north first and then northwest," Erix informed them after turning his head back. "We don''t want Railun getting suspicious of us." After all, Railun had told everyone that his son and daughter were lost in the northeast of the woond, so no one was searching in the northwest. ''Well, let''s hope nothing goes wrong.'' Chapter 87 Magic Waves, Windfury Blaster, Roaring Metal Cannon 87 Magic Waves, Windfury ster, Roaring Metal Cannon After leading them to the north for a while, Erix told them to fly above the clouds and move towards the Northwest. Seeing the ground from this height was usually impossible, but Erix had talent and skill. He zoomed in while observing and identifying each aura. ''Now, if I can just inspect while zooming, it would be perfect,'' Erix dryly thought despite knowing that this wish wouldn''t get fulfilled. After Erix arrived above the spot, he stopped. "Alright, we are at the location." "You go attack the blondy and leave the ritual pool to me, "Erix said before he paused for a bit and adopted a serious expression, "You do know that you have to kill him quickly before he calls Railun, right?" ''Although I will drop my attack before that happens.'' "We know that. It will be hard to take on both Railun and that blond man, even for us three." "Cool. Then go and have a st." The trio nodded before the one wearing the robe raised his staff as the crystal on top of it briefly shined. Four wisps left the crystal a secondter before entering Erix and the other three. [You have gained a buff, Blood Boost.] Erix inspected the new buff in detail. [Blood Boost: Increase your strength and healing recovery by 25% for five minutes or until your vitality falls below 50%. This buff''s effect is halved on those above level 100.] "Thanks," Erix nodded. The trio flew down with their weapons gleaming coldly and magic whirling powerfully, ready to draw someone''s blood. On the other hand, Erix wasted no time and essed his Origin Region to take out his new Death Bone that he created from a level 68 mutated monster called Snap Shot Ant. That monster Ant was quite frankly the most brutal monster that Erix and the gang faced because its unique snap-shot mandibles and mouth were quick and deadly. It was dangerous not just in melee range but also in long range. Whenever the Ant snapped its mandibles at almost supersonic speed, it would shoot a my green round projectile with incredible power and speed. That nightmarish Ant had actually sniped other people to death in the forest before it was trapped by Erix''s metal cuffs and a several low damage but snaring skills by Erix''s and Leon''s group. ''Good thing that my Death Bones are part of my ss and didn''t get deleted,'' Erix smiled as he saw his new Death Bone manifesting before him. A fifteen-centimeter wide ck barrel with pulsing wind-green and blood-red curvy patterns. It was half a meter long before the rest of its body manifested, revealing a trigger and a holder at its back. [ Death Bone: Windfury ster ] _Type: Projectile Death Bone. _Cost: 100-800 undead energy per shot. _Attack: 650 + 200% of Undead energy consumed + 150% of magic power. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Shock ster: The projectile travels at a supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier and dealing corresponding extra damage borne from speed along with a powerful wind shockwave upon the projectile''s impact. ¡ª> Death Smear: All defenses and barriers gradually decay via corrosion upon being impacted by the projectile shot. The decay speed depends on the target''s durability/robustness and the user''s consumed undead energy. Erix pointed his cannon at the bloody pond between the two siblings on the tform. Afterward, he used his newly created skill. Roaring Metal Cannon _Rank: Tier-2 _Grade: Common/created. _Cost: 500 mana. _Effect: A spiky ball of finely condensed andpressed metal. Powerful and study, the user can control this ball to wreak havoc. If propelled with enough speed to gether kic energy, it can deal devastating physical damage while Erix took a deep breath as his eyes faintly glowed with a grey aura, and his mana rapidly consumed as a spherical frame of magic with seven simpleyers of nodes formed before it turned into a condensed metal orb of metallic dark gray color, with thick spikes all around on it in perfect allotment of space between each of them. ''Shit, I consumed the usual amount,'' Erix cursed. He consumed 500 mana but only wanted to use 400 for a slightly weaker metal ball to save some mana. ''I hope I won''t have to scurry away immediately.'' The formation of this skill had sevenyers because Erix passed his mana through those sevenyers of nodes to refine and condense the iron elements into a powerful metal ball. When designing this skill, Erix had reached his limit of creating nodes andyers in the frame. But thanks to his experiments in Limitless ne, he also learned what determined his limit and acquired new knowledge. He discovered an unseen and hard-to-sense force in his Origin Region that he consumed to design a magic skill''s formation when he couldn''t create more nodes in his magic frame. It was called Magic Waves. The notification gave him the name of this force after he discovered it and focused on it. The numerical measurement of magic waves was a simple multiplication of Mana and Magic. But the magic waves were a unique type of force because they worked collectively, like one having a fixed budget. If you used half of the budget to build one house and the other half to build a second house, both houses would be smaller. However, if you used all budget in one house, it would be bigger. But whether this house was excellent or poor depended on the craftsmanship, painting, foundation, design, and such. ->Budget = Magic Waves = frame,yers, and nodes/ magic formation. ->Craftmentship, foundation, etc. = one''s ability to weave the frame,yers, and nodes to bring out the full potential of their mana, magic control, affinities, and other knowledge to create apelling skill of their design and vision. House = skill. So, Erix''s Roaring Metal Cannon skill took all of his magic waves in its creation, although he only used a few simple principles of magic that he knew in the magic formation. Condense,press, and shape. The skill was basically shaping a huge amount of metal into a sphere,pressing it, and condensing its structure to make it tough, spiky, and strong. This shaping, condensing, andpression depended on Erix''s magic control. ''Show me your power in its glory,'' Erix thought as a slight tremble of excitement coursed through his body. After all, the giant spiky metal cannonball was right before the barrel entrance of Windfury ster that could unleash wind sts in supersonic speed, and Erix wanted to shoot his Roaring Metal Cannon with it! However, just as he intended to press the trigger, a notification rang in his ears. [ Despairer, it is time for you to choose. ] [ Would you continue your attack knowing that you will kill two innocent young ones who were used as sacrifice and medium by their corrupted father? ] [ or ] "Fuck the second choice. I don''t have time to save nobodies while risking my life," Erix coldly snorted but didn''t pull the trigger and waited. ''Unless that second choice gives me more benefits.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om [ Would you save the two young ones first and then destroy the Abyss Ritual Pool? ] "Will I get any additional rewards if I choose the second option?" "No response? Well..." Erix cracked a grin. ''A nobody''s life alive is not useful if I am not alive to use or benefit from it.'' ''Wait, the 10,000 gold coin mission reward... those siblings might give me if I save them.'' But a secondter, Erix shook his head. ''I have to earn a lot more than that, so it''s better I finish this task, get its reward, and some quick benefits here before moving on.'' At that, Erix pulled the trigger of Windfury ster. And right after he pulled the trigger, Erix got another dumbfounding notification that caused drops of sweat to form on his face. Chapter 88 Onwards to Yorik Kingdom, Star-Frost Wings 88 Onwards to Yorik Kingdom, Star-Frost Wings ''So it was a test? Jeez¡­'' [ You have made the correct choice, Despairer. If you had chosen to save the siblings, you would have died with a 98% chance, as those siblings were also corrupted. ] [ Please always exert maximum caution before anything rted to Abyss. ] *BOOM!* On the other hand, his Roaring Metal Cannon only took a second to hit the ground, something Erix didn''t expect to happen. With widened eyes, Erix looked below and zoomed in to see a giant crater with nothing left of the so-called Abyss Ritual Pool! [Congrattions! You have destroyed the Abyss Ritual Pool.] [You havepleted the task¡­. Erix heard reward notifications while he flew down, but he was focused on the situation below. ''They are alive?'' He saw the faint and weak auras a bit far away from the crater, numbering four. ''All of them are alive, but that blondy is on the verge of dying.'' He finally descended to the center of the crater and couldn''t help but grin as he looked at the destructure he caused. Even he didn''t know that thebo of Windfury Cannon and Roaring Metal Cannon could be this powerful! ''No one can stay alive if I drop thisbo on anyone back on Earth...probably.'' Shaking his head, Erix focused back on the business. ''Those trio, they are recovering quickly,'' Erix turned his back to the auras five hundred meters away. A couple of secondster, Erix saw the blond man''s life aura disappearing, leaving only his residual aura. ''These three are definitely not your average Tom, Dick, and Harry.'' After all, he had felt a threat from level 85 blondy. It was not a level 85 beast or monster but an experienced hunter! The trio then quickly recovered their vitality using potions as Erix saw their aura recovering brightness. Erix just waited upon seeing them approaching him. "What in the hell was that, Erix?" The trionded before Erix, their expressions showing surprise and shock. "That was absolutely deadly. We would have died if we were not already far from here." ''Maybe,'' Erix internally scoffed. "Or were you nning to kill us altogether?" the tallest one suddenly asked as his nose slightly puffed and his brows furrowed. "Of course not," Erix wryly smiled. "Even I didn''t know that thebo of¡­two skills would be this powerful," he said with a slight pause in the middle to change his words to avoid mentioning his Death Bone. "Anyway, let us quickly go before that Railunes here. We can''t beat him and the dragon together," the guy with thick eyebrows said as he looked in the direction of the camp. They were 40 kilometers away from the camp, but it wouldn''t take long for Railun and that dragon toe here with their speed. "Erix, you cane with us for a while since I feel you can assist us more." Erix quickly wanted to say yes, but he restrained and rubbed his chin before nodding. "You three are not bad, so I''ll apany you. Alright, where are we going?" The trio''s eyebrows twitched, hearing Erix''s tone. "We are going to this region''s ruler, Yorik Kingdom," the tallest ck-haired guy said as he stepped forward and stretched his hand toward Erix. "I am Darius Khroll, from Khroll Dukedom of Yorik Kingdom." "I am Dn Lokam, from Lokam Dukedom," said the ck-haired guy with blue eyes. "I am Xander Lokam, Dn''s younger brother," said the shorted ck haired guy with bronze eyes. ''Darius, Dn, and Xander? And there''s a kingdom. It looks like I got myself into a useful party,'' Erix internally smiled. "I am Erix, Just Erix. Nice to meet you." ''I need more power and better skills. If magic is long established in this world, there should have a library or something in the kingdom or anything useful rted to magic¡­right?'' Erix''s eyes excitedly glinted as he followed the trio in the sky, flying towards the Yorik Kingdom! ¡­ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Destroy this statue!" "B-But chief¡­." "Do it!" Isabe watched Chief Venisa order four Magha men to destroy their ancestor''s statue. "The statue is corrupted by something ominous, so the blessings we get might harm us," Venisa said, her expression somber. "Destroy it!" After destroying the statue, Venisa led Isabe into the Chief House and wrote something on a paper before giving it to Isabe. [A new task has been added.] "Iseballe, I know this is too much to ask, but we need your help to deliver this letter to Starfrost Magha Tribe." After saying that, Venisa took out a map from her storage ring and gave it to Isabe. "This is the map. It''s sixty kilometers away from here, so the road will be tough, but¡­'' Venisa bit her lips. "No one here is as powerful as you and capable of reaching the Starfrost Magha tribe." "The only thing I have to offer is a valuable skill stone that Starfrost Magha Tribe''s leader gave me two years ago," Venisa smiled and took out a beautiful finger-sized sea blue crystal with entric icy and sparkling blue patterns. "I was saving it for someone talented in our tribe, but we are in a desperate situation," Venisa grabbed Isabe''s hand and put the skill stone on Isabe''s hand. "And I trust you will use this skill stone well and help us." ''What terrible thing did she feel when she looked at the statue''s eye that made her this desperate?'' "I will help you, chief Venisa," Isabe nodded with a reassuring smile. "But can you tell me what you know about that strange thing in the statue?" "I don''t know anything about it," Venisa shook her head before she sighed, "but every ancestor''s statue in this region has the power of ancestor''s divinity in them." "But¡­something still managed to corrupt the statue. I can''t help but feel that a disaster is brewing if there is a power here capable of corrupting our ancestor''s statues," Venisa''s wrinkled brows furrowed. "If all statues are corrupted, I don''t know what will happen, so I must inform others." Venisa looked at Isabe straight in her eyes and somberly continued, "Once the Starfrost Magha tribe gets this letter, leader Kukul will inform others and investigate." "I see. Then Chief Venisa, I''ll depart in a few minutes after returning to the house." "Thank you, dear. We will never forget this favor." Isabe left Chief Venisa''s house while looking at the new task. ¡ª> Deliver the letter to Starfrost Magha Tribe and decide your next move. / Rewards: +1 level, Item recall box, and 1x Labyrinth shop ticket. ''This skill will help me a lot,'' Isabe thought as she couldn''t help but smile upon sensing the new skill rune in her Origin Region. The skill was the main reason why she epted the task. After all, it was a 3rd Tier skill! [Star-frost Guardian Wings] _Rank: 3rd Tier. _Cost: 300 mana. _Description: Mainfests a pair of Star-frost Wings for one hour. The speed of flying and effectiveness of skill quirks depends on the user''s magic stat. _Effect: +200 ice resistance, +200 Ice damage. _Skill Quirks: ¡ª> Star-Frost Hurricane / cost: 30 mana. ¡ª> Star-Frost Drift / cost: 10 mana. ''Powerful! A skill with more skills inside?'' Isabe was amazed. She wanted to try out the skill immediately but showed restraint and returned to her house first. Chapter 89 Destination: Star-Frost Magha Tribe Chapter 89 Destination: Star-Frost Magha Tribe Isabe departed shortly, but she knew this journey of sixty kilometers wouldn''t be easy even with wings because this dangerous region became even more dangerous with the Abyss corrupting it. The monsters here were highly aggressive and immediately attacked after noticing someone. But Isabe couldn''t afford to fight every beast she encountered and was saving her energy. However, a monster that she couldn''t escape from started hunting her after she was just ten kilometers away from the destination! A level 85 Frigid ss Eagle! With a sharp cry, the monster unleashed a glossy bolt of ice toward Isabe, who quickly used her Wind Rider skill to dodge the attack as a burst of wind gracefully pushed her twenty meters away from the attack in a second in an arch motion. Wind Rider was an evolved version of the Wind Dash skill, and it allowed Isabe to dash quickly onnd and do a quick flight for a considerable distance at a breakneck speed in the air or even in water. However, the bolt exploded mid-air despite Isabe dodging the attack, and its shockwave still struck her, causing her to be slightly unstable while flying and receive minor damage as she lost 22 vitality. ''I have to finish it off,'' Isabe thought as she spent 10 mana to use Star-Frost Drift. ''That Tunthrall was stronger than this eagle, so I should be able to kill it with my strongestbo.'' Star-Frost Drift: Unleashes a burst of starfrost light from wings to travel 1 kilometer in any direction instantly. Isabe apparently vanished before the monster''s eyes, but it immediately followed the trail while using some sort of skill to speed up, as if seemingly riding the wind, and appeared behind Isabe in just two seconds. However, Isabe knew the monster would catch up again and was ready for it! She pointed her palm at the Eagle right when it arrived behind her as a powerful fiery aura rose from her. *Shri! Immediately, ten fire tentacles manifested from her palm as they stretched ten-meter long and one meter thick at the end! They wrapped tightly around the Frigid ss Eagle as its flight gradually stopped, and Isabe also slowed down. The monster struggled, and its vitality slowly reduced to burning mes! me Tentecles was none other than the evolved version of me Whip skill! She got it afterpleting me Whip''s evolution tasks. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om On the other hand, the monster cried angrily as its vitality was reducing, causing it to prepare a big burst of power to break off the tentacles. But Isabe wasn''t about to give it the time to escape. ''zing Spark.'' *Snap!* With a snap of her finger, the tentacles detached from her palms with something additional in them and reduced in length while gettingpressed towards their other parts that wrapped around the Frigid ss Eagle. It was as if lighting a trail of a ssic TNT as those ten tentacles'' length reduced, but the fiery and increased power in them was evident! In the next second, all tentacles sted magnificently! Isabe had only created one skill after spending 1 hour daily in the Limitless ne. But that one skill was highly refined by her every day, and it was recognized as a 2nd Tier just yesterday. [zing Spark] _Rank: Tier-2 _Grade: Common/Created. _Cost: 200-500 Ether energy/Mana. _Effect: Adds a vitality bead of condensed me in any existing me to ignore the bead and cause it to consume other mes for a powerful me explosion. This 2nd Tier skill took fewer Magic Waves than Erix took for this 2nd Tier skill, but both skills'' use, property, and effects werepletely different. The only thing that was the same was that they both were simply themon-grade skills of the 2nd Tier but had power higher than regr higher-graded 2nd Tier skills because¡­they were affinity-based and self-created skills tobine with their other skill for higher power and effectiveness! Isabe had awakened Fire Affinity, so she also knew some magic principles of me automatically and applied them to create this skill of fire element. And the best thing was that she could also use Ether energy to cast this skill! [You have killed level 85 Frigid ss Eagle. Dropped reward: 1x random consumable item box.] [You have reached level 72.] ''Nice, I leveled up twice already aftering into this world,'' Isabe smiled and continued flying towards the Star-Frost Magha Tribe''s location and took out the random item box before opening it. "Two mana recovery potions? Great," Isabe immediately chugged half of a mana potion to recover her mana while flying. [~Isabe~] _Race: Human _Level: 72 _Rank: Supra-Order _ss: Primo Elemental Mage (S) _Vitality: 200/200 _Stat points: 18 ¡ª> [ Strength: 200 (+60) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 200 / Mana: 640/640 ] _Talents (2/3): , . _Skills: ______Active Skills: [5/5]______ ¡ª> [ Star-Frost Wings (3rd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ me Tentacles (2nd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Wind Rider (2nd Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Regrow Spirit (1st Tier active skill) ] ¡ª> [ Special Soldier (Normal ss passive skill): Combat expertise of a soldier. ] ¡ª> [ Healing Touch (1st Tier active skill) ] ______Passive Skills: [5/5]______ ¡ª> [ Vital Power (1st Tier passive skill): Strength +60, Vitality +100 ] ¡ª> [ Special Soldier (Normal ss passive skill): Combat expertise of a soldier. ] ¡ª> [ Earth Armor (1st Tier passive skill): A ethereal thin condense armor of earth is always coated around you. +100 Earth resistance +100 defense. ¡ª> [ Cure Fountain (1st Tier passive skill): Your healing effectiveness is increased by 15%, and your healing skill removes one debuff from the target. ¡ª> [ Fire Aura (2nd Tier active skill): Increase Fire damage by 30% and Fire resistance by 50% + 100. ] ______Special Skills: [1/3]______ ¡ª> [ Mother''s Unbounded Love (2 triggers left) ] After flying for a short while, she finally neared her destination. ''Behind that mountain range?'' Isabe flew over and was greeted by a magnificent sight! It was a big town of beautiful ice and wood buildings and abundant use of magic! ''This tribe is big,'' Isabe was amazed at the beautiful ice and wood structured tribe with colorful decorations and trible aesthetic design. ''The Maghas here are a bit different,'' Isabe was surprised to see unique patterns on many Maghas'' faces, limbs, and such parts. Naturally, the guards also noticed and flew toward her. They had simr but slightly less refined Star-Frost wings behind their back, and their expressions showed clear surprise as they looked at Isabe with their tribe''s signature wings behind her back. "Who are you, humandy? Why do you have our tribe''s Star-Frost wings?" Chapter 90 Yorik Kingdom, Tricky Path Chapter 90 Yorik Kingdom, Tricky Path Rin and Nessa arrived at the west periphery of the Num Forest after Nessa told Rin about her story as she regained her memories after encountering the Abyss Servant. "It is there behind the mountains," Nessa said as she pointed at a faraway mountain range with its peaks covered by thick clouds. "We were returning from the Velfion Kingdom, so we entered from there," Nessa added with dread in her eyes. "There were over fifty Abyss Servants, a big bloody pool, and a few other strange things there." "I see," Rin nodded with narrowed eyes. ''I want to hunt Abyss Servants, but that ce is too dangerous¡­ I need more power and levels first.'' "Rin, let''s go to Velfion Kingdom and inform them about this," Nessa said with a somber expression. "Now that I remember the location, we will tell them and lead them here to clear Abyss corruption." [ You have received a new task. ] ¡ª> Go to the Velfion Kingdom with Nessa and decide your next move from there. / +1 level, Item recall box, 1x Labyrinth Shop Ticket. ''Shop ticket? Is it used to spend the Labyrinth Points?'' Rin wondered. She had 10,390 Labyrinth Points after getting all of her items destroyed with the floor openings, but she didn''t know where to spend them. "Alright, let''s go to the Velfion Kingdom." ¡­ ''Wow, this is great,'' Erix thought as he looked at the stretching ground filled with generous tall buildings, beautiful and colorful structures of stones, crystals, and woods, and lots of people! Yorik Kingdom''s capital, Yorik City! Erix even produced a passing thought of living here for a second, but he gained a better thought the next second. ''With structure-type dungeons and learning magic technology here, we can build even better on Earth,'' Erix thought. ''The guild area will increase more and more as we level up guilds, so something like a guild town is also possible eventually.'' "We have to descend at the gates, Erix. Let''s go down." Erix nodded and followed them. The tall towers ced throughout the town ensured that no one entered the city without detection. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om After entering the town with the somewhat famous trio that all guards and many people knew, Erix looked at wonders of magic incorporated into the daily life of people everywhere in the town. "Wait for that¡­what''s that?" Erix suddenly paused and pointed at a big building with a giant cauldron magical projection and some unreadable words. "That''s the Alchemy guild," Darius said with a weird expression as he looked at Erix. "You sound like you''ve seen it the first time." "Yeah, it''s my first time seeing it," Erix smiled. "The ce where I lived before didn''t have anything like that." "Strange, but okay. We can''t bring you to the royal pce, so roam around until we get back at you," Dn said before taking out a strange ck card with white and silver patterns. "This is am card. Keep it with you, and I''ll contact you through it once we are done." Erix took the strange card and inspected it while those three left. [Communication Card] _Range: 100-kilometer. _Contacts: 3. _Use: infuse 1 mana point and select a contact from the list to initiatemunication. ''So it''s a magical walky-talky? Cool.'' Afterward, Erix started roaming in the magical capital of the Yorik kingdom. ''If there''s an Alchemy guild, then there should be guilds for other professions too,'' Erix thought as he walked on a random main road in a luxurious area. ''I wonder if they teach them¡­'' After a while, Erix arrived before a huge building of ten stories in the shape of a ssic mountain and mountains theme. ''Damn!'' Erix cursed under his breath upon looking at the incredible structure. '' Magsmith guild, here Ie!'' ¡­ "To join the first basic Magsmith learning ss, you must pay 10,000 gold coins, sir. Moreover, you''ll only awaken your Griomoire if you have an affinity with this work or develop it in the basic ss." "If you can''t develop your affinity and awaken your Griomoire even afterpleting the basic Magsmith ss, then consider that Magsmithing is not in your destiny." "I see. Thank you for the information." Erix left the floor one entry hall and went straight towards the Adventurer''s Guild in the city. ''I haven''t evenpleted my first task of getting a house, but that trio might give me a temporary roof, which shouldplete the first task.'' ''But before that, let''s earn some gold coins.'' Erix picked up a few missions of ying various monsters for their body parts and went out to hunt them in Water-Leaf Fields. Water-Leaf Fields was arge area of 80% water and 20%nd. The ce had unique blue-green trees growing high from thousands of water bodies below. Erix entered the field and saw arrays of ponds andkes with huge treesing out of them and all water bodies connected to each other in some way. Many people were hunting monsters in the entry periphery, but Erix''s targets were deeper, so he continued flying ahead. ''Blue-Eyed frogs should be here ording to the map,'' Erix thought as he triggered his Aura Gear and started searching. But suddenly, he got a new task, a unique type. ¡ª> Choose your task. -Option 1: Help a tribe of Merfolks northwest of Water-Leaf fields to kill Marquis Hamrax''s men and save them/ Reward: +1 level, 1x Labyrinth Shop ticket, +500 Labyrinth Points, Favor of Merfolks. -Option 2: Help Marquis Hamrax''s men kill Merfolks to harvest the valuable pearl eyes of the PearlEye Merfolk Tribe. / Reward: +1 level, 1x Labyrinth shopt ticket, 1000 Labyrinth points. ''Marquis Hamrax?'' Erix paused to think, but a Blue-Eyed frog suddenly popped out of the pond below and opened his mouth before releasing a dark blue water orb swirling with powerful magic. ''Can''t do without these gauntlets.'' Erix grinned as he smashed his fists together, equipped with none other than Radiant Crush Gauntlets! He was already aware of a few lifeforms in the pond with his Aura Gear and casually punched the iing orb attack. *Shatter!* The attack was shattered into motes and dispersed. The item recall box in the reward contained a list of his destroyed items! He could pick one of them, so he picked Radiant Crush Gauntlets. After all, this pair of gauntlets was the most powerful item of Erix because he had spent most of his Upgrade Stones in these gauntlets. On the other hand, the frog was about to release another attack, but Erix used Nether Call as a ck faceless humanoid with dark purple wisps stered on its body conjured behind the frog and grabbed it before flying up. At the same time, Erix also readied his punch and attacked the iing monster by spending 30 mana to execute his refined Imposing Fist. [You have killed a level 75 Blue-Eyed Frog. An umon-grade healing potion has been added to your inventory.] ''Eh? Do we have consumables by killing monsters in this world?'' [Yes. Killing monsters on this floor might reward you with a consumable item or a box containing more than one consumable item.] Erix thought he wouldn''t gain anything since the monsters didn''t just vanish after he killed them in this world but dropped a few of their valuable parts as material-type items. After putting the materials the monster frog dropped into his inventory, Erix killed five more Blue-Eyed Frogs toplete one of his missions and then flew Northwest while thinking about the new task. ''Hmmm¡­ If only I had more information on both parties'' backgrounds, I could derive the consequences and rewards of both options.'' ''Wait..'' Erix paused his flight and took out themunication card. [ Erix: Hello, can you hear me? ] [ Dn: Why did you call? ] [ Erix: Do you know Marquis Hamrax? ] [ Dn: Of course. He is a Marquis of Yorik Kingdom. His territory is on the other side of Water-Leaf Field. ] [ Darius: Why are you asking about that trash?] ''Eh? Multiple people can join themunication like a conference call. Nice.'' ''And this Darius seems to have some bad blood against this Marquis Hamrax.'' [ Erix: Nothing. I heard some people here talking about Marquish Harmax, so I thought about asking you about him. ] [ Darius: That piece of trash is a cousin of the second royal prince. You should steer away from him, or he''ll use you and chew you out. ] [ Erix: I see. Thanks for letting me know. ] Erix cut themunication and put the card into his inventory before cracking his index finger with a thoughtful expression. ''If he is a piece of trash that use and chew out...'' A devilish grin stretched across Erix''s face. ''And finally, my guts also tell me I should choose the first option.'' After flying for a while with his Aura Gear activated, Erix suddenly saw a few residual presences. ''It seems that they died recently.'' He knew that there was an entire world below these waters in the Water-Leaf region but didn''t know extensive and deep it was. After diving into theke, he saw four dead bodies of Merfolks. Two of them had human legs, but the other two had fishtails instead of legs. ''Strange, can they transform at will?'' Erix reduced his presence and moved towards a giant tunnel, which was basically an underwater path. After crossing it, he saw a huge cave spanning several kilometers with beautiful houses and other unique sea-stone structures. However, the beauty was ruined by blood and destruction. "Kill every single one of them!" "Arghhhh!" The thirty-eight humans in adventurer-style clothing were fighting against around a hundred Merfolks. However, those Merfolks'' levels ranged from 40 to 60, while those thirty people belonging to Marquis Hamrax were above level 70! Chapter 91: Troubled Waters, Extra boons Nobody had noticed Erix yet, and he took this chance to prepare his moves. He hid behind a coral reef and stone before conjuring his Roaring Metal Cannon by consuming 300 mana. Since he spent 300 mana, it was smaller than the one he used on Abyss Ritual Pool. ''Good. All of them are focused onbat.'' Erix nced at the battlefield to check the situation as he saw a group of adventurers bombarding projectile attacks on Merfolks. The Merfolks were pressured to put on defensive formations, with only a few capable of attacking despite their higher number. ''Several already died since they were trying to get close to humans but failing.'' ''Alright, let''s end this.'' Erix pointed his Windfury Cannon at the group of humans and put his Roaring Metal Cannonball before its mouth. "Go," Erix muttered and pulled the trigger as the Windfury Cannon''s patterns shone, and Erix''s Undead Energy was reduced by 800 as he released the maximum powered shot! *Zoom!* The Roaring Metal Cannonball shot forward, covered, and pushed by Windfury Cannon''s power! *BOOOM!!* [ You have killed a level 71 human. ] [ You have killed a level 78 human. ] [ You have¡­] A total of eighteen notifications rang as his one attack killed eighteen unsuspecting assholes and injured the rest to a varying degree! But Erix didn''t just stay back to enjoy his result. He shot forward into the frey while the rest of Hamrax''s men were recovering from the impact since they didn''t escape unscathed even if they were alive! *Swoosh!* Erix summoned his Bullrage Zombie that he created by using ten level 50 zombie dolls and a core of a level 69 mutated monster, Magma Rock Bull. Erix felt his ss scuffed because Zombie had stopped leveling up after reaching 50, so his Zombie Fest skill had limited potential since half of its power was based on zombies and the other half was based on a monster''s core. "Ghraaaa!" Bullrage Zombie issued a weird roar before the giant bull horns on its head cracked like veins with magma patterns and grewrger. With its powerful horn skill activated, Bullrage Zombie used me Rush and shot forward like a train, killing two injured humans in one go. It also opened its mouth and released exploding orb towards other, doing arge area damage towards the others. ''Nice work,'' Erix chuckled and fought with two men who were better off than the rest. One of them conjured a barrier since Merfolks also rushed forward and finally started hurling their attacks. But Erix pulled out his Amberros Death gun and released a 600 Undead Energy shot that quickly eroded the barrier, inviting their ultimate doom. What happened after that was history, with all Merfolk attacking and killing the rest of Hamrax''s men within a minute with Erix''s help as he used his Nether Call to conjure the Nether Demon that released ck smokey grasps to bind Hamrax''s men. The evolved version of Nether Grasp was situational but powerful. After the battle was over, a lean-muscled man with light blue skin and dark blue lightning patterns approached Erix and handed him six storage rings. "Thank you for helping us. I am Mizaran, the leader of this tribe." "Out of ten storage rings, we''ve chosen four random ones and decided to give you the rest. I hope you are fine with it." "I''ll take them." ''Great. They should have gold coins and other things,'' Erix thought as he readily epted the rings and put them in his inventory. "May I know your name, savior?" "Mr. Erix. We sincerely thank you for helping us, and we owe you a favor," the man bent his back and slightly bowed in arc position. Erix rubbed his chin and asked, "What can I do with your favor?" "That¡­," Mizaran was sent into a thoughtful state before he said after a few seconds. "We have a few valuable things in our tribe''s trove, or I-If you want, I can give you a pair of our eyes." "Ah, no. I don''t want your eyes," Erix ruefully smiled as he waved his palms. He didn''t want any eyeballs around his ears or neck, no matter how beautiful. "Please follow me. I''ll show you our tribe''s trove." After saying that, Mizaran walked towards his house, and Erix followed up. "Hmm? Are you all leaving?" Erix suddenly asked, seeing peopleing out of the house with a bunch of necessary items and preparing carriages with big sea horses as mounts. "Yes, we''ll have to relocate since our tribe''s location waspromised," Mizaran sighed with a clear weary, and sad expression. "We want to go to the Balzar Sea Kingdom, but my tribe is not powerful enough to travel there." ''Sea Kingdom? Sounds like a magical ce,'' Erix thought before he asked, "Can you go to Sea Kingdom from Water-Leaf Fields?" "Yes. We can go there via the underground sea streams. These streams are deep within Water-Leaf fields, and a few of those streams lead to Aquotia Sea." "But powerful monsters and phenomena dwell in these deep streams such that only those above level 100 can travel in them." "I see." After a minute, they entered the biggest house before Mizaran stopped before a door and opened it to reveal a small room with various Tier-1 items, a few crates, and a bookshelf. "I will be honest. The most valuable things in this room are those items we don''t use and a skill stone." "What about that bookshelf?" Erix asked as he pointed at the corner. "They are just some history of Merfolks, stories, and other things. My father kept them, but nobody else reads them after he died," Mizaran wryly smiled. "Mind if I take a look?" "You can take anything from here, Mr. Erix. Even the skill stone in that silver box, but-" Mizaran rubbed his nose and said, "Please keep it only to a couple of things because I will need to sell the rest for gold coins after my tribe relocates." "Ah, you can take all books if you can because nobody will buy them anyway." "Alright, then, I''ll not hold back," Erix said with a smile as he flew towards the bookshelf and put it inside his inventory. Afterward, he walked towards the items and nced at each of them before shaking his head and moving towards the skill stone. Opening the box, he looked at the skill stone and inspected it. [ Skill stone: Water Dragon Barrier ] _Rank: 2nd Tier. _Effect: Conjures a swirling water barrier that counterattacks with a water jet bullet upon getting attacked. The durability of the barrier and attack of the water jet bullet depends on the user''s magic stat. _Note: Stronger resistance against water and fire-attributed attacks. "Alright, I am taking this skill stone," Erix picked up the skilled stone and immediately learned after infusing a bit of mana into it. "No problem," Mizaran nodded while grinning. "Thank you again for saving us, Mr. Erix. We will never forget this favor, and I am aware that meager skill stone is not equivalent to our lives." Mizaran was actually d that Erix took the skill stone. After all, he could buy another empty skill stone and infuse the skill in it because he hadpletely mastered the 2nd Tier Water Dragon Barrier skill. "No problem. Now, I''ll be on my way, and good luck in your journey." Erix left and arrived back on the surface. ''Six levels away from level 80. How long will that take if we keep getting tasks that reward with level up?'' Erix thought while smiling and flew up on one of the trees before sitting on a big branch. He took out the Labyrinth Shop Ticket and inspected it. [Labyrinth Shop Ticket] _Use: Infuse one mana point to open a Labyrinth Shop to spend your Labyrinth Points and buy one thing from the goods list. ''One thing? Does that mean I can only buy one thing even if I have more points?'' Erix thought with the intention of seeking an answer. [ Yes. A single shop ticket opens the shop and allows one to buy a single Artifact. The shop will vanish after you buy one Artifact.] ''Artifact? It seems that this shop has special items,'' Erix''s curiosity was piqued, and he immediately used the ticket. A secondter, Erix saw a panel with ten sections appearing before his eyes. When Erix saw the items, his eyes almost popped out of his socket. ''Wtf?'' Chapter 92: First Encounter, Crazy Artifact 1. Permafrost Hazel Ring: +200 Magic Defence + Ice Damage, Effect: Consume 100 mana to release a ray of frost from the ring to freeze the target for 3 seconds. Hidden effect: ??? ¡ª 8000 Labyrinth Points. 2. Golden Knuckles: +300 Physical defense. Effect: Every physical attack you connect to your target fills up the Golden Guage. Once filled to 100%, you can unleash a golden spirit fist of any size between 1 and 20 meters for devastating atmospheric damage. ¡ª 5000 Labyrinth Points. 3. Vampiric Umbre: +100 magic defense +100 physical defense¡­. 4. ¡­ Erix read every artifact''s details before choosing the one that cost 10,000 Labyrinth Points. ''If I am going to spend points, I might as well invest in a good one.'' [ M1-X Gravity Field Badge ] _Type: Artifact _Perks: +100 Physical Defence, +200 magic defense. _Effect: Consume 50 to 100 mana to produce a 50 to 100 meters radius gravity field with you as the center. Gravity Pressure in the field can be adjusted from -100g to 100g at will. (Earth''s gravity power is 1g for reference) _Hidden Effect: Gravity also affects you, but its effects are halved on you. _Duration: 1 minute. Erix spent 50 mana to use the badge as he tapped on it and activated it. Instantly, a transparent wave of power spread out from the badge that epassed 50 meters area around Erix. Since he set the gravity to -10, the water in ponds, leaves, rocks, and other things started floating until they reached fifty meters high in the sky! ''The overall range of this field is great!'' Erix''s eyes lit up, seeing the wonderous power of this artifact. [Emergency Encounter. Task: An Abyss Servant has hatched nearby. Find it and kill it. ] ''Finally!'' Erix quickly looked around with his Aura Gear on. He was wondering where to find the Abyss Servants since one of the tasks required him to kill twenty of them. The reason he stuck with Darius, Dn, and Xander was to get information from them since they knew about Abyss-rted things and possibly get a shortcut to the upper echelons. *Screeee!!!* *Ssh!* But he didn''t have to search long as a dark blue shining humanoid came out from a pond 60 meters away and rushed towards Erix. It had a shark head, two muscr ck slick arms, and two legs with a pair of creepy t wings carved with strange ck and blue patterns. [Abyss Servant-Deep Dread] _Level: 80 _HP: 100% _Attack: 800 _Defence: 800 Due to -10 Gravity, that monster''s flying speed became quicker, but Erix smirked and adjusted the gravity to 50. *Boom!* The Abyss Servant smashed into the pond but didn''t take any damage. At the same time, Erix summoned his Windfury Cannon and pointed at where the Abyss Servant smashed while trying to stay afloat by controlling the metal tes. ''25 gravity is already no joke, so I won''t be able to handle 50 gravity with my current strength.'' *Boom!* The Windfury Cannon released a ck wind-whirling orb that instantly broke the sonic barrier and hit the spot where Abyss Servant smashed into the ground. -1350 Erix saw that the creature lost just 23% of its HP, making him dumbfounded. ''Are you fucking kidding me? I spent 500 Undead energy on that shot. How high is its defense?'' *Chreeehhh!* Erix heard a strange cry before he saw the Abyss Servant resisting gravity and floating up as it opened its mouth towards Erix. ''-50.'' *Swoosh!* With the gravity going in minus, both Erix and Abyss Servant flew up! Since the gravity field moved with Erix, people from slightly far away saw spectacr scenery of a fifty-meter transparent barrier holding floating water, various small and big fishes, rocks, trees, and two humanoids. "It''s going up and up. What kind of power is that?!" "Who is doing that?" Erixughed as he smashed his fists together with Radiang Smash Gauntlets before flying towards Abyss Servant, who had missed his attack because of gravity changing. Meanwhile, Erix was still flying up, and so were others because of the Gravity Field. ''This is awesome!'' But Erix''s quick dash and punch were met with Abyss Servant''s strangely muscr dark blue fist, making Erix slightly shocked at how fast this creature reacted. *Boooom!* -23! -640! ''I was injured?!'' Erix felt a jolt passing through his body as his internals were slightly damaged, reducing his Life Orb by 23. ''This is both advantage and disadvantageous,'' Erix also realized an important aspect of this Gravity Field. In a way, the gravity in minus was beneficial to move quickly since it increased one''s propelling speed due to minus gravity. But since the effects of Gravity Field were halved on Erix, he would benefit more from Plus Gravity rather than Minus Gravity. As such, before the Abyss Servant could attack, Erix grinned, increased gravity to 100g, and took out Babin Maw Hook. With the gravity suddenly increasing to 100g, Both Erix and Abyss Servant in the Gravity Field shot down like shooting stars, but when Erix was fifty meters away from the ground, he activated the Babin Maw Hook without throwing since he couldn''t move his hands with 50g pressure on him. The Babin Maw Hook faintly shined as the serpent''s mouth grabbed onto space, stopping Erix from mming into the ground. On the other hand, the Abyss Servant mmed terribly into the pond-ground from five kilometers of height. -2135! ''That must have hurt,'' Erix chuckled after seeing the damage prompt. He adjusted the gravity to 10g and floated ten meters off the ground before waving his hand towards the Abyss Servant, who came out of the pond and shot towards Erix while screeching in rage and madness as its wings released powerful dark blue streams of energy! But Erix adjuted the gravity to -100 again, causing the Abyss Servant''s speed to increase drastically such that it shot out of the Gravity Field towards the sky, and Erix quickly followed it by manipting his metal gauntlets. *Screee!!* On the other hand, Abyss Servant stopped its rush after crossing six kilometers and turned around to attack but was met with another Windfury Cannon shot that hit it right after it turned around! *Boom!* A secondter, Erix arrived with his right fist''s gauntlet aimed at the creature and hit with 50-mana Imposing Fist! *Smash* The final hit was a death blow as the creature exploded and died. Fortunately, this Abyss Servant wasn''t the type to explode after its death like the one Rin encountered. But this creature was clearly stronger. If Erix didn''t have Gravity Badge, he would have suffered way more inbat. [You have killed a level 80 Abyss Servant. 1x Dual Recovery potion has been added to your inventory.] ''Awesome,'' Erix grinned. ''This Gravity badge is nuts.'' ¡­ After flying back into one of the arrays of trees, Erix sat down on a branch and took out a healing potion and mana recovery potion. The six storage rings from Hamrax''s men got him six healing potions and seven mana potions, a total of 13,490 gold coins, and several Normal-Tier and Tier-1 items that he nned to share with others after returning to Earth. After resting for five minutes, Erix continued his hunt of monsters toplete missions of Adventurer''s Guild. An hourter, he finished all six missions and returned. When Erix was halfway to the Yorick Kingdom''s capital, he received a call from Dn. [ Dn: Erix, do you know a couple called Kenshin and Sameira?] Erix was startled. [ Erix: How do you know them? ] ''Did they also arrive at Yorik Kingdom?'' [ Dn: Well¡­We just received a beating from them. We are waiting at the adventurer''s guild, soe quickly. ] Dn''s voice was slightly helpless, making Erix dumbfounded. ''Just what exactly happened there?'' He knew that Kenshin and Sameira were powerful. He had dueled with them and won only three out of nine times against them, so it was not strange that this trio received a beating. Kenshin and Sameira had powerful martial art techniques to pair with their skills, making them one of the most powerful people in the meadow. [ Erix: I''ll be there in a few minutes. ] Erix increased his speed. ... "What?! Who killed my men?!" Inside a big mansion in Marquis Hamrax''s territory, Hamrax shouted while spitting at a middle-aged man wearing a full-body dark red armor. "We don''t know who killed them, lord. I''ve sent my men to investigate." Hamrax sat down on his chair before asking with a dark expression. "What about that PearlEye tribe?" "They''ve relocated." "Find them! Send more people, search their trails, and do whatever you want. But I want their eyes!" "And also, find me those who dared to poke their nose in my business!" Chapter 93: One-Hour Leave, Shocking Changes Erix soon arrived at the Adventurer''s Guild and saw the trio standing nearby. But Kenshin and Sameira were absent. "Where are they?" "They are eating." "Go ahead and submit your mission items first. We are waiting." Erix nodded and went inside before submitting his mission items and getting 1430 gold coins. After meeting up with the trio, he followed them to a luxurious, twenty stories tall inn. Kenshin and Sameira were eating in the inn''s VIP restaurant area with a middle-aged man. Erix''s Aura Gear was on so he could see how powerful that man''s aura was, far more powerful than his and Rin''s parents. ''Is he at Noble-order?'' ''And howe Kenshin and Sameira are together? Didn''t they separate like everyone?'' When Erix and others neared their table in the small private open pavilion, Kenshin turned his head towards them and let out a lightugh. "I knew those three were talking about you when I heard your name." "It seems that you two were lucky enough to meet each other again soon," Erix wryly smiled. He nodded at them and the stranger middle-aged man, a greeting. "It''s not about luck, but love," Sameira said with a serious expression. "I am surprised you are not with Rin." Kenshin narrowed his eyes at Erix and nodded. "Do you truly love Rin? If you do, then why are you not together?" Erix was stumped. ''Wtf?'' "I¡­" Erix didn''t know what to say to their serious expressions. "Haha, we are just pulling your leg, "Kenshin burst outughing and gestured to Erix at the empty chair, "Come, sit." Erix didn''t know whether tough or cry as he sat down. "Erix, nice to meet you," the stranger middle-aged man said with a smile. "I am Duke Khroll." ''Duke Khroll?!! So, Darius''s father?'' Erix was startled, but he quickly returned the greeting with his introduction. ''Howe Kenshin and Sameira made such a connection already? They seem to be on good terms.'' But Erix soon knew about it as Kenshin told Erix how everything happened. Apparently, Darius''s sister abruptly departed in a fit of anger from her husband''s duchy with her one-year-old child in a carriage. She only had two guards with her since she didn''t inform others about her departure. So, on her way to the Yorik Kingdom''s capital, she fell prey to a bandit camp''s attack, but the timely intervention of Sameira and Kenshin saved her, thus earning Duke Khroll''s favor and gratitude. After they talked about a few things regarding Abyss, which Erix, Kenshin, and Sameira felt was not enough and mostly useless, Duke took out hism card and talked with someone for several seconds before he smiled at Kenshin. "We''ve prepared a courtyard with three houses. I''m sure you will like it here. Please consider it a token of my gratitude," Duke Khroll said with a sincere expression and handed over a blue diamond-like crystal to Kenshin. "This is the key to the barrier that surrounds the courtyard. I have other matters to attend to, but my son Darius will show you the way. Thank you again for your help, and we will meet again soon." ¡­ After arriving at the courtyard, their first task was alsopleted after giving them a 1-hour leave card. Afterward, the trio sat at a table outside under the blue sky to discuss. "Erix, share with us your next course of action if you''ve thought of one," Sameira asked. "I was nning to get a house to live from those trio somehow toplete my first task, and then go on for hunts in surrounding areas by taking missions from Adventurer''s guild to get stronger and level up." "We nned to do something simr, so we''ll do just that. Our top priority is to cross level 100 as soon as possible," Kenshin said, his muscr arms crossed as he nodded. "But before that, let''s return to our world," Sameira said with a smile. "We''ll return andmunicate with others by leaving messages in our guild. Inform them of our location here and our next course of action." "Yes, I was thinking about doing that," Erix nodded. "After reading our messages, they would also do the same, so we can know about our members'' situations." "Since we have one hour to spend, we should clear some Consumable-type dungeons to get consumable items," Kenshin grinned. "Why should we buy if we can get them for free?" "We don''t know if we can bring items intact here or not," Sameira said. "They might convert into Labyrinth points too, but it wouldn''t hurt to try," she added. "Yeah." As such, Erix, Kenshin, and Sameira used their 1-hour leave card and disappeared from the courtyard''s garden. They arrived inside the first floor, which had opened again with a giant portal in the middle of the floor. The Mystic Shop was open again, with people asionally entering and leaving. Firstly, Erix, Kenshin, and Sameira returned to their guild bases. Since not everyone entered the first floor, many people were still outside, but Erix found a shocking thing on the way as he talked to some people who knew him. It turned out that all open dungeons in the wilderness and the city disappeared except for the dungeon gates in Guild bases. Moreover, none of the monsters or zombies were dropping any items! People could still level up gradually if they killed monsters higher level than them, but no more drops! This change caused many people who didn''t enter the First Floor to enter the portal to join the one-month quest with others. Erix felt the world would drastically change after a month with many new things. ''So it''s all silent with only monsters and zombies everywhere? But when will Zombies grow past level 50? I need them to be,'' Erix sighed. Erix returned to his guild base and saw Aaron and three other kids around his age ying with Sangle and one ten-year-old. They were kids of some members of his guild, and they immediately rushed toward him after he entered. After telling them their parents would return soon, Erix entered the castle and created a in Bronze metal board before carving ck metallic words. Since his Metal Conduct reached the 2nd Tier, he could do much more with metals, like changing their density level and foundational structure design with mana. Previously, he could only condense iron with Metal Conduct to create steel, but with 2nd Tier Metal Conduct, he could create many more types of metal simr to Steel, Bronze, Titanium, and Silver. But these metals were not the same as regr metals because Erix could strengthen their foundational structure, making them significantly stronger than regr metals depending on his control, mana, and magic. ''If dungeons have vanished, the n to get consumable items is gone.'' Erix called Kenshin with am card since they had also received them from Duke Khroll, and they added each other after going to the courtyard. [ Erix: This one-hour leaves seems more like a rest stop. We have nothing to do here.] [ Kenshin: Indeed. We will return with a bunch of other new people who decided to enter the floor. If you want to return, you can go ahead. ] [ Erix: I''ll return after spending one hour here since I have something to do. ] [ Kenshin: Alright. We''ll have finished picking up missions by the time youe, so we''ll depart toplete them immediately after you return.] [ Erix: Got it. ] ¡­ Erix took out fifteen items consisting of various weapons and body armor pieces beside the metal board containing his message and location before he sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. ''I''ll finish that skill today,'' Erix thought with determination as he entered Limitless ne. Chapter 94: Velfion Kingdom, Aid [Tasks Completed: You have gained +1 level, 1 Labyrinth Shop ticket, and an item recall box.] Rin and Nessa arrived in the Velfion Kingdom after encountering a few minor troubles along the way. Rin''s task was fulfilled as soon as she set foot in the capital city. Although the elves ruled over the kingdom, people of other races were not prohibited from living there. Rin noticed Humans, Dwarves, and Beastfolks coexisting in harmony. "Let''s go, Rin. We should head directly to the pce and inform them about the issue," Nessa dered, her fist clenched with determination. However, Rin had reservations about this n. Standing before the pce gates, they found themselves denied entry. ''How can they allow in random strangers?'' Rin''s lips twitched in frustration. The guards clearly prevented their entrance. Fortunately, an iing carriage presented an opportunity. As the carriage halted beside them, a short, handsome elf man with blond hair dressed in a blue robe and a stunning elf woman with long golden hair wearing an elegant dress emerged. "What seems to be the matter, you two lovelydies?" the elf man inquired with a smile. "Greetings, Prince Kelfin. I am Nessa Brightwood. We havee to report a significant issue brewing in the Num Forest," Nessa exined, her expression grave. "If we don''t take action promptly, many lives could be lost." "Indeed," Rin added with a serious expression. "Abyss Servants, some bloody pool, and other things have appeared in an obscure spot in the forest." "Abyss Servants?" "Could these be the creatures royal father spoke of?" the elf girl pondered, her brows furrowing. "Please,e inside. Let''s discuss this further." Once inside, Rin and Nessa conversed with the Prince and Princess. Nessa marked the location on a map and presented it to them. Following the discussion, Rin and Nessa were instructed to stay in the guest room while the Prince and Princess departed with the map. After their departure, Nessa let out a sigh. "Tensions exist with another Elf Kingdom, one consisting solely of elves. It''srger, and they harbor resentment toward the Velfion Kingdom due to its inclusivews that allow different races to reside here and ess its resources," Nessa revealed. "So, they might not pay much heed to the threat of the Abyss Servants?" Rin queried, her brow furrowing. ''Most people aren''t even aware of the encroachment of the Abyss or the potential destruction of this world.'' ''Nessa has only encountered them once, so her knowledge is also limited. I hope the influential figures in this kingdom understand the true danger,'' Rin thought, her hope mingled with uncertainty. While waiting for their return, Rin used the Labyrinth Shop Ticket and perused a collection of artifacts that surprised her. Yet, one piece immediately captured her attention due to its perfect fit for her abilities. [Thunder-Echo Bell]¡ªCost: 6000 Labyrinth Points. _Type: Artifact. _Perks: +200 Lightning damage, +100 Physical defense. _Effect: When rung, the bell consumes 50 mana to envelop you in a transparent barrier with a five-meter radius for one minute. The barrier won''t block attacks but swiftly counters attacks with a Thundering Wave triggered by contact with the barrier. ->Thundering Wave: An intense five-meter-wide surge of lightning-infused energy that inflicts damage and carries a high chance of paralysis. ''Pairing this with my other lightning attacks will amplify their power, and I should be able to manipte the Thunder Wave!'' Rin''s grin widened. ''Especially with that extra two hundred lightning damage. All my attacks will be even deadlier.'' Anticipation surged within her to unleash this newfound potential. Subsequently, she employed her Item Recall box, retrieving a sword she had saved for her de Eater. Although it was the most potent sword she had encountered, her de Eater was currently digesting a Tier-1 Axe weapon, so he must fight more and finish its digestion before feeding the sword to her de Eater. ''The Abyss Servant was swift, not allowing me to activate some of the effects. Hmmm, I have to enhance my proficiency in using my de Eater,'' Rin contemted, mulling herbat abilities. After half an hour''s wait, the Prince and Princess returned, garbed in armor and battle attire. "Father has instructed us to gather a force of over one hundred individuals at level 80 or higher and eliminate that threat," Prince Kelfin shared with a smile. "We appreciate your alerting us to this peril." "I''m joining the expedition," Rin dered, rising with a flicker of lightning in her eyes. ''I can''t miss the opportunity to rampage alongside a hundred allies.'' "I''ll be going too!" Nessa affirmed, her demeanor resolute. "Very well, follow us. The aerial ship will be prepared shortly." ... Curious, Rin inquired about the cost of an extravagant pirate ship before her. Vibrant and ornate, it boasted crystal iys and wooden wings resembling an airne! "These aren''t avable on the market. We possess exclusive blueprints and methods for crafting such ships," Princess Melfy exined with a smile. "We call them Elven-Meander Ships." "A fitting name. If I wanted to purchase one?" "For those seeking flying ships, private Magsmiths, and artisan shops offer them for sale. The least expensive options start at a hundred thousand gold coins," Prince Kelfin replied with a grin. "I see." ''I''ll likely obtain a flying ship for free eventually,'' Rin thought with an internal chuckle. ''For now, enhancing mybat prowess remains my priority.'' ... Meanwhile, Isabe breathed a sigh of relief upon witnessing the leader of the Star-Frost Magha tribe''s belief in Chief Venisa''s words, prompting a thorough investigation of the tribe''s statues. Her task waspleted; she advanced by one level and received a Labyrinth Shop ticket and an item recall box. As for the investigation''s oue, it aligned with Chief Venisa''s concerns. The Abyss tainted all the statues! The Star-Frost Magha tribe dispatched emissaries to inform other Magha tribes, while Isabe received a new task. [Important Task: Assemble a group of over a hundred individuals at level 80 or higher to fulfill this task.] ¡ª> Task: Locate the Brewing Abyss Nexus responsible for the region''s corruption and eliminate it. ¡ª> Time Limit: 10 days. ¡ª> Failure to destroy the nexus within ten days will result in the transformation of Maghas blessed by corrupted statues into Abyss ves, leading to the region''s devastation and the progression of Abyss Encroachment. This task wasn''t exclusive to Isabe; all Earth inhabitants who found themselves in this icy region also received the same task. Chapter 95: Blade Isabe didn''t know what to do with the sudden emergency task, but since she had ten days and not even a day had passed, she decided to approach it calmly. ''Ten days¡­Mhm, I should inform the Star-Frost Magha tribe about this so they can first locate it and then work together to destroy it,'' Isabe nodded to herself. ''But I need to level up and get stronger before fighting that since it sounds dangerous,'' Isabe thought as she entered her new house in the Star-Frost Magha Tribe. After locking the door, Isabe used her 1-hour leave card and returned to Earth. She also made the same discoveries as Erix and saw his message on the metal board. Isabe also wrote her message and her location''s name on Erix''s metal board using fire. Aaron told her that Erix was also there and had just left half an hour ago. After spending an hour with Aaron, she disappeared on the spot and arrived back at her new house in Star-Frost Magha Tribe. Fortunately, she had already told Aaron that she would disappear and returnter. Afterward, Isabe informed the Tribe''s leader about the importance of finding the Brewing Abyss Nexus somewhere in this icy region. "Something capable of corrupting all statues and even the entire Aceiron region?" Star-Frost Magha leader furrowed his icy blue brows. "Do you happen to know an important location that can be a center ground for many things in this region?" Isabe asked. She felt that the location of Brewing Abyss Nexus shouldn''t be random. Instead, it should be at an important ce in this region, maybe in a forbidden ce. "There are two such ces. One is Aceiron Mountain, which is our ancestor''s origin location. And the other is Tundra Fall Pit, a dangerous location where only those above level 100 survive." "Then you should investigate those two ces," Isabe nodded. She had already seen several Maghas above level 100, so she knew that this Tribe was powerful. This Tribe was more like a kingdom, both in size and poption. The only difference was that it was in tribal structure, and this big town was every Star-Frost Magha''s home. "Alright, thank you for the information, Miss Isabe. I''ll send my elites to investigate those two ces right away." Isabe nodded but suddenly remembered something and said, "And please tell them to remain cautious and just look for suspicious activities from afar without engaging inbat because the danger there is unknown." "Noted." ¡­ After Rin and Nessa went with Velfion Kingdom''s force, an intense and quick battle started with over thirty Abyss Servants ranging from level 75 to 85. Moreover, the bloody pool with dark and red blood mixed was producing new types of stupid and weak creatures that could immediately attack from afar with a simple ck orb. But getting hit by that simple ck orb could deal minor damage and an annoying debuff about reducing the power of their senses. However, Rin was in her own world amidst the fast-paced and chaotic battle. Injured and battered, but not stopping. With a big smile and lightning in her eyes, she was dancing on the battlefield with her quick burst of movements and changing her de Eater''s weapon form freely while attacking every Abyss Servant she passed by. In other words, she was being highly reckless such that a few attacks of elves, humans, a couple of Maghas, Drwaves, and other races in the frey ALMOST hit her, with a few area attacks even affecting her because of herbat style. But Rin insisted and continued her way. She improved each second while in the free as tension and thrill mixed together to create a symphony for Rin that she was enjoying so much. Some got burned, some were shocked, and some had their limbs cut off in quick session since her de Eater had four effects activated whenever she wanted! Butcher''s Festive Sword''s effect was useless, but the other three weapon effects were effective! Ruined ze Sword, Neferwind Guandao, and Blood Rage Axe that was quickly digested in this battle. "What is she doing?" "So reckless but powerful and quick. Her attacks are proving to help and distraction both!" "Everyone! Be careful! Observe and focus fire to finish them off quickly." This was a critical juncture for Rin because she was in a trance and improved rapidly. Her de became faster, her movement became more fluid, and her attacks became more precise and powerful with every passing second! A few minutester, Rin had exhausted all of her mana and de energy, but she didn''t stop fighting! *Zaaap! Boom!* Rin looked at the Abyss Servant that had just arrived before her, but her mind was nk yet in trance. A surge of strange power filled her being and thought! A single dash, a p of her wings, a faint flicker of lightning, and that Abyss Servant at half of its HP died. [You have killed a level 84¡­] [ Congrattions! You have sessfullyprehended and awakened de Concept! ] [ Concepts are powers of thoughts manifesting into physical phenomena once one attains a certain level of mastery and attunement to a singr intent of any type. Concepts empower any aspects & attacks rted to the concepts you have. ] [You are the first 1% of Earthling and the 19th person toprehend a concept. Congrattions, you have gained a special reward based on your concept: de Master''s Outfit.] Rin''s clothing changed as a in white half-sleeved robe with a ck border donned her body, with a long ck frock on the bottom. [de Master''s Outfit] _Type: External Outfit. _Description: Provides no effect and can be superimposed on an armor set. You can toggle between showing this outfit or your armor set. ''Not bad,'' Rin looked below and saw that the outfit was immacte and suitable for her. Rin didn''t continue fighting since she was out of her mana and de energy, and only a few Abyss Servants were left, so it was only a matter of seconds before they died. Instead, she focused on a new power she could wield with her thoughts! Feeling the strange power and sensation in her mind, Rin waved her hand vertically, creating an invisible de that cut through a rock like a knife cutting through butter. [ de Concept ] _Type: Ethereal-concept. _Realm: Alpha. _Effect: All de-rted attacks deal 50% extra damage. ''Wow! No wonder I was suddenly feeling stronger,'' Rin''s smile turned into a grin. ''I am basically 50% stronger than before since all my attacks are ded!'' "Rin, it''s good that you are feeling great, but you should heal yourself and recover first," Nessa wryly smiled. Chapter 96: Martial Prowess Erix, Kenshin, and Sameiranded on top of a mountain facing the beginning of a volcanic region. The ground had cracks oozing out magma, and the entire area was filled with tens of thousands of monsters! "You can''t be serious, right?" Erix looked at Kenshin and Sameira, his expression dumbfounded as he listened to the mission description. "We are maji serious," Kenshin grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "So you should also get serious and try not to die." "Erix, we arrived here for you," Sameira said with a smile. "As a martial artist, you are talented, but you haven''t reached the level Rin has reached, let alone us." "How do you know?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Because we don''t sense an intent aura in you," Kenshin answered before he punched in the sky while twisting his fist, creating a bellowing whirl of wind filled with powerful force! "The moment this apocalypse descended, and we fought a bit, we awakened something called Concepts," Sameira said with a smile as she flicked her finger holding a tiny stone at the boulder. *Smash! Boom!* Erix''s eyes turned wide. ''Is that why their attacks were so powerful?! No wonder I was losing badly and quickly.'' That tiny stone shattered the entire boulder, but Erix was sure Sameira didn''t use any mana! It didn''t make sense that such a weak tiny rock could break a boulder into pieces! "How is that possible?" Erix asked, shocked. "Shatter Concept," Sameira answered. "I''ve practiced in Flowing Shatter Style martial arts for years, so when fighting zombies and monsters, I naturally awakened this concept." "The one I awakened is called Tempest Concept," Kenshin grinned, showing his white teeth. "Well, I was also called Raging Tempest because of my unique martial style involving quick and powerful moves such that they would create wind gusts." Sameira chuckled, "Oh dear, the doctors were quite sad when you stopped breaking your opponents'' bones." Erix internally rolled his eyes. Kenshin was huge and still only had pure muscles on top of a martial artist''s agility, so obviously, he could be called Raging Tempest if he created his own set of martial arts suitable for his constitution and talent. "So, what does Tempest concept do?" Erix curiously asked. ''Tempest Concept sounds fucking powerful, and it was when he showed it.'' "My physical actions produce atmosphere pressure and winds ording to my moves and thoughts, so my frontal attacks are more powerful." ''This concept thingy is reality-defying, and it only consumes thought power¡­ is it like the power of refined thoughts attuned by one''s constant mastery of singr actions?'' "I want a concept," Erix said, his expression solemn. "And I think I know what kind of concept I will get." "Then let''s go andplete the mission of killing those monsters before they turn into a monster tide," Sameira chuckled and flew up as if the wind had heeded hermand and moved towards the volcanic area. "Boy, we will not save you or aid you until you awaken your concept, so fight as if your life depends on it, or you will die," Kenshin said, his smilecking any ounce of empathy. It was a smile filled with pure savagery and brutality. "Just watch," Erix grinned back, not backing down as a maddening gleam lit up in his eyes. ''Metal Diabolicus: Maniac Brawler Form.'' A secondter, he consumed 450 mana at once as his body was coated in a dark silver shining metallic armor! The joints were perfectly designed, so he could move quickly and fluidly. His fists and feet had a thinyered armor, so he could pump in more power when attacking by consuming mana or using skills through his fists and feet. His entire body was covered in the slick, scaled-designed metallic frame that Erix designed in his recent session of Limitless ne! "Lad, that''s one hell of a metal maniption and design," Kenshin was surprised. "It should''ve taken you a lot of time to create this." Erixughed but didn''t answer. ''Without that level of focus I have in Limitless ne, it would be impossible to design such a detailed and powerful metal frame.'' "Let''s see who kills more." Erix dived down as he exerted his absolute control over metal, shooting straight towards a giant volcanic bear with dark brown cracky tes on its body. A level 77 monster! *BOOM!* His fist squarelynded on the monster who had just looked up, smashing its skull and then bursting its body with the powerful momentum he gathered by descending quickly, and his +50% punch damage increased passive skill! But this was just the start as all surrounding monsters rushed towards Erix while some attacked from afar. Kenshin alsonded and smashed a monster into pieces. Sameira was a kilometer away from them and had already killed three monsters in three seconds. The three of them were like ughters against thousands of monsters. Dodge, attack, block, and attack. They only used skills when necessary and always moved and attacked efficiently. The monsters couldn''t match the precision and agility of the trio, so their expertise in movement due to practicing martial arts allowed them to dodge the attacks quickly. The projectilesing from monsters would also sometimes hit other monsters that were close to them as they would move like that to dodge. Erix was still making small mistakes and was hit and grazed a few times, but Sameira and Kenshin were practically invincible as they were not even scratched even after fighting for half an hour! But Erix was improving too! Ever since the apocalypse started, he had fought less with martial arts and more with his skills and metal control, so his progress in mastering his body had halted. However, his gears were moving again, and with so much higher stats than regr humans, he was incorporating and creating his unique set ofbat styles involving punches! He wanted his punch to have pure, unadulterated power containing his entire strength! Moreover, he wanted to do that with techniques that could be executed in his mind only because of the inhuman physical parameters! A punch could be executed in a myriad of ways, and Erix wanted to explore that potential since he was in a realm outside of humans. He was no longer a mortal. He was a Supra-order being! After all, the superior and inhuman martial art feats of Sameira and Kenshin were the main reason Erix would lose against them in duels. If one looked from afar, one would see how Kenshin and Sameira were easily ughtering monsters. After gaining such powerful physical parameters, they had created martial moves so astoundingly strong that each of their action contained their concepts! They were using martial techniques even more powerful than skills! Chapter 97: Destructive Duo: Kenshin and Sameira! Fruitful Work! After fighting for five hours non-stop, Erix, Kenshin, and Sameira killed tens of thousands of monsters! Kenshin and Sameira''s eyes had turned red because fighting without a break weighed heavily on their mind and spirit, especially because of theirbat style that used concept powers. ''Flowing Roar.'' Sameira sped her palms before she leaned back and quickly pulled back her palms while opening them like flowers, causing a potent amount of wind to condense with silverish-greenyers that spun in the opposite direction of how the internal wind orb spun! A secondter, her entire body protruded veins, and she lurched her palms forward, causing the terrifying dual whirling orb to open as it released a potent three meters-thickser-like projectile with shining silverish-green energy spiraling around it. Its speed was way faster than sound as the deadly spiraling beam crossed a distance of 10 kilometers in a second, killing all monsters in the way instantly! That was thest point of her mana and Astral Ki, which was the energy pool of her ss, Astral Harmony Artist! And that attack was her most powerful move, a mix of a technique she created and her ss skill! "Honey, I am going up to take a break." Saying that to Kenshin, Sameira flew after dodging an attack and chugging a mana potion to recover her mana for flying. The monsters were reduced by a huge chunk in the area, so the trio had had more ease since thest hour. Unfortunately, Erix couldn''tprehend and acquire any concept, and another unfortunate thing was that no matter how many monsters they killed here, their ss level-up guage didn''t fill up with experience since they could only fill it by killing Supra-Order monsters on Earth. However, it was only a matter of time before their sses leveled up after killing several Supra-Order monsters on Earth. "We are returning to the mountain peak to take a break, Erix!" Kenshin shouted as he punched ahead, unleashing a long, vertically swirling whirlpool that shredded several monsters before him up to fifty meters in a second! "I''ll continue for a while!" "Alright, son! Since you got unlimited stamina, push yourself to more extremes! Understand the essence of a fist, a punch, and incorporate it into your consciousness!" "Don''t worry! I ain''t returning without getting my concept, old man!" Unlike Sameira and Kenshin, who required higher mental focus and consumption in their fighting style due to using their concept powers in their attacks, they were exhausted. But Erix had yet to reach that level, and he had unlimited stamina, so he continued fighting. Of course, he was still slightly weary in his mind because constantly battling for five hours required not only stamina but also focus, which drained his mind. Moreover, he was also creating some martial moves consisting of punch attacks. So far, he has seeded in creating one proper technique called Whirling Punch, where he would twist his fist rapidly at a precise 0.5-second window afterunching his punch while also initiating a minor yet firm and quick spinning motion by either of his feet to build up more power of his physical body and transfer it to the strike. Since both spinning motion and timing of execution were quick at a speed only achievable with 200 agility, Erix had a hard time perfecting this move. But when he did, the result made his blood boil with excitement as the powerunched from the Whirlwind Punch was destructive! Especially since the Whirling Punch paired with his +50% punch damage and Imposing Fist skill! Seeing five monsters rushing towards him at once, Erix grinned andunched Whirling Punch with 30 mana of Imposing Fist! His punch unleashed a whirling transparent light blue force that opened like a spinning whirlpool for a second and simultaneously shredded all five monsters around level 70! The disadvantage of this move was that its effective range was just five meters andsted for barely a second. If a target was six meters away from Erix, and heunched Whirling Punch, the destructive vortex would only appear for a second, and everything within five meters of Erix would be assaulted by a sharp and pressuring spinning force filled with pure offense. If a target stayed stay even half a meter away from the whirlpool''s edge, it would only feel a slight vacuum for as long as the vortexsted, which was barely a second, and push the target back a bit, dealing almost no damage. ''This move is powerful in short range, but I have to improve it and also make more and better techniques,'' Erix thought as he nced at the destruction caused by Sameira and Kenshin. Especially thatst attack of Sameira. It caused his hair to stand due to its devastating power and range! ''I will create something like that,'' Erix was fired up. ''No, I will create something even better than that!'' *Screech!!* Several sharp cries rang near Erix before he felt air trembling. Four iing ck Magma Vultures released Dark Magma Shots from their mouths toward Erix, and his body moved without him looking back as he controlled his movement with his mind by manipting his metal armor and dodging the attacks with ease. But¡­how? ''What the fuck did I just do?'' Erix was dumbfounded. He could actually clearly sense or, rather, clearly picture the attack trajectory and their aura power without looking at them! [Congrattions! Your skill, Aura Gear, has evolved into Aura Perception due to you breaking the limits of Aura Gear skill by training relentlessly with it.] Since Erix had Aura Gear activated all the time and mastered the way to sense aurae in this five-hour non-stopbat, he identally evolved the skill by breaking his limits! [Aura Perception] _Rank: Tier-3 _Effect: Allows you to sense everything around you to a certain distance without using your eyes by feeling the ethereal thread of reality''s structure and promptly picturing a skeleton version of your live surroundings in your mind. Erix grinned as he could indeed feel his perception changing drastically! ''I feel like a god¡­ok, that''s stretching it, but this is awesome!'' *Roarr!* *Crack!* Suddenly, Erix sensed danger bells ringing in his ears as he promptly flew upward like a rocket. Half a secondter, the ground beneath him cracked open with a burst of powerful magma surging with magic flowing out and revealing a ten-meter giant strange monster with the head of a lion with sharp dark red volcanic teeth, powerful red-cracked deer legs, pitch ck scaled body with magma vein patterns on its body, a pair of giant curved horns and a crocodile tail! [Molten Chimera(Corrupted)] _Level: 100 _Vitality: [10,000/10,000] _Attack: 1500-2000 _Defence: 1250-1800 Chapter 98: Death Is not The End In Labyrinth Tower Although the monster was at level 100 and more powerful than Erix, he didn''t feel fear or nervousness. After all, his improvement in the past five hours was tremendous! Five rapid circr me des shot toward Erix as the Molten Chimera pped its wings, but Erix quickly dodged them while flying forward. The monster''s speed was nothing to scoff at, but it was big and not as evasive as Erix''s. But this was one of the rare monsters who could use defense barrier skill as it blocked Erix''s Crimson Blood re attack. *Roar!* The monster opened its mouth and unleashed a ck sphere with magma vein patterns as it condensed a great deal of explosive me power and magma energy. The barrier around it vanished before the monster hurled the attack towards Erix, who dodged since having seen iting and released a max-powered shot of Amberros Death by consuming 600 Undead energy. The attack dealt moderate damage but reduced Chimera''s defense as the part below its neck where the attack hit started to decay. Erix then flew with precise maneuvering while dodging attacks and got close to it beforeunching a Whirling Punch at the decayed area while consuming 100-mana Imposing Fist! *Crrrraaa!* -2850! Erix quickly punched several times using normal fist attacks, while the monster was shot upward with Erix''s punch. And when he unleashed another Whirling Punch, he dealt 3480 damage! ''What?!'' However, Erix grinned shortly after discovering why he dealt more damage the second time. It was the Whirling Punch''s effect! That potent and destructive vortex of Whirling Punch also actually shredded defensive scales from the monster, reducing its defense further! ''So this punch can also reduce physical defense, great!'' Erix leisurely dodged the attack as his perception had skyrocketed with Aura Perception, and he sessfully killed the Molten Chimera shortly. ''Big monsters like these are not a threat to me anymore,'' Erix thought with a smile as he heard the notification of killing the beast and leveling up to 79. Since there were many monsters here above level 80, Erix had leveled up to 78 in the past hour and reached 79 directly after killing Molten Chimera. Of course, Kenshin and Sameira had already reached level 80, and their stats had started increasing again. ''So this Chimera gave me a whole consumable crate? Nice.'' Erix opened the crate and got 2x Mana recovery potions, 2x Healing Potions, and 2x me Resistance Potions. Afterward, he headed deeper into the volcanic region to continue battling. ''I will get my concept today, and that''s decided.'' ¡­ Although Erix, Rin, and others were doing good so far, they couldn''t be said for some people. Many people had died at the hands of Abyss Servants, but only they knew what happened to them after dying because¡­they did not exactly die! Khalil from TreeBug Guild, the one from TreeBug resort, was with Yagun Mubei of ck Swan Guild, and they were in imminent peril. Two of them didn''t have mana or healing potions, were injured with less than half of their Vitality Remaining, and their ss energy pool was also emptied. And¡­they were chased by five Abyss Servants! ''No, no, no, no¡­.'' Khalil ran, his heart beating its fastest as he tried pumping all his power to run. ''I can''t die here. My wife and kid are waiting; I can''t die here!'' On the other hand, Yagun Mubei was simply running, and his speed was faster than Khalil''s. He nced at Khalil and narrowed his eyes before muttering, "So, this is where we part." After muttering, Mubei abruptly paused for a bit while his legs pumped, turned red, protruded veins, and unleashed a powerful force as he shot up in the sky, jumping over a kilometer distance as he changed his direction of escape. Two Abyss Servants followed him, but the other three stayed behind Khalil. ''Damn it!'' Khail was internally cursing while a flicker of despair manifested in his eyes. He was low on stamina, and three Abyss Servants were behind him¡­ ''I am dead¡­'' His left leg slightly trembled when he jumped from a tree to the west direction, causing him to lose bnce and momentum as he crashed into a boulder. Khalil''s mind went nk. ''No¡­'' A secondter, an intense pain blooded his being before darkness enveloped his consciousness. He died. But not really. [As you have died on the first floor of a Labyrinth Tower, you will be plunged into the Abyss Realm, losing all of your powers and starting from level 0 but retaining skills, concepts, and affinities you have learned,prehended, and awakened.] [If you die in the Abyss Realm, you will truly die. But if you survive, reach level 201, and manage to enter a Cosmic Faction, you can return to your native world.] Khalil heard the notification, shocked. The darkness resided from his consciousness as he opened his eyes and found himself under a ck tree shining purple under two dark purple and two blue moons, wearing nothing but a simple white tunic and a pair of brown trousers. "I am alive¡­" Khalil touched his body and pped his cheek to check if he was not dreaming before tears streamed through his eyes. He clenched his fists, his teary eyes red and determined. ''I will return!'' Many shared the same fate as Khalil, but nobody outside knew they would get a chance if they died inside Labyrinth Tower. ¡­ In the sky, a couple of kilometers away from Yorik Kingdom. "Boss, that city is so fucking cool!" Ronaldo said, his eyes wide and amazed as he looked at the kingdom with big buildings and magic technology. "Indeed. It looks like we''ve arrived at our destination," Kan nodded as he grunted and flexed his muscles with a pose. "Let''s make this our base for now andplete the tasks." "Boss, you should do something about that weird talent," Rndo rolled his eyes. "You can''t just pose in front of these people. They will think you are a weirdo." Kalfa snorted, wearing nothing but a dark pink vest and ck pants as he gave Front Double Bicep Pose. "They shall know the greatness of my muscles," he said while looking at the notification. [Pose executed sessfully. You have gained +10% strength for 10 minutes.] Chapter 99: Combat Mayhem, Situations It''s been three more hours, but Erix was still in the volcanic region and entered deeper after resting for half an hour at a small cave he found a while ago. When he arrived at a valley amidst volcano mountains and jumped down, he alerted a group of grotesque monsters with rocky carapaces and strange tendrils at their octopus-like heads. This was a seethingndscape of molten rock and cascading mes. The air was thick with the acrid scent of sulfur, and the ground radiated heat like an inferno''s embrace with the horde of monsters that woke up and rushed towards Erix, each one above level 90. "One more hurdle, eh? No matter," Erix grinned as his cells trembled in excitement to battle again. He tightened his fists, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the approaching horde of me and magma monsters, each one a grotesque fusion ofva and sinew. The first monster lunged at him, its fiery tendrils snapping like vipers. Erix''s instincts kicked in, and he sidestepped with a dancer''s grace, the ground beneath his feet trembling with the force of his movement. His body seemed to flow like liquid as he evaded the monster''s attack, a wisp of steam rising from his boots, where they brushed the scorching ground. In an instant, Erix countered. His fists became blurs as he struck the creature''s hardened magma exterior, his blowsnding with the precision of a master sculptor chiseling away at the stone. Each impact sent sparks and fragments flying before the monster exploded into gore¡ªdeader than dead. Erix''s lips curled into a determined grin as he continued to weave and strike as more monsters arrived. ''My stats might hit 300 after I finish off this horde.'' Suddenly, a strange monster tried to blindside him, erupting from the ground in a burst ofva. But Erix was ready, as he could already sense its aura. He spun on one foot, delivering a sweeping kick that connected with the creature''s midsection. The impact shattered its outer shell, sending shards of magma spraying in all directions. The battlefield became a storm of fire and fury as more monsters closed in. Erix danced and dodged, his movements fluid and precise. He leaped over a wave ofva, his body twisting in mid-air as he delivered a devastating flying kick to a monster''s head, sending it sprawling into a pool of molten rock. Sweat glistened on Erix''s brow as he pressed on, never letting his guard down. He ducked beneath a fiery tendril, delivering a rapid session of punches to a creature''s chest, each hit cracking its molten armor. With a final powerful strike, Erix shattered the creature''s form, causing it to copse into a heap of cooling magma. The battle raged on as Erix was a force of controlled chaos amidst the roaring monsters. He spun, pivoted, and leaped, his movements blurring the line between martial prowess and artful dance. His fists and kicks were a symphony of power and precision! One by one, the creatures fell, their fiery forms extinguished by Erix''s unyielding assault. Thendscape around him was littered with the remnants of their defeated bodies, the ground now cooling and solidifying once again. Finally, as thest monster dissolved into a smoldering puddle, Erix stood up with his head slightly tilted upward and his eyes closed. His chest heaved with exertion, and his hands were still wreathed in faint wisps of steam. After a minute, Erix exhaled and began to move his body into a stance. He pulled his right arm back while forming a fist and put his left palm forward. As he stood there, Erix began to visualize his intent¡ªa punch that transcended mere physical force. He saw his target not as an adversary but as an extension of the universe itself. His punch was no longer just a technique; it was a convergence of energy, intention, and purpose. With his eyes still closed, Erix began to move forward while moving his smoothly waving hands as he found various ways in which he could execute his punch, just like how there were various ways one could use other weapons. At the climax of his movement, Erix''s fist connected with an invisible barrier that even he didn''t sense and broke it, releasing a devastating punch that was more powerful than any punch he had thrown before, causing hot gusts of wind to scream and ground to tremble as even the atmosphere around him shook. *Boom!!* [Congrattions. You haveprehended Punch Concept.] [Punch Concept] _Realm: Alpha. _Effect: All punch-attacks deal 50% more damage. "Finally¡­" Erix softly uttered before taking a deep breath. ''Well, thanks to Rin''s parents, I gained more than just a Punch Concept.'' The set of movements and fist weaving he did opened a new world about using his body''s physical energy and how to channel his mana to execute a myriad of punches! ¡­ While Erix finally returned to the Yorik Kingdom, Isabe encountered six people from Earth as they arrived at Star-Frost Magha Tribe in thest several hours. One of them was someone she knew and had even traveled with before. Serina! Since all of them had the same emergency task, they worked together and moved to a hunting ground to kill rising levels of frenzied monsters. With a group, they could quickly quell many monsters by helping each other, unlike those frenzied monsters who only knew how to attack aggressively. This was a two-birds-with-one-stone situation as they traveled in the icy expanse from one tribe to another and killed monsters to level up while also preventing small monster tides from attacking the tribe. On their journey, they also encountered two Abyss Servants with strange ice powers when the night arrived. The group killed them after an intense struggle, with two people of their group getting severe injuries, one of them being Isabe, as she was frozen into a popsicle with her vitality hanging at merely 10. ¡­ "Isabe, how are you feeling?" Serina asked, her voiceced with concern. Isabe was resting on a bed in her house at Star-Frost Magha tribe. "I am almost fine, except I just feel a bit chilly internally throughout my body," Isabe said with a wry smile. Serina''s fists tightened as her eyes showed anger, "It''s that bastard''s fault!" Serina was talking about a man called Jakel in his thirties, who had an assassin-like ss called Shadow Night Drifter. Since he was an assassin with Shadow Affinity, he attacked on his own when getting opportunities or creating opportunities with his quick and sharp projectile attacks while escaping unscathed. During the battle, when the Abyss Servant was on the verge of dying, he prepared his attack to give it a final blow to get the kill and appeared several meters before Isabe before releasing his attack. However, the Abyss Servant didn''t die with his attack and instead rushed towards him in a frosty rampage with breakneck speed as if using somest-ditch skill before death. Jakel quickly scurried away as he vanished with some shadow-attributed skill, but Isabe was still behind him and got severely injured, putting her on the verge of death. Serina and others didn''t like Jakel because of his uncooperative and superior attitude, which almost caused Isabe''s death. "Isabe, we won''t take him with us next time, okay? He may be powerful, but a stupid teammate is worse than a powerful enemy." "Yes, you can tell him to find another group because I also don''t want him disrupting our team''s progressing synergy," Isabe nodded. "Alright, I''ll talk to others. We are done today, so get plenty of rest until morning." Isabe nodded. "Don''t be too harsh on him, or he might bear a grudge, and we don''t want that." "Got it. I''ll politely and reasonably tell him that we don''t need him," Serina said with a snort before leaving. ''It was really, really close¡­'' Isabe sighed. Isabe''s heart had be a bit cold today because of Jakel''s actions. When she imagined how she wouldn''t see her son, Erix, Rin, and others if she died, Isabe became terribly scared of dying. ''I have my special skill that will revive me, but if I didn''t have that¡­'' Isabe shook her head. ''I have to be more careful.'' ¡­ On the other hand, Rin and Nessa spent the rest of the day killing monsters in surrounding areas to earn gold coins and investigate Abyss-rted things with Velfion Prince and Princess''s team. When the night descended, and they returned to the Kingdom, Rin finally used her 1-hour leave card and left to check out things on Earth. Chapter 100: Abyss enchroachment, Burning Desire Time passed as minutes turned into hours and hours into days. Everyone in Aestian''s realm gradually blended into the new world to do tasks and other various things as they learned new things. Erix also joined the basic Magsmith sses as he spent 5 hours daily to learn about magic smithing. Everyone''s life became extra busy with so many new things to learn and handling tasks as eight days quickly flew by. Many people reached the limit of their power after reaching level 100, hitting 300 points in all stats. ¡­ Aceiron Region, Aceiron Mountain. In a huge valley behind the biggest mountain in the region, therey andscape of darkness and ck ink. Everything down to the smallest of pebbles was corrupted in this ce with a huge glowing ck ink crystal floating and spinning while releasing faint wisps that shortly disappeared after traveling into four dark-bloody pools that surrounded the crystal. The ground was littered with around two hundred slumbering Abyss Servants of various kinds, most of them refined yet grotesque with strange physical appearances, a mix of a few animals with an alien touch, a touch of a pure corruption belonging to Abyss. Isabe, Serina, and two hundred others stood on a faraway mountain. The majority of people were Maghas, while around fifty of them were humans. Out of the fifty humans, around twenty of them had Abyss Devourer Mark as they had reached level 100. The leader of the Star-Frost Magha Tribe was at the forefront as he floated with his magnificent Star-Frost Wings. "Everyone! Ournd and people are in peril because of Abyss! We do not yet know about its origin, but what we know is that if we don''t stop its spread and destroy it, we will be devoured by it!" "Stay in the formation that we have decided on and do your best! We have to destroy the Abyss Nexus and those Abyss Servants today, once and for all!" All Maghas shouted loudly as a burst of frost spark spread in the sky. "ATTACK!" ''I am afraid this is only the start,'' Isabe thought upon hearing the Star-Frost Magha tribe''s words. Isabe watched everyone go and nodded at Serina and the other team. "Be careful and do not lose focus even though we have Abyss Devourer Mark." ''It''s going to be a long fight,'' Isabe looked at her Abyss Devourer Mark on the back of her palm. [Abyss Devourer Mark] _Level: 1 [ 12/100 Abyss Servants ] _Type: Active skill / Unique. _Perks: 50% extra damage against Abyss-attributed structures and monsters. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Abyss Killer: consume 10 mana to activate Abyss Devourer Mark and instantly absorb Abyss Servants below 10% of Vitality. ¡ª> Abyss Purification: consume 5 mana to cleanse everything and everyone within ten meters of Abyss debuffs. Cooldown: 1 minute. Abyss Devourer Mark was a huge help, and only after reading its effect did shee to understand why people of Earth were essential to save this world. And it was still a level 1 Mark, so it would get even stronger, but that also made Isabe think that the next twenty days were only going to get harsher. ¡­ All over the Aestian Realm was fully alerted and aware of Abyss encroachment by now since every single region and area was getting corrupted by the Abyss. The biggest boon for Earthlings turned out to be the 1-hour and 2-hour leave cards they regrly got if they ventured andpleted tasks because whenever they were in peril, they could actually use the card to immediately disappear from Aestian''s realm and return to Labyrinth Tower''s first floor. Yorik Kingdom capital, Blue Rose Courtyard. Kenshin and Sameira sat across from Duke Khroll and two other people as they discussed something. "Where is Erix?" Duke Khroll asked. "We will need his potent long-range attacks as an opening to destroy this Abyss Nexus. There are five hundred Abyss Servants there with a few other strange things." "I''ve been trying to contact him using am card, but that brat is not picking it up," Kenshin wryly smiles. "Don''t worry. We''ll ry the n to him when he returns." "Alright, then we''ll depart tomorrow morning." "Thank you for regr assistance," said a young man in histe twenties with a dignified air around him. "Many adventurers and some of the top powerhouses are still not taking this threat seriously, so it helps that masters like you are willing." He was the crown prince of Yorik Kingdom, Savken Yorik. ''Well, that''s what we are here for,'' Sameira thought. "They will soon understand when this Abyss Encroachment fully erupts," Kenshin snorted. "So this is going to get even more troublesome?" Duke Lanril frowned. "I hope not, but as far as we know, this is just the start," Kenshin answered with a wry smile. After all, there were still twenty more days ording to the main quest''s deadline. ¡­ On the other hand, Erix couldn''t pick up their calls because he was in Limitless ne, training to improve hisbat abilities against exotic monsters that closely resembled Abyss Servants! He even created an Abyss-corrupted area around him because whatever he imagined would appear in the Limitless ne. ''Alright, this is good. Now I just need to enter mybat concentrated focus,'' Erix thought as his eyes gleamed with excitement. He knew his focus reached unknown levels while he was here in Limitless ne, so he wanted to see how he would fare against Abyss Servants of his imagination when he went all out and beyond, entering a state only possible in the Limitless ne. ''The Way of Unfettered... Alright.'' Erix closed his eyes as the scenery around him started changing, and Abyss Servants materialized. And when he opened his eyes again, they shone with faint ze and distant light, his focus deep and seeped into his body. His eyes scanned the horde of Abyss Servants closing in on him from all sides. Each creature was a twisted amalgamation of animals and monsters, their grotesque forms illuminated by otherworldly darkness. Every single one of them was stronger than Erix in stats and left their exotic abilities to the ne''s whims, as per his wish. Erix clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing through his veins. He had unlimited mana, so he decided to fight with his everything without holding back and giving into his wildestbat instincts. The first Abyss Servant lunged, its talon-like ws aimed at Erix''s throat. With a swift sidestep, Erix avoided the attack, his movements fluid and precise. He retaliated with a quick jab to the creature''s midsection, sending it staggering back. As the creature regained its footing, Erix unleashed a rapid series of punches, each impact apanied by the satisfying sound of bone meeting bone. The creature crumpled to the ground, defeated. Two more Servants charged at him simultaneously, one swinging a massive spiked tail and the otherunching tendrils of dark energy. Erix''s instincts kicked in, his body moving as an extension of his will. He deflected the tail with a metal shield he conjured from the ground, then twirled and redirected the tendrils back toward their source. The tendrils dissipated upon contact, leaving the second Servant vulnerable. With a powerful leap, Erix closed the distance and delivered a spinning kick to the Servant''s head. The creature let out an otherworldly howl as it crumbled into nothingness. Erixnded gracefully, his senses alert to the approaching threats. More Abyss Servants advanced, a grotesque horde with eyes aglow and fangs bared. Erix shifted his focus, his fingers twitching as he tapped into his metal maniption as mana raged in his body. Chains of molten metal erupted from the ground, snaking around the Servants'' limbs, and then solidified, ensnaring them. Erix''s eyes red as he manipted the chains, causing them to tighten with a vice-like grip. One by one, the Servants writhed in agony, their snarls of defiance devolving into anguished cries as Erix rained his attacks. But they started to free from the metal grasp and lunged, their maws dripping with darkness. Erix met one of the fast one''s charges with a perfectly timed somersault, avoiding the creature''s jaws by mere inches. As hended, he thrust a hand forward, summoning a punch of devastation at the monster and shattering it into pieces. ''More!'' With his maddening yet focused gleams dancing in his eyes, Erix produced powerful Metal objects of various types with maximum possible enhancement ording to his magic power while using his martial prowess, especially punches, to hone hisbat to the next level. He wanted to get better than Kenshin and Sameira, and everyone else! He wanted to dominate above all! Chapter 101: Longing & Bored, Big Raid "I am leaving," Erix unhurriedly said after he returned to the courtyard. "What? Where?" Kenshin asked, his eyebrows raised. "I was just going to tell you that we are going on a raid to destroy an Abyss Nexus. A big one." "We need your new potent long-range attack. Shoot a meteor with an external aid from Duke Khroll and destroy the Nexus in one shot," Sameira smiled. "When?" Erix asked, his brows slightly furrowed. "Tomorrow morning," Kenshin answered before he crossed his arms and asked, "Today was thest day at the Magsmith sses, right? Did you awaken it?" Erix smacked his lips and shook his head. "I didn''t. I''ll try something elseter, but not here. I want to go to Rin. It''s been a long time since I''ve stayed away from her this long, and all I am doing is fighting monsters and training without her. I''ll go mad if I don''t see her." "Velfion Kingdom, eh? Do you know how far that is?" Sameira asked with a chuckle. "But you would cross the sea of fire andnd of des for her, right?" Erix grinned, "For sure." "Hahaha, that''s how it should be!" Kenshinughed. "Well, she would do the same," Erix smiled. "I just used a 1-hour leave card and saw her message that she is departing from Velfion Kingdom toe here, but the distance is big, and I don''t know what kind of dangers are there, so¡­" Kenshin and Sameira suddenly looked somber. "Are you saying Rin can''t cross this distance?" Kenshin snorted. "If she decided to cross these thousands of kilometers, then she likely would have some means. Let here here," Sameira said. "Did she tell you when she is departing?" Kenshin asked. "If she didn''t, she would''ve likely left immediately, just like you decided to leave." "That¡­that seems possible." Erix scratched his head as he couldn''t help but nod at that, "She indeed didn''t tell me when she will depart." "Then Rin will arrive here before you reach there," Sameira smiled. Erix knew that was highly possible, and he nodded with a helpless smile. "Alright." "Oh, and Erix. Did you make any progress in the Rank-up quest?" Kenshin asked. Erix shook his head. "We just reached level 100 two days ago, but things were busytely, for me even more about because of Magsmith sses, so nope," he said. "We are going to attempt ranking up today since we''ll get a huge boost in our magic power," Kenshin said. "Which will help us in tomorrow''s big battle," Sameira said. "We are going to face our biggest battle against Abyss so far, so you should try to attempt ranking up today." Erix turned to the sky from the open pavilion and said, "It''s noon, and we have a lot of time¡­" "Alright, let''s do it now if you are two free. I also want to rank up quickly," Erix nodded as he turned his head back to them. "Good. We are ready." ¡­ [Rank-up Quest 2] _Task: Evolve your Magic Core into Magic Spirit Flower by following the steps. ¡ª> Step 1: Attain 300 magic power and 1000 mana in your Magic Core. ¡ª> Step 2: Shatter your magic core by exerting your consciousness and will pressure on it. ¡ª> Step 3: Sessfully shattering the magic core will transform the shattered magic core into Magic Motes due to the interaction of magic with your consciousness. You mustpletely absorb those Magic Motes with your consciousness to manifest Magic Spirit Flower. _Rewards: ¡ª> +100 magic power, +500 mana. The steps sounded easy, but they''d only been able to put shallow cracks on their Magic Core, so shattering it still looked far. Using their consciousness to pressure it meant their mind would drain rapidly, and they would faint upon consuming all consciousness power to pressure it. So, they had to shatter their Magic Core in one go, one session, or they would have to start all over because the Magic Core would automatically recover from cracks if they stopped infusing pressure. As such, Erix, Kenshin, and Sameira decided to spend the whole day trying to rank up with a total of two tries. If they failed both times, they would have to stop because the following day''s morning was an important event of attacking a massive Abyss Nexus, and they couldn''t afford to be knocked out cold during that time. s¡­they failed first try and knocked themselves out for five hours before they woke up with fully recovered consciousness. "This is thest try," Erix said with a frown. "My entire core was filled with cracks before I lost consciousness but recovered to wless again." "Same," Kenshin nodded. "Let''s try again onest time. If we fail, then we''ll try after the big battle," Sameira said before she closed her eyes again. ¡­ "Erix will be surprised," Rin happily giggled as she stood atop a reddish-brown wooden deck leaning against the fence of a dark gold flying ship, ted and coated with sharp-looking designs and patterns made of purple, gold, and red crystals. "Erix, Erix, Erix, not even a day passes without you mentioning him," Nessa wryly smiled. "You won''t understand," Rin rolled her eyes. "If I don''t meet, hug, and kiss him as soon as possible, I''ll go crazy." "Every day, it''s all about monsters and getting stronger without Erix; I am getting sick of it," Riny on a sofa on the deck with a bored expression, not getting the motivation to do anything. "We''ll reach Yorik Kingdom in ten to fifteen hours, so you should try to rank up," Nessa said. "We have to try every day because I heard it''s not easy to form Magic Spirit Flower." "Alright, that would keep me from being bored and bragging if he hadn''t ranked up yet, and I managed to do it," Rin said with a grin. "Try your best, but I don''t think we''ll seed today." "Tsk, don''t be pessimistic and give your best with the aim to seed. If we fail, we''ll simply try again." "We''ll take turns trying. You go first," Nessa said as she stood at the control wheel of the ship with a floating blue crystal above it attached with magic strings to the magic control panel before the wheel. Rin made an attempt, but when she was on the verge of losing consciousness and still failed to shatter it, she stopped and sighed in exhaustion. "I failed. Your turn now." Rin leaned back on the couch, lethargic and sleepy. She needed rest. Afterward, Nessa put the ship on auto-pilot and started making a rank-up attempt while Rin fell asleep to recover her consciousness power. Rin and Nessa made a total of two attempts before they stopped and decided to do itter. "I feel like we have to do something more than just putting our consciousness pressure on the Magic Core to shatter it," Rin mused. "Or, we are just supposed to keep trying this until our consciousness power actually increases and bes powerful enough to shatter it." "I feel like it''s thetter; that''s why people are stuck at level 100 for months despite trying once daily," Nessa nodded. "I heard those who don''t try every day even take more than a year." "That''s too long," Rin clicked her tongue. "We''ll try twice daily and seed as soon as possible." They didn''t make any more attempts after that as the night passed them while they just talked about various things and asionally fought against flying monsters on the way. Finally, when they arrived at Yorik Kingdom, they learned about the big raid on Abyss from two familiar people. Kan and Ronaldo. "Erix and your parents already went there, and we were just going to depart, haha," Kan said with augh as he jumped on the ship. "Nice ship. How much did it costed you?" "Two hundred thousand gold coins," Rin said before she controlled the ship and flew up after Ronaldo boarded on the deck. "Tell me the direction." After ten minutes, they could see the atmosphere getting chilly and creepy, with aura of darkness permeating the atmosphere in the north of Yorik Kingdom, on a grand canyon of Laikan. Hundreds of powerhouses floated in the air while Erix was way higher in the sky, prepared to unleash his most destructive attack. "Rin, this Abyss Nexus is way bigger than the one we destroyed," Nessa gasped, looking at the fifty meters giant ck crystal with countless tendrils oozing out of it. Chapter 102: Descent Into Abyss Four thirty meters giant Abyss Monsters stood guard around it while over five hundred Abyss Servants ranging from level 90 to 100 littered the canyon. Aside from them, there were over a thousand Abyss ves and more being produced from the dark-bloody pools! "Damn, this is crazy," Ronaldo muttered. "They are just popping out of nowhere these days, and this one is so fucking big." *Cracke¡­Zoom!* Rin vanished from the ship as her Lightning Spark wings crackled with lightning. Although she flew with her fastest speed, she was still a bit slow as Erix had initiated his strongest attack, releasing Death Metal Meteor, a unique skill he made that consumed both mana and his Undead energy. Moreover, he had even enhanced it using external metal given to him by Duke Khroll for maximum attack. The goal was to destroy that giant crystal in one shot before it could produce its reactive powers upon getting attacked. *BOOOOM!* The max-powered Windfury Cannon shot the Death Metal Meteor from as high as ten kilometers in the sky, and it came crashing down exactly like a meteor, straight toward the giant Abyss Nexus Crystal. Everyone was impressed at the power and magnitude of the attack because Metal Affinity was rare. Many people had other elemental affinities, but none in the Yorik Kingdom had Metal Affinity, so only Erix could pull a feat like that. Rin flew towards Erix, who gradually descended while his attack only took four seconds to crash down and hit the crystal. The speed of the meteorite was nine times the speed of sound at max right before it crashed into the Crystal, creating a defeating boom along with a loud bang as the Abyss Nexus Crystal instantly crashed all over. "ATTACK!" Duke Khroll shouted in a loud voice reverberating everywhere over the canyon as hundreds of people ranging from level 90 to level 117 attacked, though only fifteen people were above level 100 among hundreds, and the max level among them was at level 117, who was none other than Duke Khroll. Everyone attacked the almost-broken Abyss Nexus Crystal, filled with fighting spirit and adrenaline. But the same couldn''t be said for Erix. He abruptly stopped his descent, dread filling every fiber of his being. His pupils expanded, and his gaze glued to the Nexus Abyss Crystal. For him, time started moving slowly in his mind as he saw all those projectilesing close to the crystal while the Abyss Nexus shone faintly in a dreadful ck hue. In that single millisecond, a wave of darkest dark purple arose from its button and shot upward, a ray of pitch ck with a dark purple hue that shot towards Erix in an instant. Erix produced a thought to escape and dodge, but his body or powers didn''t keep up with his thought. That part of the second felt long yet short as that ray from Nexus washed over Erix within a second. Erix looked at his body but saw it was perfectly fine. However¡­his Life Orb had hit 0. "Erix!!" Erix turned to Rin, a flicker of joy instantly filling him up, but that was gone soon as he realized his situation. He looked at his body again as it finally showed the effect of that ray attack from Abyss Nexus Crystal. His body showed ck cracks all over before his consciousness blurred. "Erix!" Rin shouted again, dread filling her up as she saw Erix getting attacked. She appeared before him with potions in her hand and poured them over his cracked body. "Rin¡­This is not real¡­right?" Erix spoke, his gaze nk, while otherworldly pain finally assaulted his sense, but his brain could not register it. It was dead. He was dead. *Crack¡­* "No, no, no, no¡­." Rin repeatedly uttered while tears were streaming down her cheeks as Erix''s body started breaking down. "Don''t die!" His gaze was already empty as not an ounce of life or soul remained in his disappearing body that turned into motes and vanished. Rin''s gaze became inanimate and her mind empty, except for the overflowing despair manifesting in her. She opened her mouth, trying to shout, but a huge lump seemed to stop her from uttering anything while tears continued to stream from her eyes. The despair in her stopped everything else within her, especially the joy of living. Her dreams, the future she envisioned, and everything of her was already bound with Erix forever, but he¡­was no longer alive. And then she fell, her wings vanished, and chaotic and vtile mana whirled around her. "Erix! Rin!" Kenshin and Sameira flew up towards Rin, shock inside them could not be described as they also saw Erix getting attacked. When Kenshin and Sameira neared the falling Rin and were going to catch her, something happened that made them feel that the entire sky hade crashing down on them. They¡­failed to catch Rin. Like a bolt of lightning, Rin crashed into the ground as she screamed with red eyes oozing blood and brandished her de Eater around her amidst hundreds of Abyss Servants and Abyss ves as lightning and thunder roared in rage. "RIN!!" Kenshin shouted while Sameira instantly turned around and flew down. ''Don''t do that, Rin! Please,'' Sameira thought as her eyes became teary. Kenshin also flew down as he roared and punched in the sky while facing it to propel himself as he shot even faster and passed by Sameira. Duke Khroll and others had also seen the attack, but he had given orders to attack, and most of the people''s attention was on releasing their skills, not the instantaneous abyss attack that hit Erix. Kenshin crashnded tens of meters away from Rin and rushed towards her direction while Sameira released an attack to clear the path. Duke Khroll and a few others also rushed toward them to help, as their reactions were worrisome. ''Who is she? And what the hell just happened?'' Duke Khroll thought as he rushed towards Kenshin, surrounded by Abyss Servants blocking his path. But Kenshin was in a raging state, attacking everything around him to reach his daughter. Sameira was close to him as she also unleashed her attacks on monsters surrounding her anding to attack. But being surrounded by such monsters, they were also receiving injuries. When Duke Khroll finally used a powerful attack to push away Abyss Servants and arrived behind Kenshin, his heart turned heavy. "RIN!!!" Kenshin roared with red eyes as he saw his daughter lying on the ground, pierced by ck tendrils and other attacks of Abyss Servants. He kneeled before her, feeling his heart twisted by the dagger of despair. Rin''s vitality had already hit zero. "No¡­Rin¡­" Sameira lip''s trembled, her eyes bloodshot as a raging storm manifested around her, forcefully sucking all Abyss Servants and Abyss ves as they were shot high before getting blown away. "Get them and leave from here!" Duke Khroll shouted as he and his college quickly used barriers around Kenshin and Sameira before taking them away. At the same time, Duke Khroll blocked the monsters'' attacks and obstructed them by releasing his mighty Earth and Ice attacks. ¡­ However, death was not the end in Labyrinth Tower. [As you have died on the first floor of a Labyrinth Tower, you will be plunged into the Abyss Realm, losing all of your powers and starting from level 0 but retaining skills, concepts, and affinities you have learned,prehended, and awakened.] [If you die in the Abyss Realm, you will truly die. But if you survive, reach level 201, and manage to enter a Cosmic Faction, you can return to your native world.] Chapter 103: Abyss Realm Groggily opening his eyes, Erix first saw only darkness before light filled in and painted the world. He found himself lying on the ground with four moons hanging in the sky, two of them dark purple and two shining white-blue. As his senses started working again, Erix soon heard the sound of rushing water and turned in that direction. A ck river was flowing in moderate rage just ten meters away from him. When the sense of touch kicked in, he felt cold at the left side facing the river and warm at the right side. Erix turned to the right, only to get washed over with shock and unspeakable dness as tears left his eyes. "Rin¡­" ''I am not dead...'' Rin was sleeping on his arm, her head leaning on his chest. Her eyes slowly opened as well, but the moment she saw Erix, tears fell, and she hugged Erix without saying anything. Erix wore a viger''s tunic and pants, while Rin wore a white frock dress. Both of them just remained hugged for ten minutes in silence, soaking themselves in each other''s presence and confirming that it was real. They were, in fact, alive. *Grrr¡­.* But their peaceful union was soon interrupted by a deep growling sound. Both of them quickly stood up, alerted. They looked in the direction of the sound they heard as it wasing from the dark woods twenty meters away from them. They quickly checked their status first because they could feel their body was simply too weakpared to before. [ Emergency Quest ] _Objective: ¡ª> Survive in the forest, escape, reach the nearest settlement with the Hunter Association branch, and get Hunter''s ID. _Reward: ¡ª> 1x Tier-1 weapon box, 1x Blueprint box. "Rin, check your inventory." "Got nothing." *Growl!!* Erix stepped forward and stood in a boxing stance before saying, "We have to work together and kill whatever it is anyhow. Fortunately, I have Metal Affinity and Punch concept," "Same; I also have de Concept," Rin smiled as she stood beside Erix and stood in a front sword-holding stance. A strange pressure formed around them as they were willing to use their concept powers. "I''ll stay front since I have higher agility and strength due to my Hybrid Zombie race." "Got it, darling." *Growl~* They soon saw a pair of red-ish brown eyes finally lighting up in the darkness as the creature emerged from the forest. But why did it sound strangely cute?" Rin and Erix narrowed their eyes, trying to inspect the creature right after the moonlight illuminated it and saw its status. [Baby Geonite Griffin] _Level: 1 _Vitality: 100% _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 33 ¡ª> Agility: 21 ¡ª> Health: 35 ¡ª> Stamina: 15 Rin and Erix were stunned to see the inspection result. Then, they finally saw the creature clearly as it approached them with curiosity. "I think that''s harmless?" Rin tilted her head in confusion. The creature only growled but didn''t have any hostility towards them. Erix also broke his stance like Rin and stood normally with a thoughtful expression. "Let''s not take the initiative to attack since it''s not seeking to harm us." "Yeah." They just stood there as the baby Griffin slowly approached, both with curiosity and wariness in its eyes. Even though it was a baby griffin, it was still 1 meter tall and 1.5 meters long. It had strange early scales on its body, with a cute eagle-head bearing two eyes and a dark brown beak with shining light brown sparks as if mana whirled in them. Its feathers were a mix of light brown and dark brown as well, making it look cute yet majestic. But suddenly, they saw a shadow pounce on the baby Griffin from behind as it bit onto its back and started wing its wings. It was a dark wolf! The baby Griffin was clearly shocked as it cried out in panic and couched down while pping its wings, but the wolf was using its ws to attack its wings, injuring the baby Griffin and making it bleed. "But it''s stronger," Erix muttered, slightly dumbfounded. Baby Griffin was stronger than the wolf stat-wise even though the wolf was at level 6, but Baby Griffin just tried to escape without attacking and looked scared despite being stronger. "Let''s help it," Rin said as she dashed forward, "we might be able to tame it if we help it." "Good idea," Erix nodded. Although the baby Griffin''s beastly instincts should have kicked in to attack the wolf, instead, it was only trying to escape the threat that it already determined was dangerous to it. Erix passed by Rin with his speed and used 50 mana to produce metal around his fist before punching the wolf''s head by exerting his full power. *Smash!* Rin quickly followed up after the wolf fell on the ground and waved her hand in a shing motion, causing an invisible de to form that soon flickered with lightning as Rin spent 50 mana to empower it with lightning. *Crachhh!* The wolf was cleanly cut into two, but it was actually already dead with Erix''s attack as both of them reached level 2. "I think we underestimated our concept''s offense," Erix wryly smiled. "You got high stats in Strength even at level 1, so your punch was powerful enough to kill the wolf," Rin smiled and then turned to baby Griffin. However, that critter actually ran back into the forest, making Erix and Rin speechless. "Forget it," Erix shook his head, turned to Rin with a loving smile, and wrapped his arm around her neck. "Rin, is it bad that I feel d you also died after I died?" Rin rolled her eyes and hugged him tightly as her sweet voice rang in his ears, "You would''ve done the same, and we are together again, so that''s all that matters." "You are not getting away from my side this time," Erix said, his voice trembling. "Never." "Yep." Rin smiled and kissed him. ¡­ Erix and Rin moved north of the forest instead of south where the baby Griffin went because they saw a bucket flowing in the river that was flowing from north to south, which meant that there was a high chance the forest would end if they continued moving in the north and encounter people in a vige or a town. They encountered a few forest monsters on the way, but they defeated them and reached level 9 before finally getting out of the forest. Since they followed the river''s path, they also found a town! When they arrived at the gate, the two guards there quickly smiled and weed them, seeing their in clothes. "New hunters! Wee to the Abyss. Make a left turn after you reach the town square, and you''ll see Hunter''s Guild." Although surprised, Erix and Rin thanked the guards before entering the town full of surprise and versatility. They saw humans, elves, vampires, dwarves, and such races. The town had stalls and shops helmed by people, and groups consisting of three to five people were everywhere. Suddenly, a young human man rushed past them with an excited expression. The young man stopped at the central square that was filled with most people and shouted. "A new fresh water and vegetable dungeon is going to open! Yall, it''s time to get rich and eat something goddamn good!" "Really?!" "Let''s fucking go!!" "Where is it, man? Quickly tell us the location!" "Follow me! We have to farm all five floors first to get first hunt rewards before others from Star-fish Town take it!" Rin and Erix were surprised. "Water and vegetables?" "Hmmm, it looks like this Abyss Realm is way worse than we imagined," Erix rubbed his chin. "The water in that ck river is also not drinkable, so maybe the source of water and other things are dungeons?" "Let''s go to Hunter''s Guild quickly. We''ll get more information there," Rin said before she sighed. "I wonder if Mom and Dad know that we are alive." "I hope the voice answers them about it," Erix sighed. ¡­ While Erix and Rin had started their new life, their deaths had indeed affected many people. After their deaths, Isabe got a notification of herself bing the guild''s leader. Shocked, she asked why and how in her head in the hope of getting answers from the usual voice. [Rin and Erix have died and descended into Abyss Realm after losing their powers and starting again from level 1. Unless they meet certain requirements, they wouldn''t be able to return.] "W-What? Phew¡­" Isabe was shocked when she heard the word "died" but sighed a huge relief, knowing they were alive at the end. "What is the requirement to return from Abyss?" [ Reaching level 201 and joining a Cosmic Faction. ] ''Level 201? That''s¡­.'' Isabe frowned. ''This is going to take a long time.'' But suddenly, she remembered something and felt dread welling up in her. Taking out a 1-hour leave card, she turned to Serina, "I''ll be back in a bit. Just stay here since it''s a safe area." Before Serina could respond, Isabe disappeared from a safe cave they had found on a big mountain at the periphery of the Aceiron region. ''If Erix died and lost his skills and stats, then what about Sangle?'' Isabe anxiously flew towards the guild because if Sangle lost loyalty, then it would be a ruthless beast and hurt her son because Aaron had spent most of his time with the eagle! Arriving at the guild base, she quickly entered inside and shouted, "Aaron! Where are you?!" She looked around fanatically and soon heard Sangle''s usual sharp whistle. Looking up, she saw Aaron on the eagle and quickly flew up as mana surged inside her. Fortunately, Sangle was still sane and loyal as Aaron was safely sitting atop the big eagle. Isabe could see from Sangle''s eyes that it hadn''t turned into a mindless, aggressive beast like those in the wild. "Mom! Come here; look what I caught with Sangle! It''s a very beautiful flower!" Isabe smiled and internally sighed a huge relief before she nodded. "Thank you for always taking care of him, Sangle," Isabe smiled and patted Sangle''s head, who nodded in return, its eyes showing a smile and joy. Afterward, Isabe joined Aaron as she sat beside him on Sangle and entertained his little adventurers. Chapter 104: Kaalanx Abyss, General Information Rin and Erix entered Hunter Guild. It was an eight hundred square feet two-story building. Arriving before the central desk in the hall, Erix and Rin were greeted by the staff, a dark elf beauty. "Wee to the Abyss, newbies. If you want to know general knowledge of this world, this book will help." The dark elf gave them a slim book, which Rin epted it. Afterward, the dark elfdy gave them two badges each. "This is your Hunter card. Just drop a drop of your blood on it to activate it and make it yours. You will need your ID cards to enter any dungeon or participate in Realm Events." "And how do we earn money for starters?" "Your Hunter card is also your bank ount. Killing abyss creatures orpleting missions from that board will give you Abyss coins," the dark elfdy smilingly said as she pointed at the big board in the corner. "Thanks." [Congrattions. You havepleted the quest and received 1x Weapon Box and 1x Blueprint box.] ¡­ After activating their Hunter cards, Erix and Rin sat on a bench outside the Hunter Guild and started reading the book, finding a few shocking things and general knowledge, mainly ten points. 1. Rin and Erix were in Kanx Abyss, one of five Abyss worlds of Abyss Realm. Moreover, they had a new function, Map, which gave them ess to the entire Map of the Kanx abyss. It would appear if they uttered ''map'' in their mind. 2. Kanx Abyss was divided geographically into three domains: Peripheral, Inner, and Core. Erix and Rin were in the peripheral domain, in one of the many areas of level 50 and below. 3. If they wanted to get stronger, which was only possible by defeating and killing stronger monsters, they must eventually leave this area and enter a higher-level one. 4. Everyone would get hungry, sleepy, and thirsty despite their strength in any abyss world of Abyss Realm, and the basic necessities could only be gained as drops from dungeon monsters. Their inventory was empty because it was invalid, as they couldn''t put anything inside. The only inventory was the storage of 10 cubic meters of storage space essed via Hunter card, which could be upgraded by paying abyss coins at any Hunter Guild. 5. Participating in Realm Events would reward various boons and riches, especially skills and items, because the only way to get items and skill scrolls was to buy from people who made and sold them or from Realm Events. Normal wild monsters didn''t drop anything except their collectible body parts. 6. Cosmic Factions'' branches were located in the Core geography domain, in the Central Continent. 7. The social structure of Abyss Realm was based on strong eating weak with minor interference from Cosmic Factions, and due to a long history of Kax Abyss, the legacies of ns, families, and guilds based in Central Continent had stronger influences in Core domain and Inner domain. 8. The upper limit of Kanx Abyss was level 300. Upon crossing level 300, one would automatically enter into a higher Abyss world. 9. A special rule existed that prevented people from hurting individuals 10 levels lower than them, as their attacks would vanish upon hitting them. But if a lower leveled individual intensionally attacked a 10+ level higher individual, the special rule protecting that lower leveled individual would be nulled. 10. Upon getting epted as a member of any Cosmic Faction, one can use their service to travel out of the Abyss, like returning to their native world. "Alright, it''s simple. Let''s just kill monsters, level up, and earn money," Rin said with a thoughtful expression. "We can just pay to live in any Inn for now since we won''t stay in this lower-level area for long." Erix nodded. "Yeah. We have our self-created skills and the special skill, Ignis Ed Intimacy, so it won''t take long to cross level 50." As they were talking, a group of men passed by them, and seeing Rin and Erix in newbie outfits, their eyes lit up. "Haha, we have an extra room for spare, but we don''t need the red-eyed guy." "Hahaha, that''s right. We have one room for the girl. Wannae with us, babe?" Annoying voices with mocking andid-back tones assaulted Rin and Erix as they saw a group of four men, ranging from in their twenties to thirties, passing by them as they seemed to be going to Hunter Guild. But their words were not something Erix and Rin would silently take and ignore. Both of them stood up without saying a word and rushed towards them. Not expecting them to pounce on them, the group of four was caught off-guard. Erix didn''t have Aura Gear passive skill, but his instincts still picked up the most powerful man of the group, who was also the one who spoke first. Erix squarelynded a punch to the man''s jaw and broke it, causing the man''s eyes to roll upward as he lost consciousness. *Thud* "You-" Rin attacked the one who spoke the second sentence, directly cutting off his arm with her de Concept, and then proceeded to hurl a Lightning de at another who had pointed his hand at Erix and was going to use the skill. Three of them were disabled, but one with dark blond hair remained. "Die!" A water-melon-sized Fireball shot towards Erix, who issued a low roar as veins protruded all over his body. He threw a punch that exerted all his power straight toward the iing Fireball. *Boom!* -13 While Erix diffused the Fireball and took damage, Rin passed by him and swept her hand in a chopping motion towards the man as an invisible de with lightning cut off his head. Three down, one dead. "Erix, are you okay?" Rin quickly looked at Erix''s burnt hand. "Nothing serious. It''ll heal soon. Anyway, let''s get out of the town and start hunting," Erix said as he looked around. "We have to get powerful faster in case these idiots have stronger friends." People were still minding their own business after ncing in the direction and whispering something. Most of them seemed to be used to conflicts in the town, so what Erix and Rin did wasmon, except that it was rare for low-level people to attack higher-level people. "Let''s get their Hunter cards and leave," Rin waved her hand as she used her invisible de to cut off their clothes while Erix kicked them away as they gotpletely naked. After he picked up their Hunter cards, they quickly left the town. Chapter 105: I Want Heaven (R18) After arriving outside, they essed the Map in their mind and decided to move towards the west, which was also the direction of the Inner Domain. Of course, the inner domain was still far away, but they just decided to move in that direction. Their route was simple: 1. Moving towards Deste Mountains in the west to kill monsters to level up and increase their stats. 2. After passing the mountains, they would take a break at a mountain-base town based on their situation at that time and then enter Kin Forest with a ck dot on the Map that indicated an Abyss Influence in it. 3. Arriving at Lopart town after crossing Kin Forest. Lopart town had a bigger town symbol on the Map, which indicated that it was a big town with advanced structure and magic tech. After nning their route, they opened their reward boxes first, as they needed a weapon to make their journey easier. Rin opened her weapon box and got a spear. "Phew. It''s good as long as it''s a ded weapon," Rin wryly smiled and inspected the spear. [ck Jade Spear] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Rare. _Base Attack: 200 + 150% of the user''s Strength stat. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Jade Hold: Increase your Strength by 20 points and healing recovery by 50% as long as you have the spear in your hand. ¡ª> ck Jade Surge: Hitting a target with the spear would give you one stack of de Jade Surge. Upon getting five stacks, the spear''s damage will increase by 50% for ten seconds. _Note: If you miss an attack before the stacks reach 5, the stacks will immediately reset. The weapon was good for Rin, but Erix didn''t have much luck. "Better than nothing," Erix lightly sighed as he inspected the light brown wooden staff with red and golden patterns. Since it was a wooden staff, he couldn''t use his Metal Telekinesis on it. [Vindicator Staff] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Umon. _Base attack: 70 + 100% of the user''s Strength. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Vidicator Strike: Consume ten mana to empower your next staff strike to deal 100% extra damage and transfer your debuffs from you to your target. "Let''s get going now. We''ll unlock those four idiots'' hunter cardster," Erix said. ¡­ After three hours, Erix and Rin arrived at Deste Mountains and took a break after finding a cave. They reached level 28 by killing monsters. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Mortal-Order _Level: 28 _ss: -- (Options unlock after reaching level 50, including the ss you previously had.) _Life orb: [100/100] _Stat points: 56 ¡ª> [ Strength: 54 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 48 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 28 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 100 / Mana: 48/200 ] _Talent (0/3): \\_________________Origin Skills_________________/ - [Active skills (0/5)] ¡ª> - [Passive skills (0/5)] ¡ª> ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ ¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] \\_________________Self-Created Skills_________________/ _Active skills: ¡ª> Imposing Fist (1st Tier) ¡ª> Sling Shot Punch (1st Tier) ¡ª> Metal Diablolicus (2nd Tier) / Maniac Brawler Form. (Insufficient stats to execute, unable to execute) ¡ª> Roaring Metal Cannon (2nd Tier) (Insufficient stats, unable to execute) ¡ª> Death Metal Meteor (2nd Tier ) ( Insufficient stats and absence of a required energy source, unable to execute) ¡ª¡ª [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 28 _Rank: Mortal-Order _ss: (Options unlock after reaching level 50, including the ss you previously had.) _Vitality: [100/100] _Stat points: 56 ¡ª> [ Strength: 32 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 38 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 32 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 34 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 70 / Mana: 32/150 ] _Talent (0/3): \\_________________Origin Skills_________________/ - [Active skills (0/5)] ¡ª> - [Passive skills (0/5)] ¡ª> ______Special Skills: [1/3] ______ ¡ª> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy ] \\_________________Self-Created Skills_________________/ _Active skills: ¡ª> de Sheen (1st Tier) ¡ª> Thunderous de Strike (1st Tier) ¡ª> Lightning Tempest des (2nd Tier) (Insufficient stats to execute) ¡ª> Frenzied de Storm (2nd Tier) (Insufficient stats to execute) ¡­ So far, they hadn''t encountered any monsters above level 30, but they spected they would encounter stronger monsters while crossing the mountain. Sitting beside each other in the cave, Erix and Rin took out four Hunter cards belonging to those four men and dropped a drop of blood on them by pricking their thumbs. "Let''s see what those idiots got in their cards," Erix said as he opened a card. Rin also opened a card and infused a point of mana to ess its storage. After emptying all four ID cards, they sorted out their inventory. -> 11x Water Pouches, containing two liters of water in each pouch. -> Vegetables: 5x Carrots, 4x Cabbages, 6x Onions. -> Food: 6x Sweet Buns, 1x Seasoned Meat Steak. -> 4x Meat Talismans: pping it on a recently dead creature will produce a clean and high-quality 1-kilogram meat b of that creature. "Where are their weapons?" Erix frowned in confusion. "They didn''t have their weapons wielded in the town, so they should have them in the card''s inventory, no?" "Indeed," Rin nodded as she was also confused. But their confusion was cleared up soon. [Thest wielded weapon by individuals is automatically bound to them in their origin region.] "Good for others," Rin clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Let''s eat two buns and see how they taste," Erix took out two Sweet Buns and gave one to Rin. "It''s not bad," Rin nodded after taking a bite. "Quells the hunger, so it''s fine," Erix shrugged. After eating, Rin put her head on Erix''sp. "Darling~" "Yes?" "I love you." Erix smiled and kissed her. "I love you too." "It''s good that we are together," Rin said with a peaceful expression. "Good indeed," Erix chuckled. "I wouldn''t mind living in hell as long as we are together." "But I want heaven right now," Rin said while licking her lips as she softly touched Erix''s crotch. "Well, me too," Erix grinned as he pulled down Rin''s dress from the shoulder, causing her plump yet tender breasts to pop out. "I want it inside first," Rin stood up and sat down on hisp after pulling down his pants and inserting Erix''s cock into her pussy. Afterward, she just sat on it and buried Erix''s face into her ample bosom. "Suck them hard." "As you wish, my queen," Erix licked up lips, looking at the erect pink nipples, and opened his mouth before putting one in his mouth and massaging the other with his left hand. His rock-hard cock was twitching inside her contracting pussy while they took pleasures from other sources, like Rin having her breasts and nipples sucked and Erix savoring them to the fullest. After that, they had a lot of sex for two hours before departing the cave and continuing their journey. Chapter 106: Lopart Town, Dark Queen Lilith *Roar!* Facing a level 54 Dark Emerald Lion, Erix nced at Rin for a signal before he rushed forward, his fists wrapped in a pair of metal gauntlets he created by spending mana. The Dark Emerald Lion swept its glowing ws, but Erix quickly dodged them in a fluid and perfectly timed slide aided by controlling the metal tes below his feet before Erixnded an uppercut as the Lion shot upward. While it was in the air, Rin waved her spear in a graceful arc and released a condensed lightning de, shining and sleek, crackling with lightning. Thunderous de Strike! The de hit the Lion''s neck near where Erix punched. The beast''s tough emerald scales managed to resist the Thunderous de Strike for half a second before the already cracked scales broke, and the de proceeded to remove the beast''s head from its body. [You have reached level 50. You have gained 2 unassigned stat points.] "We are already at the periphery of the forest," Rin said as she checked the map in her mind. "Lopart town is just five kilometers away now. Great!" "You''ll be able to rest soon," Erix smilingly nodded as he approached the dead body of the beast and dug out its beast core before putting it in his Hunter card''s storage. In the Abyss, the dead bodies wouldn''t disappear into motes and wouldn''t drop anything. But the monsters above level 50 still had a beast core, and one could dig it out to absorb its power to increase one''s magic power and mana. The same phenomenon would be happening on Earth after the end of Main Quest in Aestian''s Realm. So, people would be able make use of monsters'' body parts in various ways like Alchemy, Magic Smithing, Cooking, and such. ¡­ "Finally, we are here," Rin said, her expression slightly weary and her eyes showing exhaustion as she looked at the gates of Lopart Town, fifty meters away. "Let''s get a room and rest before anything else," Erix said. They took 14 hours to travel here while periodically hunting higher-level monsters to level up, so they were physically and mentally fatigued. After asking the guards about the good Inn''s location, the duo directly moved towards it to rest. While moving, they could hear people talking as the town was also abundant with people of various races. "Rin, how about we make our base here? This town is near the Inner domain, so the areas around here have higher-level monsters, and this town is also very big and resourceful," Erix said as he looked around. "I was thinking the same thing," Rin nodded, her tired eyes filled with curiosity as she nced at various stalls, shops, big buildings, and lots of people, especially humans and dwarves. On their way to the Blue Leaf Inn, Erix and Rin repeatedly heard one name. Dark Queen Lillith. A Noble-Order powerhouse, which meant that she was anywhere between level 101 to 200. "Who is this Dark Queen?" Rin muttered. "From the talks, she sounded like the boss of this town," Erix wryly smiled. They arrived at the reception desk, and the receptionist told them that the price for one room for one day was 2000 Abyss coins. Both of them had gotten barely 2.6k Abyss Coins! Moreover, they had learned that the Abyss Coins they received from killing monsters would adjust ording to their and the monster''s levels. But they had no choice but to pay 2000 as they didn''t want to linger in their dirty clothes and appalled condition any longer. "Let''s just have a quick bath and sleep," Rin tiredly sighed. However, when they arrived at the room and opened it, Rin''s tiredness increased even more as she walked towards the bed. "Erix, I want to sleep¡­" "Stop," Erix wrapped his arms around her waist and stopped her from lying on the bed. "I don''t have the energy to bathe," Rin pouted with droopy eyes. She was getting too sleepy! "I know, but you can''t sleep without bathing," Erix helplessly smiled and removed her dress. "Alright, you can just sleep. I''ll clean you up and put you to bed." "Yey~" Rin tiredly cheered before closing her eyes and leaning forward. "Then good night, honey." Erix lovingly smiled and patted her head. After removing her clothes, he carried her in his arms and entered the bathroom. ''Nice, it''s big,'' Erix nodded as he was d the bathroom was big and there was a bathtub. ¡­ A huge ck-gold mansion with colorful decorations stood out among all other buildings in the town due to the materials used to build it and its demonic yet aesthetic design. It was the mansion of Dark Queen Lillith, the leader of the Dark Queen guild who had connections in the Inner Domain and Core Domain and originally came from Core Domain for two simple reasons. The first reason is that this was one of the nearest towns to the Inner Domain, and its size was also huge. It bustled with poption due to the Blood Stone Forest and Star-Rain Mountain Range, both of which contained valuable resources like Blood Stone Ore Veins, a Tier-2 material, and many other Tier-2 and Tier-1 resources. Of course, the Dark Queen guild monopolized and controlled most of those resources. Inside the mansion, Dark Queen Lilith was having a bath in her bathtub while three women, one elf, one human, and one subus, served and cleaned her. Lilith was a hybrid, born from a vampire and a demoness. She had long silky white-cyan hair, dark pink eyes, two palm-lengthed thin red horns, and a slim yet bombasting figure. She was having a peaceful bathtime but suddenly felt something strange; her eyes faintly glinted. "Leave," shemanded, telling the women to leave. After they left, she stood up from the bathtub, revealing her gloriously sexy figure with two big pale white breasts and nipples and her slightly hairy vagina. Walking towards the huge bathroom''s windows, she looked in the direction of Blue Leaf Inn and narrowed her eyes as her lips slowly curved into a devilish smile. ''It looks like my town weed an interesting presence.'' She, who named herself Lilith and always got everything she wanted by any means, now wanted one more thing after a long while. Chapter 107: Dungeon Deals, A Pair of Eager Eyes As the morning sun gently filtered through the curtains, casting a warm and golden glow across the room, Rin slowly stirred from her slumber. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing a pair of sleepy yet contented eyes. The soft sheets and nkets embraced her form, cradling her in their warmth. Beside her, Erixy peacefully, his chest rising and falling with each steady breath. His dark hair was tousled from sleep, and a faint smile yed at the corners of his lips. His arm was draped over Rin, their fingers entwined in a delicate embrace. Rin shifted slightly, causing Erix to stir as well. His eyes opened, and he blinked before a smile spread across his face. "Good morning," he murmured in a husky voice, half sleepy. "Good morning," Rin replied, her voice a gentle whisper. She brushed a strand of hair away from Erix''s forehead, her touch as soft as a caress. Their gazes locked, and in that moment, words were unnecessary. The quiet intimacy between them spoke volumes. Erix''s fingers traced azy path along Rin''s arm, sending shivers of warmth through her. "I could get used to waking up like this again," he admitted, his toneced with affection. Rin chuckled softly, a melodic sound that filled the room with a touch of joy. "Me too," she confessed, her cheeks coloring slightly. Both of them felt refreshed and energized by the long sleep after their arduous journey. Rin slithered closer and felt the morning wood of Erix. With an alluring smile, she pecked Erix''s lips and got up, sitting on his stomach at once as her juicy breasts jiggled slightly, tempting Erix to move his hands as he gently started caressing. "Darling~ How about a good old morning exercise?" "Half an hour until climax," Erix devilishly grinned. "Two rounds." "Deal," Rin smirked. ¡­ After one hour of morning exercise, Rin and Erix bathed and then sat cross-legged on the bed. It was time to rank up and ascend to Supra-Order, though they didn''t get any rank-up quest this time. However, they finished creating their magic core within ten minutes since they were already familiar with it, and they also received a boost in their magic power and mana, much like the reward that was disyed in the rank-up quest they got in the past. +10 Magic power, +50 mana. Afterward, they left the Inn and went to Lopart Town''s Hunter Guild. This one was four times the size of the Hunter Guild they saw in the previous town. As they entered, they arrived in a hall with multiple floating magic screens with prices of vegetables and other items going up and down. "Wow, we should we farm tomatoes," Rin muttered. The most expensive veggies were tomatoes, priced at 9,700 Abyss Coins per kilo. But it seems that Rin''s murmur was heard by a passing hunter who was walking towards the exit, a silver-haired elfdy wearing a ranger''s outfit. She stopped and turned to Rin. ''Supra-order? They have a powerful vibe.'' Checking their outfits, she realized something and shot a question, "Do you have a team, or are you just two?" "Just two. Why?" Rin raised her eyebrows. ''Two wild Supra-orders found! And they also feel strong. Great!'' "Good," the elfdy smiled as if she had aplished something and said, "I suppose you are looking to earn money, right?" "Not wrong," Erix nodded. "Well then, you can always go to one of the dungeons controlled by Dark Queen guild and give them 25% of your share, or¡­" the elfdy grinned and continued, "You can join my team to explore a new dungeon that we just found, and we''ll only take 10% of your share." "You must decide quickly so we can depart. It''s only a matter of time before others find that dungeon, so we want first kills on each floor boss and elite monsters for best drops." Erix and Rin looked at each other for a second before they nodded at the elfdy. "You can call me La. What''s your name?" "I am Rin, and this is my partner, Erix." "Great, follow me." ¡­ Blood Stone Forest was in the west, and the Star-Rain Mountain range was in the North. These two were considered slightly more dangerous areas than Brimlock Green Meadow, which was in the south of Lopart Town. The Inner domain was also in the North, as one would enter there after crossing the Star-Rain mountain range and a small patch of dark forest afterward. La''s team found the new dungeon in the south, somewhere in Brimlock Green meadow. So, after leaving Lopart Town, Erix created a simple metal board to fly three of them to the Brimlock Green Meadow, which was fifteen kilometers away from Lopart Town. "Here, the dungeon gate is behind that small hill." La pointed, and Erix followed. When they passed by the hill, Rin and Erix saw a group of fifteen people, and their faces visibly fell seeing them. La''s original team only had four people, and they recruited others, like how La recruited Erix and Rin. "La, why did you bring two more?" a muscr dwarf man spoke, his brows furrowed. "This is a Tier-1 dungeon of 10 floors, Mondar," La rolled her eyes as she jumped off the metal board andnded before the dwarf. "We need at least twenty people for it, but your greedy ass wanted to keep people minimum," La snorted as she crossed her arms. "To safely defeat the bosses and increase farming speed, I brought two more. Simple as that." "It''s fine, La. I get your point," spoke a middle-aged human man with a ck beard and brown hair. He walked towards the gate while saying, "Let us hurry. We can''t afford to wait any longer." The middle-aged man removed the barrier around the dungeon that he had used to prevent its aura from leaking and entered inside. The other people quickly followed, eager to farm rather than hear bickering. "Their levels are only 51," Mondar muttered after turning to Erix and Rin. He narrowed his eyes and adopted a foul mood before saying, "Hey, two, you better not hold us back because nobody will save you if you stupidly put yourselves in danger." "Don''t worry, we''ll do better than you," Erix grinned as his red eyes slightly gleamed. ... On the other hand, Dark Queen Lilith sensed the unique presence she felt leaving the town. ''To the south? Then it would return back here,'' Lilith licked her lips, her eyes glowing with red gleams. ''I''ll pick you up after I finish some business.'' She was eager to meet and posses the owner of that presence. Chapter 108: Know-how, Earnings Wee to the temporary team. You two will be apanying La and me into the dungeon. You can call me Darabri," the dark elf woman said, her lips curving into a smile. "I''m Erix," Erix nodded. "Rin," Rin responded with a smile and a nod. "Alright, let''s move on, and hopefully, we''ll find some tomatoes," La chuckled as she led the way toward the entrance of the dungeon. Darabri followed, and Rin and Erix quickly followed suit. The dungeon featured four spacious pathways adorned with neat blueish-brown tiles on the floor. The ceiling loomed twenty meters above, giving a sense of openness. Since the others were ahead of them, they had already ventured down their chosen paths. "We''re heading to the fourth pathway as our team decided, in case there are multiple pathways in the dungeon from the start," La informed them before setting off, the trio following closely behind. As they stepped into the fourth pathway, a wide corridor with identical tiles greeted them. Before long, a Treant monster randomly spawned, blocking their way. Effortlessly dispatching it with a single arrow, La watched as it vanished, leaving behind a broli. "Broli isn''t bad. It sells for 2850 Abyss Coins per kilo," La''s eyes gleamed. "Okay, we''ll farm this section until an elite Treant shows up." "Be cautious, both of you," Darabri cautioned as she turned to Erix and Rin. "The more we defeat, the stronger they''ll be until an Elite spawns. So, choose your attacks wisely." "By the way, the drops belong to the one who gets the kill, right?" Erix inquired. "Yes, but kill stealing is not tolerated." "Understood." The group continued onward, encountering more Treants that continued to spawn. However, it didn''t take long for La and Darabri to be surprised by Erix and Rin. They were effortlessly defeating Treants without taking any damage! ''Their movements andbat styles are impressive. Not many possess such highbat expertise,'' Darabri mused. After twenty minutes of constant Treant battles, they umted 2 kilograms of broli. Then, an elite Treant emerged. But it met a swift demise, with La delivering the final blow. "We''ll split the drops equally from Elites and Bosses," La stated before dividing the eight broli pieces among them, ensuring each got a share. "Since we''ve cleared the Elite section, we''ll proceed to the next floor if there''s no boss room at the end," Darabri informed Rin and Erix. La and Darabri shared knowledge and rules about exploring newly spawned dungeons as they moved. After arriving at the end, all groups gathered as their paths also led to the same end. The other groups shared their findings as Rin and Erix found out that monsters in the other three paths apparently dropped Onions, Spinach, and Green Beans. "Let''s take a five-minute break to recover and use any potions if you have them," Mondar suggested, producing a Strength boost potion he promptly consumed. Rin and Erixcked potions, so they sat cross-legged, practicing meditative breathing to hasten their recovery. "Need a mana recovery potion? You can owe me one," La offered with a smile, extending a mana potion toward Rin and Erix. "Thanks, we''ll hold onto it for now," Rin epted with a grateful nod and a smile before putting the potion in her Hunter card''s storage. After five minutes, the group stood before the boss room and entered as Mondar unlocked the door. The floor boss was a five-meter-tall Granite Golem, and it wasn''t much of a challenge as everyone killed it within two minutes by working together. A door manifested at the end of the big room after the boss vanished, leading to the next floor. The floor bosses didn''t drop anything but unlocked an exit to the next floor and granted everyone a random temporary buff for ten minutes based on individual contribution. So, without dy, everyone quickly continued to make use of the buff and farm monsters after entering the next floor. After two hours, everyone finished all ten floors and defeated the final boss, ending their expedition of a newly spawned dungeon. Rin and Erix reached level 53, while others didn''t level up at all since all of them were above level 70, with Mondar being the highest level among them, at level 82. "We''ll have to hunt wild monsters now," Rin said after exiting the dungeon. Turning to La, she inquired, "Do you know any missions requiring to kill wild monsters?" Rin and Erix also needed to kill wild monsters because dungeon monsters and wild monsters differed. Dungeon monsters would disappear after death and drop some loot, but they wouldn''t give physical stats after one killed them, nor would they drop their beast core. But Erix and Rin needed to increase their stats, so they had to hunt wild monsters. "There are plenty, haha," La admitted with a wry chuckle, "I pulled you out of the Hunter Guild just as you entered, so you didn''t have time to look around, but there are many missions like that." Darabri nodded. "Wild monsters'' body parts and their cores are used as ingredients in many things, so there are always missions and demands for monsters." "Let''s go together since we are going to sell our vegetables," La said with a grin. "You can also pay 10% of your share after you covert your veggies into money." ¡­ After finishing their business in Hunter Guild, Rin and Erix returned to their room in Blue Leaf Inn. Their total earning was 78,600 Abyss Coins. "I am famished. Let''s eat something in the restaurant below. The smells were great when we passed by it." "Sure, but," Erix wryly smiled. "Did you see the price of food?" "Nope," Rin tilted her head, puzzled. "Are they very expensive?" "If I recall correctly, a burger-style food was priced at 3000 Abyss coins. And premium dishes cost as high as over fifty thousand." "Damn, alright," Rin pouted. "Let''s keep our spending moderate for now. To increase our power, we want to kill wild monsters more than dungeon monsters." "Yep. But before going out again, let''s finish our daily hour in the Limitless ne. We haven''t entered inside since arriving in the Abyss." "Regarding that, I have an idea," Rin said, her expression contemtive and serious. Chapter 109: Meeting Tenebria again, Liliths Interest "I want some insights and epiphany in Limitless ne if possible," Rin thoughtfully said before she formed words in her mind and continued. "You can try to feel things and learn more about Metal Element in some inds rich with magical ores while I will roam in thunderous and lightning areas," Rin clenched her fists in determination as she added, "Let''s try to reach level 2 in our affinities. I am sure it will give us a significant boost in power." "Sounds good. We need more power to safely and dominantly establish ourselves here until it''s time to leave," Erix nodded, his eyesced with ice-cold determination. "Let''s focus on that progress in Limitless ne until we achieve it." Closing their eyes, they meditated for a few seconds before they entered the Limitless ne. However, they were immediately greeted by a familiar avatar as they arrived in the sky above the vast ocean filled with inds. The avatar was none other than the woman who gave them the Spiritual Art, The Way of Unfettered. Tenebria. "You¡­" Rin and Erix were startled. "It''s about time we met again," Tenebria said with an obscure smile in her obscure avatar. Rin and Erix saw the avatar''s eyes shining before a familiar item materialized before Erix. Babin Maw Hook! "Erix. I gave you this artifact for your benefit. It is cursed, but I am sure you will ovee it and reap the benefits. Feel its depths by using and mastering it and try toprehend its space power." "As for the other thing¡­" the woman avatar paused before turning to Rin. The woman''s smile became prominent as her lips moved. "What?" Erix couldn''t hear anything, but when he looked at Rin, he was taken aback seeing her sparkling expression filled. "It really works like that?" Rin asked, her face flushed red. In her origin region, she could feel an additional rune, an additional power. Tenebria chuckled softly and confirmed with a nod. "Enjoy the discovery. It''s time for me to depart." At that, Tenebria''s avatar disappeared. "What were you talking about?" Erix quipped in puzzlement. "That''s a surprise~ You will know when the timees," Rin cheekily grinned. Erix helplessly smiled. "Come on, I''ll show you the inds I was talking about." "It seems you''ve explored before." "Yep." ¡­ After a while, Erix and Rin entered their own different worlds. Erix was meditating on an ind''s tallest peak. The ind was filled with all sorts of ore veins containing all sorts of Metal and other materials. He was sensing all of them by spreading his consciousness, learning about them, and searching their depths. He wanted to familiarize himself with the foundation of Metal and the metal elements andprehend their mysteries. Of course, he could automatically learn about unique metal structures during that process as ore veins contained various metals, thus myriad ways to understand the foundation of Metal Elements in the metaphysical realm, which includes thew of Metal itself. On the other hand, Rin was also in a simr process to deepen her understanding and achieve mastery of Lightning. Amidst thundering clouds with blue and purple lightning dancing around, Rin floated and let herself be struck by lightning with the unlimited power essed through using the Way of Unfettered spiritual art in the Limitless ne. Since whatever they imagined could be achieved with the Way of Unfetterened in Limitless ne, both Rin and Erix were using this Spiritual Art to the fullest to aid them in quenching their thirst for acquiring more power. It didn''t take long for an hour to pass in this manner as they were kicked out abruptly with their meditation breaking at once. Both of them slumped down, their faces stered with disappointment. "I felt like I was so close to breaking through to the next level," Erix sighed. "Same," Rin rotated slightly, putting her head on Erix''sp. "We''ll enter the next session right after twelve tonight." "Okie. I''ll give you a surprise before that, and that''ll take three hours, so let''s finish today''s adventure by nine," Rin grinned and pulled Erix''s cheeks. "It''s going to be fun." ¡­ Rin and Erix left the Inn and directly went to the Hunter Guild. After looking around the hall, they learned various things and chose three missions. All of them were in Blood Stone Forest. 1. Collect 12x Horns of Redrock Goats. Reward: 30,000 Abyss coins. 2. Collect 60x Feathers of Bloodthirsty Chickens. Reward: 60,000 Abyss coins. 3. Collect 10x Red Mist Bloom. A type of flower. Reward: 100,000 Abyss coins. ¡­ While Rin and Erix were heading to the Blood Stone Forest, they were unaware of a pair of eyes following them. Inside the Dark Queen''s mansion, she sat on her dark red throne with four people standing before her. Two middle-aged men with nervous expressions wearing merchant outfits and two young women in maid dresses. "Lion Force guild is determined to build their post in Blood Stone Forest and have already taken over one of your Blood Stone mines in the north of the forest," said the vampire maid with a slender and tall figure with straight blond hair. "Did they kill our people?" Dark Queen asked, her eyes coldly narrowed. "Four dead. The rest escaped, and they didn''t chase," the other maid, an elf girl looking in herte teens with a long brown ponytail, answered. "Launch a probing attack and assess their power," Dark Queen ordered. "Understood." Both maids bowed and left. "Now, you two pigs," Dark Queen coldly nced at the two middle-aged men. One human and one dwarf. "Give me a good reason to spare you." "Please give us one more chance. We will pay back the exact worth of your resources we smuggled." Dark Queen coldly chuckled, "You didn''t even receive the payment for things you helped smuggle out of my territory. You were caught before you could escape. So¡­." "How-are-you-going-to-pay me?!" Although Dark Queen couldn''t personally hurt them because of the 10-level difference rule, she had her subordinates around their levels to do the work. "L-Let us go and retrieve our payment. We''ll give all of that to you on top of paying more." "Yes. We can form a soul contract." "No need to form a soul contract," Dark Queen suddenly smiled, a smile oozing out pure cruelty. "I trust you." "Because I have the means to find you and give you the worst tortures if you don''t pay me on time." "Now, scram." "T-Thank you for your generosity." Both men quickly left after thanking her. On the other hand, Dark Queen murmured something and waved her hand, causing a red-bordered cloudy screen to manifest before her. The screen showed a forest and two individuals dancing around trees with quick and deadly attacks against a bunch of rock-scaled red goats with drilling horns. Leaning back on her throne, Lilith silently observed Erix and Rin with a hint of amusement and interest. ''A hybrid of zombie and a human. Undead and living.'' ''What do you have that broke the zombie hex and allowed you to keep your soul with such a pure undead source?'' A strange drunken expression reced her face, her cheeks painted with red. ''A zombie, the lowest and purest of undead, merged with living...'' ''Fascinating creature~ I want you and your future!'' The direction of Erix''s evolution, when ascending to Royal-order, would be something never before seen because reaching Royal-order meant going through a proper bio-magical evolution of their body, and Erix would be the first Hybrid Zombie to achieve that. Being a hybrid herself, Lilith seemed to have something in mind, an experiment, and an ambition to use another hybrid with a different nature but having partially simr factors. Human and Zombie, Demon and Vampire. Both hybrids had one thing inmon. Zombie and Vampire were both undead-type lifeforms, but Erix was a never-before-seen hybrid! ''You will be mine!'' a devilish grin, a lusty expression adopted her face as Lilith continued watching Erix. Underneath her entric behavior was also a calculus that was forming a n on how to acquire her toy. Chapter 110: A Gaze, Meeting After leaving the town, Erix and Rin first sorted their loot and activated their ss awakening since they had reached Supra-order. As they leisurely flew towards the forest while standing on a sleek ck metal board, Rin chose the option to get her previous ss back. Although it was unfortunate that her de Eater had been reset with no ded weapons digested in it. On the other hand, Erix''s ss was not avable to him because there was not an abundance amount of zombies in the Abyss. Instead, he had his previous ss options, an alternative to Zombie Lord called Undead Sorcerer, and¡­a crazy ss option with tough conditions attached. [Death Reaper (X-grade) ]¡ªFor you have reaped death while living. -Conditions: ¡ª> Reach level 101. ¡ª> Kill a Royal-order enemy while being at Noble-order. ¡ª> Kill living beings. [0/10,000] Naturally, this ss had long conditions to unlock, so Erix had yet to make any choice and decided to wait for a few days before choosing. Because having a ss and not having it made a huge difference, It was already apparent when they fought with Redrock Goats. These goat monsters roamed in the east periphery of the forest, so Erix and Rin encountered them first. With her de Eater, de Tune, and ess to de energy, Rin''sbat power was significantly boosted, far above Erix. After killing eighteen goats together and reaching level 56, the duo continued after harvesting their beast cores, and encountered a pack of Sanguine Cape Wolves, all around level 70. "Erix, we''ll have lots of Abyss Coins after finishing these tasks, so let''s buy some weapons," Rin said as she looked at her de Eater in the form of her ck Jade Spear after pulling it out of a wolf she just killed. "Alright, this one is digested," Rin said before a sheen exuded from the spear as she swept it upward and pierced it into the wolf that pounced towards her from behind. "I took sses for Magic smithing but couldn''t awaken its Griomoire at the end," Erix wryly smiled. Dodging the w projectile, he made a clean sweep with his horizontal punch after a short dash and sted its brains. "If I had, I could make some good weapons with the advantage of metal affinity." *Swoosh!* Rin also finished off the wolf that pounced on her by using a de Energy st released from the tip of her spear that was stabbed into the wolf''s body. *Boom!* All seven wolves died. "It doesn''t sense that you didn''t awaken Magic Smith grimoire despite having Metal affinity," Rin chuckled. Erix helplessly smiled. "I guess I''ll just have to wait until I get my hands on a magic smith grimoire. Some people got various ones back on Earth, so I am sure we can find it in Abyss." As the duo continued deeper for their next task after harvesting cores of wolves, and hunted more monsters, they finally started feeling something strange. Both of them arrived on top of a mountain after going twenty kilometers deep in the forest that stretched for over a hundred kilometers. "What is it that''s observing us?" Rin frowned as she looked around after arriving at the mountain peak. Erix was also looking around with narrowed eyes, his perception being sharper in cases where he could enhance it with his focus because of having Aura Gear in the past. Although the skill waspletely gone, it had once enabled his body and mind into a new realm of perception. On the other hand, Lilith was slightly surprised that they managed to sense her pair of ethereal demon eyes. "You won''t be able to find it even if you can sense its gaze following you," Lilith chuckled, a hint of a sadistic smile lingering on her face. "Feel the gaze, and also feel the helplessness of being unable to find it." As such, Rin and Erix''s journey transformed from something like jolly power-up farming monsters to a miserable one where they were forced to remain extra cautious and disturbed because of a damn gaze following them everywhere. They could sense it clearer than ever every passing second but were unable to pinpoint its location or even its general area. After three hours, they finished their tasks and reached level 62, but as they looked at each other, both were unnerved. "Fuck," Rin cursed under her breath. "Let''s return. We are done for today," Erix said as he saw the dusk of two suns, one orange and one bright purple. 6:00 PM. It was going to get dark soon. Although they flew back on Erix''s metal board, it still took them an hour since the forest had nock of flying monsters. The general public of hunters was more friendly than hostile because of the 10-level difference rule. Naturally, poison in the heart still existed, so being cautious was the first cure to a safe life in the Abyss. Inside Blue Leaf Inn''s room, Rin and Erix sat before each other, fully cautious and tightened nerves. They were trying their best to find the eyes that were observing them, but to no avail, and it was making them mad. Imagine if you felt a gaze linger on you for hours upon hours, a clear sense of a pair of eyes watching you, but¡­ You have no way of escaping it or finding it. It''s already 8:00 p.m., and the duo hadn''t gone anywhere after submitting missions and getting Abyss Coins. "Fuck it," Rin cursed under her breath and stood up. "Let''s go out and do what we have to do. Forget about this gaze." Erix clenched his fist, his eyes slightly trembling as he muttered, "I am close to finding it, but you are right. Let''s go out for a while and buy some necessary things. I also need a break since I''ve been focusing too much." Rin couldn''t help but sigh. ''What kind of curse is following us?'' ¡­ They needed some emergency supplies like Healing potions, Mana recovery potions, and sealed food like meatballs to store in their Hunter card storage. The supplies cost them 60k Abyss coins as they bought two Healing potions, three mana recovery potions, and other things like food packs. Afterward, the duo entered a big shop trading in all sorts ofbat equipment. Red Sea Gear Emporio. The hall was big and littered with wall-type shelves that had various weapons and armor sets stuck to them. Shortly after Erix and Rin entered, a humandy approached them with a smile. "Wee, dear customers. I am avable to assist you if you have any queries or questions." Rin went straight to the point as she said, "Show me all types of swords that cost a hundred thousand Abyss Coins or less." "A hundred fifty thousand," Erix followed up before he turned to Rin and answered her questioning gaze, "I don''t want to buy anything, so get a good weapon to feed your de Eater." "Alright." Seeing their exchange finishing, the staffdy smiled and said, "Please follow me." Thedy took them to a corner section in the hall where two shelves of swords containing twenty Tier-1 swords of various types were situated. Long sword, heavy sword, short sword, katana-type sword, one-edged straight sword, saber, rapier, cuss, and even a strange giant ck-ded sword with no additional hilt crafting like the Butcher''s sword Rin previously had. "All of these swords cost 150k Abyss coins. Price is non-negotiable." "I''ll inspect them before deciding," Rin said as she looked at the first sword. "Take your time," the staffdy politely smiled. ¡­ When Erix and Rin went out, Lilith had decided to meet them, and since they entered Red Sea Gear Emporio, she easily managed to arrange the stage. After all, Red Sea Gear Emporio belonged to her! After arriving at the Red Sea Gear Emporio in her carriage, she flew up on a dark red cloudy rose while her white-cyan hair shone faint silver under the moonlight and lights of the town. Her appearance started a few murmurs, but she only bothered with people if necessary. So, she flew directly onto the fourth floor of the shop and entered her empty office. After leaning back on thefortable chair, she took out a smallmunication card and called the manager. Within a minute, a blond-haired busty elf wearing a white-green dress arrived in the office. "Go to the ground floor and look for a ck-haired couple who are looking at the Tier-1 swords at the corner," Lilith said with a small devilish smile. "Tell them to follow you if they want to remove the gaze and bring them here." ¡­ Rin and Erix looked at the elfdy as their expression turned severe. "Stop, I have nothing to do with this; I am just following orders, " the elfdy raised her hand with a wry smile, the force of hands moving made giant boobs slightly jiggle, causing Erix to automatically look there due to instincts while Rin internally clicked her tongue. ''What kind of milkers they are?'' Both of them broke their somber state, though they also knew what the elfdy said was right. Erix and Rin looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to follow the elfdy. "Go, we are following you," Rin said. They were safe with a 10-level difference, and attacking inside the town was not allowed in the first ce, a rule set by Dark Queen Lilith herself. They entered a magic elevator on the ground floor and quickly arrived on the top floor. Following the big elfdy, they went past a door and saw an otherwordly beauty leaning on a chair wearing a ck dress embroidered with a tiny silver design. Her cleavage was exposed, and it became even more prominent as she leaned forward and rested her beasts on the table while her chin was on her hand. "You may leave, Milky." "As you wish," the elfdy bowed while smiling and left. Rin and Erix looked at the woman of otherworldly nature, feeling slight pressure due to her strength and aura. "How about we start with an introduction?" Lilith smiled, her allure increasing each second. "I am Lilith Ravensfall. Chapter 111: Dark Queens Offer After exchanging introductions, Erix''s voice was calm and unhurried as he inquired, "How did you be aware of the gaze following us?" "How?" Lilith responded with a yful chuckle as she revealed the truth. "Because that gaze was none other than mine." With a casual snap of her fingers, the sensation of being observed and the presence of the gaze faded from both Rin and Erix''s awareness. "Why?" Rin''s brows knitted in confusion. "We''ve just arrived in the abyss." "Because you two are interesting and talented. How about joining my guild as members of my dark troupe?" Lilith exined, her smile widening. "You''ll have ess to the best missions and even quotas in dungeons. As members of my guild, you won''t even need to pay a 30% share." Erix and Rin found themselves taken aback by the proposal but also intrigued by its potential advantages. "It''s a tempting offer, but what''s the catch?" Erix''s skepticism was evident in the arched raise of his eyebrows. Lilith leaned back, her confident smile unshaken. "Catch? None at all. I see potential in both of you, and your talents align well with my guild''s objectives. Of course, I''ll expect you to actively contribute when tasks need to be aplished." She continued, "And don''t worry, I won''t send you on reckless missions that would jeopardize your lives. The only condition is that you stay in my mansion and asionally allow me to intrude upon your lives." Her words carried a sharp yet alluring edge as she spoke of her requirement. "For example, I might request a dinner together, and I would expect you toply." Rin and Erix exchanged a thoughtful nce, weighing the options before them. They were aware of the Dark Troupe''s reputation¡ªa group of powerful individuals directly under themand of Dark Queen Lilith. Their strength ranged from level 100 and beyond, some even nearing level 200. While the idea of aligning themselves with Lilith''s guild held its appeal, the prospect of potentialplications loomed. However, as long as they refrained from attacking either the Dark Queen or any of her powerful subordinates capable of overpowering them, joining the guild seemed like a pragmatic choice. After a moment of contemtion, Rin broke the silence, her expression firm. "We''re in, but on the condition that you remove your gaze on us. It''s distracting and vexing." Lilith''s response was immediate and reassuring. "Of course. My observations were merely an assessment. You''re free from my gaze now." As Lilith rose from her seat, she approached the window, "You''re wee to visit the mansion whenever you like and settle in your new abode. A maid named Lira will be there to guide you to your new amodations." A second alter, her form almost dissolved like mist as she addressed the pair onest time before vanishing. "Until we meet again." With her departure, Rin and Erix settled back onto the sofa, their bafflement apparent. "What in the world was that?" Erix murmured. Rin''s eyes narrowed, her thoughts more pragmatic. "I see potential gains from this arrangement. Even if the Dark Queen decides to involve us in her affairs, it''s clear we won''t be able to resist. By aligning ourselves with her, we can gain insights into her motives and remain cautious. We also have protection from the 10-level difference rule." Erix''s wry smile matched Rin''s assessment. "So, we just don''t pick fights with her or her overpowered friends. Sounds doable." "Yes," Rin agreed, and a smile formed on her face. "And now that her gaze is no longer an issue, we can proceed with the surprise I''ve nned for you. Hehe, get ready to be amazed." ... Descending to the ground floor, Rin made her choice among the disyed swords. After careful consideration, she settled on the Stormrend Katana¡ªa sleek de adorned with intricate thundercloud engravings. Brandishing the sword, Rin marveled at its electrifying aura and tested its might in the air, leaving behind a trail of faint electric sparks. [Stormrend Katana] _Rank: Tier-1 _Grade: Epic. _Base Damage: 300 + 250% of user''s strength stat + 100% of magic stat. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Thunderstrikes (passive): Upon striking a target, the de releases a controlled surge of lightning that courses through the opponent''s body, delivering additional lightning damage. (Requires Lightning affinity for the passive to work). ¡ª> Lightning Dance: The wielder can channel the mana in the katana to activate a magic formation, buffing the user to enhance their speed and agility for a short burst, allowing them to swiftly close the distance between foes or evade attacks. With a satisfied nod, Rin fed the sword to her de Eater. "Finished. Let''s go," Rin dered. Erix offered a thoughtful observation. "The passive ability seems quite powerful. You should attempt to learn its formation." Rin''s eyes lit up with anticipation as she nodded. "Absolutely. I''m nning to unveil both formations within the Limitless ne. As they''re both lightning-type magic, they''ll be extra useful to me." As they strolled through the streets en route to the Dark Queen''s mansion, the topic naturally turned to their new residence and future ns. After ten minutes, they arrived before the mansion''s imposing gate and were greeted by an elf maid in a fitting maid attire. Her slender figure wasplemented by an ample bosom. Rin couldn''t help but internally note the allure of Lilith''s subordinates. "Why does the Dark Queen only have such alluring servants?" Erix chuckled, "Why? Are you feeling insecure, my queen?" Rin rolled her eyes in response before she smiled. "The only insecurity I have is you dying before me." Erix felt warmth rising in his heart hearing her words and gently smiled as he pulled Rin towards him from her waist, "We''ll live together forever. Let''s make sure of that." "Sounds good," Rin lovingly smiled and kissed him. As they arrived before the gate, the maid introduced herself as Lira and bowed gracefully, her gestures hinting at more than professionalism. "Wee, Master Erix and Master Rin." "Follow me, please. I''ll lead you inside." They acknowledged her before following Lira into the mansion. Passing through a splendid garden, they arrived at an expansive hall bathed in a gentle golden glow. Divided into living and dining sections, the hall bore an air of elegance. Ascending the stairs, Rin and Erix followed Lira deeper into the mansion. A corridor led them to two doors¡ªone on the immediate left and the twenty meters away at the end. Thetter bore thebel "Dark Queen," a clear indication of it belonging to Lilith. "That room is Lady Lilith''s personal room. You can not enter there without her permission," Lira informed. "And definitely don''t enter by mistake," she emphasized. "We are not interested in that room," Rin said with a hollow smile. "Don''t worry." Lira nodded and pointed at the door before them, "This is your new abode-- A havenprising a hall, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Lira then presented them withm cards and her readiness to assist," "Whenever you want to eat something or require any type of assistance, as long as it''s within a realm of possibility by my body and mind, you can call me." Although a bit surprised at the servitude, Erix and Rin nodded. Though Lira showed hesitancy for the first time a secondter, breaking her usuallyposed demeanor. "Umm, there are members of the troupe living in the mansion, and some of them might feel envious that you got the closest room to the Dark Queen." "So, I would suggest you remain careful and not attack them by mistake whatever they do." Erix''s amused smile surfaced. "Well, we''re not prone to losing our temper. It''s more likely that we irritate people than the other way around." Lira''s smile held a touch of relief. "That''s good to hear. Have a pleasant night, Masters." "Thank you," Rin replied, appreciating the maid''s candor. As Lira left, Rin couldn''t help but smilingly nod at her likable nature. "She is cute." Chapter 112: Magic Symphony of Essences (R-18) "I wonder if she became a maid willingly," Erix wondered before shaking his head. "Whatever, let''s head inside and absorb the remaining cores we are saving." Rin entered inside with a chuckle and said, "I had a reason to save those twenty cores." She turned around and pulled Erix''s cor before kissing him and closing the door behind her. Although surprised, Erix cooperated as their tongues and lips yed together for a few seconds before Rin smiled, her beauty and love for him always making Erix high. "What now, mydy?" Erix smiled. "It''s time for the surprise. And first, we''ll have a bath." ¡­ Since the bathroom was big with a four-meter radius round bathtub and plenty of ground aside from that, Rin decided to reveal her surprise there. Sittin'' beside each on the edge of the round bathroom with their legs in the water, Rin said, "Take out the cores and put them here." Erix did as told, eagerly waiting for the so-called surprise. "Now, just follow my lead," Rin grinned and fluidly sat before Erix on hisp, pressing his pulsing stiff cock under the pink slit of her pussy. She then picked up a core and said, "Pick a core and start absorbing it." "Alright, but before that-" Erix said with a smile before he held Rin''s waist and adjusted her up a bit, causing his meat rod to slip into her pussy. "This position is better." Rin felt a wave of pleasure as Erix''s cock gently hit the end of her pussy. She smiled in a drunken allure and said, "Now, the next step." "Absorb the core, channel its power to our reproductive organs, andbine both of them." "Oh?" Erix was surprised. "Just do it," Rin said as she quickly absorbed the core''s energy before the dim crystal turned into motes and vanished. Afterward, she wrapped her arms around Erix''s neck and started moving her hips slowly, causing Erix''s pulsing meat rod to feel the pleasure of her pussy that was perfectly suitable for his dick. Erix let Rin move on her own as both of them savored the ultimate pleasure. Doing as Rin told, Erix also absorbed the core and said, "I am ready." While moving in a slow rhythm with a tantalizing smile and her breasts getting fondled by Erix, Rin said, "That mysterious woman said that this method is only possible because you are half-undead and half-living. Follow what I say and see the magic." "Channel the core''s energy we absorbed to our reproductive organs andbine them with me." Erix did as told with anticipation and pleasure gleaming in his eyes. "And now, shoot your load." "So fast?" Erix replied, startled. "Of course!" Rin giggled, "You have unlimited stamina, so you can produce way more than me." "Fine, then hold on," Erix grinned. "Because I won''t end it like this." Grabbing her waist, Erixy on the ground and started moving her hips quickly. "Aaanh!" Rin was stunned, but the sudden tsunami of pleasure caused by the quick ramming of Erix''s cock caused her to feel insane pleasure as her eyes rolled upward. "Fuck¡­ Aaaaanhh!" Rin moaned wildly, her hands resting on Erix''s chest and her plump, tender breasts jiggling rapidly. Erix continued moving his hips at the maximum speed for thirty seconds before he abruptly stopped and released his thick load inside Rin. "A-Awesome¡­" Rin muttered as her body constantly twitched at the insane pleasure. Erix smiled in satisfaction at Rin''s expression and pinched her nipples to give her more current. "What''s next, my queen?" "Ah!" Rin snapped out of her thoughts with flushed cheeks. "You monster." Erix grinned. "Ahem, so the next thing isbining your semen with the core''s power using a special skill. Either of us can do this step, but I''ll do it now since you don''t have a special skill set," Rin said before she closed her eyes. "Yet? So I will also get it?" Rin nodded in response with her closed. Erix also focused on sensing the situation in Rin''s pink cave and soon saw his semen seamlesslybining with the core''s energy. After a few seconds of Rin using a bit of her mana in a strange way with the special skill she mentioned, the core''s unique energy increased in potency. ''Eh? It''s twice as potent as before,'' Erix was shocked. ''Don''t tell me...'' Indeed, he saw Rin dividing the final product into equal two before she absorbed one and opened her eyes. Grinning at Erix, she said, "Absorb the other half, add it to your magic core." Erix gulped and absorbed the energy through his dick before infusing it into his magic core. [You have gained 6 magic power and 15 mana.] ''Double! This core belonged to a level 63 monster, so it should generally give us 3 magic and 7 mana, but¡­'' Seeing Erix''s shocked expression, Rin kissed him and chuckled, "It''s great, right?" "It''s fantastic!" Erixughed, his expression thrilled. "We''ll be able to max out our magic core''s limit in a day or two with this!" "Do you know why this is possible?" Rin said, an affectionate grin ying on her lips. She continued with her answer, "Because of your undead source. That mysterious woman told me that you have an undead source because of being Zombie, and that source mixed with your living soul, so it gave you a unique existential force." Erix was startled. "Unique existinal force?" "I don''t know what''s that, but that''s what she told me. She said that this force is not fully developed yet, but it''s faintly present in the primal energy of your body, which is none other than your semen. So you can use it with this special skill to boost the core''s energy for better returns." Rin then shared the skill with Erix. "I am sending you the extra skill rune she gave me." [Magic Symphony of Essences] _Type: special skill. _Use: Combines twopatible sources of powers, one as a base and one as an addition, for unknown results in the direction of a source used as the base. The cost of mana depends on the mana required tobine the sources seamlessly. "Great skill. Let''s go for the next round," Erix grinned and kissed Rin. "We''ll absorb five cores at once this time," Rin smiled as she picked up five cores and chained them with a point of mana before putting them around Erix''s neck. "Nice idea," Erixmented upon seeing Rin making a ne of cores. She also wore one before wrapping her arms around Erix and pulling his face to her bosom. "You really like having your boobs sucked, eh?" Rin rolled her eyes and rubbed her erect pink nipples at Erix''s lips, "It''s because you made me get addicted to it. Whose fault do you think it is that my size is increasing to E?" Erixughed and put one breast in his mouth before using her tongue to y with her nipple, "They are perfect for me." Rin giggled as she was feeling both pleasure andfortable tickles, "Do it moderately so we can also focus on absorbing the cores." "As you wish, my queen." ... The duo had power-up using all cores and intensely pleasurable fun for the next three hours before they finally felt hungry and called Lira after getting out of the bathroom. Chapter 113: Progress, A Different Day After eating several delicious veggie and meat dishes that Lira made within half an hour, the duo fell asleep after 12:30 AM. They slept till five in the morning and then went inside Limitless ne to spend their one hour in training. Erix arrived on the ore-rich ind to make progress in his Metal affinity while Rin swam through thunderclouds. She couldn''t check out the magic formations of her new sword since it had not been digested by her de Eater yet, so she focused on making progress in her affinity byprehending the lightning around her. In their focused state, absorbed in learning and understanding the wonders, one hour quickly passed by, and they were kicked out of Limitless ne, appearing back on their king-sized bed in the bedroom. "How did it go?" Erix pulled Rin closer, letting her head rest on his chest. "I think I made good progress. I might reach the new realm in Lightning element tomorrow," Rin smiled. "Same," Erix ruefully chuckled. "Let''s hope it''s not just an illusion produced from the progress we made today." "Babe, how about we go all-out today and max our stats?" Rin said, her eyes sparkling and fiery. "Let''s take a bunch of missions and roam the wilderness." ¡­ 7:36 PM. In the north of Blood Stone Forest, Erix faced off against a twenty-meter-tall rageful mammoth, a level 83 monster called Blood Thorn Mammoth. "Fighto!" Rin cheered from the sides. "Kill it one punch." The monstrous mammoth trumpeted, releasing a powerful roar toward Erix and sweeping its trunk that glowed with red magic, indicating a powerful and quick attack. Erix was forced to dodge rather than receive it head-on as he felt it could be a bad idea to block it. Naturally, he pushed his legs and dodged by jumping forward, closing the distance between him and the monster. At the same time, his fists were coated in a condensed mental gauntlet with an intricately woven solid foundation. ''One shot, eh?'' Erix thought as he closed in andnded on the monster''s head before his shining right fist smashed on the Elephant''s head. ''Imposing Fist at 80 mana first and¡­'' *Crack* A clear sound of skull cracking ranges, and a secondter, Erix executed a punch within his punch as his fist additionally empowered with 100 mana woven in a springy and spinning formation within his custom-made gauntlets specially made to maximize the damage of his Whirling Punch and Imposing Fist. As such, he slightly spun his wrist before executing the attack. The Whirling Punch! *BOOM!* Since his first attack had already managed to crack the skull, the entire force of the second punch drilled into the monster and destroyed its head as blood and gore sted everywhere. Its head was gone, while the rest of its body remained intact. After extracting its core, the duo went north. ¡­ 8:03 PM. Rin and Erix sat on a boulder near the edge of a waterfall in the north of Blood Stone forest. It was a huge waterfall spanning thirty meters wide and seventy meters of fall. "Gah~ I''m tired as hell, but we did it," Rin said after releasing a tired moan and lying on Erix''sp. "We indeed did it," Erix nodded, his eyes reflecting his status. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Supra-Order _Level: 71 _ss: ¡ª (Choose from options) _Life orb: [100/100] _Stat points: 142 ¡ª> [ Strength: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 170 / Mana: 78/620 ] "We''ll max our magic power and mana capacity today," Rin said with a weary smile. "Let''s do the dual training after sleeping." [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Level: 71 _Rank: Supra-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer _Vitality: [100/100] _Stat points: 142 ¡ª> [ Strength: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 200 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 160 / Mana: 42/580 ] "Yep. Rest is important," Erix nodded with a smile while massaging Rin''s head with his hands. They had enough cores to power up their magic core to the limit. In short, they would reach 300 Magic power and 1000 mana limit tomorrow, making them the peak of the Supra-order powerhouse in terms of magical stats. ¡­ The new day went peacefully for the duo as they made significant progress and returned to the town. After submitting their quests and adding the Abyss coins they earned, their total earning reached 800k Abyss Coins. They didn''t encounter Lilith after that day since they spent the whole day outside and returned at night to eat in kilograms, sleep, and sort their progress. Two more days passed by peacefully. Although leveling has been slow as they reached higher levels, it was also going smoothly. Their physical stats were stuck at 200 until they crossed level 80, which they would do today since both of them were at level 79. On the other hand, their affinity progress felt like they almost about to grasp the final piece, but always missing it as it would disappear like a dream. ... Although the past three days went smoothly, today seemed different because just as they left their room at nine in the morning after their Limitless ne affinity progression and morning passion exercise session, Lira met them outside their room''s door and inform them that Lilith was waiting at the dining table for breakfast. Arriving at the table, they saw Lilith sitting with two other people bearing powerful aura. A middle-aged man in a ck butler uniform with a white beard and a dark green-haired woman wearing a ck witch-type robe. Erix and Rin inspected them, finding that the man was at level 168 while the woman was at level 147. The duo immediately knew that they were members of Dark Troupe. "Come and sit," Lilith said with a smile. "You two are progressing quickly. I wasn''t expecting that speed." "It''s thanks to you," Erix modestly smiled. "Indeed," Rin nodded with a grin. Lilith then introduced the two other people at the table, who exchanged polite nodes with Rin and Erix. Frendal the ck Butler, and Spena the Dusk Witch. They didn''t speak anything and just silently ate. "Come eat. The breakfast today will fill you with energy," Lilith gestured while smiling. Rin and Erix took a bite from an exotic bread sprinkled with some herbs and immediately got a notification that their stamina recovery had increased by 10% for five hours. ''Mystic Food!'' Both of them internally eximed. The food made by the Mystic Chef would give various buffs depending on the used ingredients and the Mystic Chef''s mastery. Rin was actually nning to try awakening the Mystic Chef grimoire or get her hands on it like Erix, who wanted the Magic Smith grimoire. The breakfast was soon over with asional talks of Lilith asking Rin and Erix about their progress and n. Lilith disappeared like a mist after mentioning a surprise tonight and telling them to attend this hall around 11 p.m. However, the witch and butler seemed to have something to say as their eyes finallynded on Erix and Rin after Lilith left. The witch, in particr, looked visibly annoyed if one looked at her eyes. ''Why did mydy pick up random weak garbage from the street directly to the Dark Troupe?'' A hostile gleam lit up in Spena''s eyes. ''Tomorrow is an important day, and these two must not be with us at that time.'' Chapter 114: Abyss Event: Death Circus "Why did Lady Lilith add you to the Dark Troupe?" Frandal calmly asked. "What is so impressive about you two¡­weak little ants?" "Rin, someone is farting from their mouth right after breakfast," Erix wryly smiled and stood up. "Let''s go. We can''t stay here too long." "Right," Rin nodded and also stood up with a smile. "It''s getting stinky." Frandal''s face turned dark while Spena loudly snorted and said, "You two best be careful outside." "One more farted," Erix pinched his nose while walking towards the exit. "Let''s hurry out," Rin quipped, imitating Erix''s action and infuriating Spena as her face turned red. She looked at Frandal and moved her lips to talk without uttering a sound. "Good idea. I''ll send five," Frandal nodded. ¡­ Erix and Rin had gathered 2 million Abyss Coins total, so they went to the Red Sea Gear Emporio. They needed a set to wear to increase their overallbat prowess and more weapons. However, just as they entered the shop, the sky over the town darkened, and dark-colored clouds manifested. An uproar ensued as everyone looked up, and those inside buildings came out hearing themotion. "Abyss Event!" "Finally. I thought this week would be over without any event." People were talking with excited and eager expressions while Rin and Erix curiously looked up as the clouds were transforming. A minuteter, they saw a gigantic ck gate manifesting atop the cloud, and as the final touches, a sleek, dark gold skull materialized on the center of the gate. Seeing the dark gold skull and words that manifested in giant golden letters, the uproar suddenly turned significantly low. Voices turned low, and people''s expressions darkened. "The Death Circus event! Hahaha, I was waiting for it!" A man with long ck hair and a bare upper body flew up like a shooting star but came crashing down just as quickly. Additional words appeared in the sky. [ Entry: Supra-order only ] [ Starts in 30 minutes. 29:59 ] "Tsk, only supra-order ants?" Although some were disappointed, many were overjoyed as they flew up using various means to participate in the event. Rin and Erix also got information about the event in their mind after they looked at the [ Death Circus] words in the sky. [Abyss Event: Death Circus] _Details: An event where fifty or more people participate in a death game spanning five rounds. _Rules: ¡ª> In each round, all participants will be transported to a random exotic battlefield filled with monsters. ¡ª> An individual passes a round after killing five monsters or one participant. ¡ª> Rewards will be given to those who pass all five rounds. _Rewards: ¡ª> A random Tier-2 item box (Rare to Legendary) ¡ª> A Tier-1 Legendary grade weapon selection box. ¡ª> A random Tier-2 skill box. "The rewards are great," Erix muttered. "Then let''s go?" Rin grinned, raring to go. "The participants are only supra-order, and the dangers will help us get stronger." "Yeah, we haven''t fought against people of our level," Erix nodded as his lips also curved into a devilish smile. "We need some intense battles, and this event seems perfect." "Let''s quickly buy our armor sets and then participate." Erix and Rin went back into Red Sea Gear Emporio. A peak Tier-1 armor set costs around 700k Abyss coins, so they would be set back by at least 1.5 million after buying their armor sets. After looking for ten minutes, the duo finally chose their sets. Rin selected a set called Thunder''s Wrath, a ck ranger set adorned with blue lightning patterns. It consisted of ck leather armor, boots, gloves, and a cross belt. The cross belt was to keep potions and other items for quick usage, and there was also a rope attached to it that Rin could use. [Thunder''s Wrath Set] _Defence: 400 _Perks: Lightning resistance +200. _Effect(s): ¡ª> 2-piece set effect: Gain a passive increase to lightning resistance and lightning damage, reducing damage taken from electrical attacks by 20% and increasing lightning-attributed damage by 20%. ¡ª> 4-piece set effect: Consume 50 mana to activate the armor''s set enchantment formation and choose one of two activations. 1. Increase your overall stats by 20% for 1 minute 2. Unleash a deadly lightning bolt via your weapon for powerful lightning damage with a 100% chance to inflict a 2-second paralyze if the target is at Supra-order rank or below. Cooldown: 1 hour. On the other hand, Erix bought a dark red metal armor set with ck and bright blood patterns called Irond Berserker set. It consisted of light metal armor, gauntlets, boots, and a helmet. The main ingredient used to create the armor pieces was none other than Blood Stone ores! [Irond Berserker set] _Defence: 550 _Perks: Reduce pure physical damage by 20%. _Effect(s): ¡ª> 2-piece set effect: Increase Strength and Agility by 5% for ten seconds after getting hit. Up to 20%. ¡ª> 4-piece set effect: Consume 50% of your maximum vitality to enter the Blood Stone Berserk state that increases your Strength, Stamina, Health, and Agility by 10% + 50 stats. Erix decided to go Yolo by choosing this armor set that could allow him to be an unstoppable force. "These sets will make a big difference," Rin wryly smiled. "I can already feel so strong. Moreover, yours is a crazy one." "One punch, death," Erix grinned. "I want to see who survives my strongest punch there." Afterward, Erix pulled Rin from her waist into his embrace and jumped ten meters high before quickly forming a metal board below their feet and flying up towards the giant gate above the clouds. Many people were flying towards it from the town and wilderness as the giant gate in the sky was visible extensively. After arriving at the gates, Rin and Erix entered inside just like other people and appeared on a vast barren ground. There were already over a hundred people present! Outside, Frandal and Spena called a few people using theirm cards after they saw Rin and Erix flying up. "This is a perfect opportunity to kill them," Spena grinned. Frandal nodded with cold eyes. In a few minutes, seven people wearing different outfits arrived. Two women and five men. All seven were above level 90, wore sets, and each of them had one level 1 affinity. The seven people only received a single mission from their bosses. "Kill the new duo thatdy Lilith recruited at any cost." Chapter 115: Prey == Hunters When the thirty-minute countdown was almost over, the number of participants reached 248. Erix smiled as he held Rin''s chin and kissed her, activating the special skill, Ignis Ed Intimacy. "Let''s have a st." Their magic, mana, and all physical stats increased by 30% for one hour. At thest second, two more people suddenly arrived and made the count reach 250. [Round 1. Start!] Everyone disappeared from the barrennd before their consciousness collectively looked at a vast desert littered with¡­forest? It was an absurd battlefield where the ground was sandy and full of desert while huge and thick greenery grew out of it. All of them saw the entire battlefield, which was fifty square kilometers in size, for three seconds before they randomly appeared below. At the same time, crawling monsters started to spawn on the battlefield, each one between levels 90 to 100. The monsters were capable of traveling through the sand, so they immediately made ambush attacks on many people. Naturally, not one person died in their ambush, but a few were injured throughout the battlefield. People like Erix and Rin, who managed to sense the iing attacks, were different. When a monster attacked them, both of them had already started counter-attacking after dodging, filling one to their kill count. ''Four more to go,'' Erix thought as he looked around and jumped up. Suddenly, he felt a danger bell ringing and immediately shot up with metal tes below his feet, dodging a spiraling orb that missed him by an arm''s length. Erix had already turned back while he was dodging, so he saw the attacker and narrowed his eyes, immediately flying toward him. The attacker was a man looking in histe twenties with a faint golden-brown beard and brown eyes with a short stature, a dwarf. Instead of running, he grinned at Erix and created a triangr barrier around him, fully confident of his defensive capabilities. Seeing that, Erix''s body silently hummed as he stretched his physical capabilities to the extreme and readied a punch. Sling Shot Punch! His gauntlets pumped up mana to and fro, condensing and permeating into his fist''s every fiber as he unleashed the second punch technique he learned. This punch specialized in unleashing the entirety of his physical power, and 50 mana weaved to empower his punch in an explosive manner in one hit. When the punch struck the barrier, the dwarf''s expression transformed from a confident one into a frightened one as he sensed his connection to the barrier breaking as Erix shattered it instantly. *BOOM!* Sling Shot punch broke the barrier, but all of its force dispersed in breaking that barrier as this punch technique was that type of attack. It would use all of its force on the first contacted object. So, right after breaking the barrier, Erix spun mid-air and unleashed another punch with his superior martial expertise, Whirling Punch! The punch squarely hit the dwarf man, who had just turned halfway around to run, and that caused Erix''s punch to hit the back of his head. The result? A gruesome death with brain matter exploding around Erix. [You have reached level 72] ''Strange, I leveled up?'' Erix thought in surprise. ''That dwarf was at level 79, but if it was at that level, I wouldn''t have leveled up.'' [You have passed the first round. You will be teleported in three seconds.] Although surprised, Erix quickly picked up the Hunter card from the dwarf''s pocket and disappeared. As the scenery changed before him, Erix found himself back on the barrennd. But now, only he was alone here. ''It looks like I was the first one to pass.'' Erix thought. He looked up and saw a few things. - [ 9:59 ] minutes of countdown until the next round starts. ''Oh?'' Erix was surprised at the countdown, but he soon sensed another presence and saw someone appearing several meters away from him, a human man in his thirties wearing a ck armor set. And then, one by one, people started appearing. Rin also arrived as Erix, and her met up again. When two minutes were left, those seven subordinates of Frandal and Spena also arrived. "They passed." "We''ll have a chance in the next four rounds." "Indeed. Let''s focus on finding them in each round. Our priority is to kill them." The countdown reached zero, and the number of participants dwindled from 250 to 218. ¡­ The next round started in a giant frigid mountain with all participants appearing in random ces on it. The mountain was five thousand meters tall and a thousand meters wide, with a bunch of ice, wind, and water-attributed monsters. Rin appeared in the middle of the mountain and just stood in her spot without moving. She closed her eyes and expanded her senses while wielding her de Eater (Stormrend Katana form). She sensed two monstersing her way, but not moving despite that, she stood still in focus. *Grrr!* ''Come,'' Rin sensed a killing intent. Her katana was slowly and steadily coated with condensed blue light, the lightning elements she finely weaved to enhance her katana''s sharpness and raw power. -50 mana. -200 de energy. 200% focus. de Concept. Lightning maniption. The five-meter-tall Ape with powerful and explosive muscles coated by an ice-ted body roared and dashed towards Rin while transforming in a magic icy drill with some skill. Its breakneck speed allowed it to reach Rin a secondter, but the scene the beast expected didn''te into its view or feel. Where is blood? Where is my food? It thought. And most importantly, it didn''t feel the impact on its target. But a secondter, when the monster came to its senses after stopping its dash, it felt a sudden dread from its soul and then immense pain. Rin''s eyes met the Ape''s gaze before she released her breath and rxed her muscles having executed her powerful technique, de Sheen. ''I finally perfected it to use my entire physical force with it,'' Rin was thrilled and winked at the Ape while smiling. *Chreee¡­* The Ape opened its mouth, but then it ceased to be. A fountain of blood sprayed out as the lights in its eyes looking at Rin vanished. The monster was cleanly cut into two before it released a burst of statistic charge. [ You have reached level 72.] Since Rin had killed five monsters in the previous round due to not encountering any people, she finally leveled up after killing one more higher-level monster. She then looked at another presence she had felt, but it was no longer there. Her brows creased because a powerful presence was also in the same direction. "Not bad. Your de is dangerous indeed." Rin saw a womaning out of the woods in the direction where she had felt another beast''s presence. ''It seems she managed to kill the monster there before it could utter any sound.'' Rin knew that this woman was dangerous, and¡­she intended to attack her. "You are an enemy," Rin said as she faced the woman; her grip on the katana tightened as her mana whirled, ready to be weaved by her. "Some other would have chosen not to bother with you, but," the woman helplessly smiled. "No hard feelings; I am just following my orders." "Die." The woman turned into a stream of blood as she shot towards Rin. Rin narrowed her eyes and decided to attack the iing ''thing.'' The previous manner of cirction followed as Rin executed another de Sheen. A sh of lightning as Rin moved with extreme speed, permeating lightning in her every fiber and shing her sword at a breakneck speed. Even the wind resistance was entirely futile against the powerful, condensed lightning around Rin''s de to achieve the highest pration she could muster. However, the stream of blood struck her de, cut into two, but those two parts gathered together again behind Rin into the appearance of a woman. "Not fast enough," the woman said with a yful smile. "I separated before your de hit me-" *Swoosh!* Rin immediately executed another attack as she widely swung her arm and shed at her enemy. The woman''s head flew up cleanly, but the expression on her face was lively as her lips moved, "Rude girl. Don''t you know that you should listen when elders are speaking?" ''What?!'' Rin was shocked. She clearly felt the impact and knew she managed to cut off her head, but she saw that the woman''s vitality was only reduced by 19. She still had 89 vitality left! ''Does she have Blood affinity?'' Rin spected as her eyes narrowed with a severe glint. ''It seems that I have to go all out.'' Rin activated her armor set''s ability to increase her physical stats by 20%. She could only use this ability once per hour, but she needed to use it to finish this battle as quickly as possible. "Not bad," the woman''s head spoke again before it released a burst of tendrils and re-attached to her body. "Bye." Rin grinned, her expression white. She dashed forward with a rumbling thunder crackle, cracking the ground beneath her with the force she exerted. ''Lightning Charge, 150%.'' Her entire body instantly crackled with lightning as veins all over her body protruded. Her pupils shrunk to the extreme, and her speed instantaneously reached five times the speed of sound. "You bitc-" The woman who was taking Rin lightly finally felt threatened as she involuntarily had to go all out in defense. A blood umbre bloomed before her right as Rin''s de reached her. But this time, It was the woman''s turn to be surprised as Rin unleashed not just one de but a frenzy. Her blood vessels in her arms, wrists, and hands expanded before she explosively and quickly unleashed a flurry of shes on the umbre as lightning shes physically manifested and stuck to the space with her control that required her full focus. The umbre started shattering despite the woman infusing her energy into it. She was not specialized in defense in the first ce, but this level of offense was out of her expectations. She wanted to do something, but the threat was clear. ''No¡­'' When her umbre crumbled, those fifty lightning des suspended in the air instantly shot forward toward the woman, tearing to her pieces as a massive lightning charge electrocuted her entire body, in and out, and devoured her vitality. At the end of her death, all she saw were the cold eyes of Rin flickering with lightning. Chapter 116: Challenging Hurdle, Getting Hunted The third round started with 179 participants. The battlefield was a frozen wastnd with strong ice and blizzard. Everyone saw that the battlefield had be smaller yet again. The chance to encounter other people was high in this wastnd, and it only took five minutes for the round to conclude. Erix had to use his set''s ability to fight against a bald guy who was after him, had the same set, and used the same ability that increased his stats by 10% + 50. But Erix was superior in hisbat abilities despite the bald man having higher stats and Earth affinity, so Erix won the fight thatsted two minutes. The good thing was that everyone''s mana and vitality would recover after passing each round, so Erix always went all out by using his set''s ability every time he faced a participant. Another good discovery was that Erix had killed a participant in the 2nd and 3rd, both of whom were above level 80, and he leveled up both times. The same was not true with monsters, but killing a participant five levels higher than him immediately leveled him up. However, this was not true outside, so Erix concluded that this was only possible during the Death Circus event. The effect of Ignis Ed Intimacy was also ongoing since it wouldst for an hour, and only half an hour passed. In round four, Erix and Rin had their toughest challenge in the volcanic region, bustling with cracked ground spewing outva and monsters. The life-threatening situation was both of them being chased by two people each, who were none other than those four remaining people that Frandel and Spena sent to kill them. One vs. two was a clear disadvantage to them, so they had no choice but to use the hit-and-run tactic, the best solution aligned with theirbat abilities. They could dodge well due to their experience, martial prowess, and heightened senses of martial artists, so they used hit-and-run tactics in which they ran more than they hit their enemies. After crossing a certain distance while running away from their enemies, Erix and Rin unexpectedly saw each other as one wasing from the north and one from the south. With the danger of death looming over them, the duo exceeded their own expectation as they fought two vs. four. Erix dodged and tanked some attacks with his Metal Shield and Water Dragon Barrier. At the same time, Rin used the opportunities to shock, paralyze, and injure them while also dodging their attacks with her superior Lightning Dash, thanks to her Lightning Affinity. But the difficulty went a bit higher as those four became somber and went all out after sensing that their targets were not as easy as they imagined despite having stats and number advantage. ''Damn it. They are making up for their power with their superiorbat abilities and giving us a hard time killing them despite having 100 stats less than us.'' "Let''s y it safely." The enemies nced at each other, ceased their attacks, blocked Rin''s Lightning de Wave, and quickly created distance from them. Rin and Erix didn''t immediately pursue it, as this was a chance for them to take a breather. ''Fuck¡­'' Rin and Erix had severe, darkened expressions because things were not looking good for them. They immediately chugged a mana potion when the enemies distanced themselves, but their focus was still on the enemies. The problem they faced in battling this tough fight was that they had to kill two people within the time frame of a few seconds together to pass the round. If either Rin or Erix killed one, one of them would immediately pass the round while another one would remain behind for one vs. three, which would be bad. "You cockroaches. Why don''t you two just die so we canplete our tasks?" the woman spoke with an annoyed expression as she wiped the blood from her mouth and drank a mana recovery potion. Healing recovery potions were useless during the rounds, so they wouldn''t heal even if one drank them. On the other hand, Rin and Erix didn''t say anything. They just nced at each other with a maddening gleam in their eyes and shot forward. Enemy talking meant that they were buying time! Generally, most people would choose to escape for better chances in ce of Rin and Erix when the enemy themselves gave such an opportunity to run, but Erix and Rin¡­ decided that attacking was their best option to survive and win! Rin used her Lightning Dash to immediately arrive a meter over the man with long blond hair, their toughest foe due to his quick wind attacks empowered by his Wind Affinity. "You¡­" "You mentals!" The squad expected the duo to RUN after they distanced themselves, and then they would pursue them with a specialized skill of the blond man and kill them with a nned attack; s¡­their n was jeopardized. With a thundering rumble, Rin shed her sword downward as it glowed with dark blue condensed lightning. She was executing de Sheen the moment she dashed, so when she reached the blond man, her maximum empowered katana bearing all of her powers immediately made the blond man feel a sense of doom and panic bursting from his soul. *Chree¡­sh!* The sh split the man into two, shaving off the entirety of his vitality as he died. "You bitch! Die!" The woman grinned at being given such an opportunity to hit Rin since she was close. Her attack was already going towards Rin before she spoke as a red-ish emerald crystal orb filled with potent wind and me energy in a tie-2 level magic skill formation shot towards Rin. Naturally, Erix was not dancing or singing at this time. He had already started manipting some metal pieces on Rin''s leather armor set and her katana as he shot her upward from mid-air since dodging a projectile attack was hard for Rin without wings. The timely intervention of Erix helped Rin dodge and caused the woman''s attack to hit the dead blond man''s falling body and st it into pieces within a tiny tornado with a me explosion empowered by the wind. If that attack of Tier-2 skill had hit Rin, she would have died! But the battle was not over yet! Chapter 117: Dominating Mentality, Curse But the battle was not over yet. While Erix also shot towards the woman with his metal-spiked style gauntlets surging with mana, Rin used the one second she had before she disappeared to sh at the two other men with her lightning de waves, preventing them from interfering with Erix. Just as those two men blocked Rin''s attack, Erix''s fist was covered by empowered metal gauntlets bearing a single metal spike on each connected to the woman''s stomach that was covered by tight leather armor. *BOOM!* It was an Injection Punch, a technique he just created in thest round. The 100-mana force of his Imposing Fist was further empowered by 50-mana weaved to boost the attack and deliver the entirety of the force through the spike. Within half a second after Erix''s punch connected to the woman''s stomach, her expression turned red, her eyes popped out, and death reaper enveloped her as a devasting force injected into her body after creating a hole in her armor and stomach. Rin disappeared after passing the round while those two men saw the woman''s body exploding into pure gore and blood from within by Erix''s attack. Dead. With shock written on their faces, they saw Erix speaking with a grin, "You two better run in the final round." And then, he also disappeared a secondter while those two only watched with unconverted expressions. "What the fuck..." The middle-aged human man with ck hair and a thick beard clenched his fists. Turning to his only remaining teammate, he asked, "What''s the n now?" "He already said our n." The green-haired elven man with a handsome countenance signed. "We run from them in the next round." "Are you serious?" the ck-haired man''s expression darkened. "Yes. We will seriously run from them¡­and then attack. You know what I mean, right?" The ck-haired man somberly nodded. "The troublesome thing is that despite having lower stats than us, their attacks are powerful enough to injure and kill us while still having enough expertise to dodge our attacks." "They have fucking concepts while we don''t. That woman''s katana attack is deadly enough to incapacitate or kill us, while that man''s punches are the same." "Yeah, and they only stick to their signature attack styles. One attacks with a de, and another sticks with punches." "Indeed. They are melee, so we must maintain our distance and attack them from afar. That''s why we''ll run first and then attack." "Alright. Also, that man has some weird artifact that allows him to pass through the damn attacks. He did that twice so far, so I am sure of it," the ck-haired man shared the information. The ck-haired man was chasing Erix with the woman from the start and saw him using Babin Maw Hook. "We''ll look out for it." ¡­ On the other hand, Rin and Erix met up in the barrennd. Their mana and vitality recovered immediately, but Erix suddenly felt nk. [You are inflicted with the Curse of Celestial Istion for one minute due to using Babin Maw Hook and umting its cursed power.] Erix suddenly felt nk as light entirely vanished from his vision. His sense of smell and hearing also disappeared, but he felt touched, so he immediately grabbed Rin''s hand tightly. "Erix? What happened?" Rin was surprised and asked upon seeing a frown on Erix''s face and him tightening his grip on her arm. But she didn''t get any response from Erix until a few secondster as Erix said, "Rin, can you hear me?" "Wait, don''t answer because I can''t hear or see you. I am affected by some kind of curse that robbed me of my sense of vision, hearing, smell, and also taste." "I feel like I am in an absolute nkness, but I can somehow touch it¡­? It''s a strange sensation. Hmm, is that why I still have my sense of touch?" "Oh yeah, this curse willst for a minute. We still have time, right?" Rin looked at the time, and there were still two minutester. However, her heart was beating fast due to nervousness. ''Please don''t let that happen.'' If everyone passed/failed the round before the countdown, the next round would immediately start. Rin wrote 2 on Erix''s arm using her index finger, hoping those two people would take full time to kill five monsters. ''They need to kill five monsters to pass the round, so it should take them at least a minute, right?'' Rin worriedly thought while looking at Erix and intertwined her fingers after holding his hand. However, when thirty seconds were left until Erix''s curse would be removed, Rin saw the countdown suddenly hitting zero before it was reced. [ 112 participants. Round 5 starts in three seconds. ] "Damn it!" Rin cursed and quickly wrote five on Erix''s hand. "Five? What?" But then Rin immediately wrote 4, and he understood as his expression turned somber. "Four seconds¡­" Erix muttered. "Three, two¡­" He grabbed Rin''s head from behind and kissed her before saying, "I''ll survive for twenty-five seconds no matter what." With their hand grips tightened, both of them disappeared as round five started. The bird''s eye view of the battlefield everyone usually got in each round was not given in this round. Erix appeared in a cave, but he didn''t know that. With a sense of unknown nervousness mixed with the highest caution, Erix took a deep breath and then stopped breathing. ''Since this is thest round, the final battlefield should be smaller. I have to hide my presence and body both.'' Erix stomped on the ground lightly to check it. Thankfully, he still had his sense of touch, so he could judge and assess things by touching. Immediately, he produced metal energy by consuming twenty mana points and weaved a metal drill. Using the powerful metal drill with a high-speed steel structure, Erix created a hole in the ground and buried himself inside. ''Roughly fifteen seconds left,'' Erix thought. ''Let''s hope no one finds me.'' *Boom!* "Eh, this cave is also empty? Wait, I smell something," a beastkin woman with ck fox ears arrived in the cave. Meanwhile, Erix felt a slight tremble in the ground, causing his expression to turn somber. ''Nine seconds.'' ''Eight...'' ''Seven...'' ''Six...'' Chapter 118: End of the Event, Task from the Dark Queen ''Five¡­'' ''Four¡­'' Erix continued the countdown while feeling slight tremors in his body and rising internal nervousness amidst soul and consciousness trapped in a nk space. ''Two¡­'' ''One¡­'' Like a dying man receiving his breath of life, Erix''s senses returned to him at once, overwhelming him for a second as his silent space world suddenly crumbled. Erix drilled out of the ground, scaring the fox girl as she jumped back with a startled yelp. "You scared me! Hehe, but I knew there was someone underneath," the fox girl giggled. Erix looked at her while dusting himself and said, "Hi. I don''t want to fight you because I have a target to hunt. What about you?" The fox girl''s dark orange ears fluffed left and right a bit as she grinned. "You are handsome, so I''ll spare you. Let''s meet outside." "My seeds are reserved for someone else," Erix wryly smiled. "Sorry." "Hehehe~ " The fox girl''s white face showed a rosy grin as she giggled. "It seems like we''ll definitely meet again." After saying that, she formed a fist before it was wrapped up in a dark orange me and punched forward. The projectile fist shot outward from her fist, zoomed past Erix as he stood still, and broke the wall cave wall several meters behind him. As she dashed past Erix, their eyes met as the fox girl winked. "See youter." Erix went towards the left wall with a small smile hanging on his lips. That fox girl was his type, but Rin had eternally upied his heart. It was aw, a rule,¡­an evesting fact that would never change. As fate would have it, shortly after he broke a wall to his side and arrived in another cave, he saw the front of this new cave breaking with a crackle of lightning. "Erix!" Rin saw Erix, and her eyes sparkled. With a dash, she zoomed towards Erix and hugged him tightly. "I knew you would survive," Rin kissed him and grinned. "Now, let''s go and kill those two ducks." Erixughed. "Ducks, clowns, gods, or devils, we''ll kill them all as long as we are together." Rin and Erix were in perfect sync and had a high battle spirit to hunt their prey. ¡­ Dark Queen Lilith sat at a table on her mansion''s terrace and twirled a small lock of her silky hair while faintly smiling. Two Hunter cards suddenly floated around her ears while her lips moved with a dangerous smile. Within a minute, two additional people appeared on the terrace as they stood before Lilith, their expressions nervous. "How many times must I tell not you interfere with my affairs?" Dark Queen sharply smiled. "Do you think you got too much authority just because I highly regard you two among the rest?" "N-No¡­It''s just, w-we thought that those two were not worthy of attending your ceremony," Spena stuttered. "Indeed, mydy," Frandal unhurriedly said while bowing with one hand on his heart. "We do not feel the same respect we have for you in them." Dark Queen Lilith softly sighed and shook her head, her eyes bing teary. "M-Mydy," Spena wanted to speak but didn''t know what to say. "Why are you sorrowful, mydy?" Frandal asked, his voiceced with concern. "It pains that you two have grown so much," Lilith said, graciously wiping the tear from her eye. "I will miss you two." Frandal and Spena felt tremors going through their body and soul before their confused eyes lost their light. The blood in their entire body vanished somewhere before a blood-red cross-spike emerged from their bodies, piercing out of their mouths as they floated skewed on the crosses. Lilith walked towards the crosses while an exquisite white crystal chalice appeared in her hand. After a twirl of her index finger, both crosses spewed out a smooth stream of glowing red blood essence that gently poured into the crystal chalice. "You two became overripe for your own good," Lilith sighed as she shook the chalice cup and took a sip. A faint crimson glow exuded from her body as Lilith sighed. "Too ripe." Lilith sat back on herfy chair as she took sips from the cup while looking at the gates of the Death Circus event in the sky. After five minutes, colorful fireworks suddenly started crackling around the gate beforerge words appeared around it. [Congrattions to the 75 winners!] The gates opened, and everyone left the portal of the misty gate one by one. Rin and Erix also emerged from the gate and immediately received a call. Erix took out hism card and talked with Dark Queen for a bit before he turned to Rin. "She is calling us to the mansion''s terrace," he said. "Then let''s go," Rin snorted. "We have nothing to fear as long as we don''t attack her." Shortly afterward, Rin and Erix were feeling internal shock as they arrived at the terrace and saw two dead bodies withrge crosses piercing out from their mouth and theher region as they floated skewed on the cross. "It seems that the trouble these two put upon you two only served to make you stronger," Lilith chuckled upon seeing Rin and Erix. Erix helplessly shrugged while smiling, "All are merely obstacles in our path to power. What can we do except destroy them to continue?" "Well said," Lilith grinned and stood up from her chair. "I guess I should''ve spared these two to be your whetstones, but what''s done is done. I have a small task for you, so go andplete it." Rin and Erix raised their eyebrows in surprise. It was the first time they were receiving a task from her. At the very least, they were curious about it. "Go to the mountain pass of Star-Rain Mountain and wait for a luxurious carriage with a dual red fangs g on it," Lilith said while walking towards Rin and Erix. "It will arrive tonight around ten." "Your goal is to destroy that carriage without being discovered," Lilith smiled as she smilingly caressed Rin''s cheek with her finger. "And your task is to kill a super-order person in the carriage." "Remember, the carriage only has one person at supra-order; the others are Noble-order." Erix and Rin frowned. Seeing their expressions, Lilith chuckled, "Don''t worry. If you can kill the supra-order person, it''s fine. If you think you can''t kill him while he is protected by two or more Noble-order powerhouses, then you can abort the task." "But why?" Erix frowned. "We won''t justplete any tasks blindly when ites to dealing with strangers." "That''s right," Rin nodded. "We need to know why you want to kill him and who he is." "He is the middle son of Vampire King Jarran from Core Domain," Lilith''s smile became sharp as a slightly eerie aura oozed out of her as she moved from Rin to Erix and caressed her finger on his lips. ''Vampire king?'' Erix narrowed his eyes. ''How strong is a vampire king anyway?'' Rin mused. "That trash vampire ising here to woo me just because I owe his father a favor, haha¡­" Lilithughed amusingly. "Utterly foolish." "I want you two to kill him without being discovered. I feel like you two can do it," Lilith sharply grinned. "But do you two feel like you can do it?" Chapter 119: Erixs Surprise Star-Rain Mountain pass, Star-Rain Inn. Rin and Erix arrived at the inn at the mountain pass town at 10 a.m. in the morning since they directly left Dark Queen''s mansion after nodding to ept her task. After booking their room, they flew towards the east part of the Star-Rain mountain range, as they also had some Hunter Guild missions toplete. They didn''t open their event rewards right off the bat since Dark Queen told them to hold on to those reward boxes and only open them after reaching Noble-order for better reward. "What''s the y, Darling?" Rin asked as she clung to Erix''s back like a monkey, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his left shoulder. "We got a task, but we are not powerful enough toplete it," Erix said while rubbing his chin. "But we have enough time to reach the peak of Supra-order in all stats today and gain unknown improvements." "Did you choose your ss yet?" Rin pulled his cheeks. "Tell me you did." "Yes, yes, my queen. I did choose my ss. I just did now." "..." Rin adopted a speechless expression. "Which one?" she asked. "Death Reaper." Rin hugged him tightly and said, "You can awaken this ss. I believe you and will support you until you do it." "I will," Erix smiled. "Anyway, we are only one level short of reaching level 80, and once we do that, we can start increasing our stats past 200. So let''s reach 300 in all stats today by killing monsters." "I''m sure we can do it in four hours of non-stop killing monsters," Erix added convincingly, eager and raring to get stronger. Rin grinned and pinched his cheeks. "And while at it, let''s try to break through to the next rank in our affinities. We are infinitely closer to it, so we just need a slight push." "Yep. Let''s make sure we''ll get inspired to achieve breakthroughs today." "We''ll fight until we are on the verge of ckout and then use the item that Dark Queen gave us to recover and use ourbo attack on the carriage toplete the task," Rin cutely grinned. "Sounds good, right?" "Wait a second, whatbo attack?" Erix was confused. "We''ll make one today." "¡­" Erix wryly smiled before seriously musing, "If we can get our affinities to rank 2, I feel like we''ll have some awesome possibilities." "Let''s nail it today." And so, the duo began their mayhem in the east of the Star-Rain mountain range. The area had tons of small mountains, with every so often a pond,ke, or river connecting to each other and then to the sea that existed in the north of the mountain range. The sea marked the beginning of the inner domain of the Kanx Abyss. With singr determination to get stronger and improve, Rin and Erix were moved through the wilderness of the mountains and waters while killing any that blocked their paths and challenging any monsters that seemed tough. The first big battle they had was with a horde of Aqua Current Horses, all around level 90 to 100. Their number is close to fifty. Rin swiftly unsheathed her sword, her de gleaming in the dappled sunlight. With precise strikes and nimble footwork, she fended off the Crawlers while channeling sparks of lightning through her sword, electrifying her attacks. She used lightning elements in various ways with her de and even used de Energy to improve her projectile lightning de attacks. Erix, not one to be outdone, plunged into the fray. His fists glowed with a metallic sheen as hended powerful blows on the Horses while dodging and even deflecting their charges with his punches. With each punch, his mastery over metal energy increased because he challenged himself to constantly observe and improvise his metal gauntlets while matching his different punches. Moreover, he also shaped metal shards into shields and projectiles, further aiding their battle. A small number of people, ideally one or two, fighting in arge group of monsters was always fun and thrilling as they set out to improve themselves. Erix and Rin would dodge attacks to let the monsters hit each other, create blind spots, and ughter them with their cunningbat tactics and powers. After killing the horde in half an hour, Erix and Rin reached level 86. Their physical stats perfectly reached 210-215 each after killing over fifty Aqua Current Horses. After harvesting their cores, they flew deeper to find more hordes of monsters and continue their training while dancing with dangers, for their pathsy amidst the dangers and how they would ovee them to improve. Flying for five minutes, they encountered another horde of monsters. A group of giant Earth Spitting Crabs at levels 95-99. The crabs were tough bastards with extremely high defense, and although they didn''t have long-range attacks, they had deadly melee pincer attacks with lightning-fast reflexes. Rin and Erix were mainly melee, so the pincers troubled them. Five minutes passed, but they only managed to kill two crabs, and their numbers were whooping thirty-two. Since the crabs wereing out of a huge river stream, the duo also spected that more crabs mighte from the river. Both of them retreated to strategize. "Erix, we can''t waste time like this. We have to improvise enough to kill these crabs with one or two attacks," Rin said while trying to think of some idea. "Their defenses are annoying, but let''s try something¡­" Erix revved his brain and consumed 10 points of mana to create a whiteish-dark blue metal drill. "This new metal works best with drills and can conduct with lightning. And now...here''s a thing I just achieved this morning in our Limitless ne session." Erix closed his eyes as he stretched his hand forward before opening it as a palm. There was a piece of small ore on his palm, Voltium Ore, a Tier-2 metal material. ''I should be able to do this,'' Erix thought as he used all the knowledge he received from the ten days he attended in Magsmith sses to create a weapon just like the one he used this morning. He consumed 100 mana points that transformed into metal energy with his metal affinity and designed another object with a magic formation as ck meteoric particles gathered on his palm around the piece of ore. Five secondster, the piece of orebined with his designed metal and started stretching like a katana''s de. Another five secondster, Erix''s hand held a pitch-ck katana with dark silver and blueish purple. "Wow, you can do something like this now?" Rin was amazed. "Since this morning, yes," Erix grinned. "I don''t know why it says Fake Tier-2, but it is indeed weaker than umon normal Tier-2 items we saw in the shop." Rin''s eyes sparkled as she inspected the sword. "This is awesome, Erix!" [???]¡ªname it. _Rank: Fake Tier-2 _Grade: -- _Base Damage: 350 + 150% of the user''s strength. _Perks: Lightning damage through the de and by the de is boosted by 20%. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Shock Field: Upon umting a certain amount of lightning in the de by using lighting attacks through it, you can unleash an Electric Field Wave to paralyze creatures with flesh and blood for a few seconds. Chapter 120: Sky Lightning Arbor Fruits "Now, you can dual wield," Erix grinned and handed the de to Rin. "This metal is the type that boosts lightning conduction and gives more electro property to your lightning attacks. Andbing it with an authentic Tier-2 material, a piece of Voltium Ore, boosted the lightning damage even more." "It is also beautiful," Rin said as she caressed her hand over the katana''s de and infused 5 points of mana into it. *Crackle!* The sword instantly burst out with lightning tendrils all over, stronger than usual! Rin''s eyes sparkled as she immediately condensed the lightning with her control, making the de sleek with tiny lightning sparks all over the condensed lightning coating on the de. "This is awesome, Erix! You can make a magic weapon despitecking the craft-type Grimoire!" Rin was excited for Erix. "Yeah, I used all knowledge I got during 10-day sses I attended to attempt creating a weapon this morning in the Limitless ne, and it worked," Erix rubbed his nose and nodded before he wryly smiled, "but I don''t know why I didn''t awaken the grimoire, sigh." "You needed more time because you didn''t have the affinity and talent for it, but-" Rin smiled in adoration, "-but you nurtured this talent you didn''t have with your hard work." "I am sure you will awaken it naturally if you continue," Rin added while feeling the new katana with her senses and checking out its magic formation. "Right, I also got hope to awaken it naturally," Erix grinned before he showed the metal drill he created to Rin. "Also, Infuse your lightning in this drill and my gauntlets. This way, I can deal more damage." Rin nodded as if it was a good idea. After Rin was done, Erix smashed his gauntlets while the drill floated beside him with his control, "I''ll focus on cracking their defense with my specialized defense-break punches and this drill. Then you will finish off the crabs." "Great! Let''s ughter those numbskulls." ¡­ After killing the crabs in twenty minutes as they moved again, Rin and Erix sessfully reached level 89. The duo could level up fast because of their risky adventure. Most people would still y it safely and level up slowly by killing monsters in low numbers, unlike people like Rin and Erix, who challenged hordes of monsters for quicker progress and improvement. After harvesting the cores of the crabs, they fought random monsters for an hour more and reached level 90. "Let''s go to that mountain and eat something," Rin pointed at a mountain with purple and blue trees. "It looks mysterious and beautiful, and I also feel some attraction to it." "Oh? If that''s the case, then let''s go. We''ll eat the sushis we bought and get some buffs before resuming our grind." The duo flew towards the mountain, and Erix curiously asked, "By the way, what mysterious thing are you feeling?" "All I know is that it''s rted to my lightning affinity." "Could be some natural resources rted to lighting." "Yeah." As they flew towards the mountain, the duo saw a group of three people flying towards them from the mountain Rin pointed. Rin and Erix didn''t intend to chitty-chat with anyone as they didn''t have time, but the trio flew in their direction as if they had some intentions regarding Rin and Erix. "Are you two going to that mountain?" Although confused by their question, Erix nodded. "Yeah, why?" "Don''t bother going there. That mountain peak bloomed two Sky Lightning Arbor fruits in vines formatted around those lightning-attributed trees, but it is upied by six peak Supra-order members of Dawnbreaker guild." ''Sky Lightning Arbor fruit?'' Erix and Rin were shocked. They had some knowledge of various natural resources that grew and manifested in these areas, so they had also heard about Sky Lightning Arbor fruit that would asionally bloom in Star-Rain mountains. Sky Lightning Arbor fruit was a Tier-2 legendary grade resource. Upon eating it, one could get a chance to awaken lightning affinity, and if one already had lightning affinity, one might get a chance to awaken lightning-type talent and help one make progress in the 1st realm of lightning affinity mastery. Of course, the fruit had no effects on someone who had achieved the 2nd realm of Lightning affinity except having a higher chance of awakening a talent. In short, this fruit was immensely beneficial to Rin. "I doubt you three came here just to warn us," Rin said with a smile. The three men looked at each other and revealed a sly smile to Rin and Erix. "How about we work together and take one fruit each? We have to hurry because they will harvest both fruits soon, and they''ve also probably called reinforcements." "Alright, let''s do it," Erix''s response was immediate as he nodded, a glint passing through his eyes. ''With Rin''sprehension and talent, she will immediately reach the next realm in lightning affinity after eating a fruit.'' "As a token of trust, we will attack them first," One of the men said. "Let''s go." Rin and Erix nodded. These three men in their thirties were humans and were level 94, 93, and 92, respectively. Although they didn''t know their truebat power, Rin and Erix didn''t feel threatened by their aura. ¡­ On the small mountain''s peak stood an elven woman and a human man wearing golden-ted metal armor sets facing four men wearing silver-ted leather armor sets. They stood around the vines that bore two mysterious palm-sized fruits bearing cloudy and lightning patterns of blue and purple color. "They are ready to harvest. Cut them off carefully from the roots," the woman with long, wavy, bright blond hair ordered. Dawnbreakre guild was one of the top five guilds in the town, with their leader getting close to level 200. The members of this guild had their ranks indicated by the tiny shoulder tes on their armor sets crafted by the guild''s personal magic smiths. Armor sets with golden tes indicated they were first-ss members, just below the officials and leaders. Armor sets with silver tes indicated they were second-ss members and were usually subordinates of first-ss members. And armor sets with bronze tes indicated newbie members. They get tasks directly from officials to improve and train them. The two women were level 94 and 95, respectively, and the four men were level 86, 84, and 79. As the four men received orders from their superiors to harvest the fruits, the man with long brown-ck hair frowned as he saw five aurae rapidly approaching them. "We have apany. Those three idiots returned with two more people." "Get ready to battle!" the woman said as she unsheathed her long sword. Chapter 121: Sigma Realm鈥擳hunder Weaver! ''Are you fucking kidding me?'' Erix internally cursed as he nced at dead bodies around him and Rin. Those three idiots actually died with one attack from the first-ss member man after theyunched theirbo attack to kill those four second-ss men. ''This was their fucking opening act? Kill and then die? But that man has powerful me-attacks that can one shot kill.'' Although it was 2v2, the opponents were tough to kill as they were focusing on defense and buying time. "You won''t be able to kill us and steal the fruits before the reinforcement arrives," the woman spoke, her voice hoarse. "Leave or die," the man grunted. "Give us a fruit if you want us to leave," Erix ferociously grinned. "Or die." Rin nced around before immediatelyunching a Lightning de sh from both her katanas as an x-shaped condensed lightning projectile shot toward them. The woman was ready as a golden rectangle shield appeared before her, blocking the attack entirely as lightning des dispersed after crashing into the shield. "For your information, lightning-type attacks are weak against holy-type defenses," the woman snorted. "My holy-type shield won''t break with your attacks." Erix narrowed his eyes while ncing at Rin to signal, and she understood. Both of them shot forward¡ªRin towards the woman and Erix towards the man. The brown-ck-haired man was also in focus. Upon seeing Erix dashing towards him, he opened both of his palms as me tendrils shot out and danced around him, ready to attack iing Erix. ''This bastard has a unique style of fighting in melee with his me whips, but it won''t matter against Rin,'' Erix thought. Erix''s fists glowed and roared while Rin''s lightning de tore the air and crackled. They didn''t have time, so they went all out in their attacks. As Rin and Erix were just a few meters away from the enemies, Erix abruptly stopped with his metal control, dug his feet into the ground, and then sted strength from his feet at full force as he shot toward the woman. *BOOM!* His instantaneous burst of speed exerted all of his physical strength, and the Sling Shot Punch that crashed into the woman''s shield broke her defense as it cracked like ss shattering. Meanwhile, Rin took that chance as she charged her body with lightning, enhancing her cells and physical parameters as she blitzed towards the woman, her sword sweeping horizontally at her neck. ''No¡­'' The woman was shocked while the man who was five meters away from her roared with red eyes and burst out into mes, shooting two condensed beams of mes toward Rin. Thesers slightly widened as they traveled in a sinister trajectory by the man''s intentions. At this moment, Erix''s expression was twisting as he felt the dangers of theser beams while Rin''s every fiber screamed in crisis. If everything proceeded without any changes, oneser would hit Rin''s hand to save the blond-haired woman from decapitating, and anotherser would hit somewhere around Rin''s heart. Erix was trying to influence Rin''s body to move while milliseconds tickled. Rin also wanted to move away, but her sh was already in motion pushed by her entire body''s prowess, making it impossible for her to do anything else within this second except continue with her sh. Rin''s pupils shrunk to the extreme while her eyes became zed. ''Lightning!'' She wouldn''t die! For her, for Erix! And it was in this moment of crisis that something happened. The cumtive hard work she did in Limitless ne paid off. A burst of lightning tendrils overshadowed Rin''s eyes while her entire body suddenly vanished with a rumble of thunder. Thesers went wide, not touching Rin as she dodged them. The bolt of lightning that she became appeared five meters past the blond-haired woman, right in the middle of the arbor, and reverted back to her physical form. *Crackle!!* "T-This¡­" Rin felt an influx of power in her as a new world of lightning opened for her, making her utterly shocked and pleasantly surprised. The blond-haired man and woman were shocked while Erix''s eyes shined. ''Did she break through?'' Meanwhile, the dark clouds far high in the sky suddenly rumbled before a lightning bolt streaked toward Rin and struck her. *Boom!* The force sent the blond-haired woman flying while the lightning field containing countless lightning tendrils actually burned the trees, vines, and¡­.two fruits in the arbor. [Congrattions. You have sessfully reached the Sigma realm of Lightning affinity, Thunder Weaver] [Lightning Affinity] _Realm: Sigma¡ªThunder Weaver. ¡ª> Thunder Weaver: All lightning-based damage is increased by 30%. _Description: ¡ª> 1. Attuned to Lightning. Ability to turn mana into lightning. Level 2 maniption of lightning. ¡ª> 2. Ability to transform the physical body into a lightning elemental body for a brief moment. Allows one to refine one''s body with the lightning they produced using one''s own mana and eventually acquire the Lightning Physique. "The fruits¡­" the blond-haired woman muttered as she saw charred fruits that had lost most of their magic essence. Rin subdued all lightning in the area before she grinned. "The fruits are gone, and I have reached second realm of lightning affinity, so I am no longer interested in fighting you two." "Adios," Erix chuckled. *Crackle!* In the next second, a pair of lightning wings appeared behind Rin before she zoomed past the woman, grabbed Erix, and flew away at a breakneck speed. "Haha, I seeded!" Rin excitedly grinned as she could glean various ways to use lightning every second while feeling the newfound powers in her. "You did indeed," Erix smiled and kissed her lips. Rin flew with Erix like streaks of lightning drawing on the sky, feeling immensely more powerful than before! "I can''t wait to enter Limitless ne and create some interesting skills!" "Show me the description of your affinity," Erix curiously inquired. Both of themnded on another mountain a few kilometers away before Rin sat on hisp, locked her arms around his neck, and showed him the description of the second realm of lightning affinity. "Lightning Physique? Interesting. Haha, now that you crossed the hurdle, I can''t stay behind too long." "I am sure you will reach there today, darling~." "Humph, of course," Erix yfully snorted before pecking her lips while grinning. "Don''t you know I have a sexy and motivating teacher to help me?" Rinughed in joy before she stood up and took out some food. "Come, my dear student. Let me feed you some sushi." "I''ll take a ss of fresh milk as well." "It seems that you want some spanking, my naughty student." Chapter 122: Return Trip, Metal Maestro While having a jolly time with both of them teasing each other, the duo soon finished eating as they gained a few buffs from their 50k Abyss coins worth of sushi dishes. [Healing recovery increased by 20% for one hour.] [Stamina is reduced 20% slower for two hours.] [me resistance increased by 200 for one hour.] [Water resistance increased by 200 for one hour.] [Bones and Flesh toughness increased by 100 for two hours.] With newfound motivation and eagerness, the duo set off once again to get stronger. As they went deeper into the north, killing monsters and collecting various small or big natural resources, the duo didn''t realize they arrived near the sea after three hours. That was also the time when they encountered their first brutal monster in the forest area around thest chains of mountains before the seashore. The single monster was an ape¡ªtwo meters tall and bearing a muscr ck physique ted with metallic ck fur and scale-type coating on its arms and legs. [ck Iron Ape] _Level: 103 _Rank: Noble-order. _Bloodline: Umon [Extra stats]. _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 345 (+75) ¡ª> Agility: 328 (+70) ¡ª> Health: 329 (+60) ¡ª> Stamina: 342 (+60) ¡ª> Magic: 338 (+60) ¡ª> Mana: [1500/1500] The high stats of the monster, paired with its physical-type skills, put Erix and Rin in trouble while they battled it with their all. Both of them were ferociously and relentlessly attacking the monster, but its powerful and explosive fighting style allowed it to deflect their attacks with its metal-scaled arms and even counter-attack swiftly. The monkey was a martial artist in its own style and even helped Rin and Erix learn something, though both of them lost around 50 vitality while battling and injuring it. But unfortunately for the ape, Rin''s lightning proved to be a fatal weakness. The metallic body of the ape indicated that it was a metal-attributed monster, so although Rin and Erix were beaten initially in exchange for attacks, Rin''s relentless lightning attacks umted too much electricity in the ape''s body, which Rin triggered with her lightning mastery after piercing her katana in its eyes and caused a thunder explosion. After killing the ape, both of them reached level 94, and their stats finally maxed out, reaching 300 in all! "I am nked out again," Erix said, frowning. "It''s the curse." He stopped moving and paused his metal board ride in the air. Erix had used Babin Maw Hook a few times in their journey since that mysteriousdy told him to use it, and the curse was also triggered. "You used it only five times, but the curse still triggered?" Rin frowned. "You used it over ten times before the curse triggered thest time, right?" But Rin remembered the curse''s effect and ruefully smiled. She held Erix''s hand and put it over her shoulder before flying towards one of the small mountains facing the sea with her self-created Lightning Wings that were fully lightning energy-based and cost 20 mana to form and then 1 mana per five seconds to maintain it. ''The view is good,'' Rin thought as she looked at the sea from afar. ''Hmmm, we''ll take a break there and return, so we''ll be back at the mountain pass right as dusk ends.'' While flying, Erix suddenly said, "Rin, this strange istion I am feeling is mysterious. Why does it feel so natural? So strange¡­" Erix was lost in his own world, and Rin didn''t respond since Erix wouldn''t hear anything even if she talked. Inside the isted world, his soul was trapped; Erix was trying to feel the world and its structure as he felt increasingly amazed. But he didn''t know when two minutes passed as all senses returned to him at once and shattered the oblivion space world. Erix released a sigh. "Wee back. It seems that the curse is indeed useful to you somehow," Rin smiled. "You were mumbling just about that all the time." "It is," Erix wryly smiled. "So much that I want to get cursed again as soon as possible and learn more about it." "Then get cursed. We still have plenty of time." Erixughed. "Alright, honey. Hold on to me tightly." Erix took out the Babin Maw Hook in his left hand while his right hand used Rin''s shoulder as support and tightened its hold to grab Rin. A secondter, he threw the hook to the maximum range as it stuck to the space a hundred meters away, and then Erix and Rin were pulled towards it as Erix willed to shrink the strange rope. After using the hook five more times, Erix put it away and waited five minutes before he suddenly got cursed again. He spent another two minutes in the strange istion after losing all of his senses except for the sense of touch and feeling a mysterious sensation in the istion. "Ugh, I think this is it for today," Erix frowned after his curse was removed and his senses returned. "My mind is feeling weary, so I should stop. We must be in perfect condition for the highest chance ofpleting the task." "Mhm, if it''s tiring your mind, the more you get cursed, then you''ve had enough today," Rin nodded. "Now, let''s eat something on this mountain and return." ¡­ Rin and Erix flew leisurely but speedily on their way back trip while asionally killing higher-level monsters. When they encountered a few ores on a mountaintop, Erix and Rin decided to stop and harvest them. "Erix, we haven''t encountered Ore material like this," Rin curiously walked towards the meter-long Ore pieces blooming out of the ground in the shape of a multi-crystal amalgamation. "It''s a rare Tier-2 resource called Blue Timble metal ore," Erix was surprised. ''Might as well check it out.'' Erix got closer and touched the Ore before closing his eyes and observing its structure. ''What am Icking as thest hurdle to reach the next realm of Metal affinity?'' ''Metal¡­an element that takes the form of different solid objects, each one different than the other.'' ''There are tons of metals developed from natural reactions and also with other things like Blood Stone ore and this Blue Timble ore¡­'' ''This one''s internal foundation structure is also different¡­'' ''Foundation structure¡­'' Erix broke down the structure of this metal ore, and when the other metals'' foundational structures involuntarily ovepped with this one in his mind, he suddenly felt a sh of lightning clearing the dark clouds obstructing him. The Blue Tingle Metal ore that Erix touched suddenly dissolved into a stream of metal motes and danced around his hand! [ Congrattions. You have reached the Sigma realm of Metal affinity, Metal Maestro ] Chapter 123: Creating a Combo Skill [Metal Affinity] _Realm: Sigma¡ªMetal Maestro. ¡ª> Metal Maestro: All metal you produce has a 30% stronger structure and effectiveness of properties. \\_Description_/ ¡ª> Absolute Telekinesis over Metal objects with no limits on their size and weight as long as the upper limit of your mind can bear the exertion. Level 2 Metal Maniption. ¡ª> Allows you to refine your body with Metal Motes and acquire Metal Physique. You can turn your body into any type of Metal elemental body for a brief moment. The metal motes of Blue Timble ore dancing around his hands could take their forms freely based on Erix''s will. Seeing this scene, Rin was startled before she eximed, "Did you reach the second realm?!" "Yep," Erix grinned as he waved his hand, turning the entire block of metal ore into metal motes as they wrapped around Rin before turning into a beautiful dark blue metallic strapless dress with gray and ck patterns. Erix also mellowed out its foundational structure with his maniption and increased mastery of metal elements to make the metal dress into a semi-metal type material. "Awesome! I guess you can create tons of exotic things in this new realm of Metal mastery!" "Yep," Erix grinned. "Let''s go and find out the limits of our new powers on the way back. For example, we need more knowledge on this ability to turn into an elemental body for a brief moment." "Alright." ¡­ While flying back to the mountain pass, Rin and Erix experimented with their newfound powers. Rin could instantly shape her lightning into anything instantly and tap into its vaster potential since she could create various lightning phenomena with her imagination and control as long as she had mana. She could also feel the thunderclouds far high in the sky and resonate with them to absorb their lightning power for a temporary boost in lightning damage and effectiveness. Erix could create myriad types of metal with a flick of his finger because he also gained the ability to understand any natural metal''s structure just by touching it. With more in-depth mastery over Metal Affinity''s foundation, Erix could also break down any metal into Metal Motes and re-shape them with his thoughts alone. He could also empower the metals in his ways to create various metal objects with different metal foundations based on his understanding. Some metals were good at defending against blunt and shockwave damage but weak against piercing and sharp attacks, while some were the opposite. Erix could create any type of foundational metal structure with a thought based on his knowledge or even create a new type of foundational structure based on his imagination, learned information, and control. That was not all. Rin and Erix could transform into Elemental Body form for a total of 1.5 seconds without any cost. Rin could turn into literal lightning as her speed would increase dramatically like a real lightning bolt. Erix could turn into any type of metal he wanted, as there were myriad metals with various properties, and he could adapt ording to the situation or battle. The setback was that they could only transform for 1.5 seconds without any cost, and if they wanted to lengthen their elemental form, they would lose whooping 100 mana per second! And soon, when the evening descended and time tickled to nearly 7 p.m., they returned back to the Inn at the mountain pass. "This is too costly," Rin clicked her tongue in slight annoyance as she entered the room and slumped on the bed. "If only we could transform for longer without this level of consumption." "I have a guess," Erix followed Rin behind and closed the door before he sat on the chair, musing. "I think this transformation time will increase when we refine our physical bodies with our elemental powers." "Oh! That''s indeed possible, and it would be great because this transformation into the elemental body has much potential to incorporate into our skills and make ourbat prowess stronger." "Yep. Especially the body part transformation," Erix nodded as his hand turned into dark silver metal! "If I can structure my hands into a unique metal with magic formation and attach it to my gauntlets, just imagine the damage of my punch," Erix grinned. "I am also getting ideas, haha," Rin chuckled and stood up before she started undressing. "But for now, let''s quickly take a bath and then brainstorm abo attack your Metal and my Lighting." "We need a single powerful attack to destroy the carriage and finish off the target," Rin smiled as she approached Erix. "As a matter of fact, I already have a good idea." "What a coincidence," Erixughed and pulled her, pressing her plump breasts into his chest while his lips touched her. "I also have an awesome idea tobine our powers," he said. "As expected of my darling~ Then how about we have a break for an hour in the bathroom and have some fun?" "Exactly what I was thinking." ¡­ After spending a passionate hour in the bathroom, the duo left the Inn and flew high in the sky on Erix''s metal board. Erix''s maniption speed also increased such that with just pure metal telekinesis exertion over Metal objects, he could make them reach the speed fast enough to break the sound barrier within two seconds. Only Erix knew the powerful prospects rted to this boost. "Let''s start with me making a highly lightning-conductable metal," Erix said as he and Rin stood on a metal board that floated six kilometers high in the sky. People didn''t fly this high when traveling, so nobody would disturb them unless some random passing high-level flying monster. "While you are creating a metal ball, I''ll create a lightning formation that can empower your metal further tobine our power," Rin thoughtfully said. "If we can drop one or two attacks before they be aware of it, we''ll seed." "Yep." Erix nodded and closed his eyes as swirling motes of colorful metal manifested and streamed around him. ''A metal with Voltium Ore''s lightning conduction property and foundation structure simr to graphite foryered honebttice, so Rin can infuse more lightning.'' ''Hmm, yep. This will work. This ball created with this metal will also shatter upon impact due to its lower tensile strength, so the shattered electric conducted shards will also deal damage.'' ''Damn¡­.this is going to be crazily powerful once Rin empowers it with her lightning,'' Erix was dumbfounded as he looked at a palm-sized dark blue metal ball with a ck and brown hue.'' Chapter 124: Thunder Nukes!!! A thoroughly electrified watermelon-sized dark blue metal ball with a ck and brown hue was crackling with lightning. The ball came at breakneck speed from the sky, at eight times the speed of sound, with aid from lightning attribute, and dropped onto a level 104 Star-Earth Frog, a tough monster that the duo discovered since they were finding the target to use their first everbo skill. As the ball dropped on the giant frog''s head, it shaved away around 24% of the vitality of the frog at once before the orb shattered into tiny metal shards while also creating an electromaic field around the frog. The countless tiny lightning-metal shards that formed when the ball shattered started spinning like a vortex with the influence of an electromaic field as their sharp molecr structure empowered by lightning pierced and shed the frog monster, making it paralyzed, electrocuted, and bleed all over as it died in the next second. Rin and Erix descended and looked at the scene of a small five-meter radius crater with the mangled and charred flesh of the monster with a thrill in their eyes. Even its beast core was cracked, and its energy was seeping out. "Holy cow, we created one hell of abo skill, Erix!" Rin was dumbfounded but in excitement! "It''s fucking op, alright," Erix muttered with shining eyes while nodding. "We went all out with this and used our newfound elemental mastery and magic formation knowledge to the max, so this much is expected." "Right," Rin nodded while grinning. "Reaching the second realm in our affinity gave us such a massive boost." "Yep," Erix nodded before looking at the moons in the sky. "It''s almost eight. We should return and rest before our targetes." They returned to the Inn to rest and slept with the satisfaction of creating a powerfulbo skill. Thebo skill they created was an umtion of all the magic foundation knowledge, mastery of their elements, and experience they got in real life and Limitless ne. So, they were delighted with thisbo skill. ¡­ After a nap of one and a half an hour, Rin and Erix sat on the balcony of their room, waiting for their target. Their eyes were looking at the mountain pass''srge gate and peopleing and going on the wide paved road. "It''s almost ten p.m.," Rin said while tapping her fingers on the chair''s handrest. "They should be arriving anytime now." "Yep. Let''s go up and prepare the attacks," Erix nodded. Both of them wore their armor sets and left the Inn. Arriving six kilometers high in the sky, Erix and Rin stood on a metal tform. Erix consumed 500 mana and created five watermelon-sized metal spheres of his custom-created unique Voltst metal. Rin also consumed five hundred mana to infuse her lighting formations in the spheres, transforming and empowering them. [Combo Skill: Thunder Nuke] _Type: Combo / Prepartion. _Rank: Tier-3 ¡ª Damage: 5-star, Debuffs: 4-star. _Requirement: Level 2 Lightning and Metal affinity. _Cost: 200 mana total, 100 from each. _Description of effect: ¡ª>The warhead ball deals high-impact damage (increases with kic energy) and shatters into tiny metal-lightning shards upon impact while simultaneously creating an electric-maic field of a five-meter radius around the impact. The metal-lightning shards would deal sharp physical and lightning damage with a high chance of paralyzing targets if hit by multiple shards. _Possible Debuffs: Bleed(damage), Electrocute(damage), and Paralyse(control). This was the only skill that fully utilized the power they gained after reaching the second realm of Lightning and Metal affinity. "Hehe¡­" Rin giggled with shining eyes as she looked at the Thunder Nukes. "I feel like using five of them is an overkill, but this will ensure the task ispleted." "Yep," Erix nodded and stretched a grin, "Now, you should go down and call me when the target arrives. I''ll drop all five at once straight down on them from here." Erix couldn''t see from six kilometers of height, so Rin descended and sat down at a table on an open food court near the main road. She ordered a juice and focused on the main road. Fortunately, it wasn''t long before a smallmotion started because of a luxurious carriage. No other vehicle or people were allowed to flock within ten meters of the carriage except for the four Noble-order powerhouses riding white horses with demonic horns as the carriage guards. Rin took out herm card and contacted Erix right when they arrived at the decided spot, which was ten meters after the carriage crossed the gate. "Drop," Rin softly muttered, and Erix received her word. Half a secondter, one of those four Noble-order powerhouses suddenly stopped and looked up before his expression twisted, and his mana surged. Right as he barely created a hasty Earth-type shield above, another half a second passed, and five glowing spheres suddenly fell from the sky, causing a loud st. *BOOOOM!¡­Chreee!!* A vortex of countless metal shards raged within the electromaic formation, shing and piercing the Noble-order powerhouse while the carriage was entirely turned into wreckage. Erix and Rin got a notification of killing a level 98 Supra-order powerhouse, who was likely the son of the Vampire king. The maelstrom of lightning-metal shards subsided after five seconds. The four Noble-order powerhouses survived with severe injuries. "Who the fuck was that?!" "Show yourself!" Two of them roared in the sky while the other two quickly blew away the wreckage of the carriage to find the young master they were supposed to protect. s, all they found were pieces of burnt flesh and blood. Rin stayed there and leisurely drank juice while Erix took pre-caution since he was in the sky and quickly went into the mountain range before descending somewhere in the periphery. "Not bad." Rin suddenly heard a voice and turned her head with a shocked expression as she saw a beautiful woman wearing a pristine white dress and hat sitting across her at the table. ''What the hell? I didn''t even notice her presence until she spoke,'' Rin genuinely felt cold sweat. Chapter 125: Dark Queens Ceremony The woman''s light green eyes showed amazement as she smiled and said, "You two exceeded Lady Lilith''s expectation and mine by arge margin." ''How did they manage to break into the second realm of their affinity this quick?'' the woman was internally amazed, and anyone would be shocked if they found out that Rin and Erix had just started their path of power recently and made such progress in their affinities. But their rapid progress in affinity was thanks to their hard work and their spiritual art, the Way of Unfettered that allowed them ess to Limitless ne. "Who are you?" Rin warily asked while she checked the woman''s level. ''Level 184¡­well, she is no threat to me as long as I don''t attack her first.'' "I am a member of Dark Troupe and the strongest assassin in the town," the woman lightly chuckled and stretched her hand towards Rin, "You can call me Lily. Nice to meet you." "If you two had failed, I was supposed toplete the task." "I see. So, what now?" Rin asked as she took a sip from her juice ss. "You two will follow me to partake in Lady Lilith''s ceremony." Rin and Lily left while Rin called Erix with herm card. On the other hand, the four Noble-order powerhouses made a rational decision. They didn''t inform the Vampire King and just left, or rather, escaped to a new life. If they told the Vampire King that his son died while he was under their protection, the four of them would get the worst of torture before dying, not by the Vampire King himself because of the 10-level rule, but by his other stronger subordinates around their levels. After all, the other party was clearly around the young master''s level, which was why their attack managed to hurt and kill him. That also meant four of them were stronger than their opponents but couldn''t do anything. The four of them knew they were powerless to prevent the tragedy due to the nature of the attack they received, but the vampire king wouldn''t listen to the reason they felt, and so they scurried away to new paths of their lives, leaving the town and disappearing shortly. ¡­ Erix and Rin stood inside the mansion before Dark Queen Lilith, who wore a v-line ck dress with ample bosom showing a tempting cleavage. Her eyes faintly shone with praise as she nodded while smiling, "You two did a good job. More importantly, your progress in reaching the next realm of your affinity was unforeseen." "It seems that you two have a very high level of affinity with Metal and Lightning." "Perhaps," Erix politely smiled. "Are you two practicing any spiritual art? If not, I can give you one. Usually, people should start practicing their spiritual art after reaching the Noble-order ne, but you can also start early." Lilith waved her hand as a scroll flew towards Rin and Erix, stopping between them a meter away before it opened. "This is Bloodforge Surge Art, a spiritual art that can empower your blood and allow you to create Blood Qi as you practice it. You can use Blood Qi to boost your physical parameters or boost physical attacks, and if you practice it long enough, you will eventually acquire Blood Affinity." Rin and Erix were surprised. They could also see the scroll showing steps on how to practice the art. ''This is way different than the Way of Unfettered art,'' Erix thought. ''It seems that the one we got is a unique spiritual art.'' "Thank you very much for the gift," Rin took the scroll with a smile. ''Who will refuse such a delicious free lunch?'' Erix also thanked her. After all, the spiritual art they got was precious, no doubt. "The scroll is usable twice. Infuse your mana into it, and it will give youplete steps and knowledge on how to practice this art. After two people infuse mana and take the knowledge, the scroll will turn into dust and vanish." "We won''t use it now as we have another spiritual art, but we''ll definitely make use of it," Erix said. "No problem, do as you see fit because the scroll is now yours," Lilith nodded, stood up, and appeared a meter away from Erix and Rin by turning into a faint stream of red mist. The speed she disyed was ten times faster than sound. Naturally, there were means to travel that fast without producing the usual loud bang despite breaking the sound barrier. "Follow me. It''s time to begin the ceremony," Lilith walked past them from the middle with the usual alluring smile hanging on her lips. As she walked ahead, the floor parted magically and revealed wide stairs with illuminating crystals on the wall. It was an underground passage! Rin and Erix followed her. As the trio descended the stairs, they arrived in an underground cave with a sparkling blue pond. A crimson three-meter-tall tree was in the middle of the pond, oozing out a mysterious aura. Around the pond, five meters away from its edge, were seven spots with magic circles carved on them with some unique material as they faintly glowed in ck. "Stand on the empty circr spots around the pond." Five people were already present in the cave chamber before them: three women and two men. One man was a vampire; another was a human. One woman was an elf, and the other two were demoness bearing dark red curvy horns and looked simr as if they were twins. They were the members of Dark Troupe, already standing on five different spots, so Erix and Rin stood on the remaining two empty spots. "Is everything ready?" Lilith asked without pausing her walk as she continued moving towards the pond. "Everything is ready, mydy," Lily answered with a faint smile. Lilith nodded while walking and finally stopped at the edge of the pond. She then turned around and faced Rin and Erix with a smile. "This ceremony is for a Demonic Embryo attached to my soul. I have to borrow seven different types of blood to use a Witchcraft Spell and suppress the embryo from corrupting my soul and slowly shave it away every month," Lilit informed them as Rin and Erix finally knew why she had such a ceremony. "Kindly cooperate, and don''t resist the spell from taking your blood," Lilith smiled. "I will only take 10% of your blood, so bear it for a while." Rin and Erix nodded. "Once we are done, we''ll have a party and a feast." Chapter 126: Liliths Desire, Tier-3 Weed The ceremony started after Lilith sat under the tree, with only her head visible above the water. A secondter, the crimson tree glowed while Erix, Rin, and others suddenly felt a strange force entering them and pulling their blood. It was as if that mysterious force was consuming their blood slowly. At the same time, the blue pond quickly turned red, and Lilith was soon wrapped up in a blood-red cocoon. Nobody could see what was happening inside the cocoon, but the ceremony had started, and itsted for ten minutes before everyone felt the mysterious force of the Witchcraft spell vanishing. [You have acquired ???? Buff. Your magic power is increased by 20% for one day.] Everyone received a powerful buff that increased their magic stat by percentages, whooping 20%. *Crack!* The cocoon also cracked, and Lilith emerged wearing a new, gorgeous, tight ck dress with dark red designs made of energies. "Thank you, everyone. You can enjoy the buff for a day, but before that, we''ll have a feast." ¡­ Maids had already decorated the mansion''s hall during the ceremony, and when they returned, they were bringing exotic food dishes one by one and putting them on tables. Soon, the hall was also filled with around fifty First-ss members of the Dark Queen guild as they entered one by one and greeted Dark Queen before standing with wine sses and participating in the feast. They talked,ughed, and drank. Sharing their fortunes and misfortunes. Erix and Rin stood at the corner near the food tables while other Dark Troupe members, except for Lily, were talking with other members of the guild. They were not interested in talking and deliberately exuded such aura. "Lily, you''ve been with me for the longest, so I''m sure you know what''s my mind," Lilith softly said while looking at the crowd of people talking andughing in the hall. "Do you truly wish to choose him?" Lily asked before she chuckled and added. "Although I can''t say he is a bad choice. Rather, I think he is the best choice." "Mhmm," Lilith nodded as she nced at Erix with a wisp of desire in her eyes. "I thought I could use some ways to make him break away from his woman, but I''ve realized watching them that it''s impossible." "Both of them are inseparable," Lilith sighed. "They have too much feelings for each other." "So, what''s the n?" "n¡­" Lilith wryly smiled. "I have one, and I''ll have his unique essence no matter what because it''s the only way to perfect my hybrid bloodline." "I''ll help," Lily said as she nudged Lilith with her elbow. " Vampires were undead, superior to zombies, but their undead source was not as pure. An undead is created when a living dies and then undo their death by returning to life, hence named Undead. It was said that Vampires were also once humans until one of them became a vampire after dying and received some sort of undead source,ing back from death to life and creating a whole new powerful race with higher capabilities than humans, but requiring a source of human blood to live. Biting someone and injecting them with a fraction of their undead source would turn one into a vampire,and this newly turned vampire would have to obey the one who turned them. Zombies were also Undead, but they had way more death in them than living, thus making them mindless monsters with no mind or soul capable of basic sentient functions, but that was also why they had a higher and purer Undead source. So, Erix, managing to be a Hybrid Zombie, was an anomaly as he had a pure undead source of zombie that became even more powerful since he even had the mind and soul of living. Lilith wanted this unique essence of his source to stabilize her bloodline to be a stable hybrid, be more powerful, and then also remove the demonic embryo stuck to her soul in one shot in the passing. ¡­ Rin and Erix were not interested in staying at the party or conversing with these nobodies they would soon leave behind. So, they ate early and then talked to Lilith, informing her they were going to bed. "Alright, go and take a rest. You''ve done more than enough today," Lilith smiled and nodded. Rin and Erix went upstairs and As Lilith saw them leaving, she muttered, "Lily, I''ll make a move today, so give them some good stuff and let them enjoy first." "As you wish," Liliy chuckled with a charming smile and vanished like a passing mist. ¡­ Lily appeared in the closed backyard of the mansion, covered by a magic veil. The backyard had exotic grass nts, their size 1 meter tall and full of shining buds of various colors. Shockingly, all these nts were of Tier-3 grade! Lily waved her hand as gentle wisps of wind wlessly cut several buds and put them on a crystal te. She condensed the weed into three incense sticks using several mana strings. She removed all unnecessary things and created three incense sticks that would give pure and heavenly intoxication to anyone who experienced its smoke. "Perfect." She arrived before the couple''s room a minuteter and knocked once. Erix opened the door, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist since he and Rin were just about to enter the big round bathtub for a long, rxing bath. "What''s up?" "Here''s a gift for a good night," Lily smiled and stretched her hand towards Erix. "Incense?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "It will take you on a ride in exotic paradises," Lily smiled. "Oh¡­" Erix curiously took the incense. "Smell it." Erix''s nose twitched as he took a whiff, causing his mind to instantly numb as he suddenly felt cool all over his body and mind. ''W-What the fuck!!'' Erix was rmed, and he almost dropped the te. He instantly recognized the nature of this effect. Intoxication! It was intoxication into several levels higher than the strongest drugs he knew on Earth. "What is this?" Erix asked, already causing his body and mind to feel energized and jolly. "It''s a Tier-3 natural resource," Lily chuckled. "It''s going to be potent, of course. However, you''ll have the best night of your life today." "That¡­I can strangely agree, haha," Erixughed. ''Damn, a Tier-3 weed?! How is it going to feel when I inhale its magical smoke?'' "Enjoy." Lily waved her fingers with her hand and vanished as a mist. Erix went into the bathroom, where Rin was already washing her body in the bathtub. Erix brought one incense stick inside after lighting it up and experiencing its effect. He didn''t say anything to Rin and just walked inside. "What''s that?" Rin asked, but the smoke that wafted towards her automatically entered her before causing the world to turn wobbly, cooling her mind and body as she suddenly felt her spirit getting high. "E-Erix, what is this strong stuff?!" Rin snapped her eye open, feeling good and high in just one whiff. "Lily came here to give it. It''s going to be a lot of fun." "Only one incense stick or more?" "There''s two more." "Fantastic!" Chapter 127: 3 Phase of Crazy (Crazy R-18) In the aromatic room filled with whiffs of passionate sparks, lustful moans, and exhrated groans rang in symphony. Pressed on the wall and legs supported by two firm arms, Rin''s pink cave was being explored by Erix''s divine dragon, and his mouth was suckling on her tender yet big and plump breasts. His tongue ying with the juicy cherries. Both of their eyes were closed as they were experiencing the pleasure of an unknown realm. Their body moved instinctively while their mind pictured them in a heaven full of rapture. "Erix, Erix Aaa-Anhh¡­Aaanhh!" Erix had rested his head on her chest and held her tightly as he dramatically increased his speed of moving. The gentle pleasure of symphony turned dynamic as Rin''s constant moans due to Erix''s hard meat rod hitting her deepest spot and sending jolts and waves of pleasure throughout her body and soul. It was as if she was filling up with pure satisfaction and primal joy. For Erix, it was as if his divine dragon was squeezed by afortable and pleasingly warm world. It was divinelyfortable and intensely euphoric. As he increased his speed more and more, both Rin and Erix felt the climaxing and released their essences at once as Erix did onest big thrust and poured his load inside while Rin loudly moaned in pleasure while tightly squeezing Erix with her arms. With his divine dragon still inside Rin''s juice-filled pussy, he moved back towards the bed and put her down before widening her legs. He pulled his dick as thick white cum dripped out of her beautiful pink pussy like nectar. Since their stats had reached a limit, they didn''t use Magic Symphony of Essences. "More¡­" Rin was stupidly grinning with a high mind like never before and crossed her arms below her breasts in a squeeze, making her already big breasts look more extensive. "This stuff is so awesome," Erixughed with squinted eyes. He was also super high. Both of them were feeling as if the world was giving them a strange atmospheric euphoria due to an incense stick burning and drowning them in intoxication. Erix pped his dick on her wet pussy a few times before he prated inside, taking Rin''s breath away as she felt ecstasy gushing in her. Her chest heaved up, her breast trembled, and her body twitched. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smoke and increasing her intoxication by a notch. Erix grabbed her breasts and squeezed them while using his fingers to y with her cute pink erect cherries and started moving his hips gently. His slow thrusts hit Rin''s deepest spot while getting squeezed by her pussy every second. Both of them fell asleep while fucking after two hours as the third incensepletely overwhelmed their mind,bined with their intense sex sessions. But unbeknownst to them, a figure quietly appeared in the room. She looked at the couple and let out a soft chuckle. ''I wonder how will this end?'' ¡­ When Erix opened his eyes after afortable and deep sleep, he greeted a pair of pale white unfamiliar boobs of unfamiliar proportions with erect nipples just a few centimeters away from his face. His head was touching her neck, and he could not hear Rin''s usual heartbeat. It felt like a dead body. Yet it was warm, and his dick was in an even warmer ce, inside an unfamiliar pussy, squeezed tightly in a different way. ''What the fuck¡­'' "You woke up?" Erix felt cold. His mind is in chaos. Worry assaulted him, but he kept cool. "Where is Rin?" "She is sleeping beside me." "Wha-what¡­" Erix released his breath, and his dick hardened, expanding the tight pussy as Lilith let out a faint moan. "You''ll wake her up," Lilith breathed on Erix''s head as she looked at him, a charming smile hanging on her rosy lips. Erix narrowed his eyes and made a powerful physical move on unsuspecting Lilith as he spun, turning their position into one in which Lilith wasid t on her back, and Erix sat on her thighs. The twitching dick that he pulled out touched her vagina, but not minding that, Erix''s voice resonated powerfully in Rin''s ears, guided by his mana. "Rin! Wake Up!" Rin''s eyes twitched before she yawned and opened her eyes, only to be shocked by a strange scene. "Rin. I don''t know why this is happening because I also just woke up and saw his woman sleeping before me with my dick in her pussy." "Also," Erix added, his experience turning a bit weird, "She is a virgin." "Lady Lilith, what''s going on?" Rin asked with a frown. Lilith burst outughing, her boobs jiggling and giving natural reactions to Erix''s meat rode. "Erix, fucking her doesn''t break the 10-level rule," Rin spoke with an icy voice as she looked at Erix and coldly grinned. "Screw her mindless¡­like a savage." Before Lilith could register what happened, herughter suddenly ceased, and her eyeballs rolled upward. The pain of breaking her hymen didn''t even register before the pleasure she so distantly remembered gushed into her when Erix''s rock-hard dick mmed the deepest part of her pussy. *Boom!* Erix grabbed her head hair and pulled her up before sucking her boobs and biting her nipples as hard as possible because his strength was so meagerpared to her that his strongest physical attack wouldn''t even scratch her skin. "Aaanhhh~" Lilith moaned as her mind went nk, feeling pleasure like never before. Not registering her current wild appearance, she was rammed in by Erix. Erix mmed her on the bed afterward and intensely fucked her by exerting the entirety of his physical force and making her climax in just several seconds as his body twitched intensely in pleasure. "Wh-what is this¡­." Lilith murmured with her eyes rolled backward in intense euphoria, not even able to think straight. Despite her gushing pussy, Erix increased his speed more. "Ah, I got an idea!" Rin''s eyes suddenly shined before it flickered with electricity. "Erix, I am giving you a physical boost," Rin said as she pointed her index finger at Erix as it flickered with a tiny lightning bolt on its tip. Erix stopped his crazy thrusts and confusedly looked at her, "What do you mean?" "This lighting bolt will increase your cell activity to higher levels to boost your overall physical parameters. In short, your speed will increase, so¡­," Rin flicked her finger at Erix, shooting the bolt as it entered his body and electrocuted him. "So, have the best climax of your life, but you''ll have to do this trick with meter," Rin yfully snorted. "W-wait¡­" Lilith spoke, but before she could continue, Erix grabbed her neck and started moving his hips at an increasingly higher speed each second. Losing control of his own physical control, Erix''s hot rod ramming into Lilith''s pussy broke her mind with pleasure and also broke the bed. But Erix pulled her up by her head and turned her back towards him before grabbing her hands. Positioning his dick into her pussy after going through her butt cheeks using his hips, Erix started fucking her doggy-style as Lilith''s boobs crazily jiggled. Lilith shortly climaxed another time as she moaned, her voice breaking every millisecond due to Erix''s intensely swift thrusts. This time, Erix felt it was enough as he poured his entire load into her, not knowing that what he did was not punishing her but giving her exactly what she wanted. The unpredictability of this development also stumped Lilith, but she, nevertheless, felt delighted. Both the experience she experienced and the result of this development. ''Are these two still fucking high?'' In fact, Rin and Erix were not high, but this was their immediate response to a big shot like Lilith, who dared to intrude on their space like this with this boldness. This act did mean nothing to them except a little revenge on this crazy demoness for what she did. Chapter 128: Suger Mommy?!! Erix brutally fucked Lilith by exerting all of his physical strength all the time with his unlimited stamina. In the end, the whole room was tattered, broken, and dented in various ces. Erix''s cum was all over Lilith as shey amidst the rubble. Her body and soul were swimming in a sea of pleasure while the semen Erix shot inside her was doing wonders to her bloodline. Even as she twitched with pleasure amidst rubles, she was fundamentally getting stronger as her soul and body transformed. Meanwhile, Rin and Erix were having a leisure bath in the big round bathtub. Rin leaned against Erix''s chest while Erix''s perpetual stiff unlimited stamina penis rested inside Rin for herfort and tingly pleasure in the pussy while bathing. Meanwhile, his hands gently rubbed her breasts, massaging them with masterful finger movements on them. "Why did she do that?" Rin wondered. "No idea. But she can''t do anything to us since we technically didn''t attack her," Erix shrugged. "Also, what was that incense made of?" Rin curiously asked. "It was a crazy drug. I still feel its effects in my mind and all over my body." "Yeah, but it was a Tier-3 weed," Erix wryly smiled. "I don''t think we can buy that." *k..* Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened, and Lilith walked inside in her birthday suit. Her perfectlyrge E-cup breasts with slight curve-up from below jiggled gently with each step, making her pale white figure with tings of reds look even more exquisite. She had somehowpletely cleaned herself off Erix''s cum loads. Rin and Erix watched her enter the big round bathtub and sit beside Erix. "What''s your deal?" Rin grunted. "Why did you do what you did? "I needed something," Lilith answered before she leaned her head on Erix''s shoulder. Rin tilted her head towards her as her eyes met with Lilith''s eyes. "Something?" Erix questioned confusedly and curiously. "Indeed," Lilith cheekily smiled before she took a long whiff of Erix''s smell, but Rin suddenly pushed her away with her hand. "You are mistaking something, Lady Lilith," Erix unhurriedly and emotionlessly said. "When I saw you and not Rin beside me, you made me deathly worried for her." "Thankfully, you didn''t do anything," Erix rxed his muscles and sighed before he ruefully smiled. "After that, I just vented the stress you gave me into you." "So, know that I only belong to Rin and Rin alone," Erix said before he locked his arms around her belly and kissed her neck. "That''s right," Rin snorted. "Erix is mine and mine alone. He will fuck someone if I allow him, but that wouldn''t make him less mine and me less his." "So, don''t think too much just because he rode you to heaven once, humph." "Oh my¡­"Lilith pouted before she burst into a melodious chuckle. "I am in a good mood. Exceedingly good mood," Lilith smiled. "I was no virgin if you consider I had memories of my past life, but the experience with Erix was indeed something I never felt before." Licking her lips, Lilith said in a drunken stupor, "I really want to experience it again, Erix. But¡­" "Forget it," Lilith quickly said before Rin or Erix could respond to her request and stood up. "I''ll show you why I did what I did." Lilith stood outside the bathroom facing Rin and Erix before a burst of ck and dark gray, misty energy enveloped Lilith. Rin and Erix felt a strange shudder due to the air and even atmosphere trembling. They were shocked, yet curious. "Don''t worry, we won''t get damaged by whatever she pulls because of the ten-level rule," Erix said as his grip around Rin tightened. "Mhmm," Rin nodded. The shudder was their reaction to them perceiving the phenomenon. It was not caused by something external affecting them. A secondter, all the darkness suddenly vanished before Lilith appeared again in her birthday suit. However, it felt like her beauty increased by a notch, with her hair turning silvery-cyan and her pale white figure faintly shining like a diamond. But soon, her figure was covered in a tight and hot ck dress with red patterns. "Ah~ I feel wonderful," Lilith moaned with her eyes closed, pure bliss on her face. She sat down on a chair that materialized behind her and opened her eyes. She smiled at Rin and Erix, saying, "Thanks to Erix''s essence, my unique hybrid bloodline stabilized and gave me a major boost in my soul and body. My magic power also increased by five thousand." With a grin and glinting eyes, she added, "And I''ve broken away my existence from the Mystic Roots. Instead, I''ve entered the path of self-transcendence." Erix and Rin looked lost, though they roughly understood what Lilith meant. They just didn''t know the details of Mystic Roots, path of self-transcendence, how all these things came to be, and their importance. "So, you are saying that Erix''s cum made you strong? Wait," Rin was dumbfounded as she mumbled, "Five thousand boosts in magic power?" Erix was also bbergasted, "Magic stat increased by five fucking thousand?" "Indeed," Lilith chuckled. "With my cum?" Erix squinted his eyes. Lilith licked her lips and ravenously smiled, "Yes. And I would love to enjoy it more if you don''t mind." "Unfortunately, we don''t have time for you for that," Rin shrugged. Lilith chuckled as she expected a decline. "I''ll support you two financially and give you anything you want so you can purely focus on enjoying and getting stronger," Lilith offered with a smile, but she had more. "And, now that I''ve gotten significantly stronger, I can boldly aplish some of the due revenge," Lilith added, "This means that I''ll match my pace with your progression. Once you are ready to move into Inner Domain, Dark Queen guild will move along." "When you are ready to move into Core Domain, the same will happen. You two can leave anytime you want, but as long as you stay with me, we¡­will support each other." "It''s not a bad deal, right?" Lilith charmingly grinned. Rin and Erix looked at each other, their jaws dropping on the bathtub at the sheer shock they received. Was Lilith suggesting to be...their sugar mommy?! Chapter 129: Bloodline Seeing their shocked expressions, Lilith smiled and dropped another bomb, "If you agree to this deal, I will even give Rin my bloodline essence so she can be stronger. As for you¡­" Lilith paused and licked her lips with her alluring smile, "Since you are a natural hybrid, I will first help you manifest your default unique bloodline." Erix and Rin calmed down, and they only had to look into each other''s eyes for a second to understand their intentions before their lips slowly curved into a smile. "Lady Lilith, we''ll be looking forward to you fulfilling these promises," Rin grinned. "I''ll look forward to joining you two in your passionate time from now on," Lilith grinned back. "And I have unlimited stamina," Erix said with an intentionally stupid smile. "Rin, honestly, I was not expecting you to be this cooperative," Lilith chuckled. Rin burst outughing hearing her, "Lady Lilith. What Erix and I do is make love, but what he''ll do to you is just fucking you." Erix wryly smiled. "As frustrating as it sounds, you are right," Lilith smiled and suddenly disappeared from the chair and appeared before Erix. "You¡­" Erix was dumbfounded. His dick was already inside her pussy, getting squeezed and massaged by it, but he couldn''t even see her movement. ''Just how fucking strong is she?'' "But I''ll make love to him with my everything, and that''s sure to be enjoyable," Lilith said before her eyes revealed the bliss of Erix''s thing pulsing inside her, causing her to moan. Rin smacked her lips and pushed her, causing Lilith to fall to the side since she was not resisting. Meanwhile, she saw Rin taking her position and chuckled. "So you indeed feel jealous." "Of course I do. You can''t use your monstrous strength and cheat," Rin snorted. "That''s right," Erix sagely nodded. "No cheating." "Fine, fine. So are we doing it now or not?" Lilith said with a hungry expression. She had such a fantastic experience the first time and wanted to do it again. "Me first," Rin said before she demanded, "Also, we will leave soon and only return once we reach level 100. And when we return, you will have to teach us how to break through to Noble order quickly." "Easy peasy," Lilith crossed her arms under her breasts with a smiling nod, "What else?" Erix coughed, "Umm¡­how about you get one more incense stick?" "Hehe, that would be great," Rin grinned. "Fine, I''ll be right back," Lilith vanished into a faint bloodstream and disappeared from the bathroom. "I feel like our life suddenly became easy," Rin chuckled. "But we still have to dance amidst dangers to thrive higher than all," Erix smiled and started thrusting his hips slowly. "With you, we''ll conquer all." Rin started passionately kissing him without saying anything while feeling hot and blissful inside her. Both of them ignored Lilith, who had arrived shortly and was enviously looking at them after lighting the incense. What level of satisfaction and joy are they deriving from their so deep and intense feelings for each other? Lilith''s envy grew along with her longing for that kind of experience. ''I want to feel that luxury.'' ¡­ After an hour, Rin, Erix, and Lilith sat at a table in the bathroom wearing bathrobes. On top of the table was a mysterious dark red orb with ck and cyan patterns. "Put your hand on it and cut your finger by forming a mana thread from inside to drop blood on it. Afterward, it will reactively enter inside you and create a bloodline frame of my bloodline in you." Rin nodded and put her hand on the bloodline orb that Lilith formed before doing as told. A secondter, Rin felt a jolt in her body as the Bloodline Orb vanished. Countless blood threads oozed from Rin''s pores before they covered her into a cocoon. "How long will this take?" Erix asked. "Three to five hours. It depends on Rin''s endurance and how fast she remains active so that the process can finish faster," Lilith answered. She took out a scroll and gave it to Erix, "Read this scroll, and you''ll know about my bloodline." "But in short, getting a Bloodline meant that a person would be able to temporarily transform into a different form by consuming Blood Essence, ess to unique skills and develop more, and use Blood Essence to further boost those skills or yourself." "The powers depend on the Bloodline, but mine is powerful," Lilith grinned. "It is at Legendary grade." "Any tier attached to it?" "Tiers? Oh, you mean that. Nope. There are no tiers attached to Bloodline ranks, which is why Legendary grade is powerful. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop a bloodline to a higher grade." Erix nodded while reading the scroll. "This Blood Essence¡­It''s important, but it takes time to produce it," Erix said while reading the scroll as it mentioned Blood Essence. "Blood Essence is a fuel you get if you have a bloodline. Your Bloodline frame develops blood essence automatically, but you can speed up the process with different means." "Different means?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Yep," Lilith gave an alluring smile as she licked her lips. "All bloodlines have different and multiple means to boost their Blood Essence production." "For my bloodline, though, I have found the catalyst to boost my blood essence production," Lilith said before she disappeared and once appeared on Erix''sp with her arms locked around his neck. "Your pimping white hot stuff is the best catalyst for my bloodline," Lilith softly giggled, "Thanks to the recent activity, I''ve already condensed two blood essence crystals." She could absorb Erix''s semen and convert it into her bloodline''s fuel to produce her Blood Essence faster. The blood Essence of any bloodline was like a unique energy capable of significantly boosting skills and overall parameters. But the production of Blood essence crystals was rather slow in general unless one used some sort of catalyst. For Lilith, Erix''s semen was that catalyst. "So, that''s how it is," Erix understood and turned to Rin. "If Rin will have your bloodline, then it means her catalyst will be the same, right?" "Indeed," Lilith smiled before her bathrobe slid out, revealing her plump pale breasts that she started rubbing on Erix''s face. Erix raised his eyebrows and bit her left breast strongly, stopping her movement. "But you are not getting anymore today." Chapter 130: Ourous Dempire "I see¡­ So what are the benefits of doing that?" Erix curiously asked. While waiting for Rin to finish her Bloodline infusing process, Lilith and Erix were talking about Lilith''s circumstances that led to this development. "Benefits are plenty, but you won''t be able to break away from the Mystic Roots before crossing level 200. In short, you have to be a Royal-order being." "That seems a bit far for now," Erix wryly smiled. *Crack¡­* Suddenly, the cocoon wrapping up Rin cracked before it shattered into countless motes and got absorbed into her body. "Wow," Erix was amazed. Rin looked different! She had two red horns, beautiful ruby eyes, and some strange pattern on the right side of her forehead. A pair of beautiful dark red wings also unfurled from her back while a strange red and ck aura oozed out from her. But a secondter, she reverted back to her human form and finally opened her eyes. "So, this is the power of bloodlines?" Rin muttered. Erix checked Rin''s stats and wryly smiled. "What the heck?" Rin actually had an additional 100 points in all stats, including magic! And bonus 1000 mana capacity! Lilith chuckled and said, "That''s not all. In her Bloodline Form, she will receive an additional boost in stats. Although she can only maintain that form as long as she spends Blood Essence." "Which I don''t have any for now," Rin said before taking a deep breath. "Check your Bloodline Tree and tell me what''s the first skill you got," Lilith said. Rin nodded. [Bloodline: Ourous Demphire ] _Grade: Legendary _Level: 1 [ 0 / 100 Blood Essence ] _Skills: ¡ª> 1. Dominion re Orbs. ¡ª> 2. Unlocks at level 2. Rin focused on Dominion re and got its details. [Dominion re Orbs] _Type: Bloodline skill. _Cost: 5 Blood Essence & 100 Mana. _Effect: Conjure a ck re on the tip of the index finger to shoot three thumb-sized orbs at your will. ¡ª> Each orb deals damage equal to 500% of the Magic stat + 200% of the Strength stat of the user. "Are you kidding me?!" Rin was dumbfounded looking at the skill''s effect. "Erix, look." Rin shared the skill with Erix and Lilith. "You got an offense-type skill as your first bloodline skill," Lilith chuckled. "That''s good. You can solve tough problems as long as you have Blood Essence." "When will I get my bloodline?" Erix pouted. Lilith blew a kiss towards Erix and grinned, "When you reach Noble order, we''ll begin collecting the best resources to manifest your unique bloodline." "Does this ce in my Bloodline Frame''s heart store the Blood Essence?" Rin asked after she checked the Bloodline Frame in her Origin Region. Beside her Magic core was a humanoid frame resembling her in a dreamy red structure. In the frame''s beating heart was an ongoing process that was dripping a tiny bit of minuscule red spark into the heart. "Yep. As long you have higher physical and magical activity, the bloodline frame will continue to process. Usually, you can produce one or two Blood Essence crystals per day." "And you also need to eat more energy-rich high-tier food from now on to maintain your Blood Essence production," Lilith added with a grin. Rin raised her eyebrows, and her gaze went towards Erix. "I feel like there''s a better way to get Blood Essence quicker." "You can feel it?" Lilith chuckled. "I can feel it," Rin looked at Erix with a nod and licked her lips. "This bloodline is giving me a strange feeling of hunger towards Erix." Erix coughed before he cheekily grinned. "I have unlimited stamina." ¡­ After an hour, Rin and Erix left the mansion. "It''s already noon, Erix. Let''s quickly reach level 100 and get Lilith to help us break through to Noble order." "It''s going to be easy peasy for you," Erix chuckled. Indeed. Erix and Rin directly went to the north of the Star-Rain mountain range, entering the territory of level 100+ monsters. Both of them were at a party, so they shared experiences. However, with Rin getting significantly stronger, her contribution to the fights was more, so she reached level 100 in four hours of constant battles while Erix reached level 98. As such, they didn''t stop, and Erix continued battling to his best and even using Babin Maw Hook constantly to experience its strange world. More time passed, and the duo continued battling before night soon arrived. When the suns fully disappeared and the moons rose in the sky, Erix and Rin sat on a boulder at the beach of the rumbling ocean. The area around them was littered with lots of giant monsters in herds like Crystal Flon Crabs, Berserk ms, Triple-Legged Sword Fish, and more such monsters. Erixy on Rin''sp and said with a contented smile, "Finally reached level 100." "I feel toozy to harvest cores from these monsters," Rin also slumped on Erix and released a tired sigh. "Why do I not have unlimited stamina? Although I am not tired, I can feel a slight exhaustion. Meanwhile, you arepletely fine despite fighting so much." "Maybe it''s a trait unique to me?" Erix pulled Rin''s cheeks while cheekily smiling. "But my mind is a bit exhausted, and I need something to relive it." They''d been fighting since noon with only little breaks, and they fought more and ever before with stronger monsters, so Rin was also feeling slight exhaustion while Erix had a bit of mind exhaustion. "I have something," Rin chuckled and removed her leather armor as it disappeared into inventory. The garment she wore beneath also vanished before two pairs of melons hit Erix''s face. "Ahem, I can produce milk," Rin cheekily smiled, "Wanna have a drink?" "Eh? You are pregnant, or you just can produce it?" "Of course, I can''t afford to be pregnant at our current stage," Rin burst outughing. "This is something I can do because you''ve given me plenty of stuff to process before." "Oh¡­let''s see," Erix''s grabbed a breast and started sucking it like a baby before milk soon streamed into his mouth. "It''s tasty." But suddenly, both of them felt a presence before they heard a jokingly displeased voice. "You two shameless birds. Why don''t you just return first?" Rin smacked her lips, "Lilith, don''t scare us like that." "I need energy first," Erix said with a snort before he continued sucking. Chapter 131: Malding Derek, Pampering Lilith "If you want to suck, then fuel Rin first. Now that she has my bloodline, she will have the benefits of your semen," Lilith said with a grin. "One of the benefits is that drinking our milk will energize your mind and remove its exhaustion. It also works to refill your unique vitality." "Great! Then, let''s return and have a st. Even if you two are not horny, I am horny," Erix said with a grin. "Get on. We''ll instantly reach the mansion," Lilith said as she took out a slender and small dark red flying boat out of nowhere. "Someone is even more eager than you," Rin chuckled. "I am the dignified Dark Queen," Lilith said with a somber expression that soon cracked into a grin. "Haha, of course, I am eager. I also need to collect 100 Blood Essence as soon as possible so I canunch my first attack." Rin raised her eyebrow in surprise and asked, "How long will it take to condense that many Blood Essence crystals?" "Probably ten liters of Erix''s semen and ten days." "Twenty liters because I would also need ten liters," Rin chuckled. "W-what the fuck?" Erix grabbed his crotch, rmed. "What are you worried about?" Lilith rolled her eyes. "Don''t you remember that you released a whole liter yesterday?" "Actually, Rin. You will need more," Lilith shook her head. "I can manage with ten liters because I already have some Blood Essence crystals, and my production is faster by default due to my overall power." "Then how many liters do I need to get 100 Blood essence crystals?" "Around fifty liters, I guess." "Hello?" Erix waved his hand between them with a speechless expression. "I feel weird you two talking like that, you know?" Rin snorted and grabbed his crotch. "What do you have toin about this?" "N-nothing, my queen. I''ll be d to serve you. It will be my ultimate pleasure." "Umu~" Rin smiled and nodded. Well, it was not like Erix was lying about this being his ultimate pleasure part. ¡­ The night passed amidst wild passion in Lilith''s room, but the recent closeness of Lilith was triggering someone in the troupe. That someone was known as Delek, the Dark Mage. A man with dark brown skin and shoulder-length green hair approached Lily, who was gardening in the Weed Backyard. "Lily, what is going on with Lady Lilith and those two? They''ve all been too close since the party." Lily turned to the man and nonchntly said, "I don''t think that has anything to do with you, right?" "Or do you think you are something to Lady Lilith just because you have ''Dark'' in your bestowed title?" Lily added with a chuckle. Delek''s expression twisted, "Lilith gave me this title herself!" "Oh? You are going to call her by name directly?" Lily''s jolly demeanor turned cold as she icily looked at Delek. Delek gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, but he knew not to confront Lily without any preparation. Without saying anything, he silently left. "Will this idiot do something idiotic?" Lily muttered and then sighed. "An idiot will always do something idiotic." Shaking her head, she continued tending the valuable Tier-3 nts. Delek went upstairs, walking towards the corridor where Lilith''s room was situated. But when he just walked into the corridor, he saw Erix and Rin leaving her room. ''They fucking entered her room?! I haven''t even seen it yet!'' Delek internally screamed in rage, but he showed nothing outside. "Derek? What''s up?" Lilith casually asked. "Lady Lilith, we are having some trouble with the Lion Force guild. They are making big moves to wrestle our mines and spots. From what I deduced, I think they will use an Event Game Ticket to challenge us." "Since you are more powerful than their leaders, they will likely arrange a game for Noble-order," Derek added with a dire tone. "How many noble orders do we have?" Lilith asked. "Half than theirs," Derek''s expression was somber. "I believe Lion Force guild made some ties to a force in Inner Domain to get many powerhouses of Noble-order." "Hmmm," Lilith thought for a moment before turning to Erix, "Do you have any idea?" "Me?" Erix pointed to himself, a bit confused. He didn''t know most of Lilith''s business. "Yep." Erix rubbed his chin for a second before casually saying, "Since we are going to leave this domain and go to Inner Domain, how about you just officially sell your ownerships to Lion Force guild in exchange for money or resources? We''ll need them to establish ourselves in Inner Domain anyway." "Alright, we''ll do that," Lilith grinned. Erix and Rin were dumbfounded at her immediate positive response, while Derek felt nk. ''What the fuck?'' Derek felt like pulling his hair. ''WHY IS HE SO CLOSE TO HER?!'' Only Derek knew the amount of bloodlust he was suppressing. If he could, he would shred this duo into pieces without wasting a second. "Alright, Derek. Go and make arrangements. We are going to leave this domain after a week and establish a guild in the Inner Domain." "It''s time that I up my game and finally start making moves." "U-Understood." Derek left as soon as possible to prevent himself from showing any negativity he had towards Rin and Erix to Lilith because he knew that doing anything to Rin and Erix would be like courting death, just like Spena and Frandal.?On the other hand, Lilith took Rin and Erix to far east on her super faster Tier-3 flying boat. "Where are we going?" Rin asked. "A perfect ce for you two to break through to Noble order," Lilith smiled and looked at a grand tree spanning ten kilometers high! Rin and Erix were also shocked when the Tree finally revealed itself. "Why couldn''t we see it before?" Erix asked while looking at the tree''s rusty red and green hues. "There are houses and buildings on its branches," Rin eximed. "It''s a Tree town upied by someone I know," Lilith smiled. "One of the items I need to manifest Erix''s bloodline is also here, so let''s see if we can take it after you two break into Noble-order rank here." As they neared the tree, the patrolling guards stopped them but soon let them pass after seeing that it was Lilith. The trio went to the highest point of the tree and entered inside an exquisite wooden pce on a giant wood-weaved tform. "Lilith! It''s been over a month now. Where were you?"?An emerald-haired beauty wearing a ck robe emerged just as theynded. Rin and Erix inspected the woman, and as they expected, she was a Royal-order powerhouse, just like Lilith. Chapter 132: Noble Order! Spirit! "To break through to Noble order, you must shatter your magic core by infusing it with your consciousness force. You have to do that in one session, at once, without any pause." "If you pause and stop putting pressure even for a second, your core will recover considerably and fail your attempt at rank up." Rin and Erix nodded as they sat across Mirenda, the leader of the Tree Spirit Guild. They were inside a woody room with wooden designs as they sat on a mattress. Lilithy on her side with her hand''s support and watched them while eating glowing blue grapes with dark blue motes inside them. In the middle of the duo and Mirenda was a small crystal bowl with burning nts inside. "Inhale the energy of smoke and enter into deep focus to strengthen your consciousness," Mirenda instructed. "Afterward, slowly and steadily attack your core with your consciousness. Pressure it steadily and crack it evenly. Once you feel you progressed halfway, you have to deepen your focus and find that right timing to attack the core with the entire force of your consciousness." "Now, begin." Rin and Erix began their attempt, but this was not going to be theirst attempt. ¡­ Erix and Rin made three attempts in one hour. Normally, it would take roughly four hours to recover one''s consciousness fully for the next solid attempt. But with the magical smoke produced from burning the nts, Erix and Rin actually fully recovered their consciousness in ten minutes! Moreover, it also aided them in breaking through the attempt, so Erix and Rin understood that these nts were surely something rare and valuable. It had taken people months to a year to break through, depending on how many attempts people made on a regr basis to refine their consciousness and make it strong enough to shatter the core. Moreover, one''s consciousness was the main developing target of Noble order powerhouses in order to be stronger and ascend further. After failing another attempt, Rin and Erix grew rather frustrated. They knew their consciousness was benefiting immensely from the valuable natural resource burning before them, and that was why they were vexed at their own failures. "Calm down. Your consciousness force will be used if you feel worldly emotions. You have to be nothing and let your everything flow in your consciousness with a singr focus." "Be detached and transcend your consciousness. Aim your sole focus on shattering the core and nothing else." Rin and Erix took a deep breath before they cleared their mind and meditated to fully recovery their consciousness. Afterward, they entered deep focus and made another attempt. Five minutester, a burst of magic force exuded from them as the result of their core shattering sessfully. The overjoyed duo quickly gathered the motes that resulted from the destruction of their core and spread their consciousness force in them. Fueled by their consciousness, the motes danced around their origin region before gathering together as a natural evolution of their magic path began. After five seconds, the motes had condensed together and shaped into a dreamy blue five-peteled flower. This marked their rank up as their Magic cores sessfully evolved into Magic Spirit Flowers. [Congrattions! You have sessfully ascended to Noble-order rank.] Both of them opened their eyes. "Yes!" Rin grinned as she felt her magic and mana increasing. "We finally did it," Erix took a deep breath while smiling as he felt a pure infusion of magic force and primal mana entering him as if attracted by his Magic Spirit Flower. However, Lilith and Mirena just looked at each other. "Why isn''t it happening," Lilith rubbed her chin as she looked at Rin and Erix, her eyes peering in deep in them. Mirena also turned to Rin and Erix and adopted a thoughtful expression. "Their consciousnesses had already met the requirement." "Maybe they need a slight push?" "Yeah." "What are you two talking about?" Rin asked, her expression confused. "Consciousness?" Erix furrowed his brows. He was feeling something strange after he broke through. Closing his eyes, he entered deep focus again. Meanwhile, Lilith also told Rin to enter deep focus like Erix. And the moment both entered deep focus, they suddenly felt an overpowering pressure descend on their consciousness out of nowhere. Despite getting startled, they remained steady and resisted it. A few secondster, Both felt as if they were winning against the pressure and started attacking the strange pressure with all of their might. Eventually, Erix shattered the strange pressure first before Rin followed shortly. In a second, a strange andfortable feeling washed over them before they experienced something bizarre yet mystical. It was as if they were suddenly elevated as a lifeform, as an existence. [A new stat has been unlocked. Spirit.] ''Spirit?'' Erix and Rin were surprised. "Vi! I knew that their consciousness was abnormally powerful even though they just entered the path to power recently," Lilith burst intoughter. "You were right," Mirena nodded with a smile. "These two are practicing a rather powerful Spiritual Art, and since they are sufficiently strong-willed, they are making full use of it." Rin and Erix were surprised as they heard their talk. They understood most of it, which added more joy to them. "What is Spirit? Is it rted to the spiritual arts?" Erix asked. "Spirit," Lilith smiled. "It''s a major factor and a boon that a Noble order can have if they train and refine their consciousness relentlessly." "You two were doing it daily, it seems," Mirenda nodded with a chuckle, "That''s why you immediately reached the requirement to awaken your spirit force right after breaking through to noble order." "I see." "Practicing any spiritual art can strengthen your consciousness, but the true power of a spiritual art can only be disyed once you unlock your spirit force," Mirenda said as she smiled with narrowed eyes before adding. "However, you two seem to be practicing an extraordinary Spiritual Art. I believe it should be on the level of core spiritual arts that those Cosmic Factions have." "How did you get it?" Lilith curiously asked. "Even I don''t have a spiritual art on that level." Rin and Erix were stunned. Even she didn''t have that level of spiritual art? Just what the hell did they get and why? If they wanted answers, the only way was to meet that mysterious woman again. "A mysterious woman gave it to us after we jumped into some pond and experienced an entire life in fast forward in a mysterious world," Erix answered while rubbing his chin. "I still feel that was the most bizarre experience I''ve had." "Pond?" "Experiencing an entire life?" Lilith and Mirena looked at each other, startled. "A mysterious world," both of them eximed and then uttered in unison again as they looked at each other. "Broken Divinity!" Lilith''s and Merina''s jaw dropped to the ground. "You two little imps got a spiritual art of Broken Divinity grade¡­" Lilith was dazed. "No," Mirenda frowned. "It shouldn''t be aplete art." Turning to Rin and Erix, she asked, "What is it called?" "Th-" Erix was about to speak, but his mouth suddenly shut tight. Rin also experienced a strange power muting her. "So, you can''t utter its name," Mirenda said. A smile formed on her face as she felt she put together a puzzle. "Don''t force it because you won''t be able to tell your spiritual art''s name to anyone aside from those who practice it." "It more and more sounds like a cosmic faction''s core spiritual art, but on the Broken-Divinity grade," Lilith chuckled. "It looks like you two received a fortune with secrecy." "As long as it is useful, I don''t mind using it," Rin shrugged. "Don''t even think about changing your spiritual art," Lilith rolled her eyes. "You two are too lucky to have your current spiritual art." "But since it''s a Broken-Divinity grade spiritual art, you will need to use your spirit force to even start exploring its potential," Mirena chuckled. "Good luck because we can''t help you with that," Lilith grinned and got up from the couch. "It''s fine. We''ll do it on our own," Rin said as she stretched her limbs and stood up. "This spirit force, I want to see what I can do with it." _Rin. _Stat points: 176 ¡ª> [ Strength: 600 (+100) ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 600 (+100) ] ¡ª> [ Health: 600 (+100) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 600 (+100) ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 10 / Spirit Force: 1000/1000 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 600 (+100) / Mana: 2000/2000 ] Erix also stood up and felt the spirit force attached to his consciousness. ''Cool.'' _Erix. _Stat points: 176 ¡ª> [ Strength: 600 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 600 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 600 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 10 / Spirit Force: 1000/1000 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 600 / Mana: 2000/2000 ] "I think I know how to use spiritual force," Erix said with a grin. "Rin, we''ll have to enter there for that." "Yep," Rin nodded. "You two can practice your spiritual artter," Lilith stood up and turned to Mirenda. "For now, it''s time to begin the second task." "Shoot," Mirenda smiled, her expression nonchnt. "I am ready to repay the favors." "Leaf of Life Crystal," Lilith also replied with a nonchnt grin. However, her reply caused Mirenda''s lips and left eye to twitch. "Are you fucking serious? Why do you want it?" "It''s for Erix," Lilith winked at Erix. "It''s one of the two main resources I need to manifest his unique hybrid bloodline." "You want to use a Leaf of Life Crystal just to manifest a bloodline of a noble order?" Mirenda was speechless. "Aren''t you going in too fast?" "Even if he is a Hybrid Zomb-" "A pure human turned Hybrid Zombie," Lilith corrected. "He is one of a kind as far as I know." Chapter 133: Task, Conditions Mirenda rolled her eyes. "It''s still an overkill. He might not even survive." "He will survive," Lilith snorted. "Yo, what are you cooking for me?" Erix interrupted as he heard about the not surviving part. "That''s right. At least exin to us first," Rin said, her expression speechless at their talk. "I already told you," Lilith charmingly smiled. "We need to collect some resources to manifest a good bloodline for Erix." "Actually," Mirenda said, attracting Lilith''s gaze as she continued, "I can give that to you, but I also need something in exchange." "What?" Lilith raised her eyebrows. Mirenda cleared her throat. "Rin and Erix had just entered Noble order rank, so they can finish a task for me in exchange for a Leaf of Life crystal. And-" Mirenda sharply smiled before continuing, "-If they fail to do the task¡­Lilith, you will have to use your prowess to destroy someone, a powerhouse at the peak of Royal order." "Deal." "So, what''s the task?" Rin asked. "Come with me." Mirenda went out of the circr wooden room and arrived outside on arge tree branch. Taking out a wooden carriage with a round beautiful leaf wagon. Entering inside, Mirenda invited others, "The event tournament will start in five hours. Let us hurry. I''ll exin the task on the way." "Where are we going?" Lilith asked. "Inner Domain, Blue Maw Trench." Everyone entered inside the carriage before it started flying in the north, towards the Inner Domain. "The task is simple," Mirenda started speaking before anyone could ask. "The event starting in Blue Maw Trench was initiated by Savage Maw House, a guild led by a peak Royal-Powerhouse." "Don''t tell me he got a custom event card?" Lilith interrupted Mirenda, her eyes narrowing. "He did, and he chose the fucking Ascendency stone" Mirenda looked visibly irritated as she spoke. "That trash," Lilith muttered, "How long was he stuck at the peak of Royal order?" "It''s been five years. He is growing out of patience with the futile attempts he had been making." "So, what can we do in this event?" Erix asked. "Custom event cards are, in a sense, the most valuable item in an Abyss," Mirenda waved her hand as some words appeared in the air before Rin and Erix. "With a custom event card, you can decide an event and its ultimate reward, and these three are the best rewards one set as the event''s ultimate reward." Revival Ticket. Overhaul Scroll. Ascendency Stone. "Ascendency Stone stone will allow you to break through to the next rank as long as you have reached the peak of your current rank." "But the most important reward is Revival Ticket, as you can see. It allows you to revive anyone if thirty days haven''t passed since their death," Mirenda exined. "What?!" Rin and Erix were startled. Lilith smiled and added, "And if you die while the Revival Ticket is with you, you can choose to revive and even teleport somewhere to a ce you have visited before." "That is indeed the best reward," Erix said. Rin nodded. "But here''s a catch," Mirenda softlyughed, "Everyone can participate in the event, even if it was you who got the event ticket. And if you win the event at first rank instead of the one who initiated it, you can choose to change the reward." Rin and Erix were shocked. This event card was such a nasty yet tempting thing. "Also," Lilith said, "Unlike the Death Circus event where there can be multiple winners for the final reward, the events in Event Ticket arepetition with only 1st rank getting the ultimate reward." "That is why this task is hard for you two," Mirenda said with a smile. "The event is called Chaos Race, and it''s one of the easiest events in a way. The participant entry is set to Noble Order by the leader because he wasn''t confident of winning the event if he set it at Royal order." "If he set it at Royal order, would you two participate?" Rin asked. Lilith grinned. "If he set participant entry at Royal order, I could win any event at first rank." "With your current prowess, you indeed can," Mirenda wryly smiled as she nced at Erix. "So you want us to win this event and change the reward to something else?" Erix inquired. "Revival Ticket?" "I want Overhaul Scroll," Mirenda smiled. "Revival ticket is good, but Overhaul Scroll is no less valuable." "These rewards have different value in different people''s minds ording to their situation," Lilith said with a chuckle, "Leaf of Life Crystal is more valuable than these three rewards for me." "I need an Overhaul Scroll, so I am willing to part with a Leaf of Life Crystal if you can win the event," Mirenda said and nonchntly continued, "But if you fail, Lilith will have to kill the leader of Savage Maw House before he uses the Ascendency Stone stone." "Fine," Lilith leaned back and put a leg over another before crossing her arms, "I''ll save your ass by killing him if his subordinates win the event." "Is this leaf of life crystal really that important?" Erix wryly smiled. "It''s the best catalyzation of life avable here, and as I said, more valuable than those three rewards in my eyes," Lilith charmingly smiled at Erix. "You need it." "Alright, we''ll participate," Rin said, expression firm. "If Erix can manifest a very powerful bloodline with your n, I am on it." "That''s the spirit," Lilith chuckled and winked at Erix, "Anything for him, right?" "Of course," Rin grinned and put her hands on Erix''s shoulder before leaning closer and kissing his cheek, "Anything for my darling~." Erix felt a warmth that he would always wee and never get tired of. "You mean our darling, right?" Lilith pouted and appeared beside Erix before grabbing his arm into her chest and leaning towards him. "Fine, fine. Our darling," Rin rolled her eyes. Erixughed and put his arms around them before saying, "Either you are going to make me cry, or I am gonna make you moan. Choose." Mirenda dryly chuckled hearing them. "We''ll have apetition," Rin yfully grinned as she challenged Lilith. Whoever moans louder loses." Lilith smirked. "Fine, bring it on." Chapter 134: SHOCK!! SPACE!! Looking at Lilith, Mirenda sighed in relief, her expression and eyes showing...dness? "Alright, you three can flirtter," Mirenda said as she snapped her finger and caused the wagon to turn transparent. Erix, Rin, and Lilith could see outside scenery, but eyes from outside couldn''t see them. "We are going enter a space tear directly leading to Blue Maw Trench," Mirenda informed. "Brace yourselves because you''ll feel a bit strange." Rin and Erix looked at the ocean below and were amazed to see a giant ck whirlpool on the ocean as the carriage descended. "Don''t worry. Nothing will happen as long as I am here," Lilith smiled. "That''s also true," Mirenda smiled, a hint of dness in her tone. "It''s your fortune you stumbled upon, Erix." "True, true," Lilith rubbed her cheeks against Erix''s face. A secondter, the carriage entered the whirlpool on the ocean formed by a space tear connecting to a different part of the ocean far away in the Inner Domain. They could feel the atmosphere bending and the air trembling when they entered inside. They were protected by the wagon they sat inside, but Erix and Rin could still feel the raging impact of going through the space tear as their carriage was flowing into it along with water. They marveled at this unique experience, though Lilith and Mirenda sat carefreely. "This¡­" Erix suddenly felt strange as he sensed some mystical ripples. His eyes shone with a faint silver hue as he remembered the feeling of an isted space world where his consciousness would enter after getting cursed by Babin Maw Hook. "This world, no wait¡­two worlds?" Erix murmured before he suddenly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "What happened?" Mirenda asked, confused. "I can''t let this chance get wasted. I feel like I am grasping something," Erix said with his eyes closed. "I''ll be out cold for an hour. Take of me." "Alright, go ahead," Rin said before she looked at Mirenda with a firm expression., "We have to guard him for an hour maximum. If he seeded, he will have a major boost in power." "No problem." Mirenda nodded. "Let''s hope we get the surprise I am expecting," Mirenda smiled. ¡­ Right after Erix entered Limitless ne, Erix first felt a gush of spirit force infusing into his consciousness before a glowing te with entric runes appeared before him. However, Erix didn''t have time for this as he quickly sat down cross-legged and entered deep meditation. ''Wow¡­'' Erix immediately noticed a massive improvement in hisprehension ability and focus. ''Is this the result of awakening Spirit stat and having a stronger consciousness?'' ''Awesome!'' Erix was thrilled and immediately resumed hisprehension of the inspiration he got. He had dived into that oblivion space world as the effect of a curse many times and never wasted a single second trying to understand that world. Erix could feel a new world opening before him when he felt those space ripples that gave him a feeling of being detached from reality, or rather, a feeling of entering a strange world. ''The space exists as an anchor to time. I can''t understand time, but there is something between space-time, and that''s what separates yet connects space and time and allows the foundation of the physical world to exist¡­ ''And that strange world...'' Erix was bubbling with excitement as he could feel a flow of information gettingpressed every second by him. All of that information and the result of his understanding was manifesting a newfound power within Erix. That newfound power was one of the most difficult ones to attain and develop. Space¡ªone of the four principal elements. ''So that ripples were residual of space matter flowing into this world from Space Limbo¡­'' ''This Space Limbo is always connected to this world as a foundation for it to exist physically by using space matter.'' ''Space matter¡­so this is the most basic thing I need to understand about Space element first¡­'' The information was crystalizing as heprehended Space matter. Just like how me, Water, Earth, and other elements had their forms, the Space element''s form was space matter. And Erix was exceedingly close to grasping this element into his control. Time passed, but Erix couldn''t feel it. All he knew was that he was steadily making progress and unwavering felt he would attain this power. Ten steps left. Nine¡­ Eight¡­ He moved forward, easily devouring the obstacles and making them his. With no pause in between, Erix put together the final pieces of the puzzle that was the Space element while soul stirred in excitement. Arriving at the ethereal scenery where he stood before a dreamy silver door, Erix took the final step ahead and faintly smiled. Erix stretched his hand and pushed the door open. ¡­ Only ten minutes had passed since Erix entered Limitless ne, and the carriage had justnded at the Blue Maw Trench, entering a big town floating above the ocean yet filled with water. Lilith had just put a barrier around Erix inside the carriage to prevent external effects from disturbing him when all three of them suddenly felt space trembling around them. *Boom!* Lilith''s barrier suddenly shattered due to Erix attaining the space element and causing a phenomenon to ur for a second. Rin was startled at the suddenness of the situation, but Lilith and Mirenda had their shock increase in intensity as they understood something. Rin also understood as her eyes sparkled. "He did it!" She uttered, absolutely delighted. "Hahaha! I knew it." "What the¡­" Mirenda was speechless. "No way, right?" She looked at Lilith and asked, "Don''t tell me you also believed he could do it?" Lilith wryly smiled. "I entertained that possibility, but not with the expectation of him attaining it right now." "Crazy¡­Now, Erix is officially a 6th powerhouse with Space affinity in Kanx Abyss," Mirenda muttered as she subsided the waves of shock within her. "Well, his consciousness and mind were already powerful enough, and ording to Rin, he seemed to be experiencing a strange phenomenon as an effect of a curse," Lilith said. "Yep," Rin nodded. A secondter, everyone saw Erix disappearing from the carriage and appearing outside, floating in the sky without using Metal Control. Erix felt exhrating before he looked at the crystal and stone structures a kilometer away, along with a giant town entrance gate. ''Let''s see...'' Erix narrowed his eyes as they gleamed silver. In his eyes, the physical world was superimposed by Space Limbo before he consumed his mana, produced space matter, and enveloped himself before connecting his current location to one kilometer away towards the town gate by interacting with Space Limbo. *Poof* A secondter, Erix teleported, appearing just ten meters away from the entrance gate. Chapter 135: Spirit! After Lilith, Mirenda, and Rin left the wagon, they saw Erix one kilometer away. "He can already teleport?" Mirenda raised her eyebrows. "That''s impressive." A secondter, they suddenly saw Erix vanishing before he appeared before them, his face showing a wide grin. "You did it," Rin hugged him, happy for Erix. "I can''t wait to see your new arsenal of skillsbined with space." "Can you teleport others?" Lilith curiously asked. "I probably can," Erix nodded before he consumed some mana, produced space matter, and enveloped Lilith and others with it. "Do you feel any strange?" All three of them nodded. "As long as you don''t use mana to disrupt or destroy space matter around you, I can also teleport you." A secondter, they vanished and appeared ten meters away. "It''s a strange feeling¡­ It''s like I am here yet not," Rin said as she looked at her hands. "Space Matter. From what I heard, it''s the space element''s form that can do myriad of things rted to space," Mirenda said with a smile. "As long as you learn more about it and find unique ways to use it ording to you, Space Element will be your greatestbat support." "Do you know anything about it? Like, is there some scroll or information that contains knowledge about it?" Rin curiously asked. "Unfortunately, no," Mirenda shook her head. "Even if one had information, they wouldn''t share it easily." "I need to find basic uses of Space Matter and Space Limbo first before trying to incorporate space attributes to my skills and make new skills, "Erix said, thrilled. "We still have time, right?" "We have four hours before the event starts," Mirenda said after she looked at the sky. "Alright, can we go to our temporary residence here as soon as possible? I need to meditate to use my Spiritual Art and increase mybat prowess with these new powers," Erix grinned. "Indeed. We need one hour, and we''ll have a proper boost in our prowess," Rin nodded, smiling excitedly. She wondered what kind ofbos they could do now that Erix had Space affinity and was looking forward to it. Lilith and Mirenda raised their eyebrows at their confident tone. "Alright," Mirenda smiled, "You are the main characters of this event, so it''s better if you get stronger." Afterward, the four of them entered the big town with a feel of cyberpunk mixed with magic and colorfulness. Large streets, dark alleys, parks, hills, tall metal buildings, wooden structures, exotic bases, markets, zas, and a lot of noise. Mirenda led them to a resort area before booking a vi and settling inside. Erix and Rin didn''t waste time and immediately entered Limitless ne while Lilith and Mirenda sat at a table, drinking tea. "So, how did you find these two exotic creatures?" Mirenda wryly asked after taking a sip. "They stumbled into my town and piqued my interest," Lilith chuckled. "How could I let go of Erix, who had the cure for my illness." "And the door to your heart?" Mirenda snickered. "Maybe¡­I am addicted to him," Lilith licked her lips as his eyes sparkled with love and lust. Mirenda rolled her eyes before she weakly smiled, "Alright, alright. I wasn''t expecting this to happen, but miracles do happen, I guess." "Anyway, since we are free, let''s go visit this idiot who used the Event card," Lilith stood up as she chuckled with a cold smile. "Since I''ve transcended, I haven''t bullied any Royal-order powerhouses who were underestimating me and mocking me from behind." ¡­ Inside Limitless ne, Rin and Erix stood with their eyes glued on a te floating before each of them. The te that Erix ignored previously also appeared before him while Rin also got one. They couldn''t recognize the patterns and runes on the te, but they could somehow decipher it by using their spirit force andprehending the intentions in the tes via their Spirit sense. Spirit Sense was one of the primary effects of Spirit stat. It allowed them to sense things not normally sensed by their other senses. The duo spent five minutes before they finally managed to put together a sentence that theyprehended from the tes. [ Amidst the storm of chaos, I remain the eye of tranquility.] The moment they spoke the sentence, a burst of golden light shone from their eyes as they felt a new power manifesting in them. However, it vanished quickly as if it was never there. "What did we learn and get?" Rin asked, confused. "I can''t feel it." "Same," Erix nodded. "We can use our Spirit Force to do something about it, but let''s focus on our primary task right now." "I need to learn the working of space in depth." Erix willed and burst out of the abundance of space matter that streamed around him. With excited glints in his eyes, Erix started exerting his control over Space Matter to learn its various applications. "This space matter is indeed mysterious." "Erix, show me the affinity''s info panel." "Here you go," Erix affirmed. Looking at the description, Rin was surprised and amazed. [Space Affinity] _Realm: Alpha. _Description: Ability to turn mana into Space Matter and wield space matter in myriad ways ording to your understanding. Ability to observe space limbo and connect to it using space matter. "It says myriad ways, Rin," Erix grinned. "Let''s explore them because the two ways I found are already amazing." "Show me," Rin demanded, eager to see the space power. "First, I can do simple teleportation, and I realized that the distance of teleportation corresponds to the distance my Spirit Sense can travel," Erix said as he disappeared, appearing five kilometers away and then returning to Rin. "Oh?" Rin was surprised before she adopted a thoughtful expression, "I guess our Spirit sense is already a major part of ourbat if it affects elements." "It looks like we better also understand our new stat, spirit," Erix grinned as Space Matter whirled around him before it gathered into a spot and formed a portal. "With Spirit Sense, It''s like I can look into every nook and cranny within a kilometer radius," Erix snapped his finger. A secondter, another portal appeared two kilometers away as Erix used his spirit sense to guide Space Matter there via Space Limbo and formed it. Rin conjured a lightning bolt and shot it into the portal. *Zoom!* The bolt vanished into the portal and appeared from the second portal! "This is good," Rin chuckled. "Good, but creating portals consumed a lot of mana." "As for the second thing, I can use Space Matter to detach myself from physical space," Erix said before Erix''s appearance suddenly turned faint. Taken aback, Rin stretched her hand to touch Erix, but her hand passed through it. A secondter, Erix returned back. "This is good, but it only works if the space around me is stable," Erix wryly smiled. "I tried doing it at the town, but it didn''t work." "I think we can do more things with our powers using Spirit force too¡­" Rin said before she wryly smiled. "We are overwhelmed a bit since we received multiple boosts in the short time frame, but now is a good time." "Let''s dig it all in this hour," Rin grinned. "I only have around forty-five minutes, but no matter, let''s start," Erix smiled with a nod before he and Rin started experimenting with Space matter and exploring the potential of their new stat Spirit. The new stat also gave them Spirit Force as some sort of energy and Spirit senses as a new sense to their soul and mind. After ten minutes, they discovered that Spirit force could be used to boost their skills. In short, they could consume their spirit force on skills and increase their effectiveness. If they enhanced an Attack-type skill, the spirit force would boost its damage ording to the spirit force they consumed. If they enhanced a defense-type skill, they could boost its defense. If a skill dealt Lightning-attributed damage along with a chance to paralyze, one could use Spirit Force to boost that skill, increasing its lightning damage and chance to paralyze the target. In short, Spirit Force''s first use they found was that it was an all-rounder support energy. On the other hand, Erix was trying to find new uses for Space Matter, but he was having a bit of a hard time. This element was entric and had a t reaction unless he used and manipted it wisely. "Space Limbo is an important aspect of this affinity. I also need to understand it," Erix said before his eyes observed Space Limbo. With his Spirit sense, he could feel this world even more clear and close, even closer than the material world. "Gravity is also rted to space, right? Can you do something like that?" "Gravity should be rted to space-time, not just space, but¡­" Erix said before his voice trailed off and his eyes turned wide. ''Wait, the interaction between Space Limbo and the material world is possible with space matter, which means that¡­.'' Erixughed and kissed Rin before he excitedly unleashed out a huge amount of space matter. Since he had unlimited mana in Limitless, he decided to make a huge reserve of Space Matter converted from roughly 10,000 mana. "What are you trying to do?" Rin curiously asked as she saw Erix creating a visible round sphere of a five-meter square area. "I am creating a space prison, influence it with Space Limbo and.... Just altered its space fabric using interaction between Space Matter and Space Limbo," Erix grinned before he conjured several big metal shards and threw them in the sphere. Just as they entered inside, the metal shards instantly hit the bottom of the sphere due to the high gravity in it! Chapter 136: Duality Orbs: Black & White Rin and Erix floated above a destroyed ind ravaged by their experiments andbos. "I am almost done now. Just need to set a few magic nodes straight, and the skill will bepleted," Erix grinned before he started modifying magic nodes in histest created skill rune. After half a minute, Erix opened his eyes and stretched his hand before opening his palm. Rin watched with anticipation as a faint silver orb formed on Erix''s palm before it soon turned pitch ck. "Now, it''s perfectly ck!" Rin said with a grin. "Throw it." Erix grabbed the orb in his palm and threw it on the ind. The orb shot down and hit the ground before releasing a faint wave within a hundred-meter radius. The orb vanished and turned into a ck hole at the impact as all things like rocks, trees, insects, and everything were quickly and forcefully dragged towards the ck hole with the force of 1000 G! The ck hole remained for two seconds before it vanished while everything around it was bent, meshed, and broken! "ck hole, hahaha. This is great," Rin chuckled. "This is the strongest form of this skill I can use outside, and¡­" Erix said with a smile before he created another faint silver orb on his palm that soon turned dreamy white. He shot that orb downward at the things that had turned meshed and bashed by the ck hole. *Boom!* The moment the white orb hit the ground, it released a powerful force that repelled everything around it with a powerful st and created a small crater around it! "Great!" Rin''s eyes shone. "This skill is also powerful. The damage is high, and the propelling force is instant and potent." Erix nodded. "I''ll name them Duality Orbs: ck & White," Erix said as he opened his palms, conjuring a ck orb on his left palm and a white orb on his right palm. "As for the portal skill I created, I''ll name it Wormhole," Erix said before five watermelon-sized Wormholes appeared around him. "Perfect," Rin grinned as she released a lightning bolt into a wormhole before it came out from another wormhole. "And there''s one more thing," Erix said as he waved his hand and dispersed his Duality Orbs before repositioning Wormholes. He put one to the left of Rin and another to the right of Rin. "The Wormholes are two sides, and only I can choose which side should the object that entered Wormhole A woulde out from Wormhole B." "Throw a bolt." Rin nodded as she released a lightning bolt into Wormhole X before it came out of Wormhole Y, shooting far behind Rin. "So, I can predefine the exit sides of the Wormholes and can change it anytime with my thoughts," Erix grinned. "Release another." Rin released another lightning bolt into Wormhole X, and it came out of Wormhole Y, shooting far in front of Rin as she saw it disappearing into the horizon. "Can you block entry of Wormholes?" Rin asked, curious. "I can, but that would destroy the Wormhole if ours or someone else''s attack hit it," Erix said with a wry smile. "And my mana would be wasted." "The good thing is I can re-position my Wormholes without using mana, so I will maintain them in battles." Suddenly, Erix felt something as he said, "Alright, my time''s up. See you outside." "Roger. I''ll show you a cool surpriseter," Rin grinned before she saw Erix vanishing. "Now then¡­" Rin''s eyes crackled with lightning while dark red blood particles also formed around her. ''First, let''s use Blood Essence to enhance my lightning¡­'' Rin consumed 3000 mana as she conjured a malevolent dark blue lightning pool above her, turning all of her mana into lightning energy. Afterward, she consumed Blood Essence, boosting the lightning pool with it as all dark blue lightning turned red with faint blue hues. Rin started forming the magic nodes and creating a magic formation for her new skill that she had in mind for the past few days. She had been working on it since she had gotten ideas when she was dancing amidst lightning and thunder to reach 2nd realm of her Lightning Affinity. As she started solidifying her magic formation, the dark red lightning pool above her released lightning element ording to the formation she created and took shape. ''Hmm, I can also store lightning into it and create another formation inside its mouth''s structure for additional attack.'' Rin was designing her skill and perfecting it as it started taking shape above her. The spirit senses immensely increased her ability to form magic formations, making her surprised. ''Wow! No wonder Erix also managed to create his skills this fast.'' After ten minutes, she finally finished it as a ten-meter long and one-meter thick wing-less dragon conjured above her! Its lightning whiskers and eyes were glowing red as it roared with a thundering echo. *Rumble!* The dark red dragon looked majestic and powerful with its dark blue lightning scales mixed aura of red and blue. It shot forward, dancing with Rin''s control as it destroyed everything in its path. Trees were ravaged, rocks were shattered, and monsters on the ind were charred to death. Rin excitedly saw the result of her most powerful skill yet as she wielded it powerfully. With her control, the lightning dragon opened its mouth and released a nova of pure lightning, consuming the lightning energy she had stored within the dragon. After that powerful lightning attack, the dragon dispersed and vanished. ''It''s good, but that lightning breath can be more powerful¡­I need to refine its formation so that I can release it in a more potent way.'' ¡­ On the other hand, Erix met up with Lilith and Mirenda outside in the garden of their rented vi. "You done? How much progress have you made?" Mirenda asked before taking a sip from her juice ss. "You''ll be surprised, "Erixughed, approaching them and sitting at the table beside Lilith. Chapter 137: Mirenda & Discussion, Boon "Oh?" Mirenda was curious. ''He might indeed surprise us since he seems to have a good grasp of space somehow.'' "Come on. Show us, babe," Lilith asked, eager to know. "Alright," Erix grinned and snapped his finger as he activated the skill rune he had just created, causing two orbs to float to his sides. One white and one ck. "Guess what can these orbs do?" Erix asked, a smug smile on his face. "This¡­" Mirenda narrowed her eyes while Lilith raised her eyebrows as they both used their spirit senses to observe and inspect the orbs. "Impossible," Mirenda murmured. "How did you even learn gravity? You just awakened the space affinity¡­" "Indeed. These two do make rapid progress," Lilith wryly nodded. Erlxughed and said, "Let''s just say that the Spiritual Art Rin and I practice allows us to self-learn faster than others as long as we work hard for it." ''That new power of the spiritual art...we''ll need to discover and learn it,'' Erix thought. "That''s good," Mirenda nodded. "This event is going to be tough, and you might even die, so exercise caution and don''t underestimate others." "You two have just entered the Noble order, but there will be people at level 200 as well," Lilith said somberly. "You have a chance to take the first rank in this Chaos Race event, but you''ll have to work with wits and power both for that." Erix knew not to take this event lightly as he nodded, his expression serious, "Rin and I do notpromise when ites to our lives. We''ve died once, but no more. But that also doesn''t mean we won''t take risks because risks are the fundamental circumstances tied to getting stronger both mentally and physically." "As long as you know which risks to take and which not to, you''ll be fine," Mirenda smiled. "And sometimes, you have to take risks based on your guts, not just logical statistics," Lilith added with a grin as she blew a kiss at Erix, "Just like how I did and seeded." Erix ferociously grinned, "Rin and I have been passionate about martial arts, and the change in our world attracted us to unthinkable possibilities with magic and stuff, and to rise above others, we can''t just flow with them." Leaning back, Erix carefreely smiled, "I am d Rin and I died in the tower and arrived here." "Well, if you die in your world''s Labyrinth Tower again, you won''t arrive in any Abyss unless you someone earn an Abyss revival ticket, so don''t die next time you return to your world," Mirenda said "And how do I return to this Kanx Abyss in a normal way?" Erix curiously asked, "Without dying." "Factions," Lilith answered. "Your world will wee factions after any Labyrinth tower of your world clears the first floor." "As a matter of fact, I am a member of a faction called Unending Chaos," Lilith added with a grin. "Though I''ll be kicked out soon since I''ve ignored it." Mirenda rolled her eyes, "But she is going to create her own faction soon. Her potential increased dramatically thanks to you, so she can achieve it sooner than expected." Erixughed. "That''s good." He could enjoy two beauties in his arms, and he had unlimited stamina, so he had nothing toin about his situation. But Erix was curious about one thing. "What''s the difference between Guilds and Factions?" he asked. "The difference between factions and guilds is akin to a vige and a country but on arger scale," Mirenda exined. "First of all, you have to get the approval of Mystic Root to establish a faction, and the first step to get that approval is to reach Ruler Order." ''Ruler order? Interesting,'' Erix thought before he asked, "What level can one reach Ruler-order rank?" "501," Lilith grinned and said, "I would need five to ten years to reach there depending on our luck and other unforeseen situations, but I am ready for the journey with you two." "Mirenda~ How about you also join us?" Lilith chuckled. "Shoo," Mirenda rolled her eyes. "I have a daughter to find." "You have a daughter?" Erix was surprised. "What happened?" But then he realized something and dryly chuckled, "I know it''s a sensitive to-" "It''s fine," Mirenda waved her hand. "She is grown up and tough, but I still want to find her before anything else. It''s been five years now." "Since you want Overhaul Scroll, I think you still haven''t gotten a lead on her," Lilith softly sighed. "What does that item do? I''ve been curious," Erix asked. "It can do multiple things based on the type of Overhaul scroll you choose to get as the reward," Merinda said. "The one I want is a type of Overhaul Scroll called Overhaul Fate Scroll, It can arrange a scenario you write on it and make it happen within a certain time frame." "Wow...that''s crazy," Erix was dumbfounded to hear the effect. "It can be arranged," Mirenda smiled. "The so-called Mystic Root can arrange it because it''s connected to everything within cosmos. Although its useless to ask more about it because no one knows more details about it." "Anyway, Erix," Lilith said after Mirenda finished exining. "I think you and Rin still have the rewards you''ve saved from the Death Circus event, right?" Lilith smiled. "Come on, open them. Now is the time since you''ve reached Noble-order, and the event is alsoing." "Ah, right. I almost forgot about it," Erix nodded as he took out the rewards. ¡ª> A random Tier-2 item box (Rare to Legendary) ¡ª> A Tier-1 Legendary grade weapon selection box. ¡ª> A random Tier-2 skill box. Seeing the boxes on the table, Mirenda chuckled. "Good job on saving them. The general rule for newbies is to save any Tier-2 boxes until they reach Noble-order." "Lilith told us to save the rewards," Erix chuckled, "Let''s see what I get." Erix touched the skill box first as he wanted a new, random skill. After all, He hadn''t gotten any random skill after dying. All of his and Rin''s arsenal of moves were the ones they self-created based on their experiences. The box opened, bursting out golden glowing sparks before it vanished and left a furled scroll behind on the table. The three of them inspected the silver scroll and got its information. "T-This¡­" Erix was startled. "So lucky?" Lilithughed, "I told you." "Good indeed," Mirenda smiled. "You should also collect skills based on your affinity to learn various types of formation based on that element since all elements have their particrities." "Great¡­" Erix grinned because this skill was certainly a boon to him. [ Jigen Eraser ] _Rank: Tier-2 _Requirement: Space Affinity level 1. Chapter 138: Huh? This is not a f.... [ Jigen Eraser ] _Rank: Tier-2 _Requirement: Space Affinity level 1. _Cost: 500 mana. _Description: Conjures a Jigen Eraser capable of banishing any energy it touches into Space Limbo, thus erasing it from the material ne. "Basically, you can use this erase to erase your opponent''s defense or their attacks," Lilith chuckled. "If it banishes energy into Space Limbo, then¡­" Erix muttered as he got an idea. ''I''ll have to attempt itter.'' "It looks like you got some ideas," Mirenda smiled. "Yep. Now, let''s open this one," Erix touched the random Tier-2 item box and opened it. The box sparkled green motes before it vanished and left behind a strangely glowing green-crystal-ded long sword. [Jaderon Spell Sword] _Tier: 2 _Grade: Epic _Base Attack: 500 + 250% of strength + 200% of magic stat. _Effect(s): ¡ª> Magic Channel: The sword''s de is fundamentally empowered by the user''s magic power as long as it is held, thus increasing its basic attack damage. (This is why there''s the +200% of magic stat addition in Base Attack.) ¡ª> Spell Boost: Infusing 50 mana into the sword will boost the next magic attack you release by 50% to 100% and increase its effectiveness. "Not bad. This sword is good," Lilith nodded. "Rin can unleash its full potential since it would increase her Lightning-attributed attacks." "Yep. This sword is worthy for her de Eater to devour," Erix grinned. "Now you can choose a legendary-grade weapon for yourself," Mirenda said as she looked at thest box. "What are you going to choose?" Erix opened the box before it showed a bunch of options in his mind. [ Sword ] [ Spear ] [Chakram] [ Gada ] [ Dagger ] [ Bow ] [ Staff ] [ Magic Orb ] [ Gauntlets ] Erix rubbed his chin while looking at the options. "Can''t decide?" Lilith asked. Erix wryly smiled. "I don''t use, or rather, I don''t need to use weapons because I make weapons on my own ording to the type of punch I want to throw." "And after getting space affinity, I also became a long-range attacker," Erix said before he punched forward, but it disappeared from his wrist as it appeared five meters at the front. "I can easily connect two points of space without using mana, so I can punch anyone within a kilometer radius." "Hmmm, if punches are your main attack, you can choose chakram, sword, spear, or any metal-based weapon," Mirenda suggested. "You can control these without touching, so you can overwhelm opponents with two forms of attacks." "I say you go with Chakram," Lilith grinned. "You can unleash the entirety of a Chakram''s potential with your Metal affinity." "Alright, I''ve used Chakram before, so it sounds good," Erix nodded. Initially, he was thinking about getting another sword for Rin''s de Eater to devour since they had decided not to feed any swords weaker than Tier-2 / Epic Grade to her de Eater. However, Rin was already more powerful than him in terms of offense and stats due to her Bloodline and his semen that filled her up with both satisfaction and Blood Essence. Thetter was something that she could use to unleash a devastating skill or enhance her stats further. So, Erix decided to choose a Chakram as the box glowed before it sparked with mystical orange sparks and revealed a magnificent ck metallic chakram with dark gold patterns on its body. [Starfallen Chakram] _Tier: 2 _Grade: Legendary. _Base Attack: 700 + 200% of the user''s strength. _Spin Attack: A spinning chakram has higher sh/pration power and deals an extra 500 base attack damage. _Effect(s) ¡ª> ckme Enchant: Consume 50 mana to coat the chakrams in ck mes, which deals fire damage equal to 100% of your magic stat for 1 minute. Damaged by ckme reduces the target''s healing recovery. ¡ª> Starborn Cyclone: The Chakram will light up its patterns as long as it spins. Once all patterns are lit up, you can use Starborn Cyclone, producing a ten-meter-tall cyclone of pure destructive for five seconds that deals anywhere between 500 to 3000 magic damage per second. "This chakram is practically made for Metal affinity users," Lilith chuckled. "Yep," Mirenda nodded, "This Chakram has a formation of atmospheric power absorption in that Starborn Cyclone effect''s formation. As long as you spin it faster to light its patterns, It will absorb mana from the atmosphere and produce the cyclone. Unlimited use without cooldown." "You can spam it as long as you spin it," Lilith grinned. "Awesome!" Erix''s eyes lit up. He imagined a scenario where his Chakram flew across the battlefield and produced cyclones every few seconds. "Haha, now all I want to do is to participate in the event with Rin and start fighting." While the trio passed the time talking and eating, Rin soon arrived after fifteen minutes. She also opened her boxes immediately to empower herself. From the skill box, she got a Tier-2 Wind-attributed passive skill, Skyward Wings. [Skyward Wings] _Type: Passive skill. _Rank: Tier-2. _Description: Incorporates a pair of Skyward Wings within the body, granting the user a pair of wings harnessing the power of the wind. _Passive Effect(s): ¡ª> Wind Resistance +100. ¡ª> Wind-attributed damage +150. Erix and Rin were thinking about buying a Wing-type item for Rin, but opening the skill box filled her first passive skill slot and also granted her a pair of much-needed wings. Afterward, she opened a random item box and got a one-time-use item. [Temporal Bomb] _Rank: Tier-2 _Grade: Epic. _Type: One-time use time. _Effect: Throw the bomb after infusing mana and activate it at your will. Upon activation, the bomb will cover a radius of 1 kilometer and slow the flow of time for all energies, physical things, and living beings to half the usual, thus slowing everything by 50% of their original speed. _Duration: 10 minutes. A crazy item with a crazy range. However, it was expected since it was a one-time-use item. "There''s no one with Time affinity in this Abyss, but those with Space-affinity will have an advantage in this bomb''s effect," Mirenda said as she looked at Erix. "The speed and time would significantly lose their relevance to you if you utilize space to attack others within this bomb''s range." "This item will be super useful in the Chaos Race event even if you use it one time," Lilith unhurriedly said, "Use it wisely." Next, Rin finally opened the Legendary weapon selection box after choosing Spear. A spear was also a ded weapon, and she had mastery of it, so she wanted to have an arsenal of various ded weapons for different situations. Rin was determined to walk in her path of de with highly ambitious goals! "Huh? This¡­this is not a fucking spear!" Chapter 139: Event Starts! The box opened after a burst of purple and blue sparks, revealing a two-meter-long ck heavynce with blue and purple lightning and cloudy patterns. It was a heavynce with a five-centimeter thick base after the staff''s grip handle, and thence narrowed as it went further after the base with a de at the tip. It was very much like a fantasy weapon only made to be wielded by superhumans. "This¡­this is not a fucking Lance," Rin cursed as she almost flipped the table. "Calm down, babe," Erix drylyughed while patting her head. "B- But this was a guaranteed LEGENDARY weapon box. You know how Legendary-grade weapons are so rare even in the market since the chance of making them is low in any tier." She gritted her teeth, feeling vexed at her luck. "But you can still use it, no?" Mirenda, confused, asked. "I can''t understand the reason why you are so upset." Rin sighed. "I like to use proper weapon techniques in my weapons so I can incorporate them with magic to create skills more powerful than normal skills. I have mastery over a considerable amount of ded weapons, but this¡­." Rin looked at the long heavynce and wryly smiled, "This heavynce¡­ I''ve never even usednces before since they were heavy for my normal human body and the impracticality of using this weapon in martial battles." "Wait¡­" Rin paused before she narrowed her eyes. Her mood cleared up, and her eyes lit up. "Actually¡­ This is also considered a spear and a ded weapon since it has a de at the front part, and I think I should be able to master it. It is also lightning-attributed." "Alright, this is good. I am no longer that annoyed at my luck," Rin said with a nod as she picked up the Lance. ''Its formations...I should also try to learn them in Limitless ne.'' [Volt Spire Lance] _Rank: Tier-2 _Grade: Legendary. _Attack: 800 + 300% of the user''s strength. _Perk: Increases user''s lighting damage by 200 while wielding. _Effect(s):?_Thrust ster: Thrusting thence''s de into anyone will paralyze the target for 1 second before release a lightning st ording to the mana used through the spear. _Volt Rush: Infusing lightning energy into thence will increase the user''s speed by 50% and activate Volt Rush, which allows the user to move at lightning speed for a second, allowing the user to rush anywhere within a 1-kilometer radius in a second. ''All of these effects will be absorbed by de Eater,'' Rin thought while grinning. ''With Volt Rush, I can make that super fast lightning de skill I was thinking of creating, so it''s perfect.'' ''As for its form¡­Humph, I''ll learn this weapon in a day,'' Rin resolved as her inner martial artist spirit ignited. "Alright, what''s next?" Rin asked after she put the weapon into her Hunter card''s inventory. "You have to register for this event first," Mirenda and Lilith stood up. "Let''s go." After registering for the event, the group spent four hours roaming around in the huge, bustling town and had a fulfilling meal and an hour of passionate activity while Mirenda was away for some personal work. But when she returned to the vi, her expression was speechless upon hearing their moans and groans. "Close the windows, you rascals!" The time of the event soon arrived as everyone saw a huge spiral whirlpool of ck, dark blue, gray, and dark gold streams of energy appearing in the sky. After the thick maelstrom of chaos dispersed, everyone saw giant kilometer-long gates with chaotic maelstrom whirling inside. "Everyone!" *Swoosh!* A powerful and loud shout reverberated through the town, causing even the air to tremble as buildings and people both shook as everyone saw a muscr man with two draconic horns and faint red scales on his body flying up in the sky wrapped by a giant avatar of me dragon. Immediately after he appeared before the Chaos Race event gate, a small orb of dark red me shot up from his hand in the sky before it sted into a kilometer huge radius sea of mes and formed a giant terrifying me dragon as it roared towards the whole town from above, spreading its heat and visual terror everywhere in this cold town. Although people ten levels below him couldn''t feel anything, other Royal-order powerhouses felt his powers. The rule protection in this Abyss also didn''t apply to any level of Royal-order powerhouses among each other, so even if two Royal-order powerhouses had more than 10-level differences, they could still hurt each other. "I am sure you all know who I am! My men will be entering this event, and I''m sure all of you are eager to win as well!" "However!" the man shouted, the giant me dragon still looming in the air. Every single person below the royal order could feel it even though they weren''t affected. They could feel that if they didn''t have the protection of the Abyss, this giant dragon could cinder every single one of them without any hope of survival. "What power¡­" Erix muttered, every fiber of being screaming with hunger deep within.?"We''ll reach there," Rin said, a ferocious gleam in her eyes. However, the next words of that powerful man in the sky caused Erix and Rin to turn sober. "If any one of you aside from my men won the event! I will hunt you to death! Be it yours or mine!" Rin and Erix looked at Mirenda and Lilith. "You two can handle him, right?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Because when we win, he is surely going toe at us seeing how much of a rabid dog he seemed in that speech," Rin said. "Don''t worry, my kitten," Lilith grinned. "I can kill him right now if I want to, but I don''t want to attract that much attention." "So," Mirenda added with a smile, "If hees at you, I''ll kill him with a little bit of Lilith''s help from the shadows. As the queen of shadows, she can do that easily." "Humu," Lilith nodded as she smirked at Erix and Rin, "How lucky do you feel to have me in your bed now?" Rin grinned, "Very lucky." "Can''t deny that," Erixughed. "Alright, now go. The gates have opened, and carefully read the rules once you enter inside," Mirenda advised. "Got it." At that, Rin and Erix flew up, joining the ranks of noble orders, with many of them having more powerful auras than them. "This is going to be thrilling." "And fantastic experience." Rin and Erix, the maniac couple, were ready to cause mayhem even in the chaos. Chapter 140: Chaos Race: Checkpoint 1 Rin and Erix entered the gates with others and arrived on a huge floating barren ind in a bright world with two suns. It waspletely t with soil and just littered with rocks. Below the ind was a nket of ocean where their eyes could see, and the ind was covered in a spherical barrier, preventing people from leaving. [Wee to the Chaos Race.] Everyone saw huge letters in the sky before they got information about the event. [Event: Chaos Race] -An event spanning five checkpoint races. Each next checkpoint will be revealed only once you pass the current checkpoint. ¡ª> Checkpoint 1: There are five hundred Golden Turtles deep in the ocean below, and the checkpoint gate is five kilometers high in the sky above the floating ind. Kill the turtle, earn a Turtle Shell on your back, and enter the checkpoint gate. Only five hundred participants wearing the turtle shell may pass. If the turtle shell is attacked by another participant, it will transfer to that participant. ¡ª> Checkpoint 2: ¡ª _Rules: ¡ª> You can collect Chaos Gadgets by destroying Chaos Beacons that would randomly spawn during the race. Chaos Gadgets can be used to store an active skill, and only they would hurt other participants. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be able to hurt other participants, be it any other means. You can also buy Chaos Gadgets using Chaos points. ¡ª> Every ten seconds during the race, X-number of chaos monsters would spawn. X = number of participants. Killing chaos monsters would grant you Chaos Points, which can be used during the 10-minute break after each checkpoint race. --> Chaos Beacons wouldn''t spawn in the first checkpoint race. [All participants have entered. 1248/1248] [The race will begin in 1 minute.] [ 59:00 ] "You all!!" A group of one hundred men wearing a dark green crystalized armor-sets arrived. Some had worn leather armor, some had worn light metal, and some had heavy armor, but all of their designs had green crystalized patterns and designs. "This event is held by Lord Amber Jaw, the guild leader of Savage Maw House! The first ce will be one of us, and if you dare to get in our way, you must get ready to be buried six hundred feet under the abyss!" Although many were intimidated, there were some who were not. "You red bald-ass joker! If you got guts, try to stop me from getting the first rank!" A voice echoed from everywhere, making it impossible to determine who spoke and making the man who spoke livid. But he calmed and faced the other ny people who were members of Savage Maw House and said, "All of you must pass this checkpoint!" "Raaaah!!" The army bellowed, causing the whole ind to tremble as they infused their mana in their voice and enhanced the effect of the synchronized shout. "Let''s remain low and act swift," Erix murmured. "Yep. Our goal is only one. First ce," Rin grinned. The countdown neared zero, and everyone was revving their internal gears as they stood at the edge of the ind, ready to swoop down into the ocean. ''Erix, hello? Can you hear me?'' Erix suddenly heard Rin''s voice in his head and was startled. However, he also understood how he heard the voice, and his eyes lit up. ''Spirit!'' Erix used his Spirit sense towards Rin and sent his thoughts to her. ''This is great.'' Rin readily heard Erix as her spirit senses sensed his thought message. ''Rin, I''ll open a portal into the ocean since the ocean surface is only seven hundred meters below the ind.'' ''Yes. Also, We haven''t fought underwater, so I don''t know if it will affect my lightning attacks.'' ''It''s fine. I''m sure you''ll adjust ordingly when you feel how it affects your lightning attacks underwater. ''Alright. Let''s go. If we spot turtles, we can swiftly kill them by using your Wormholes from a longer distance.'' The countdown hit zero, and over a thousand people immediately rushed forward using various flying means. On the other hand, Erix simply coated Rin and himself with Space Matter before he teleported from his location to underwater below anyone else. However, they didn''t see any turtles, so Erix readily teleported again, arriving into the darker, deep waters before they finally saw two-meter-tall and four-meter-long giant golden turtles! ''Wtf? I thought they would be cute little turtles,'' Rin wryly smiled. ''Get it,'' Erix opened a Wormhole before Rin and behind that Turtle. *Zaaaap!* Rin released de Sheen as her de Eater in Katana form gleamed with condensed neon lightning bursting out tiny tendrils as he pierced into the Turtle''s back. On the other hand, Erix''s right fist was covered by a Spring Shock Gauntlet before he executed his Sling Shot Punch that headed into a wormhole before him. *BOOM!* The punch entered a wormhole and connected to another turtle''s back from the second wormhole above it! The powerful punch specialized in dealing powerful piercing damage in straight impact broke the turtle''s shell before Erix''s fist pierced inside. *St!* The turtle was sted into pieces before it turned into motes, and a golden turtle shell appeared behind Erix. Rin''s sword also pierced the turtle from behind, where it was not covered by its shell in case her lightning-attributed attacks weakened in this high pressured deep waters of the ocean. "How the fuck did those two arrive before anyone else?!" "They also got turtle shells!" People who dived down soon saw Erix and Rin and shouted underwater by using mana to enhance their voices. Erix and Rin quickly turned back to look at the faces and imprinted them in their mind. After all, these people were the first ones to dive deeper, which meant that they were likely more powerful than average people. ''Let''s go,'' Erix said as he grabbed Rin''s waist and disappeared a secondter. "What the fuck?" A braided blond-haired guy narrowed his eyes. He was a level 200 Noble-order powerhouse, one of the most powerful participants. He had level 2 me Affinity and level 1 Wind affinity, so his me power was extremely destructive when aided by his Wind. "He has space affinity, Marco." "I can see that," Marco turned to his left and saw a woman with a nun outfit and red eyes. The two fangs on her mouth and a pair of arched pointed ears indicated that she was a pure-blooded vampire. Another level 200 Noble-order powerhouse, having a level 2 Blood affinity. "It looks like we might have a dark horse in this." "As long as the winner is not from Savage Maw, I am fine," a middle-aged man wearing a gentleman tuxedo suit said as he killed a turtle with a swift strike of his rapier. A pure human with a level 2 Light affinity and level 2 Pierce Concept. This powerhouse was one feared by almost all peak Noble-order powerhouses in the Inner Domain. A deadly assassin with 100% kill rate of peak Noble-order powerhouses and even having a record of killing a newly ascended Royal-order powerhouse. Gentle Death. "Go and ascend already, old man," spoke a muscr ck-haired dwarf man wearing a ck and white karate-like outfit as he chopped at a turtle with a pitch-ck burning fist, cleanly cutting the turtle into two. Lex ke. Gentle Death narrowed his eyes upward before a burst of golden light shone from him, and he shot out of the ocean with a beam of golden light. He entirely ignored Lex and left. On the other hand, Erix and Rin had arrived before the checkpoint gate by teleporting, and that was also the time when chaos monsters spawned around the checkpoint gate. Rin and Erix were startled. They didn''t think the chaos monsters would all spawn around the gate. A secondter, Erix quickly teleported away from the gate, appearing one kilometer away from the chaos monsters that were simply a meter big wisps with exotic and demonic and weird features. "Erix!" Rin eximed, and Erix''s eyes also slightly widened as he and Rin saw a beam of golden light speedily crashing through chaos monsters, killing over twenty and arriving before the gate. "Powerful," Erix muttered. "His skill is super refined and powerful. He is using his Elemental Form of light if I am right." "Yeah, he must have refined his body with the Light elementpletely," Rin nodded with an excited glint in her eyes. "We can''t get behind. Others areing," Erix grinned as he spun his hand, quickly forming a two-meter big portal before them. "Rin entered inside after transforming into her Lightning Elemental form for a brief moment as she arrived among five chaos monsters and spun after reverting to her human form. Her shining and sleek de condensed with neon lightning released a circr wave of lightning, instantly killing surrounding chaos monsters. Erix also arrived, unleashing a five-meter huge energy Whirling Punch from his Whirling Fan Gauntlets that killed six chaos monsters. Each chaos monster gave 100 Chaos points each. Without resting, Rin and Erix killed a few more before several hundred attacks soon shot towards the gate. The owners of those attacks had only one intention. Killing Chaos Monsters. A countdown of 2 minutes also appeared in the sky since all five hundred turtles were killed. However, these people who got turtle shells were trying their best to run and defend their turtle shells from those who couldn''t get them. "We are done. Let''s go before someone hits our turtle shells." Erix and Rin quickly teleported to the Checkpoint gate and entered inside. After a skirmish thatsted two minutes, and a small amount of turtle shells changed owners, the first checkpoint race was finally finished as five hundred winners arrived at the second checkpoint area, which also marked the start of true death race as participants would be able to hurt each other using Chaos Gadgets starting second race. Chapter 141: Chaos Shop Rin and Erix arrived on another floating ind, but in a different world than. Below this floating ind was a world of ice, thick with forest and mountains. The giant trees were tens of meters tall, and the mountains were roughly five hundred meters to two thousand meters tall. Everywhere they saw, only this world of ice remained constant. The duo first saw the middle-aged man who used the power of the Light element, standing with his eyes closed and hands behind his back. He was the first one to arrive. And then they heard a congrattions message in their heads before they saw letters in the sky with a countdown. [ 10 minute-break. The details of the second Checkpoint Race will be avable after the break.] [You can buy items from Chaos Shop using Chaos Points during the break. ] [ 9:49 ] [ 9:48 ] .. .. "Eh? Why do I have an extra 5000 Chaos points?" Erix asked in shock as he opened the shop function in his mind and saw the bnce of 6100 Chaos points. "I have an extra 4500 chaos points," Rin muttered, confused. Erix should have 1100 Chaos Points since he killed 11 Chaos monsters, while Rin should have 1300 Chaos Points since she killed 13 Chaos monsters, but instead, both of them had additional Chaos points. Other people who entered were also confused and surprised at the additional points they got. "Hey, Space affinity guy." Erix and Rin turned to a muscr blond braided man approaching them. "How many extra points you got?" The few other powerhouses who had seen Erix and Rin first also nced there. Their ears perked up. "Five thousand," Erix answered, not intending to hide it. "It looks like the extra points we got were based on who killed the turtles in order. You two were the first ones to kill the golden turtles, so you got extra points ording to first and second ranks," Marco said as he rubbed his chin and then nodded. ''That does seem to be the case,'' Erix said to Rin via spirit sense. ''These big shots will try harder in this race after knowing this extra points thing that rules didn''t mention,'' Rin replied. "Alright, it seems that the ranks are based on whopletes the tasks first," Marco said before grinning at Rin and Erix, "Good Luck." And then left them alone. As the other participants were also busy checking the shop and deciding what to buy, Rin and Erix also opened the shop again to spend their points. "The shop is strange and luck-based," Rin said as she checked the shop. "The Chaos Gadgets are limited to five per person from the shop," Erix wryly smiled. "We''ll have to collect more by destroying Chaos Beacon whenever we get a chance." [ Chaos Shop ] 1. Chaos Gadget: 100 Chaos points. Limit: 5. 2. Random one-time use skill scroll-Offence: 300 Chaos points. 3. Random one-time use skill scroll-Defence: 500 Chaos Points. 4. Random one-time use skill scroll-Control: 400 Chaos Points. 5. Random one-time use skill scroll-Summon: 500 Chaos Points. ¡ª> Note 1: Random skills are all unique types of skills, unlike the usual magic formatted skill. They won''t be affected by participants'' stats as their potency is pre-defined. ¡ª> Note 2: These skills will not affect other participants unless you insert them into a Chaos Gadget. ''Let''s not save any chaos points, Rin.'' ''Yeah.'' ''But we missed so many Chaos Points in the first race. If we were powerful enough to protect our turtle shell from others for that 2-minute countdown while killing chaos monsters, we would have tons of points,'' Erix wryly smiled. ''Yeah. And they spawn every ten seconds,'' Rin nodded. ''The first checkpoint race was a bit tricky with hidden rules. A few powerful people must have definitely collected a lot of chaos points if they stayed for a whole two-minute countdown and killed chaos monsters while protecting their turtle shells.'' ''And some don''t care much about points, it seems,'' Erix said as he looked at Gentle Death, the tuxedo suit middle-aged man. Gentle Death could''ve lingered longer and collected more points, but they saw him entering the checkpoint gate after just one initial attack that killed a dozen chaos monsters. ''Alright, let''s finish our shopping spree. Time is ticking.'' Rin said as she bought her scrolls. ''What are you buying?'' ''All scrolls three times and max Chaos Gadgets. All of this cost 5600 points, so I have only 200 points left.'' ''Alright, I''ll do the same and buy an extra defense skill to empty my points to zero.'' The most important thing about this shop and buying skills from it was that they must not WASTE these one-time skills by using them at the wrong times. ''We''ll also get Chaos Gadgest from chaos beacons in this second checkpoint, so they''ll be the most sought things,'' Rin said, her expression serious. ''We''ll have to get them to add more of our one-time use skills scrolls into it.'' ''Yep. Let''s not use these skill scrolls for monsters or other things unless absolutely necessary,'' Erix nodded. They would need these Tier-3 skills not affected by their stats against other Noble-order powerhouses, and for that, they would need Chaos Gadget. Because if someone attacked them with Chaos Gadget skill, the only way to defend against it would be using their Chaos Gadget inserted with a defense skill. "Let''s store one skill into a chaos gadget to see," Rin said as she took out a ck orb glowing with faint white sparks inside." [Chaos Gadget] ¡ªUse 1: Touch it and activate your skill rune to insert the skill into it. ¡ªUse 2: To insert one-time skills, open the scroll first to determine what skills you get, and then furl it again before touching the orb with it. ¡ªNote: The chaos gadget will release the skill ording to the skill''s effect and your intention before vanishing. Rin and Erix both opened defensive skill scrolls and got two different skills, strange skills! Erix''s scroll showed a skill called Water Rebound Barrier. [Water Rebound Barrier]: Creates a barrier within a 10-meter radius of yourself that rebounds all magic projectile attacks for 1 minute and moves with you. But this barrier willpletely ignore Fire-attributed attacks and physical attacks, providing no defense against them. "So Water will be useless against fire?" Rin was speechless. "Chaotic, alright, and mine is no different." [Shield Punk]: Conjures a three-meter tall and one-meter wide Light Brown tower shield for 1 minute that grants absolute defense against physical attacks and releases a shockwave outwards if attacked by a physical attack that changes the trajectory of projectile magic attacks. This shield will not defend against projectile magic attacks. "It''s fine. I''ll attack the shield with my fists and let it release shockwaves to defend against magic attacks," Erix grinned. "Good idea," Rin chuckled with a nod. Both of them inserted the one-time skill scroll into their Chaos Gadget. The countdown neared zero as Rin and Erix opened other scrolls to check what random skills they conjured beforehand. When they finished, the countdown also hit zero, and everyone heard a notification with the details of the second Checkpoint race and a 1-minute countdown. However, Rin''s and Erix''s faces immediately turned sour as they read the first line of the second checkpoint race''s details. Chapter 142: Crazy Second Checkpoint Race [Event: Chaos Race] -An event spanning five checkpoint races. Each next checkpoint will only be revealed once you pass the current checkpoint. ¡ª> Checkpoint 2:?-Everyone will be randomly teleported into this 5000-kilometer squarend after a minute, and a random level 150-200 monster will appear to hunt you every ten minutes.?-Fifty pirs of light will shoot up in the sky every 10 minutes for everyone to see as the areas near these pirs of light hide a Golden Statue. -Find the statue and shatter it with your attack to get a pair of golden wings and fly towards the Checkpoint gate 1000 kilometers high in the sky with various obstacles on your way¡ªall other flying methods aside from golden wings won''t work past 50 kilometers off the ground.? The first 100 participants to reach the Checkpoint gate will win. _Note: The pirs of light and status won''t run out of stock until 100 participants enter the checkpoint gate and finish the race. Rin and Erix looked at each other as they read the second checkpoint race and thought the same thing. ''This race is crazy. Anything can happen anytime because of how it is structured.'' "Thend is huge, and we won''t meet anytime soon if we are far away," Rin wryly smiled as she wrapped her hands around Erix''s neck. "Yep," Erix neared her and kissed her, activating Ignis Ed Intimacy. "We really need a skill that can allow us to check our location." "If our special skill evolves, it could give us more benefits of our bonds, but," Rin shrugged. "Don''t know how to evolve it." "But," Rin kissed him back and smiled, "Let''s spend the first hour searching for each other. I''ll fly up in the sky and release a skill to give you a signal. If you can see it,e to me." "Alright," Erix smiled with a nod. The countdown hit 0, and both of them disappeared. ¡­ Erix appeared below a huge tree and the world was snowing at the moment, so the atmosphere was freezing. ''Now then, the first thing is to look out for Chaos beacons,'' Erix thought as he narrowed his eyes and looked around. ''How do they look in the first ce?'' Erix internally asked, speechless. He had never seen it. Shaking his head, he manipted his armor set and flew up like a rocket. "Haha, we meet again, Space Affinity guy!" Erix turned around and saw the blond-braided man, Marco. "How about we team up?" Marco suggested with a grin. "Just teleport us to a pir of light so we can-" "No thanks," Erix smiled and disappeared by consuming a bit of Mana. He appeared a kilometer away amidst a thicker part of the forest and then streaked across it while flying to get away from Marco. Although they couldn''t attack each other without using Chaos Gadget, Erix still wanted to steer away from that guy. ''Top priority is to meet up with Rin before an hour passes,'' Erix thought as he teleported again while flying, instantly crossing a kilometer. ''Before she sends a signal, let''s check how far I can teleport at what cost,'' Erix thought before he narrowed his eyes and looked up in the sky. His spirit sense started traveling as it went up and up before stopping at five kilometers. ''Yeah, this is the limit. But the cost of teleportation would be high¡­'' Erix hesitated for a moment before he decided to go for it. He knew that his Mana consumed differently based on the ''space structure'' of his surroundings. Some parts of the material world had tougher space structures, so if he teleported in such parts, he would consume more Mana. ''Let''s see.'' Consuming 10 mana to wrap himself in Space Matter, Erix connected his current Space Limbo location to the point where his Spirit Sense stopped and teleported. *Blink* A secondter, Erix arrived five kilometers high in the sky while his Mana was consumed by 250. ''What the fuck?'' Erix was dumbfounded. It only took him 10 Mana to teleport one kilometer away, but it took him 250 to teleport 5 kilometers away. ''It looks like I''ll need to learn more about Space Limbo''s structure,'' Erix wryly thought. He must reduce the cost of teleporting far because this was too much. Erix looked around after arriving this high in the sky. He reduced his presence and consumed 100 mana to activate his self-created skill''s skill rune. Metal Diablolicus, Maniac Brawler Form. But since he reached the 2nd realm/level 2 in Metal Affinity, he could use this full-body custom-made armor in a different way. Erix''s skin turned metallic while the armor set he had worn remained. Two secondster, Erix had coated nano-metal on his skin, basically recing his skin with metal. Moreover, he could change this metal''s structure ording to his will and choose which type of metal defense or gauntlets he wanted ording to the situation. Suddenly, Erix saw a bright lighting towards him out of nowhere. Startled, he teleported but saw the light passing through his head right before he teleported away one kilometer away. "Not fast enough." Erix heard the voice before the owner of the voice appeared and floated before him. Gentle Death. ''But that was faster than I anticipated,'' Gentle Death thought. ''His level is low, so his stats shouldn''t be this high. Is it a Bloodline?'' Since Ignis Ed Intimacy gave a 30% increase in overall stats, Erix''s all stats were at 780. "What do you want?" Erix narrowed his eyes, his Mana and magic force revving. But the only thing he nned to do was to run. But he hadn''t run even after hearing him because he sensed no hostility from this middle-aged man. "You can continue on your way, but that Chaos Beacon is mine," Gentle Death indifferently said before Erix couldn''t even see how he moved his hand as a golden beam of Light element shot to their left and destroyed a floating palm-sized dark blue crystal with ck mist whirling inside. "Chaos Beacon would have more chance of appearing if you are near another participant," Gentle Death said before he turned into a beam of light and swooped down like lightning. ''Damn it, so fast.'' ''Light affinity¡­. It''s powerful, and I think he hadn''t even shown more wonders of it,'' Erix thought, his fists clenched. ''I want to improve.'' Suddenly, Erix felt something as he turned to the west and squinted his eyes. Faraway, roughly twenty kilometers away, Erix could see a faint lightning dragon. ''Rin!'' Immediately, he started flying in that direction with his full speed of 1180 meters per second. Only five hundred people were in this huge 5000-kilometer squarend filled with snow, forest, and mountains, so it was hard to spot others unless they used shy skills. Chapter 143: Monster Spawn, A Witch After flying five kilometers high, Rin released her newly created skill in a different way after two seconds of materialization time as a huge hollow lightning dragon fifty meters size in length flew up and exploded into arge firecracker disy with Rin''s control as a huge one-kilometer long dragon''s imagine materialized in the air. Erix saw that from a distance and flew towards it while looking below and opening his senses for caution. Rin was approximately ten kilometers away from him, which was a safe distance. If they were separated even further, it would''ve been hard for Erix to see Rin''s signal. After a few seconds, Erix suddenly saw another spectacle in the sky, conjuring a huge ck maw with rusty crimson teeth. ''Savage Maw House''s symbol,'' Erix thought. This signal was five kilometers away from him. ''It seems that their members are gathering up in various spots of this hugend.'' ''It looks like although there won''t be many Chaos Gadgets, there will still be a considerable amount of Chaos Beacons spawn often.'' Erix soon arrived near Rin while thinking of various things about this checkpoint race that was like a marathon filled with random obstacles. "Rin," Erix said, teleported right beside her from a kilometer away. "Let''s get down," Rin nodded. Both of them descended quickly and entered the huge mountain with a snow forest. After arriving at a cave that Rin led Erix to, both of them entered inside and closed it. "We are safe here," Rin smiled. "I was near this area when I appeared here and found this cave." "Ten minutes is going to pass soon, but this cave is small," Erix muttered as he looked around. "The random Noble-order monster won''t spawn inside, right?" "It can''t be," Rin wryly chuckled. "Anyway, let''s open a control scroll quickly while we still have around a minute or two," Erix said as he took out a control skill from his hunter card''s storage. "Yeah, we''ll need it." Rin also took out a control-skill scroll. "This is good," Erix raised his eyebrows upon opening the scroll and inspecting it. [Murky Waters]: Turn an area of a 1-kilometer radius around you, be it on the ground or in the air, into murky waters filled with sticky tentacles. Anyone inside, aside from the user, will be constantly grabbed by powerful tentacles for an absolute 1 second per tentacle. The tentacles will grab enemies as long as they are less than five meters off the murky waters. "This is great," Rin said as she opened her scroll. "It''s a deadly control skill." [Arcane Seal Bullet]: Aim anyone within a kilometer of you and shoot an Arcane bullet from your finger upon using the skill. If the bullet hits anyone, that person''s flow of mana will be sealed for one minute. "It''s good indeed. We might be able to kill even a peak Noble-order powerhouse with it," Erix muttered. "If webine our attacks and I use my Bloodline skill, we can one-shot anyone hit by this Arcane Seal Bullet," Rin nodded and infused the skill into a Chaos Gadget. "Haha, let''s make sure we are not hit by the enemy''s projectile," Erix released a hollowugh. "Dodging is our specialty, but we''ll have to enhance that even more because we also don''t want to get hit by other people''s chaotic skills." If random scrolls gave such chaotic skills, everyone would have such crazy skills. "Low key is our best option tost until the end," Rin nodded. *Roarr!* Suddenly, both of them heard a roar and a heat beside him. "Rin!" Erix quickly pushed Rin away as a meter-tall humanoid with demonic horns materialized behind Rin. Without hesitation, Erix''s slik metal gloves quickly transformed into a pair of heavy dark pink metal gauntlets. The gauntlet''s front end was t with rows of sharp structure spikes as this was a metal called Epoxinc Ore. Since his created metals also inherited properties of the natural magical metals he scanned in his adventures, he had collected seven Tier-2 magical metals and scanned a Tier-3 metal with many effects. This Epoxinc Ore was precisely that Tier-3 metal. Erix consumed a whooping 300 mana for his powerful self-created skill that was only possible to release with Epoxinc Gauntlets, Machine Gun Punch! As his fist struck the ck Inferno Demonling, His gauntlets immediately pumped tens of times within two seconds with how he structured them, releasing multiple punches at once. *BOOM!* However, the monster was still stuck to his fist even after arriving on the brink of death because Epoxinc metal had powerful properties to stick to anything! This was the reason for Erix''s most powerful punch technique created yet, Machine Gun Punch! The attack shaved away 89% of the monster''s Vitality, and It was a level 139 Demonling of Noble-order. [ck Inferno Demonling] _Level: 139 _Rank: Noble-order _Vitality: [11%/100%] ¡ª> [ Strength: 732 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 694 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 701 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 680 ] ¡ª> [ Magic: 712 ] ¡ª [ Mana: 2400/2400 ] "Awesome," Rin grinned and drew her de Eater, shing an arc of lightning on the damaged part of the demon as it was cut into two, shaving away thest of its Vitality. Both of them immediately left the cave afterward as the second monster was outside. Just as they dashed outside, a huge minotaur of level 162 was standing there with his mouth open. There was also a chaos beacon floating there for who knows how long! On the other hand, the moment Minotaur saw Rin and Erix, a huge sphere of me materialized before its mouth and shot towards them. Erix readily created a metal shield of minite Ore, a Tier-2 ore with high resistance to me and used to create armors with me-attribute. The sphere of me hit the shield, causing the shield to turn bright red as it absorbed all the firepower before it was destroyed. Rin made a dash afterward and released a flurry of attacks of her Katana-de Eater, using de Frenzie as the Minotaur was swiftly shed ten times and was paralyzed as it screamed. Moreover, a wormhole opened right before the monster as Erix''s fist came out with his powerful Sling Shot Punch released through the Sling Shot gauntlet. *BOOM!* The piercing fist hit the Minotaur''s powerful head and cracked it. Still barely alive due to its powerful Vitality, Minotaur hurled its glowing red fist towards Rin, who was near, but she was ready to retreat as she shed ten meters behind before piercing her katana into a wormhole that appeared before her with Erix''s control. The katana also pierced its already cracked head, dealing it a finishing blow as the monster turned into motes and vanished. Erix destroyed the Chaos Beacon afterward, gaining one Chaos Gadget in his inventory. *p¡­p¡­p¡­* Rin and Erix immediately turned to the sound of pping as they saw a woman with a purple wizard outfit wearing a big witch hat. "Oh my, you two are scary," the woman said with a smile, her aura powerful and her level 200. "Just barely entered Noble-order and already have level 2 affinities and powerful concepts, both weaved into powerful techniques." "And this young man with space affinity, scarybos indeed," the witch smiled at Erix and Rin. "What do you want?" Rin said as she took out the chaos gadget containing Arcane Seal Bullet, and Erix did the same as he took out his chaos gadget containing Water Rebound Barrier. If a fight broke out, only chaos gadgets would work against other participants. "Rx," the woman raised her hands, showing that she didn''t intend to fight them. "This is a race where people will work with others to pass checkpoints until they can''t." "You two will need one more person to pass smoothly," the woman continued with a smile. "And I am the best teammate you can get." "What if you attacked us with a Chaos Gadget while we were not aware?" Rin narrowed her eyes. "You are more powerful in terms of stats, so you have a higher chance of seeding in sneak-attacking us if we work together." "True," the woman chuckled. "But I won''t do that, at least not in this race. So, let''s work together just for this race. What do you say?" ''What do you say, honey?'' Erix asked. ''I say we work together with her to pass this stage. All we have to do is to keep an eye on her,'' Rin replied. ''I was thinking the same, but only with one condition,'' Erix said before he nodded at the woman. "We have one condition." "Shoot," the woman grinned. "You will have to be at the frontline in anything we do. We are not interested in making powerful enemies, so we won''t hurt you from the back. If you agree, we can work together." "Alright, no loss for me," The witch shrugged. "I have two reasons that prompted me to work with you." "Which two?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "First, you two are more powerful and troublesome despite being early Noble-order powerhouses," the witch grinned. "And I see a smooth chance of passing this race if we work together." This reason was sufficient, so Rin and Erix automatically wondered about the second reason. "Second, I can''t trust my peers, but I am confident in escaping unscathed if you two betray me, which is why I chose you." ''She is praising us and underestimating us both,'' Rin snorted. ''Well, let''s just take her for her word,'' Erixughed. "Cool, so what are your main powers?" Erix asked. "I have Wood affinity at level 2 and Darkness affinity at level 1," the witch smiled. "As for what I can do, you''ll have to see it when the timees." ''Darkness and Wood. What kind of skills andbos she must have?'' Erix wondered. ''I am also curious, haha. I want topare our skills with others,'' Rin smiled. "So, what do we call you?" Rin asked. "Melissa." Chapter 144: Space Mapping! "It''s going to be thirty minutes soon," Erix said as he, Rin, and Melissa sat on a huge tree''s branch with leaves as their roof. They''ve also filled up their Chaos Gadgets with one-time use skills of control and defense, with only one containing an attack skill. "We don''t need to rush for this batch of golden statues," Melissa said as she weaved a wisp of darkness around her finger. "Many people will rush for this batch, and it''ll be chaotic, but if we get a beam of light near us, we''ll go for it." "What is the rule about Golden Wings? As far as I understood, It meant that once we acquire Golden Wings after destroying a statue, we won''t be able to use our normal flying means. Is that correct?" Erix voiced out his concern. "Yep," Melissa nodded. "We''ll need at least one or two golden statues in this batch then," Rin said, her brows furrowed. "We have to be included in the first two batches and reach the checkpoint." "It won''t be so easy when they fight against each other and face obstacles during the race, which will be chaotic and random," Melissa chuckled. "Moreover, there will be additional random urrence at any time, so whatever you read in the description of second checkpoint race is not absolute." "This is why this event is called Chaos Race," Melissa added. "Chaotic things happen during the race." At that, thest minute finally passed, and everyone saw fifty thick beams of light shooting up in the sky. The nearest one to the trio was a kilometer away, and it was thick enough to cover 500 meters of area, which meant that it wouldn''t be that easy to find the hidden statue. "Let''s go," Melissa said as she conjured a pair of strange ck wood wings covered by a dark aura and vanished from her spot before appearing in a tree''s shadow two hundred meters away. ''Shadow? So her darkness affinity includes abilities of shadows¡­'' Erix said. ''No wonder she was confident of escaping from us,'' Rin nodded. Both of them also flew behind Melissa and rushed towards the pir of light that was dissipating each second. Just as they neared the spot, they already sensed four presences closing towards the same location. "We''ll hide," Melissa said as she stopped four hundred meters away from the beginning of the Statue searching area, which was five hundred meters in diameter ording to the beam of light. She put her hand on the ground before she spent a considerable amount of mana from the aura that poured into the ground. From her palm, powerful and magical wood pierced into the ground, shaving and destroying it before making a hollow tree trunk. "Erix, teleport us below where I made space. You can see it with your spirit sense," Melissa turned to Erix. Erix nodded and used his spirit senses before he grabbed Rin''s hand and stretched his hand towards Melissa, who quickly grabbed it. A secondter, Erix teleported everyone into the tree trunk after wrapping three of them in space matter. Melissa touched the wood inside the trunk and spread hundreds of tiny vines into the ground toward the five-hundred-meter area where a Golden Statue was hidden. "I''ll locate the statue with my vines and bring it here if possible. There are more people there, so let''s not join the fray openly like them," Melissa said. "Actually¡­" Erix said as his eyes shed silver, his face bing weird. "I should be able to detect if I use Spirit Sense in tandem with my Space Limbo vision." "That''s great," Rin smiled. It would be good if Erix could grab it before Melissa or others. "Go ahead and try it," Melissa nodded before closing her eyes and searching using her vines. Erix also spread his Spirit Sense towards the area while ovepping Space Limbo with the material world in his vision, which essentially allowed him to sense everything within that area. ''Space is everywhere, so if I use my Spirit Sense while feeling Space of everything via Space Limbo, I can really sense and see everything clearly!'' Erix blinked, watching everything inyers and searching with his Spirit Sense. ''There it is!'' Erix''s eyes shined as he stretched his hand before him, which entered into space like a hand going into water, and then pulled it out. Melissa and Rin watched with dumbfounded expressions as Erix easily grabbed the golden statue. "Quick, let''s go to another ce and get more statues!" Erix said after putting the golden statue in his hunter card inventory, his eyes shining with a devious and excited glint as he stretched his hands toward Rin and Melissa. "I have a n to benefit massively in this race." "Haha, I was right to join you two," Melissa chuckled and grabbed his hand after Rin held his hand. The three of them disappeared and appeared five kilometers away as Erix teleported at the maximum distance despite costing more mana. "There!" Rin pointed to a mountain one kilometer away where they could sense several auras. Erix teleported again after mapping the area of five kilometers before him and choosing to teleport inside the mountain. "I''ll call thisbination of using Spirit Sense and Space Vision... Space Mapping!" Erix grinned as he stretched his hand, which vanished into space for a second before he grabbed another golden statue. *BOOM!* Suddenly, the three of them sensed something and, immediately after that, felt a massive impact as a powerful explosion broke the mountain wall before them. "No wonder I was sensing some presence here, you¡­" The one who entered was a level 200 powerhouse, Lex ke. "Bye-bye," Melissa chuckled and waved her hand before the three of them vanished as Erix teleported again. Erix and Rin saw Lex throwing his fist, but Erix was already wrapping them in Space Matter before the mountain wall broke and disappeared. *BOOM!* A mighty ck demonic fist with red mes materialized and shot from Lex''s fist at the spot where Erix and others previously stood, destroying a huge chunk of the mountain. Lex growled angrily before quickly leaving as well, not willing to waste time and going to another spot to fight for a golden statue if possible. ''I''ll get you, fuckers. Just wait!'' ¡­ On the other hand, Erix, Rin, and Melissa went to another spot, but Erix found none there as someone had already taken it. Five minutes passed, and they arrived at a safe ce with a total of four golden statues. Chapter 145: Attracting Trouble "Wow, I was not expecting this, haha," Melissa chuckled. "Me too," Rin grinned. "Me too," Erixughed and said with a sharp expression. "But we are not done yet. We have four statues, so only forty-six people have golden wings. In the next batch, let''s try to collect more golden statues." "You want to collect more rather than ascending?" Melissa raised her eyebrows. "Didn''t you see people flying and chasing after those with golden wings? Heh," Erix snickered. "Those who don''t have golden wings will try to hunt and possibly kill those with golden wings." "I see," Rin nodded as she rubbed her chin, "to increase their chance of seeding and passing, they will do their best to lower the number of those who have golden wings. After all, only a hundred of them can pass this race out of five hundred." "That''s true, but we shouldn''t have a problem getting away from others with ourbined powers," Melissa said. "Nah. I think I am already attracting some attention because of having Space affinity, so I don''t want to risk it," Erix shook his head before he grinned. "We''ll collect five or more golden statues next time and then sell the rest to some fortunate soul whom we encounter." "If we approach people who are alone, we can sell them in exchange for Chaos Gadget or something else," Rin said excitedly. "This is a good idea. Let''s do it." "Alright," Melissa nodded as she shrugged. "Since I teamed up with you two, I''ll go along with this so-called safer route." The three of them waited in one safe spot before four minutes passed, and three monsters spawned around them. All of them were above level 150. However, they were three, and had more powerful moves and better teamwork, so they easily destroyed the monsters. Rin and Erix leveled up for the first time after reaching Noble order, reaching level 102. A chaos beacon also spawned, which Rin killed, and Melissa didn''t intervene but said, "I''ll take the next one, which is only fair, right?" "I''ll take next, and then you take," Erix said. "We''ll take turns." "Alright," Melissa shrugged. "Although I hope this advantage of ours doesn''t be meaningless." ''Humph, she definitely got one Chaos beacon before meeting up with us,'' Rin snorted. Of course, Rin and Erix also had one extra chaos beacon now. And then suddenly, the Chaotic element of Chaos Race appeared. [Chaotic Intervention. Everyone has Golden Wings for one minute. All other flying and traveling methods are disabled for twenty minutes.] "Twenty minutes?" Erix sighed with a huge relief. "If so, then I''ll be able to start teleporting when the next batch arrives. "It looks like someone marked one of you with a skill. It should be Lex," Melissa suddenly said as she frowned and stood up before flying above the giant tree they were using as their shelter. Rin and Erix confusedly followed but soon sensed presence when people arrived within their spirit sense''s range. "Run," Melissa said as she flew up, pping her golden wings as fast as possible. Rin and Erix quickly followed up, while the number of passed participants was not increasing that fast. [8/100] So far, only eight have passed because the hundred people of Savage Maw House were not letting others pass easily and had already killed 14 possessors of Golden Wings with their huge number and Chaos Gadgets. "You are not getting away!" Lex shouted while using his punches and their skills to increase his speed of flying. There were three more people behind them, and they were the ones who were searching for golden statues, but then they suddenly sensed a few presences out of nowhere before they quickly vanished. At first, they were confused, but they understood that someone grabbed it before them after not finding the golden statue despite literally flipping up a five-hundred-meter area ofnd and not finding the statue. Rin, Erix, and Melissa started descending after thirty seconds, going towards the area with a thick forest. ''There''s a whole twenty minutes before the next pirs of light shine,'' Melissa sent her thought message to Erix and Rin. ''These people won''t stop chasing us since they are higher in number, and you two are lower level. We have to either hunt them or get hunted.'' ''Let''s run first.'' ''It will be trouble to run once all of our movement and flying means are disabled,'' Erix said. ''Let''s hide in that jungle first and n something.'' ¡­ "They are nning to hide there!" Lex shouted. "Use some skills and stop them!" "Why don''t you use it?!" "You use it first!" "FUCK," Lex cursed. "I don''t have anything that can stop them from afar." "Same here!" "I don''t have any control-skill that can do either!" "We ain''t fucking Royal order powerhouses that we have a perfect arsenal of skills, numb skull! Attack them from afar if possible and hinder them!" Rin, Erix, and Melissa were nearing the jungle while flying at their full speed, which was only 300 meters per second due to this pair of golden wings. "They are attacking!" Erix shouted before he turned around and punched powerfully with his whirlwind fist, but he didn''t absorb the shockwave, which allowed him to shoot toward Rin as he grabbed her and punched one more time before shooting straight into the jungle. "Jeez, I wish I could also do something like that," Melissa said with a smile before turning back and seeing two skills hurling in her direction. One was a huge ck fireball, and another was a lightning bolt. ''Good. My defense can handle it.'' With no other choice, Melissa used a Chaos gadget, conjuring a sleek ck defensive orb around her with entric green and dark green patterns. The skills struck her orb and shot her down into the ground at once with the impact, but her defensive orb remained unscathed. "Destroy it." Melissa heard Erix''s voice after she came out of a crater and saw a golden statue hurling towards her. One minute soon passed after that as her golden wings disappeared, and everyone officially became wingless, aside from the ones who originally had golden wings after destroying the statue. "Now we won''t have as much disadvantage with the wings," Rin grinned as they had also destroyed a statue each and got golden wings. Chapter 146: Statue Hunting "Destroy the forest and anything in your path," Lex barked as he started throwing his glowing fists around after wearing a pair of magical dark green gauntlets with golden and crystal blue designs--a Tier-3 weapon. Others also started releasing various projectile skills of me, Water, Earth, and Wind as they destroyed the forest and started leveling it. They followed the trio''s aura while attacking them from afar, but their attacks had no reach on Erix, Rin, and Melissa, who ran away with golden wings and flew up. "Damn it!!" Lex cursed and roared at them, feeling frustrated at his loss. ''Gentle Death, Marco, and others passed, but I am here...'' He remembered how he was just an inch away from getting a golden statue right before that damn Space Affinity user grabbed it. ''Damn him!'' "We have no choice but to wait for the twenty minutes." "Yeah, fuck that bastard! I want to kill him!" "Let''s find him once we are out and kill those two! They are just fucking early Noble-order." "That kid got lucky with Space Affinity, and that bitch with Shadow Affinity is also with him. Their mobility will be a pain in the butt." The others behind Lex vexingly discussed and cursed as they lost their means to chase Erix and others. Having no choice, they nted their butts on the ground and sat down. ... High in the sky was a colossal three-kilometer-wide glowing area epassing one thousand kilometers of path going up in a 45-degree arc towards the sky, ending at the checkpoint gate. But this vast race track of one thousand kilometers was wholly chaotic and filled with various random obstacles like monsters, magical phenomena attacks, space disturbance, constant scenery andndscape changes, and much more that would appear and vanish randomly. None of them were directly life-threatening unless one lost focus and made a mistake. Still, the obstacles were highly annoying and troublesome, so wits were necessary to maneuver through them. . "We can''t go there yet," Melissa said with narrowed eyes as she looked at the race track leading to the second checkpoint gate. "The members of Savage Maw House are no longer there since everyone except some lost means to fly. "I can see seven members with golden wings who had destroyed statues standing guard. They''ll attack anyone who tries to go towards the checkpoint gate." "A total of 16 people passed, huh..." Rin muttered as she looked at the number of people who passed the second checkpoint. "There should still be others maneuvering through the race track. These sixteen people who passed already are basically the most powerful ones and contenders for the first rank. That''s why they crossed a thousand kilometers of troubles and obstacles this fast." "Of course, we also won''t have much trouble crossing that thousand-kilometer distance," Melissa added with a chuckle. "Let''s recover ourselves and prepare for the next hunt," Erix said with a grin. "Let''s get at least five golden statues more." "We can pass the race after that." ... The trio stayed afloat and flew at various ces before another ten minutes passed, and a batch of chaos monsters spawned. [For the next twenty minutes, Chaos Monsters will spawn randomly around the participants at any time instead of random Noble-order monsters.] "Time to collect chaos points," Melissa chuckled. ... Melissa waved her hand, swiftly shooting out ck wooden spears that pierced into four Chaos Monsters around her and killed them instantly. Rin also killed all chaos monsters using her Katana and executing de moves while dodging their attacks, killing all five within a minute. On the other hand, Erix killed five chaos monsters that spawned around him with swift punches that the chaos monsters couldn''t even see as they came from various angles out of nowhere around them while Erix leisurely flew a hundred meters away from them. After another ten minutes passed, the trio killed several more chaos monsters that randomly spawned around them. "Yes!" Rin cheered as the de Eater shone, oozing out a stronger aura. "Volt Spire Lance digested?" Erix asked. "Yep," Rin grinned as the de Eater shone briefly, changing shape as it became the Volt Spire Lance. "Not bad, it''s a powerful Lightning-type Legendary weapon," Melissamented. "Yep." Rin swiftly stabbed it forward five times and made some action moves while flying around to get the hang of thence. "By the way, you can also connect to your lightning easily and pull it back," Melissa said with a wry smile. "Seeing as I''ve never seen you doing, you probably don''t know." "What?" Rin asked confusedly. "Throw your weapon, and you can easily and swiftly recall it back as long as your weapon is Lightning Attribute and there''s your lightning energy in it." "I didn''t know that," Rin muttered before she shot her Lance forward with full power. *Zoooom!* Thence broke the sound barrier and crossed a few kilometers before abruptly stopping with a slight drag as Rin used her connection with it and recalled it with her control. Thence flew back, flying left and right while hurling back with Rin''s control as her fingers moved. "Nice," Rin smiled as she grabbed her Lance that flew back. "It''s good to know I can do this." "Get ready. The pirs of light will shoot up in a minute, and the restriction on flying and moving will also lift up," Erix informed as he looked at his wrist. He had made a time watch with his metal control and mana. It was a 24-hour watch, so it added one second to the count every second ording to the formation he made. A minute soon passed, and pirs of light shot up in the sky. Erix, Rin, and Melissa quickly nced around to imprint the location of the pirs before they grabbed Erix''s hands from each side. "Let''s go," Erix wrapped them in Space Matter before disappearing and arriving at the nearest Pir of Light area. At the same time, ten chaos monsters spawned around each participant when they neared the pirs of light! A sudden chaotic intervention. "Erix, you find the statue. We''ll handle the monsters," Rin said as she quickly released a sh arc with her lightning, killing a chaos monster with a skull head as it spawned right behind Erix. "Leave it us," Melissa said as she created a wooden barricade around Erix after they descended five hundred meters away from the pir of light. ''Let''s start,'' Erix spread his spirit senses while his eyes flickered silver as he started space mapping. Chapter 147: Mayhem "Master Lex, why are we stopping here?" Lex ke and twelve Noble-order powerhouses floated at the race track''s entry, five kilometers ahead, where the scenery andndscape of the race track were changing between forest, frozen caves,va hignds, and other random and chaotic phenomenons. "What''s the hurry? We are guaranteed to pass this unless we wait here for the next pirs of light," Lex said, his arms crossed. Turning to the group, he continued. "Let that Space affinity bastard and those two bitchese here first. You should know how they stole one statue again. You morons couldn''t even stop them," Lex spat. "You also failed to stop them," one of them uttered. Lex''s lips twitched. "Shadow and Space abilities gave them too much mobility, but you morons still wasted your Chaos Gadgets mindlessly on them," Lex coldly said. "What''s the fucking use if you can''t hit them?" Lex rasped. "So shut up and stay here. They''ll have no choice but to get on the race track before the next pirs of light shoot up, so when theye here, we''ll kill them." "Or you just want to forget all that? Hey, you. Didn''t yourpanion die like a dog against that lightning de bitch''s Bloodline ability? And do you want to just let them go?" A middle-aged woman with a hot figure and a mage''s robe clenched her fist and growled, "I am staying to kill them!" "I am also staying! Let''s fucking kill them!" "That''s right! The best way to get revenge is to prevent them from passing this and killing them!" Lex internally sneered. ''Good job.'' Meanwhile... Inside a wide valley between two towering mountains spanning ten kilometers in height, Rin and Melissa were flying through the woods and being chased by three Noble-order powerhouses of Beastfolk race-wolf bloodline. Two wolf-men and one wolf-woman. Each of them had one 2nd realm affinity and a powerful bloodline as they were beastfolks of the Trizarl Demon Wolf Bloodline. "KILL THEM!" the ck wolf-man shouted as the wolf-woman released a Chaos Gadget of attack-skill. "Grab my hand," Melissa stretched her hand towards Rin and urged as she created a five-meter-wide ck wooden maw shield with dark green and glowing green patterns behind her. *Boom!!* Just as the shield finished conjuring, a thick, condensed dark blue water stream hit the wooden maw as Melissa''s defensive skill defended against the attack. Melissa''s shield cracked, but before it was fully destroyed, Rin held Melissa''s hand, and both of them disappeared with a wisp of shadow as they appeared four kilometers away, near the location where Erix had teleported recently to search for the statue. However, the wolf-tribe beastfolk were not giving up that easily. "Leimi, direction!" one of the wolf-man barked, his spirit force consuming slightly. The enemies here were four. Three were chasing them, and one had spread her spirit sense in the whole area to detect Erix and Melissa''s location after her shadow drifted and directed her allies at them. "Found her!" One of them readily shot a Chaos Shop attack-type arrow skill with the ability to lock on, which locked onto Melissa''s residual aura from her Shadow Drift. *Swoosh!!* ... "Jeez, this reckless endeavor is only possible because of me," Melissa helplessly chuckled. "Only with my shadow drift and Erix''s teleport can we do this thing." "But it works," Rin chuckled before she released a Chaos Gadget and created an aurora ss prism around her and Melissa before they looked at the iing dark blue arrow wrapped by rusty brown spiral energy. "I won''t use my defence-skill again. I only have one left," Rin said as she nced at Melissa. *BOOM!* The arrow struck the prism and was directly absorbed into the colorful aurora coursing through the prism before it released a powerful vital aura toward Rin and Melissa,pletely healing them and recovering their energies. ''Tsk, a valuable defensive skill gone.'' "They areing," Melissa said as she turned towards the sky. "When will Erix find it?" "Hopefully soon because he should be done with the whole area by now," Rin replied. ''Hurry up, Erix. We can''t waste more Chaos Gadgets here.'' This new batch of light pirs coveredrger areas, so the area and effort needed to search for a statue was higher. Erix also had to search hard with his Space Mapping, and it would still take him two to three minutes, so other people had a tougher time, which allowed them to gather six statues so far, and this one would be their seventh and final. "Boss, I am going to fucking use that meteorite skill on them!" one of the wolf-man with red wolf shouted as he took out a chaos gadget. "Don''t," the ck wolf-man barked before he suddenly stopped, and so did others as they saw someone popping out. "Erix!" Rin and Melissa also saw Erix suddenly teleporting before the two wolf-men and one wolf-woman beastfolk. "You want the statue, right? I''ll give it to you," Erix said with a smile, a golden statue in his hand, but wrapped up with space matters. "I have enough statues to get all four of you golden wings, but there''s a price," Erix added while those beastfolks issued low growls. Melissa and Rin shortly appeared beside Erix while the wolf beastfolk''s fourth member also arrived. "It''s better to solve this peacefully because I can guarantee that we will safely escape, and you won''t pass this checkpoint if you attack," Melissa said with a wide grin. "What''s the price?" the ck wolf-man after taking a deep breath. "Leader!" the muscr wolf-man shouted, his veins protruding. ''We can kill them, leader! We don''t need to give in to them!'' ''Shut up! There''s no time to waste, Bulga. We have to pass this checkpoint!'' ''That''s right,'' the ck wolf-woman sent her thoughts, ''Even if we don''t get the first rank reward, we need at least a top hundred rank or higher reward to make our efforts and resources worth this participation!'' ''And we can''t afford to waste more Chaos Gadgets, or we won''t survive on the race track. We''ll be in trouble if the new batch arrives before we reach the checkpoint gate. "Tell me the price, and we''ll pay it," the leader, ck wolf-man, said somberly. "Let''s finish this quick and peacefully." Melissa floated a step ahead of Erix and Rin as she sent her thought message to the duo. ''Let me handle the price thing. I''m sure you two don''t have much knowledge in regards to that.'' ''Alright.'' Erix and Rin were more than happy to let the more experienced one of this world handle the trade. Chapter 148: Race Track-1 "Two Tier-3 legendary grade items for two." Rin and Erix were startled. ''There''s no way they would ept this trade.'' ''Yeah.'' Indeed, the ck wolf-man''s eyes widened before he grunted with a severe expression. "Impossible! Are you serious?" Melissa curled her lips into a provocative smile as she replied, "Then what do you suggest?" The four wolf beastfolks looked at each other. All of them had unlocked Spirit Sense, so they conversed via thought messages. ''Let''s just attack them, boss. Tier-4 legendary? We only have one item of that rank!'' the short-tempered one immediately shouted. ''I''ll make the proposal that won''t end in loss if we reach the top 100,'' the ck wolf woman said. "One Tier-3 legendary grade items and two Tier-3 epic grade weapons for four Golden statues." Melissa chuckled. "It looks like you have some boxes saved from events." The four wolf beastfolk were unnerved hearing her as Melissa was right. They had unopened reward boxes of Tier-3 grade. All people would have it and hoard it for various trades or when their current items get destroyed. "One Tier-3 legendary grade ded weapon, One Tier-4 Epic grade weapon, and two Tier-3 Epic grade one-time use items for four golden statues." "We don''t have Tier-4 weapons!" the brown wolf-man roared. "Calm down, I am joking," Melissa rolled her eyes. "This guy is really an idiot. Rece that Tier-4 epic grade weapon with a Tier-3 legendary grade or any other item." "You!" After all, Tier-4 weapons were fundamentally different, with their method of creation evolving into the next realm, which only allowed Royal-order powerhouses to use their full powers. So, it was a waste for a Noble-order powerhouse to have a Tier-4 weapon of any grade. The beastfolk discussed for half a minute before the ck wolf-man nodded. "Alright, we ept your condition." "I have a Tier-3 legendary ded weapon of Wind attribute, so take it first," the white-wolf woman took out a longsword with emerald and green patterns on its sleek dark green crystal de and threw it towards Melissa. Melissa grabbed it and handed it to Rin. "Noice," Rin chuckled and readily fed it to her de Eater since it was not digesting anything at the moment. "As for the other items, we have boxes, so you can open them," the ck wolf man took out three fancy boxes and moved them towards Melissa after wrapping them with his spirit force. A Tier-3 Epic-grade random weapon box. A Tier-3 Legendary-grade random item box. A Tier-3 Epic-grade random one-time item box. "This is slightly better than what you asked for," the ck-wolf man snorted. "Now, hand over the golden statue." Erix''s eyes shed with light as he suddenly said, "Wait." "Take back the Tier-3 Epic-grade random weapon box and Tier-3 epic-grade random item box. In exchange, how about you work with us?" "What do you mean?" the ck-wolf man asked with narrowed eyes while others were startled. Melissa and Rin got a thought message from Erix, so they let him handle it. "It''s very simple. We''ll work together to reach that checkpoint gate before the next pirs of light shoot up," Erix said. "I''m sure we''ll have higher chances of passing this way, and you''ll also save two reward boxes." "With my Space powers and her Shadow powers, we can pass for sure, and no one can stop us," Erix added more timbers to invoke them. "You four have good teamwork and almost managed to catch us and also forced us to use some Chaos Gadgets. That''s why we are proposing this to you." ''Rin, I realized that we''ll need some allies until the final race because others are also teaming up. If we want to have the first rank by beating other powerhouses, we''ll have to use others.'' Rin realized what Erix said was true after she recalled everything that happened so far. ''You are right. Actually, this is a good idea if we choose people carefully...like these four! I can feel that these people, or rather, many people, are not here to take the first rank, but other rewards. Since they have no will take the first rank, we can make them help us!'' ''Exactly. But this bitch Melissa surely wants the first rank, so we''ll have to stay cautious around her.'' ''Alright.'' Meanwhile, the beastfolks also felt that Erix''s proposal was good and epted it. "We will work together," the ck wolf-man nodded. "With you, we have a chance to enter the top 50, and that''s worth our trip for this event." "Perfect," Melissa smiled. ''Nice move, Erix. I thought you wouldn''t be willing to make allies after seeing how hard it took you to take me in.'' ''You can say that we got a bit more confidence after fighting a bunch of people way above our levels,'' Erix cheekily smiled. "We have three more golden statues to sell. How about youe with us for that?" Rin asked with a grin. The beastfolk were speechless before they wryly smiled. "You guys are cheating." "Nah, it means you have a skill Issue in our world''s terms," Erixughed. ... After selling three golden statues for three Tier-3 Legendary items, one being a ded weapon for Rin so that her de Eater can finally evolve, the group flew towards the race track five kilometers above the ind. "Erix, Melissa. Do you think Lex and others with him are waiting for us there?" Rin asked with hesitation. "From how he chased us like a rabid dog, I don''t think he wants to let us go that easily," Erix sneered. "Yep. That bastard should be waiting for us on the race track. He had more people by his side, so we''ll have to pass through them quickly." Melissa nodded. "We''ve beaten him thrice and left him in dust, so he won''t take this lying down." "It''s fine," the ck wolf-man said. "We''ll be fine as long as we remain careful because thendscape changes physically often in sections, so they won''t be able to put traps for us there." "Lara has a specialty in detection." ''Yeah. Her nose is sharp,'' Erix said. ''She detected me twice, and I had to change ces.'' "I''ll defend you both and help Lara evade, so focus on detecting enemies and their attacks," Melissa said before she turned to Erix. "Erix, you can probably detect better than her with your space mapping, but you have to stay cautious. Lex will mainly focus on you and me." The group discussed a bit before they arrived at the Race Track. So far, 43 people have passed, meaning many with golden wings were still within the race track and outside below. "Get ready," Melissa said. She used her signature skill thrice, the Tenebrian Wooden Maw Shield. One defending Erix, one the wolf-woman, and the other herself. Rin stayed close to Erix, so she was also safe, as her job was to support Erix and let him use his teleport and wormholes to aid and defend. Erix also had another thing in mind, but it was experimental, so he didn''t mention it to anyone. The group arrived at the Race Track and stopped for a second. The scenery inside was of mountain areas but it changed again. "Stick together, and be careful!" Chapter 149: Race Track-2 They entered the race track, arriving in andscape filled with darkness and ck trees with barren ground. The ck smoke and mist made it harder for them to see, but as long as they remained cautious and kept their spirit sense open, they could react promptly. "Hurry! Keep your golden wings at max speed," Melissa shouted deliberately to provoke enemies if there were any in the first few kilometers. ''None.'' As the group moved swiftly through the race track, they saw ahead that a thick forest turned into a world of water, drowning all of them as they arrived underwater. ''Jeez, this is too random.'' ''Well, it''s a Chaos Race, and this is just the second checkpoint. The next three checkpoints will conclude swiftly, but the intensity will be far higher.'' ''Stay focused. Less talk.'' The group shared a spiritual chat by connecting a single thread of their spirit force together. The underwaterndscapested for three kilometers before the scenery suddenly changed as they arrived in space with stars sparkling around them and arge to their left. "Damn it!" Everyone heard a roar as they turned to the right and saw Lex with a gang of twelve other Noble-order powerhouses. Thisndscape nulled their invisibility since outer space was void with no air and no obstruction, making everyone able to sense and see others. After all, this mystical race track was just five to ten kilometers wide, depending on the scenery change of a section. But enemies were higher in number, and all of them snarled in one way or another. With their hate-filled face, they hurled their attack and control skills Chaos Gadgets at Erix and others! ''Fuck!'' Erix readily teleported Rin away after grabbing her hand and appeared five kilometers away. However, four colorful lights released from four Chaos Gadgets readily followed him! Target lock-on skills! Melissa flew at her full speed to get away from the Chaos Gadgets as they unleashed various skills. Her face was dark because there was no shadow in Space, rendering her Shadow Drift useless. ''If only I reached 3rd realm in Darkness affinity...'' However, she was not to be outdone, as Shadow was just a part of her Darkness affinity. She took out two Chaos gadgets and ruthlessly shot them toward Lex while flying away and barely dodging two arrow projectiles. While the wolf beastfolks were also forced to use all their means to get away, they remained safe and ran ahead on the race track with Melissa. Erix and Rin went furthest, but the four attacks chasing behind them were life-threatening. The nearest attack was a three-meter-long dark purple lightning bolt, about to hit Erix in the next 1.4 seconds. Rin popped a Chaos gadget and used an attack Chaos gadget after locking it on the dark purple lightning bolt. *Shrooom!* The chaos gadget transformed into a five-meter deep blue water orb with sparkling blue lights inside containing Light and Earth elemental power. It hit the dark purple arrow and sted into a colorful disy of spectacle. But it was not over as the blue lights within the orb intensely glowed as they transformed into shiny white crystals after the orb shed with the lightning bolt and sprayed a nket of whitesers in the direction of the lightning bolt. The nket of powerful whitesers struck other attacks and nullified two of them by activating their effects prematurely due to impact withsers. ''Awesome, babe!'' Erixughed. ''We still have one more after us,'' Rin said as she looked at a dark blue arrow with a golden spiraling energy around it and an arc of dark blue me above its tip. ''Don''t use a defensive skill,'' Erix quickly said before he teleported one kilometer further to buy another second and tried out his experiment while still keeping a defensive skill chaos gadget in his hand. ''Disappear!'' Erix focused on the arrow as his mana bubbled, turning into space matter while Erix''s eyes glowed silver. The iing arrow suddenly blurred as Erix targeted it by locking on its space with his Space Mapping and guiding his power directly to it to send the attack into Space Limbo! *Blink!* The arrow blurred and then disappeared. "Woah, what did you do?!" Rin asked, startled. She clearly saw the arrow vanishing abruptly but also saw the space around it visibly get slightly wobbly for less than a second. ''I thought that since I can sense and ess Space Limbo, I should be able to send something there as well, so....why not try to send attacks there?'' Erixughed. ''That would be the best defense.'' However, hisugh soon turned bitter. ''But there''s a big problem.'' Erix teleported with Rin one kilometer away again and continued flying. ''Big problem? Is it cost?'' ''Yep. I knew I shouldn''t spare any cost to try this, so I consumed 2000 mana and turned it into Space Matter before trying out this move, but when the arrow vanished into Space Limbo...'' ''Come on, tell me how much was consumed?'' ''One thousand eight hundred fifty...'' Rinughed. ''That''s impractical. But you can use it against superpowerful attacks that we are not sure we can defend against.'' ''Nope. From what I sensed, the consumption of Space Matter is based on the potency of the phenomenon I send into Space Limbo. So, that arrow consumed 1850 mana, but other attacks should cost less.'' ''I see... How about you make this skill a bit crooked? Instead of sending the entire attack, you can send a part of it to make it less powerful in some cases and entirely activate them early in other cases.'' ''That''s worth trying. But we have to keep running and escaping for now without consuming mana.'' ''I still have my mana, so leave the obstacles to me,'' Rin said as she swung her sword and killed a chaos monster that suddenly appeared before them in thisva-filledndscape with volcanos bursting. While Rin and Erix were ahead, Melissa was closely behind them with the wolf beastolks. Erix was also helping Beastfolks with wormholes to help them kill chaos monsters that were popping out of nowhere. Lex and the others were not giving up and were after the group. "CATCH UP TO THEM, YOU BUNCH OF TRASH!" Lex shouted with red eyes! Chapter 150: Rest and Preparation Lex and the other twelve Noble order powerhouses were doing their best to chase Erix''s group, but the constantly changing scenery and abrupt influxes of Chaos monsters were hindering them more due to their big group and not enough synergy for teamwork. Everyone had to deal with chaos monsters around them on their own while looking at the dangerousndscapes and moving forward, not caring about others. However, Erix was fully supporting his group with Wormhole, making everyone''s life easier. The distance between them grew along with Lex''s frustration. He knew it was impossible to harm Erix and others anymore. But this failure only fueled his obsession as he didn''t intend to give up! ... "They are far behind now," Erix said. He didn''t sense any other presence behind them as they were out of his Space Map''s range. "Haha, they couldn''t do anything," the brown-wolf manughed. He looked at Erix and grimly smiled, "The damn space affinity is enviable." The other wolf beastfolks couldn''t help but nod. "Well, not everyone has an innate affinity for space that eventually allows them to awaken it after some effort and talent," Melissa said. "But if people try and waste a lot of time to awaken it, they can do it. However...It will be hard to make progress to reach higher realms in it." "Erix will also need more effort to advance his Space Affinity to the next realm," Melissa added as she turned to Erix. "Who knows?" Erix shrugged and faintly smiled. "I may have a higher affinity with Space and progress faster." ''But this has definitely something to do with that curse of Babin Maw Hook,'' Erix said to Rin. ''That woman gave you that special artifact to help you awaken space affinity...Does she have some special connection with us, or does she just happen to choose us by chance?'' Rin wondered. Of course, that woman gave Erix a chance to awaken space affinity because she could sense that he had a talent for it. It was up to his effort after she gave him Babin Maw Hook, and he proved her right by awakening Space Affinity. As the group continued amidst changingndscapes, a new batch of Chaos monsters suddenly appeared. Everyone engaged inbat without their wish or not since these monsters manifested near them and immediately attacked. Their speed lowered, and they focused on defense and dodge before counterattacking. Erix shot a Duality Orb: ck towards a group of chaos monsters. He consumed 200 mana for a bigger range as the orb exploded into a ck hole and sucked all eleven nearby chaos monsters towards it. Rin was ready for this as she swept her de powerfully six times for six quick lightning shes that shredded the monsters. After a few minutes, all fifty-six chaos monsters were wiped out before the group continued with their peak speed. ... The group arrived before the giant checkpoint gate, their finishing line for this race. They heaved relief internally and entered, arriving on another barren ind surrounded by a barrier and suspended in outer space. "Don''t tell me the next checkpoint race is here?" Rin asked, dumbfounded. To their left, two hundred kilometers away, was a giant burning red star. It was way smaller than the sun but a star nheless. Aside from that, they could see a bunch ofs of various sizes and colors due to their distance and size, while faraway space was filled with colorful tiny lights, indicating numerous stars ands. "The race won''t be here," Melissa said. "You can say that this is just a middle-stop. There''s also no countdown since the second checkpoint race hasn''t started yet." "Maybe the race will be on one of thes," Erix said as he looked at the exotics. "Anyway, let''s go shopping first and prepare our arsenal," Erix added before he closed his eyes. They had killed a lot of chaos monsters, so they could buy a lot of skill scrolls from the shop. Moreover, they had also collected over thirty Chaos Gadgets by destroying Chaos Beacons, though they also used many against pursuit and battle against others. From start to end, Rin was more focused on killing, and her speed was also fast, so she had the highest amount of chaos points earned, around fourteen thousand. Erix and Melissa earned the lowest amount of chaos points, at around seven thousand, because it was not their focus. Meanwhile, the beastfolks were roughly simr, reaching around nine to eleven thousand. ''Rin, let''s enter Limitless ne to make some progress. I think it will still take around half an hour or more for the next race to start.'' ''Good idea. We fought a lot and learned a lot, so we can improve our skills if we enter there. Alright, Let''s not waste time and enter.'' The others had also sat cross-legged in meditation like that Gentle Death and others peak Noble-order powerhouses who had arrived here over an hour ago. Rin and Erix entered Limitless ne after closing their eyes and sitting cross-legged. Some were refining their bodies with elemental energy of their 2nd realm affinities, while some just sat in meditation. Melissa and the others also didn''t waste time idling as they sat cross-legged to do simr things. ... Rin and Erix had yet to begin their body refining after their affinity reached the second realm, but they nned to focus on it after this event. For now, they had to spend today''s one hour on Limitless ne and make it worth it. In the first fifteen minutes, they refined their existing skills and improved them to utilize the full potential of their elemental powers of affinities that had reached the second realm. Afterward, the duo decided to dig up a new addition to their spiritual art, which they had acquired recently upon awakening their Spirit Senses. [ Amidst the storm of chaos, I remain the eye of tranquility.] They had unlocked an additional power rted to their spiritual art but hadn''t had time to explore it. "We have fifteen minutes, Rin. Let''s try to decipher andprehend what this spiritual power is about. It might increase our chances of sess." Rin nodded thoughtfully. "When I chanted this verse, I could feel my spirit force moving automatically. I think we should do that and let our spirit force move to see what it does." "Alright. I also felt something simr," Erix nodded. Both of them closed their eyes and started chanting this verse. And as they did, the atmosphere around them turned chaotic, and their mind felt pressured. ''It''s working....But what is it?'' Both of them were startled but kept going. After a minute, they couldn''t even sense each other''s presence while their mind drifted into a chaotic world of myriad colorful storms. The only thing they could sense was a Spirit Force pattern that was taking shape and fed to their consciousness. Chapter 151: Spirit Force Practice, Next Race ''Amidst the storm of chaos, I remain the eye of tranquility.'' Erix repeated this as he looked at this chaotic world around him and the pattern of Spirit Force imprinted in his consciousness. He tried to use Spirit Force, which was extremely difficult in this chaotic world. Rin also did the same, knowing they had to use their Spirit Force to create this pattern in this chaotic world. However, it was easier said than done because the pressure increased every second, making their focus break with pain and disturbance. Whenever they connected a few lines, their spirit force would scatter, and their effort would vanish, making them start all over. But they were clearly making progress, and both knew it was thanks to their heightened focus and buffs of being in Limitless ne. Still, after trying for the next fifteen minutes, they couldn''t form theplete pattern and gave up. It was time to leave. "This is hard..." Erix wryly smiled. "But once weplete this formation in that chaotic world, we might get something powerful to wield," Rin grinned, excited about this new power. "That''s for sure," Erix nodded and rubbed his chin. "The formation that formed after we chanted the verse looked like an eye but with manyplicated patterns inside. Hmm, we might get some spiritual ability rted to ocr power." "Yep, that would be great," Rin nodded. "As long as our perception gets stronger, ourbat ability and survivability will boost." The duo left the Limitless ne afterward and opened their eyes outside. Their spirit sense automatically spread out as it was a habit to remain cautious. Everyone who unlocked their Spirit Sense would usually make this habit quickly. ''Erix! Did you notice?'' ''Of course,'' Erix replied, a grin stretched across his face. ''At least thatst fifteen minutes in Limitless ne was not wasted.'' Indeed, the pressure and pain they endured in that chaotic stormy world while trying to form the pattern with their Spirit Force actually benefitted them! Their Spirit stat clearly increased by 10 points, and their spirit sense''s range reached seven kilometers at max! Their Spirit Force''s capacity also increased by 100. Melissa sensed Erix and Rin''s spirit sense spreading and turned to them before asking, "Are you two done?" ''Their spirit force became a bit stronger,'' Melissa raised her eyebrows. ''But not threatening enough.'' "Yep." Rin and Erix nodded before they looked up to see the countdown. "The next race''s details will appear in eight minutes since a hundred winners are here," the wolf-man said. His teammates were meditating, oozing out their respective elemental auras as they refined their bodies. "Tsk, Savage Maw House''s group is still that big?" Erix said after he looked around and spotted the biggest group consisting of twenty-six people with simr colors of armor sets and symbols. "It is. But none of them will win," Melissa shrugged. "Gentle Death will kill all of them if he gets a chance, but if that''s not possible, he will ensure none of them wins." "It looks like he has some deep feud with that guild," Rin said. "Yep. ording to rumors, his son, along with his group, was wiped out by a group of Savage Maw House''s members," Melissa revealed. "I see. Anyway, we''ll take a bit more rest since there''s still time," Erix said before he conversed with Rin. ''Rin, let''s spend our stat points. I''ll put all of them on Strength since that seems best for me at the moment,'' Erix said as he spent his unassigned stat points, which numbered 178, into Strength. _Life orb: [74%/100%] --> [ Strength: 778 ] --> [ Agility: 600 ] --> [ Health: 600 ] --> [ Stamina: ] --> [ Spirit: 20 / Spirit Force: 1100/1100 ] --> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 600 / Mana: 2000/2000 ] ''Alright. It''s time we spend them,'' Rin nodded. ''Hmm...Alright, I''ll spend all of my points on Agility and Strength, half-half.'' ''Yeah, that''s best for you.'' _Vitality: [100%/100%] _Stat points: 0 --> [ Strength: 689 (+100) ] --> [ Agility: 689 (+100) ] --> [ Health: 600 (+100) ] --> [ Stamina: 600 (+100) ] --> [ Spirit: 20 / Spirit Force: 1100/1100 ] --> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 600 (+100) / Mana: 2000/2000 (+1000) ] ''Also, Rin. I am out of blood, so I need a bit of yours to fill up my Life Orb,'' Erix said. ''What about our Ignis Ed intimacy? Should I use it for this checkpoint race?'' ''No,'' Erix replied. ''It has five hours cooldown, so we won''t be able to use it again. I''ve already used mine, so let''s save yours for thest two checkpoints.'' ''Alright. That''s better indeed.'' "Guy, there are five minutes left, so I think we should open a few Chaos skill scrolls we bought from the shop and put them in Chaos Gadgets," Melissa suddenly suggested. "The next three races will be intense and quick, as I previously said. We have to prepare beforehand," she added somberly. "Let''s open at least five skill scrolls and put them in chaos gadgets. We''ll revolve our teamwork ording to it. Defend, Attack, or Control, we''ll decide based on that," the wolf-man said. "No problem," Erix smiled. Although Rin and Erix initially decided to separate from Melissa in the next checkpoint, the advantage they had with her couldn''t be ignored, so they didn''t say anything and kept this group as it was. ... "My ss is tank-based, so I already have proper defense skills. I can just put in chaos gadgets," the brown-wolf man said. "So, I''ll open three control-skill scrolls and two attack-skill scrolls." "That skill is good." "If you have an Ice-based attack skill, you can exchange it with me for another attack skill. My ranger-based ss and ice affinity can take advantage of Ice-based skills more." "Alright." "Hmm, this is space-based control skill. Erix, you can have it in exchange for some other control skill..." The group quickly opened their skill scrolls and told others what they got before putting them in chaos gadgets and also exchanging some skills for each other''s advantage. By the time they were done, the countdown also hit zero, and the next checkpoint race''s name appeared in the sky, and everyone who looked at it also got its information. But the first line of Note for the race caused everyone to raise their eyebrows. However, the conditions to pass this race were not easy to finish! [Third Checkpoint Race: Adrift for Hunt.] _Note: the fourth checkpoint race will immediately start for whoever passes the third checkpoint race. Only fifty will pass the third checkpoint race. Chapter 152: Bloody Hunt. Lex vs Erix & Rin (1/2) [Third Checkpoint Race: Adrift for Hunt.] _Note: the fourth checkpoint race will immediately start after passing the third checkpoint race. Only fifty will pass the third checkpoint race. ____3rd Checkpoint race____ --> All participants will be teleported to and abundant with treasure temples of various types. Choose and challenge the treasure temples carefully to earn the rewards and points. --> The ones to gather 1,000 points will get a pathway that leads them to the third checkpoint race''s finish gate, where the fourth race would immediately begin. __Rules: -->While not in the temple challenge, anyone may attack others and get attacked by skills stored in Chaos Gadgets. --> You can''t attack those who are in a temple challenge, but a participant can join someone else''s challenge forpetition between the two. Max two per temple challenge, and only one may win the treasure and points. --> Chaos Monsters will also randomly appear around the participants and attack. [0:13] [0:12] ... The ten seconds soon passed before everyone disappeared, their grouping bing naught. However, Erix and Rin had held their hands before disappearing to see if they could appear together, and it worked. Both of them appeared at a riverbank with a five-meter tall temple containing a bull''s statue inside. The bull wore golden pieces of jewelry, and its eyes had glowing red crystals. However, thisnd didn''t seem that big since Rin and Erix saw a person on the other side of this ten-meter-wide river. Whether it was a coincidence or misfortune, the one standing on the other side of the river was Lex. The moment he saw Erix and Rin, he wasn''t even stunned but grinned widely and took out two Chaos Gadgets before shooting them toward the duo. ''What the....'' Erix cursed. Erix still had Rin''s hand in his grip, so he teleported without a moment''s hesitation when he saw Lex''s grin. Those two Chaos Gadgets had transformed, one turning into a huge lightning snake that made a turn and went towards Erix, who had teleported a kilometer high in the sky. Meanwhile, the other chaos gadget expanded into a ck field, covering two kilometers of area. Erix and Rin immediately lost their sight, but they could still ''see'' with their Spirit Sense. Without hesitation, Erix took out a chaos gadget containing a defensive skill and used it. ''Erix, Let''s kill him and be done with it,'' Rin sharply said. ''It''s two vs. one.'' The chaos gadget expanded into a Geocrystal bunker that covered both of them. It could defend against any elemental attacks except for the water element and pure physical attacks for one minute. ''It will be hard, but let''s try. We have no other choice,'' Erix said as he quickly located Lex with his Space Mapping and saw him flying straight towards them while he had a Chaos Gadget between his fingers, ready to use. ''Does he know?'' Erix felt a chill before he immediately teleported again as he didn''t want to take any risk, appearing 1 kilometer below near the treasure temple. *BOOM!* A moment after that, Lex destroyed the Geocrystal Bunker with his glowing fist as he used a Chaos Gadget. ''Damn it!'' Lex cursed but quickly traced them with his Spirit Sense. ''Fucking teleport. I need to kill that guy first.'' "Fuck, how did he know its weakness?" Rin frowned with annoyance. "Maybe from his experience or some skills? Let''s assume that he knows the weakness of defenses," Erix said before he immediately took out Arcane Seal Bullet and shot it towards Lex. ''Rin, this is our only chance to take him out. We can''t afford to waste our second powerful control skill on Lex if we fail to take him out.'' ''Got it.'' On the other hand, Lex immediately saw Arcane Seal Bullet shooting towards him and snorted, ''That''s not going to hit me.'' However, a wormhole suddenly appeared before the bullet that connected to a wormhole that Erix materialized right before Lex. After learning Space Mapping, he could materialize wormhole quickly anywhere within range of his Spirit Sense. *Pich!* The bullet pierced Lex''s shoulder despite his effort to dodge it, causing his face to turn dark as he immediately lost his means to fly and fell down. His magic and mana got sealed. All mana circtions within his body halted, so he couldn''t use regr skills to support himself, like flying with his wings or other movement-type skills. Right after that, he saw Volt Spire Lance shooting toward him while Rin and Erix stood fifty meters away from him at the temple. "Do you think I will fall for such a trick?" Lex snorted as he didn''t dodge nor try to defend against the Volt Spire Lance crackling with powerful lightning as it simply passed through him. Meanwhile, he took out an offense skill chaos gadget to attack Rin and Erix. But he knew they could defend with their chaos gadget, making him annoyed. ''I am at a disadvantage with these fucking rules.'' His focus was on Erix and Rin since he wanted to make sure he sensed whenever they used their Chaos Gadgets. However, his expression suddenly changed as he felt another aura rising from the volt spirence that passed through him. Rin and Erix smirked as they knew Lex was fooled. Rin had attached a Chaos Gadget to the Volt Spire Spear''s middle part, and with its lightning aura masking the deactivated Chaos Gadget, Lex couldn''t sense it at all. And when he sensed the attack skill that emerged from it, he was toote to use any defense-skill chaos gadget. But the twist didn''t end there. The skill Rin used was none other than her Bloodline Skill that she had stored in a chaos gadget! Pure, Intense, Offence! But due to the bloodline skill''s activation condition, Rin''s index finger lit up, and she immediately shot all three orbs toward a wormhole that Erix had moved before her and above Lex, who had his attention split while mana and magic sealed! ''FUCK!!'' Lex cursed, his eyes turned bloodshot in an instant due to the tension and heat he felt as those three orbs exploded into a bloody dark red explosion that immediately targetted him and covered him before ravaging him with a crimson dark me that burned his blood seeped into his body for further damage. ''Arghhh!!'' Lex screamed in pain, but he quickly judged that this attack was not enough to kill him and took out a defensive chaos gadget. Chapter 153: Lex vs Rin & Erix (2/2) [Dominion re Orbs] _Type: Bloodline skill. _Cost: 5 Blood Essence & 100 Mana. _Effect: Conjure a ck re on the tip of the index finger to shoot three thumb-sized orbs at your will. --> Each orb deals damage equal to 500% of the Magic stat + 200% of the Strength stat of the user. The damage of this skill was nothing to scoff at as even Lex, a level 200 powerhouse with 1000 in all of his stats, suffered massive damage, dropping his Vitality by 86% and nearing death''s door. His leather armor -set was also damaged, the durability of pieces decreasing considerably. "Arghhh!!" Lex roared against burning mes as his chaotic gadget turned into a pristine blue square shield covering him. He couldn''t defend against this skill, but he had to prevent himself from taking further damage, or he would die! "You can''t win against us, Lex. Stop with your futile struggles," Erix chuckled as he grabbed Rin''s waist and teleported near the temple treasure. "Can you conjure a wormhole in his barrier?" Rin asked as she took out another offense-skill chaos gadget, eager to finish this annoying guy who was hell-bent on killing them. "Unfortunately, I can''t," Erix wryly smiled. Lex was safe until that barrier was no longer present. ''Fuck, fuck, fuck!!'' Lex cursed before the mes around him subsided and revealed his charred body that was slowly healing as he gulped healing potions. "If only I could attack freely instead of fucking relying on chaos gadgets, I would have killed you two in the previous round!" "How many healing potions are you going to use?" Rin sneered. The hidden suppression in this Chaos Race event was that the more potions they used, the less effective they would be. Everyone had already found that during the second checkpoint race. Lex had chugged five potions and poured two on his body, but his Vitality only recovered to 46%. ''Rin, we have to kill him in the next 43 seconds, or he will regain his magic and mana,'' Erix said. Once Lex was unsealed, his mobility would increase again. Due to the nature of this race, this Arcane Seal Bullet had lost its value as only skills from Chaos Gadget could affect others, but Erix still had a n, and he decided to trust his guts. Taking out a chaos gadget, he pointed it at Lex. "Do you even know this barrier''s weakness?" Lex took out three more potions. He was half-confident and half-nervous, which was why he took out more potions to heal himself, even though it was not that effective. "Let''s check it out," Erixughed and took out a chaos gadget. ''That blue barrier is water attributed, but the chaos skills'' weaknesses are strange...'' Erix thought, and his grip on the chaos gadget tightened. But he decided to trust his guts and intuition. ''Amidst the storm of chaos, I remain the eye of tranquility.'' Erix was someone who had the thirst to study magic, and the knowledge he gained from the mystical formation that formed after chanting that verse was solidified in him, even if it was not much. But he knew that this second verse invoked some kind of perception power on a new realm for them, and from what he understood by sensing the structure of that blue barrier, Erix felt that its weakness was...water itself. As such, he hurled forward the chaos gadget after activating it, causing a long dark blue demonic shark with a single giant wooden horn to materialize as it shot towards Lex. Lex''s face intensely grimaced, which caused Rin''s and Erix''s eyes to light up. He deactivated this defense skill and roared, all veins in his body protruding as he exerted the entirety of his physical strength and more to dig his feet onto the ground before shooting into the green forest. ''I have to escape,'' Lex sweated with anger bubbling in him and maximizing his senses as he knew Erix''s wormholes could send his attack right on his face anytime, and since his mana and magic were still sealed for the next thirty-four seconds, he didn''t have any means to dodge the damn attack! For the first time since his pursuit, he felt a hint of regret, which he immediately squashed as it was not his style to linger on such things. His priority had changed to escaping and keeping himself alive. But Erix was also determined to take his life, and he outdid himself. In a second, ten big wormholes appeared at a ten to tens of meters distance around Lex, and Erix made sure to move them as his bloodthirsty shark entered a wormhole. Erix was fully utilizing his Space Map and wormholes by exerting the full power of his Spirit sense at the cost of pain and pressure. ''No...'' Lex''s eyes widened, feeling a pot of despair manifesting above him. ''Dodge or defend?'' Just as he questioned this, the attack appeared from a wormhole before him, but just as he changed his direction of running, that shark also entered another wormhole and appeared right before him. In desperation, Lex dodged twice, but Erix didn''t intend to hit him with those two attempts in the first ce because he intended to make Lex dance on his palm and move him toward his ultimate doom. When Lex made a turn a fifth time to dodge, a wormhole that greeted him at his face spat out the shark, its jaw wide opened, and its dark blue water body glowing with potent water energy. *Khraaaaa!!* With no other choice, Lex wasted another defense skill, but Rin was prepared as she also used a Chaos Gadget, hurling an important offense skill. The golden spear entered a wormhole and appeared before Lex while the shark entered a wormhole as Erix prevented it from hitting Lex. Meanwhile, the golden spear''s job was to destroy any defense skill. They only had one such skill, but to remove this pest Lex, Rin and Erix decided to use it. Erix''s eyes were bloodshot as he was going past his limit on controlling the wormholes. The spear struck a triangr dark brown barrier around Lex and erased it. The spear also vanished, but Lex''s soul turned cold. The shark appeared behind Lex from a wormhole right after his defense was erased and devoured him. Chapter 154: Treasure Temples, Good Rewards After Lex died, Rin grabbed his Hunter Card and returned to the treasure temple. They were already behind since they hadn''t entered a treasure temple yet, so putting away the Hunter card, Rin entered the treasure temple. The Challenge she got was to pursue ten flying monsters and kill them within a certain time limit. The faster she finished the Challenge, the better the rewards. Meanwhile, Erix teleported away to another treasure temple he had located. After entering, he touched the golden goat''s head, which had a magic circle on it; Erix saw the information. [Treasure Temple: Endurance Devil ] -Survive in a destend that oozes out demonic monsters from the ground. _Milestones: ¡ª> Survive for 1 minute ¡ª Low-grade Elemental Fruit box, 50 points. ¡ª> Survive for 3 minutes ¡ª Medium-grade Elemental Fruit box, 100 points. ¡ª> Survive for 5 minutes ¡ª High-grade Elemental Fruit box, 200 points. Without hesitation, Erix epted the Challenge and disappeared. After arriving in a hellish, barrenndscape, Erix immediately encountered five demonic humanoid monsters with goat horns and hammer hands before them. They rushed towards him, eyes red and mouth opened while roaring. *Smack* x 5 Their stats were 500 in all, so Erix one-shotted them with a minor Sling Shot punch each in quick session before they could get close to him. The next wave of monsters arrived, slightly stronger, but not much. ¡­ After five minutes, Erix came out and saw Rin sitting at his temple''s stairs. Upon sensing Erix, Rin turned around with a grin while eating a dark blue fruit with lightning patterns. "You''re out? Haha, this treasure temple''s reward is actually awesome," Rin said as she quickly finished the fruit. "Open your fruit box and get yours." Erix was surprised and eagerly opened the box as he shone and presented him with options. [ Only one level 2 affinity detected. You have gained one Metal-elemental fruit. ] Erix looked at the gray fruit with a metallic ore structure on his fruit in surprise. ''Inspect.'' [ Metal-Elemental Fruit ] _Grade: High. _Effect: Upon eating the fruit, it will refine 10% of your body with Metal Elemental power. ''This is great!'' Erix''s eyes shone, and he quickly munched on the fruit, finishing it in a couple of seconds as it melted into his mouth after each bite. Inside his Origin Region, below his Metal Affinity, a humanoid physique resembling his figure manifested in a model-like structure. It showed that the surface of his body was refined by Metal elements, which equaled roughly 10% of his entire body. Once Rin and Erix finished 100% of their body''s refinement, they would have a profound boost in power since they would acquire their respective elemental physique. "Let''s not waste more time and quickly challenge other temples," Erix said with a glint in his eyes. "We have to find temples that are being challenged by other participants and win against them. That''s the only surefire way for us to reach 1000 points before others." After all, the Challenge would reset if someone interfered in the Challenge and made it into petition between the two. "Alright, let''s finish this," Rin said with a somber expression. "This checkpoint race gives a disadvantage to groups as we''ll have to hunt others and rob their chances." As such, Rin and Erix quickly flew through the forest while keeping their Spirit Sense spread. Erix could readily discover treasure temples with his Space Mapping. They only needed to win four more temple challenges with the highest grade, as they did in the first Challenge. They also passed the second Challenge with the highest grade, making their body refining progress reach 20%. Afterward, they encountered a couple of individuals, but none of them paid attention to the others as everyone just wanted to challenge Treasure Temples and get 1000 points as soon as possible. Soon, the duo arrived at a mountain base where Erix had discovered two treasure temples, one at the mountain''s base and another at its peak, which was roughly two kilometers in height. Both of them were challenged by very familiar people. A man and a woman, both of whom were in Lex''s gang and their pursuers in the previous race. "This temple is about surviving. Erix, you go for it. I''ll go at the top one." "Alright." The duo had a n on what to do after their Challenge was over and their enemies attacked them, so they were not worried. They realized that there wasn''t much gap in strength between them and others because the main factor that determined one''sbat power was their stats, Affinity realm, and skills. Rin and Erix had powerful self-created skills that utilized their full potential, so they had the upper hand against most in this. The chaos gadget helped them hugely since it restricted the arbiter''s use of skills on other participants. After all, if Lex could use his skills unbridled, they would have slightly lower chances of seeding in killing him as his attacks would be more lethal on them while theirs would be less on him. The stats difference could be huge, but it wasn''t hopeless enough to make their attacks and defense ineffective for a few reasons that depended on individuals. Naturally, the above gap was only possible to truly close because both Rin and Erix had 2nd realm affinities and 1st realm concepts, which hugely increased one''s power as long as they were utilized properly through skills. Those who had level 1 affinity were weeded out quickly. There were even some above level 150, but they didn''t reach a second realm in their affinity. The true obstacles in Rin''s and Erix''s path only remained those peak Noble-order powerhouses who hadpletely refined their body with their level 2 affinities and had more variety of skills along with peak physical and magical parameters. A noble order powerhouse could have a maximum of 1000 fundamental points in all stats, but that was not the limit. The armor sets increased their defense, and weapons increased their attacks, while if someone had a Bloodline, their stats would further increase. But a strong Bloodline like what Rin had was rare, though Rin was only level 1 in her Bloodline progression, so she hadn''t unlocked its full power. In short, the chances of either Rin and Erix getting first ce wholly depended on the nature of the next two Chaos Races if they passed this one. ¡­ Erix entered a survival challenge, but the moment he entered, the nature of the Challenge slightly changed. Arriving amidst a huge underground hall, Erix saw the woman while the monsters around her that she was killing suddenly disappeared. [Challenge has been reset. Survive for five minutes while killing monsters. Killing monsters will count into killing points, and If any of you are damaged by other monsters, the killing points will reduce.] [The one to have higher killing points after surviving for five minutes will be the winner.] [ The challengepetition will start in ten seconds. ] "You¡­." The woman with a red noble frock and ck eyes narrowed her eyes. Initially, she was about to curse him, but then a smile of ridicule formed on her face. "You think you can win against me in thispetition?" Erix smiled and waved his hand, conjuring a spinning metal that he shot toward the woman. "What are you doing?" the woman snorted. "We can''t hurt each other here, even with Chaos Gadgets." "Yeah, I was just checking, but thanks for the information." ''Even if we can''t hurt each other, we might be able to interfere with each other¡­'' Erix wondered. ''I''ll have to check.'' The countdown hit zero, and both of them heard shrill cries as they looked at the ceiling of this huge underground area a hundred meters above them. Ten grotesque birds of two-meter size, with colorful wings and fur, swooped towards them with glowings and wings and talons. The woman quickly flew up while conjuring five earth crystals around that shot earth shards toward the birds. However, Erix simply teleported before her while executing a whirlwind Punch and killed three birds in the range of the punch, shredding them into pieces as they vanished. Right after that, he swiftly punched in the air as it entered into a wormhole and smacked a bird that was going to get hit by the woman''s attacks! The woman''s eyes turned bloodshot with indigestion. ''Why does he have space affinity?!'' Despite trying her best, Erix killed seven birds while she killed only three. But when the next wave of twenty monsters appeared, ten flying and ten ground, Erix tried something, and it worked, which caused him to roar out inughter. "STOP!!" The woman screamed as she released a barrage of glowing dark brown crystal shards. She had a level 2 Earth affinity, so she also had a variety of Earth crystal powers. However, Erix sneered and created a huge wormhole before the attacks, causing them to vanish into the wormhole with no exit as it sted there and then before her dark brown crystal shards could hurt the monsters! Their powers couldn''t hurt each other, but their powers could influence each other''s powers! Erix figured there had to be some hidden rule like usual since it was apetition and not a normal one at that. This challengepetition with this woman became too easy for him as he was sure to win with the lead of killing points he had. Meanwhile, Rin was against a man who had a level 2 me affinity and a level 1 lightning affinity. The Challenge was about killing 500 monsters spread through the darknd, and the one to kill more at the end would win. The difference between their points wasn''t much, but Rin still had the lead since she was quicker and had a variety of martial weapon moves and skills from her vast experience of learning martial arts since she was young, which she had evolved and incorporated into her fighting style with magic. Both of them were not letting their opponents get the better of them! Chapter 155: Lightning Blade Tempest, World of Lightning Erix finished his challenge first and left the temple as the woman immediately attacked Erix after they left. Naturally, Erix expected to be attacked, so he decided to teleport away the moment he appeared outside and vanished, appearing five hundred meters above. "You just wasted a chaos gadget," Erix sneered. "You can''t catch me. Stop with your futile attempts." The woman''s face turned dark. Suddenly, both of them heard the sound of an explosion. ''Rin is out,'' Erix disappeared and appeared a kilometer away, behind the mountain where Rin was facing a man holding a staff with a crystal amber orb resting on its throne head. ''A mage-type ss,'' Erix judged upon seeing the man''s attire and weapon. Naturally, the man sensed Erix''s presence and looked above Rin with a dark expression. ''Rin, we don''t want to waste time against them,'' Erix said. ''Alright, let''s scare them off,'' Rin said before she dug her de Eater into the ground and said to the man, "Get lost, and we''ll spare you." The enemy woman also arrived while flying as she floated above the man with a cautious expression. ''Both of them are troublesome,'' she said to the man via spirit chatting. "Spare us? You think you can kill us?" the man grunted, his eyes narrowed, and mana revved inside him. "Of course," Erix smiled and took out something from his Hunter''s card. Seeing the thing, both the man''s and woman''s face paled involuntarily. "Y-You¡­" In an instant, the woman left as she realized there was no chance of killing the duo with just two of them. The man looked at Lex''s cut-off head for a second before he grunted, "I don''t know, and you don''t know me. Let''s end it here." "Get lost," Rin snorted. The man didn''t say anything and left. "Well, at least he was polite to call it off, unlike that woman," Erixughed. "Hehe, she probably pissed herself seeing Lex''s head," Rin sneered. Of course, Erix and Rin knew that the other two simply wouldn''t be a match for them because they were more powerful! Simple as that. ¡­ The duo continued and finished four challenges sessfully and got 800 points. Now only short of 200 points, the duo continued onwards for half a minute before encountering a treasure temple. "It''s Boss Killer," Rin rubbed her palms. "I''ll gopete in it." "Alright. Meet me 2 kilometers northwest after you are done," Erix said before disappearing, not wasting any time, and arriving at another treasure temple he found. On the other hand, Rin entered inside, arriving in a vast valley with a swamp behind her and a ravaged ck forest ahead of her. She saw a twenty-meter-tall minotaur ahead of her that quickly vanished upon her arrival while the challenger turned around and narrowed her eyes at Rin. She was a two-meter-tall woman with a huge figure. She appeared human, but Rin could sense the existence of Bloodline in her, though she also felt that the woman''s blood was inferior to her. "So it''s you," the woman said, her arms crossed on her silver metal armor. Her dark blond hair flew behind her as she descended and stood ten meters away from Rin. "I guess we are famous now," Rin shrugged and smiled. "Lizmet," the woman said. "Rin." The new challenge notification appeared, and both of them read it. [ Two bosses. One to each participant. The first one to kill the boss appointed to them will win. The challengepetition will start in 10 seconds. ] Roar!! Two giant ck Minotaurs with brown patterns on their bodies materialized. One in the ck forest and one behind Rin. Both of them knew which one was assigned to them and quickly made moves. The woman with dark blond hair rushed towards the Minotaur as her wrist braces shone and a dark blue giant axe materialized in her hands which she struck the monster, reducing its Vitality by 14%, and then pping the Axe towards the fist Minotaur threw to deflect it, her monstrous strength overpowering the Minotaur who had 1200 stats in Strength. On the other hand, Rin began by consuming 200 mana into that lightning bolt and shaping it into a de to apply the de concept''s power to it. The de Bolt struck Minotaur''s leg while also hitting the swam, producing a huge amount of current and paralyzing the boss, reducing its Vitality by 2%. But that was just the beginning. Rin transformed her de Eater into Katana, which had all the powers and effects of other weapons her de Eater had eaten. She swung her Katana horizontally, her eyes flickering with lightning. That single swing cost her 400 mana as she executed the most powerful skill she had created to date and one that she had refined just recently in the Limitless ne. Lightning Tempest des! Her swing formed an arc of lightning before her in a wave shape, which was suspended in the air with aplex formation of de shapes glowing on it. ''1st release.'' Rin swung her de one more time into the arc and finished executing the skill as her swing activated the tempest, causing ten blue Lightning des to shoot towards the paralyzed Minotaur as it roared towards the sky, its body trying to move. *Boom!* Those ten lightning des struck its skin, piercing an inch inside before breaking into lightning tendrils and lengthening its paralyzed debuff. -6% vitality! But this was just the start of the true Lightning Tempest des! At once, she spent 500 more mana and swung four times, creating barrages of lightning des as their colors changed each wave! First swing. She consumed 50 mana and empowered the lightning arc as it shot ten more lightning des, but a bit darker blue as she enforced lightning sparks tobine and increase their potency. They struck the giant Minotaur, shaving its health by 8%. Second swing. -100 mana. She released ten lightning des with a dark indigo shade. -13% vitality. Third swing. -150 mana. Ten highly dark blue lightning des with violet shades struck the monster. -20% Vitality. Further Paralysed. Fourth swing on the arc. -200 mana. Ten pure violet lightning des struck the Minotaur. -29% vitality! All of these attacks urred in two seconds! ''Now this is the real Lightning de Tempest,'' Rin grinned, a hint of thrill and pride in her eyes. She knew that she had executed one of the toughest things she had attempted. Rin had discovered that just like with other elements, Lightning also had a world of its own. The lightning''s structure was made up of Lightning Sparks, which were super tiny. Each lightning spark was faint blue, and if more of them condensed ording to her control, she could form them into anything she wanted, like a de or a bolt. It was much like other elements. However, these lightning sparks also had their own uniqueness, which was that they could evolve. Each lightning spark had two charges: a positive charge and a negative charge. If she set a bunch of Lightning Spark''s charge as positive and then showed negative charge lightning sparks into them, they would evolve into stronger lightning elements. If she superimposed this process to the maximum she could, it would result in violet lightning that she conjured in thest barrage of her Lightning de Tempest! She could discover this new world and make further progress in the affinity thanks to Spirit Sense. After all, Spirit Sense allowed one to peer further andprehend more about everything. Chapter 156: Stairs Lizmet was also powerful, but even she was shocked at the speed at which Rin shaved away the boss''s vitality! Her desperation grew, and she no longer held back as she used her most powerful attack and empowered it with her Blood Essence. s, Rin was faster and finished off the Minotaur by disappearing to a bolt of lightning and executing another one of her most powerful refined skills. Frenzied de Storm! Arriving before the Minotaur, who roared and swung its fist. Rin dodged it with a hair''s breadth and swung her Katana into a full circle as it shone with violet lightning, just like her eyes. -500 mana! In a second, a storm of tiny violet lightning des formed around Rin, with a whirling of violet lightning spark around her. All those were des, so their attacks automatically increased by 50%! *Crackle! Chreee!* The monster was brutalized by the small storm of violet lightning des and died before attempting another attack on Rin. "Darn it!!" Lizmet cursed as her attacknded, but she still had to make another attack to kill it. However, the challengepetition finished, and her Minotaur vanished. Rin chuckled andnded at the ck forest''s edge. "That was easy." Lizmet turned towards Rin and asked, "Do you have de Concept?" "Yep." ''Tsk,'' Lizmet clicked her tongue. "But your attacks were still more powerful than mine, slightly," Rinughed. "Basically, it was a skill issue from the beginning." "I know," Lizmet snorted. Both of them vanished afterward and appeared outside the treasure temple. Rin got the best reward, a high-grade elemental fruit. She quickly ate it and ignored Lizmet, who also didn''t bother to say anything, and quickly left to find another treasure temple. ''It looks like she wants to pass this round,'' Rin thought as she saw Lizmet ignoring her and quickly leaving. Rin had fought with the previous treasure temple challenge''s opponent since he wanted to snatch the fruit reward from her and kill her. Of course, that guy failed and ran away when Erix arrived. Rin flew towards the direction Erix told her after eating the fruit and soon arrived there, but was surprised to see Melissa waving at her while smiling. "Melissa." "Hi," Melissa smiled as she sat at the temple and waved at Rin, whom she had sensed her right. "So Erix is here, eh? d I waited." "Did you just arrive here?" "Right when I sensed your presence appearing two kilometers away." "Yeah, I just finished a challenge. Thest one," Rin grinned. "Good. I''m also done," Melissa smiled. "Let''s leave together if Erix wins this one. I suppose this is also hisst one." "Yep." Thirty secondster, a bunch of Chaos Monsters arrived that Rin and Melissa obliterated within seconds. Another thirty secondster, Erix exited along with a burly man with a rough green body¡ªIt was a two-meter-tall muscr Hobgoblin. "Damn it!" the Hobgoblin growled, but his mouth suddenly shut tight as he sensed two more presences in the area. "What? Do you want to fight?" Erix smiled and shed his gauntlet''s knuckles. The Hobgoblin saw two pairs of eyes on him and just silently left after conjuring a pair of wind-elemental wings. "So this is the pathway," Erix turned to the North and could faintly see the blue line that suddenly appeared, leading towards something giant far away. "Yep. So, let''s be quick," Melissa said as she flew up. Rin appeared beside Erix and held his hand. "It seems that this race is only halfway over." ¡­ The trio followed the blue path that they could suddenly see after getting 1000 points and arrived at a giant snowy mountain that was roughly five hundred kilometers in height. There was a giant blue crystal gate at the base of the mountain and stairs. The requirement to enter through the gate was 1000 points, and even though there was an open area around it, it was impossible to enter the snowy mountain and step foot on the stairs. They had to go through the gate. "It''s so tall¡­" Erix mumbled as he walked towards the gate while looking at the mountain that went on for so long that he couldn''t see its peak. "If this mountain was in our world, how it would have affected everything," Rin said with a wry smile. "This is going to test our endurance and willpower," Melissa said and sighed. "And if we are not careful, others behind us might catch up to us. Damn it, I hate this type." "So there are going to be obstacles, eh? Fine by me," Rin chuckled. The trio went through the gates, and their points were reduced to 0. [Your feet must touch every single stair of this mountain to reach the top.] "Alright, the teleport is not working," Erix dered a secondter as he failed to teleport. "We can''t fly," Rin said. "Don''t tell me we have to climb this big mountain on foot?" Rin asked, her left eye twitching. "Run," Melissa said in a dispirited voice as she exerted her full physical strength and started climbing. Rin and Erix quickly followed up. The stairs were a kilometer wide andrge. "Haha, I am faster here," Rin chuckled as she buffed herself with Lightning, increasing her cell activity and increasing her agility as she also stepped on each stair quicker and climbed faster. "Babe, can you buff me as well?" Erix asked with a wry smile. "Alright," Rin grinned. Both of them overtook Melissa, who had higher physical stats than them. But then, Melissa smirked, and veins protruded all over her body as she quickly caught up to the duo before turning into a shadow behind them that attached to their shadow. "Yo, what?" Erix was dumbfounded. "You can''t call this your feet touching the ground." "Nope. I am touching each stair," Melissa chuckled as her head popped out of the shadow. After all, she had refined her body 100% with the Darkness element! "Tsk," Rin clicked her tongue. But this climb was not without obstacles. After they climbed 10,000 stairs as fast as possible, seeminglypleting 10% of the distance as indicated by the floating texts before them, the trio encountered three doors before them. [Select your door] Door 1: Stamina recovery 50% for 10,000 stairs. Door 2: Increase Strength and Agility by 200 for 10,000 stairs. Door 3: Increase Magic by 250 for 10,000 stairs. And these were not the only type of doors waiting for them ahead. Chapter 157: Final Race "I''ll choose the Strength and Agility door," Erix said before moving forward and entering the door, gaining bonus Strength and Agility. "I''ll choose Magic," Rin said as she entered the Magic buff door. Melissa also went through the Magic Buff door before the trio continued forward. However, when they crossed 5,000 steps, three more doors appeared. Door 1: Fight and kill 50 Monsters. ¡ª 1 to 3 levels up, depending on your level. Door 2: Fight and kill two Boss monsters. ¡ª 3 to 9 level-ups, depending on your level. Door 3: Fight one Chaos Boss monster. ¡ª 9 to 18 level-ups, depending on your level. "Don''t bother with thest one," Melissa said as she nced at Rin and Erix. "Why?" Erix asked. He was very much tempted and eager to choose Door 3. But then he immediately added, "Will it take more time?" Melissa nodded. "Yep. You two are powerful but not powerful enough to quickly kill a Chaos Boss Monster and catch up." "So, if others chose easy doors to clear, they would finish it quickly and continue climbing," Rin muttered. "Alright, let''s choose the Door 1. We don''t want to risk it." Erix nodded. There were only fifty spots, so it was better to hurry. The trio entered Door 1, killed fifty monsters as fast as possible, and continued climbing. Rin and Erix leveled three times, reaching level 105. After an hour of continuous climbing and choosing doors that wouldn''t hinder their speed, the trio finally reached the top of the mountain and passed through a gate with a pathway that led toward the sky. [Congrattion. You are in the top 50] [Continue towards the gate and fly through the sky passage for the 4th checkpoint race. Only 25 will pass.] There were no rules or anything for the 4th race except for the simple instruction of going forward towards the sky. "Let''s go. No time to rest," Melissa said as she flew up. Rin and Erix also flew up. All of the restrictions were lifted so they could fly at their full speed, and Erix could also teleport. After crossing a thousand kilometers without trouble, the scenery around them changed as everything turned dark. "Rin?" Erix shouted but couldn''t see her. He paused and saw nothing but darkness around him. It was the same with Rin and Melissa. "What the fuck?" Erix mumbled in confusion since his Spirit Sense also couldn''t detect anything. ''No other choice but to continue forward,'' Erix thought as he continued flying. He couldn''t feel the sense of distance in this darkness or how long he flew so far, but he continued. Rin was also in the same boat, but there was no time to get thwarted here as she continued. As for Melissa, she didn''t pause even for a second. After an unknown amount of time passed, Rin suddenly saw darkness clearing as she arrived in outer space. Sparkling stars in the distance and a fews close to her, Rin felt she was alone in this universe. She could feel weird energies hitting her as her Spirit Senses sensed them. "Erix?!" Rin shouted, but her voice was null in this ce. ''What is going on?'' Rin thought, her heartbeat increasing slightly. ''The path, yes¡­ where is it?'' Rin thought as she looked around. ''Can''t see it¡­'' The path that guided her from the gate atop the mountain peak disappeared! She exerted her Spirit Sense to the max because it was the only thing that might show her the way. After creating a mana barrier around her, Rin closed her eyes and entered meditation with her Spirit Sense focused around her. Instantly, she sensed an anomaly, but it quickly vanished. But Rin felt and decided to make it her focus. ¡­ Erix''s situation was the same as he found himself in outer space with no one around him. After several minutes of trying a few things, Erix calmed down and closed his eyes. He expanded his spirit sense after entering meditation. ''Hmm? What was that?'' Erix clearly sensed a blue flicker somewhere around him, but it quickly vanished. He pressed further and peered his Spirit Senses deeper into the space. With his space mapping in toe, Erix understood the assignment after a few minutes and smiled. He stretched his hand before him, which vanished into space from his wrist for two seconds before he pulled his hand back, which had something in it. A blue key with blue energy sparkling wings. A momentter, a blue door manifested before Erix with a keyhole. Putting the key into it, Erix pushed the door open and arrived on a floating ind with 13 people on it. Melissa was already there. ''How much time actually passed?'' Erix questioned as he frowned. The sense of time was lost in that darkness as he didn''t know how long he flew in it. "So, you passed. Congrat," Melissa smiled. "Let''s hope your wife also passes." "She will," Erix curtly replied with a in smile. Ten minutes passed, and one more arrived. [14/25] Two more people arrived in the next five minutes, making the passed participant reach 16. ''Rin, hurry up,'' Erix looked at the count. Twenty minutes passed. [19/25] "Hmm, she might not pass," Melissa said. Erix ignored her. "I guess you need a more powerful life partner, someone who can keep up with you," Melissa chuckled. "Shut the fuck up," Erix said as he gave a side nce at her. "You''re nothingpared to her. " Melissa''s eyes shed a cold light before she smiled. "I am better than her. How about you team up with me for good?" "It looks like you''ve been lonely for too long," Erix said, a mocking smile on his face. "Go bother those old men there. They''ll keep youpany at night." "You¡­" Melissa''s lips twitched before she snorted. "I thought you were someone who could think properly, but well, I was wrong." "Too bad, if you and I worked together, our powers could synergize well, and we could get progress faster," Melissa said before leaving Erix''s side and going to a corner. And right after that, Erix suddenly turned to his left he sensed a familiar presence. Upon seeing Rining out of a magical door just like others, he sighed a huge relief and smiled. "Come on, babe. You took your sweet time for this," Erix said with a wry smile. "I couldn''t help it," Rin chuckled. "I think I gained something good in this race, but it will take time to solidify it." "What?" Erix was curious. "Secret. I''ll only tell you if I seed. If not, then it''s useless." "Alright, let''s enter Limitless ne. I''m sure we still have time before the final race," Erix smiled. Rin saw Melissa sitting a hundred meters away under a tree but didn''t bother to call her. It was the final race, so everyone was their enemy. The duo sat down like most of the others at one of the corner spots under a tree and started meditation. The next person arrived fifteen minutester. Another arrived ten minutes after that. Soon, a total of thirty minutes passed as Rin and Erix also exited Limitless ne, their consciousness returning to their body as their aura surged briefly. They made more progress in Spiritual Formation, which increased their Spirit stat. Erix''s Spirit stat reached 39, while Rin''s Spirit stat reached 37. An increment of 19 and 17, respectively. They looked around and didn''t see any of those wolf beastfolks. "Let''s spend the chaos points now. It''s time to go all out in the final race," Rin said. ¡­ Twenty minutes more passed before finally the 25th winner arrived and ended the 4th race. 10 minutes of rest time countdown appeared. But suddenly, someone approached them. It was Gentle Death. Nobody knew his true powers. The only thing known about him was that he had the Light affinity at the 2nd realm and a 2nd realm Pierce concept. "You two," Gentle Death unhurriedly said, his eyes on Rin and Erix. Both of them felt formless pressure. They knew that this man was far more experienced than them and more powerful in every way¡­at the moment. "What?" Erix asked, his eyebrows raised. "Give up in the next round," Gentle Death said before he turned around and left. "Give up?" Rin was speechless. "I''ve never had any scuffle with him." She turned to Erix and asked, "Did something happen between you and him? "I met him in the second checkpoint race, but only for a few seconds," Erix said, his eyes confused as he looked at Gentle Death. "Humph, whatever then," Rin snorted. "He is also our enemy." Ten minutes soon passed before the final race''s details appeared, and it was extremely simple. [Final race: Ancient Battlefield Race] ¡ª> Everyone will spawn randomly on a huge battlefield littered with overflowing monsters. ¡ª> There are ten zones, and everyone will start in the 1st zone. ¡ª> Every participant can only stay in one zone for one minute. During this minute, they can hunt monsters to acquire killing points and also hurt others using Chaos Gadgets. ¡ª> If you cross the one-minute mark, your killing points will be reduced by half every second. ¡ª> After crossing ten zones, the participants will be ranked based on their killing points. A countdown of 20 seconds also appeared. [20] [19] [18] "Simple and straightforward. We might have a chance, Erix," Rin said, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Yeah," Erix nodded, thrilled. "So, we kill monsters as fast as possible in each zone for one minute." ''We''ll have to watch out too,'' Rin said as she looked at Melissa and a few others who were casting nces at them. ''That bitch will surely interfere,'' Erix said before he quickly told Rin what happened before she was here. Chapter 158: Race End, Rewards, Returned "Why?!" Rin shouted, her fist clenched. In the ancient battlefield''s first zone, which had an ongoing blizzard andva veins on the ground, Rin and Erix floated before Gentle Death. "Give up," Gentle Death calmly said before he stabbed his rapier toward Rin and Erix while using a Chaos Gadget. Both of them suddenly felt danger, but their speed was too slow as their shoulders were pierced by a golden beam. "Give up." Gentle Death''s speed was too fast as he appeared before them, floating just ten meters away and making Rin and Erix sweat coldly. Erix suddenly used a Chaos Gadget as a huge area around them turned into water while tentacles popped out everywhere. "It''s useless." A swiftly flickering golden barrier appeared around Gentle Death, which not only protected him but also destroyed any tentacles that touched it. "Give up and leave. If not, you will die here," Gentle Death said, his expression the same from the beginning¡ªdeadpan. "You two shouldn''t die here. That''s why I am telling you to leave," he added. Rin and Erix were startled. ''What is this old man going on about?'' ''Whatever it is, we are helpless against him.'' "Why are you so fast?" Erix asked. "Speed concept," Gentle Death inly answered. ''Damn it. So, he has two concepts,'' Rin cursed. ''And speed concept? No wonder he is so fast.'' ''Screw it, Rin. We can''t press forward with him on our toes. First ce is out of our reach,'' Erix said, his expression disying frustration as his fists clenched. "Fine," Erix grunted. ''Let''s leave. It seems that we are done here.'' "Good," Gentle Death nodded. "Now go." ''It looks like he won''t leave until he sees us disappear,'' Rin sighed. ''Give up.'' ''Give up.'' Both of them got an option of whether they wanted to exit this event after they thought of ''give up'' with the intention of giving up the race. [Do you wish to exit the event and finalize your ranking?] ''Yes.'' ''Yes.'' Erix and Rin disappeared. As they appeared outside the giant gate in the sky above the town, both of them quickly got a reward notification. [Congrattions, you are ranked 24th in the Chaos Race event. You have received a random Tier-4 weapon box, a random Tier-4 skill, a Mystery Box, and 7 x Resource Box ] [Congrattions, you are ranked 25th in the Chaos Race event. You have received a random Tier-4 weapon box, a random Tier-4 skill, a Mystery box, and 3 x Resource Box] The items appeared in their disabled Inventory rather than Hunter''s card, but they could only take out the rewards from it instead of putting anything inside. ¡­ After the duo arrived at the vi, they saw Lilith and Mirenda on chairs in the garden with a bonfire between them. Beside them was a basket with pieces of various meat that they pierced through barbecue sticks and cooked on the bonfire. It was night, so they were apparently having dinner. "You two¡­" Lilith was surprised. "It seems that you failed," Mirenda lightly smiled. "It''s fine. I wasn''t expecting you to win anyway. The contenders for the first ce were too powerful for you two." "You two didn''t open the Tier-4 rewards, right?" Lilith quickly asked. "Nope. We''ll save them for better rewards," Rin said. "Good." "So, what next?" Erix said before he created a thin metal chair for him and Rin before sitting at the bonfire. Lilith looked at Mirenda and said, "I am still taking that Leaf of Life crystal. What do you want in exchange on top of killing that bastard?" "I want nothing else right now, so I''ll just count it towards a favor," Mirenda said before taking a bite of a meat piece. "Alright," Lilith nodded before she turned to Erix and Rin. "You two must be tired. Eat these meat pieces as they are of Noble-order beasts and rest. We''ll depart tomorrow morning." "So, you are going to kill the leader of Savage Maw House?" Erix asked with a wry smile. "Yep. After eating," Lilith grinned. ¡­ When Rin and Erix woke up in the morning, Lilith was already sleeping beside Erix''s other side. After having a morning exercise that gave both of them some Blood Essence, the trio met up with Mirenda and departed the town. Everyone was talking about the death of Savage Maw House''s leader, but no one knew who killed him. "No one knows?" Erix asked, surprised. "Of course not," Lilith chuckled. "Some people know, though my name hasn''t spread out. But it won''t take much time before everyone finds out that I killed him." "It seems that the battle was easy for you," Rin muttered. "Thanks to Erix," Lilith smiled. "Where are you three going now?" Mirenda asked. "The next main and other ingredients for Erix''s ss will be in the Inner domain, but we''ll go there after a few days, along with my guild," Lilith answered. "Rin and I want to finish refining our bodies first and train, so we need some peace for a while," Erix said. "Peace, eh? Alright. Then we''ll go on to heaven in this Abyss," Lilith smiled. "Of course, after we move to the Inner Domain." "You want to take them to that ce in Core Domain?" Mirenda raised her eyebrows. "What ce?" Rin curiously asked. "Secret," Lilith chuckled. "You''ll have to wait. Also, you will also train faster there." ¡­ After they arrived at Mirenda''s guild and got the Leaf of Life crystal from her, Lilith, Erix, and Rin returned to Dark Queen guild. Lilith went to do other things like preparing to wrap up the guild and holding a meeting while Rin and Erix went to their room and opened their rewards. They opened the resource boxes first and were surprised. It gave them Essence Pills and elemental fruit boxes. [Essence Pill] _Grade: Tier-3. _Effect: Level up one time if you are in Noble order. If you have reached level 200, then you can get 3 stat points. Erix got 3 Essence Pills, which meant he could use it to level up three times. As for the elemental fruit boxes, he got four of them. However, they were not high-grade elemental fruit boxes. Instead, they were low-grade, which meant that Erix could increase his Metal Physique progression by 2% with each fruit. As for Rin, she got 3 Essence pills from her three resource boxes and no fruit boxes. After the duo absorbed these resources, they started training¡ªusing mana, turning it into their respective elemental energies, and refining their bodies. Since they didn''t want to go out to fight today, they spent the whole day training, and after 12 hours, their progression was something like this: Erix¡ªMetal Physique: 68% Rin¡ªLightning Physique: 61% "Gosh¡­so many hours and only this much progress?" Riny on the bed and groaned. Erix rolled to the side and got on top of Rin before pressing her hands. "True, this will take some time to reach 100% without elemental fruits." "But for now¡­I am horny," Erix grinned, his red eyes gleaming. He kissed Rin''s neck gently before pulling up her t-shirt and grabbing her plump and soft breasts. "Aah¡­" Rin''s face flushed as she felt too good and grinned. "I amctating, you know?" "Eh? You''re not pregnant, right? We''ve done unprotected many times in my house." "Nope, I am not," Rin smiled and kissed him. "It''s not time for that yet." "Mhmm," Erix nodded and gently wrapped his fingers around her nipples before he pressed down and then squeezed, causing milk to spray out on his face. "Aaah, it feels good, haha," Rin giggled as her clothes also vanished into her Hunter Card''s storage. With both of them bare, Erix stood near her crotch and rubbed his dick on her pussy before sliding inside as it became wet. Rin released a cute moan of satisfaction while Erix bent down and started sucking her breast and drinking her milk. "Aaanhh¡­suck it harder!" "Hahaha, it feels good, eh?" "Yep, but not as much when you are inside me~" Erix got up and grabbed her knees before he started moving intensely and quickly while Rin held onto the bed with her eyes rolling upward in pleasure and her boobs jiggling quickly. After a minute, Erix pulled her up from the waist and hugged her before he started thrusting at full speed while Rin moaned crazily as she felt hot and pure satisfaction filling her with each thrust. After a short while, both of them climaxed at the same time as their juices mixed up in Rin''s pussy while they remained hugged tightly. Their bodies glowed, and their stats increased by 1 point. Rin backed up and looked at Erix with watery and zy eyes, "More¡­" "Of course, but let''s have a slow session this time," Erixughed and walked towards a wall as Rin''s back supported it and then started thrusting again, but this time gently. Rin lightly moaned at this feeling that felt new every time and looked up with her eyes closed, enjoying the pure satisfaction and bliss filling her with each thrust. On the other hand, Erix saw her juicy white breasts jiggling and couldn''t help but start sucking them. "The milk is tasty, Rin." "Yeah? You can drink daily then, haha." Erix sucked hard and even gently bit her nipple before pulling his head and sucking again. All of these actions caused Rin''s pleasure to increase as she moaned. Erix could feel Rin''s insides tightly around his dick and just never wanted to stop moving to get this heavenly massage. But he also wanted to release loads because he had loads upon loads! As such, he released his hot load into Rin, feeling the highest satisfaction and bliss again before using the special skill to turn it into energy. Rin''s body quivered in pure pleasure as Erix''s hot semen filled her insides to the brim. "Fuck¡­it''s awesome," Rin muttered with half-opened dreamy eyes. "I''ll shoot more, and you can climax whenever you want," Erix grinned as he started moving again. "Wait¡­do it from back. I don''t care if we break the fucking bed. Do it hard," Rin said with an intense glint in her eyes. And so, the duo spend the next five hours doing passionate battle before dropping unconsciousness on their bed. When Lilith finally arrived in their room, she was speechless. ''I was busy, and you two were having fun¡­" "Damn it. I am going to have you make up for this!" Chapter 159: Inner Domain, A Mysterious Granny The next day, Rin and Erix reached roughly eighty percent of the progress in their body refinement. Since they spent two whole days inside just body refining, they were a bit sick, so they went out for some hunting. Everyone knew that Rin and Erix were second only to Lilith in the Dark Queen guild, and nobody knew why. With Erix''s space affinity, hunting monsters became easier than ever for the duo. They cleared monsters like a vacuum cleaning dust from the house. In one day, they leveled up three times, which was massive progress. But they got bored and decided to challenge themselves against stronger monsters by going towards the sea and fighting the whole day the next day, leveling up seven times. Afterward, they spent the next day doing body refinement and progressed to roughly eighty-five percent. The progress was slower because Lilith and Rin sucked Erix dry that day. Erix slept with utmost satisfaction and woke up beside two naked beauties. After they woke up, It was time to leave. Five days had passed since they returned, and the Guild was ready to move. Rin and Erix also spent their daily one hour on Limitless ne to create their Spiritual Formation and were halfway done. After a few hours, threerge flying ships departed towards the ocean. Their target was the Inner Domain of Kanx Abyss past the sea. Inside the control room¡­ "How long will it take to reach there?" Erix asked as he sat on a couch with Rin nestled beside him. Lilith stood before them while steering the wheel of the ship. She was wearing a ck frock strapless dress. "Roughly eight hours," Lilith answered before she pressed a white crystal button and sat beside Erix. Afterward, she pulled down her strapless dress, causing her big boobs with light pink nipples to breathe the air. "I should decrease their size, I feel. What do you say?" Lilith asked with a smile. Rin rolled her eyes and pped her boob, causing it to jiggle. "Damn, how did you get them like this?" Erixughed and grabbed one with his hand before putting one into his mouth. "You want to decrease their size? Nope." "It tickles," Lilith giggled. "It looks like yesterday''s horniness is still not gone." "Not from me," Rin grinned and pulled down Erix''s pants before she started sucking his dick. "Same," Erix said. "I am getting hornier day by day¡­" He pressed her breast hard, marveling at its plumpness and tenderness before sucking again. ¡­ *BOOM* Six hourster, Rin, Erix, and Lilithy naked on the control room''s floor, jolted awake as a powerful energy swept through everywhere. Lilith frowned as clothes appeared around her, and she vanished into a dark wisp. Rin and Erix also stood up as they wore clothes and armor sets before going on the deck. *Roarr!!* A powerful pressure bore on them from a giant flying wyvern that was ten meters long and had fifteen meters of wingspan. The Wyvern was a dragon with two legs, two wings, and often a pointed tail, which was said to be a venomous stinger. This Wyvern was a bit different as it had two sharp tails. Its body was dark blue scales with a hint of green hue, and its tails were also the same. "It''s a Royal-order monster," Erix''s expression turned somber. "We can''t kill it with our current power," Rin mumbled as she judged it simply based on its aura without looking at its stats. However, Lilith appeared before the Wyvern before it could release an attack from its opened mouth towards the ships. Since their ship was at the front, the other two ships behind were safe. Rin and Erix watched with rapt attention, but Lilith finished it off too fast. With a blob of dark red energy that appeared before her, it transformed into a giant maw and swallowed the entire Wyvern in one go. It was a freaking one-shot kill of a Royal Order monster! "What the¡­What kind of skill is that?" Rin was dumbfounded. Lilith vanished from her spot into a wisp of darkness and appeared before the duo as she smiled. The dark red blob was still before her, and it opened a smaller maw, this time before pouring out clean bones and scales of the Wyvern. "These materials can be sold for a good price. Keep them." "Alright," Erix nodded before he put them into his Hunter Card. "What more? I remember you saying that you would give us resources and help us progress faster, but so far, we haven''t seen much," Rin crossed her arms. "Where are they?" Lilith chuckled. "I''ll get you two whatever you want after we reach Inner Domain. The good things are there." ¡­ Two hourster, the ships descended on the outskirts of the Inner Domain and arrived at the port of the huge Nether Wind City that spanned across fifty kilometers of area. The city was situated in the Netherwind region, which took a huge chunk of the Inner Domain''s area, spanning over a thousand kilometers. The wind in this area was powerful, and it would erode everything slowly. But sometimes, there would be a Nether Storm in a small area with the power to kill Noble-order monsters and even injure Royal-order monsters. The people use wind resistance items, use buff skills, and wear armor sets with such perks to resist theher wind. But the most troublesome were monsters bearing attributes of wind and mutated by Nether Wind. They would get buff from the Nether Storm and attack rampantly. Lilith had already informed her Dark Troupe on what to do, so they led the guild members toward the city''s periphery. "What about us?" Erix asked. "We three will go into the city and roam to buy you things," Lilith sweetly smiled. "The cities in Inner Domain and Core Domain are huge and advanced in terms of magitech, so there are a lot of things here to aid you." "And about that Heaven in the Core Domain?" Rin curiously asked. "We''ll go there after you two finish a short training session that I''ll make," Lilith''s smile widened. "You two wanted my help, right? Haha, I''ll train you two thoroughly and give you everything I have in terms of knowledge and whatnot." "That''s great, haha," Erixughed and looked forward to it. Rin also had gleams of anticipation in her eyes upon hearing Lilith''s words. Lilith was powerful and more experienced, so if she trained and helped them, it would absolutely improve them faster! ¡­ "Erix, what''s your ss?" Lilith asked. "I believe I haven''t seen you use the abilities of your ss." The trio was walking on a footpath in the city with a ckke view to their left. "I don''t have a ss right now," Erix wryly smiled. "I need to kill a Royal-order monster while being at Noble-order. That''s the only task left." "Eh? So we already killed 10,000 monsters?" Rin was surprised. "Ah, not really," Erix shook his head. "But it''s over eight thousand, and we''ll reach ten thousand soon, so it''s almostpleted. The tough one would be Royal order." "You''re still a bit weak to kill a Royal order," Lilith nodded as she rubbed her chin before smiling. "But after my training, you would be able to kill one without much trouble." Lilith led them to an old store in the city with an old woman sitting inside reading a paper about the news of Inner Domain and Core Domain. Seeing the customers, the woman looked up, but when she saw Lilith, she raised her eyebrows. "It''s you, brat." "Yes," Lilith happily smiled. "How is your main body doing, Granny May?" "It''s resting in heaven," Granny May snorted. Lilith chuckled. Erix and Rin used to inspect on her out of curiosity since they felt no aura or power from her but were shocked. [Unable to Inspect. Entity doesn''t exist.] "So, what are you here for?" Granny May asked before she nced at Erix and Rin. "And you even brought two kids who are marked by ass I know." "Eh? Who is it?" Lilith curiously asked. Granny May rolled her eyes. "Idiot, why are you asking when you know you won''t get answers." Lilith stuck out her tongue while smiling. She was acting like a little girl before this old woman. ''It seems that they have a special rtionship,'' Erix said. ''Yeah.'' "Ahem, so Granny May, I am sure you can already tell that my seal is broken, and I''ve be powerful," Lilith grinned. "Yeah. This brat must have done that," Granny May looked at Erix. "It was my pleasure," Erix smiled. She briefly closed her eyes. ''A unique death source¡­ So, she found it. Coincidence or interference by someone?'' ''So, it was a coincidence¡­Hmmm, then this may bring great waves to the grant game.'' Lilith eagerly asked when Granny May briefly closed and opened her eyes. "So, what is it?" "A coincidence," Granny May smiled. "Yes!" Lilith excitedly clenched her fist. Meanwhile, Rin and Erix were confused. "So what do you want? A Death Root for him?" Granny May nced at Erix. ''This grandma knows everything,'' Rin clicked her tongue. ''She must be very powerful,'' Erix internally nodded. "Yep," Lilith nodded while smiling. "And I know you will give me its location for free, which is why I am here." "Thetest Death Root''s location is in Core Domain''s Pale Hunger Swamp, but you''ll have to cross above Royal order for that." "Oh¡­" Lilith turned to Erix with a wry smile. "It seems that we''ll have to do a bit of adventure for me to progress faster so I can break through to Empyrean-Order." "We?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "Of course, we! The three of us we''ll go on a route that Granny May will write for us. I will also train you two during that." Lilith turned to Granny May and adopted a puppy-eyed expression. "Pretty please¡­" "Stop with that," Granny May rolled her eyes. "You know I won''t reject such simple requests from you." She took out a scroll from under her desk and then took out a feather ink pen before her hand moved at a blurry speed for two seconds. "Here," Granny may show the scroll to Lilith. Lilith took the scroll and put it in her inventory before asking with a serious expression. "Did you go all out?" "I did," Granny May smiled. "I want to see the waves risings, so you three better meet my expectations." Rin and Erix felt a strange pressure on them upon hearing that. They already knew that this granny seemed to be someone extraordinary, so hearing her say that she had certain expectations from them pressured them. And also excited them. "Haha, alright!" Lilith grinned. "Then we''ll see you in the Core Domain after we finish our adventure." "I hope to see you there," Granny May nodded, and her smile showed clear kindness. "Go and dance with death, but don''t let it beat you, for that is the most fun thing to do." "Roger!" Chapter 160: Shopping, Griomoire "So, who is she?" Erix curiously asked as the trio left the old shop and arrived on the main pathway from the alley. "And you said we''ll meet her again in Core Domain¡­" Rin trailed off, slightly confused at that statement. Lilith smiled and took out the scroll in which Granny May drew the route to Death Root. "This route didn''t exist before she designed it. Thendscape, resources, dangers, and everything there was changed the moment she drew this route." "That''s how powerful she is," Lilith continued. "In simple terms, she has God-like powers, but there are also some rules that affect her." Erix and Rin were shocked. "No wonder Inspect didn''t work on her," Erix muttered. "Can we be as powerful as her?" Lilith chuckled. "We can, but it takes time for us to stay alive. She is outside the influence and any bindings of Mystic Root as her existence is not part of it, but a part of something bigger that epasses everything in existence." Rin raised her eyebrows and asked, "So, this Mystic Root thing is also not omnipotent?" Lilith smiled. "It is until a certain level of existence ne, but once you go past it, it is no longer omnipotent for you. After all, Mystic Root is just one of the seven wonders of the Grand Primal Cosmos. It selects worlds and connects them to make people powerful. Its job is to push living beings on the path of evolution." Rin and Erix gulped while their faces turned slightly red. This information was too much. But it also excited them to no end! "Ahem, so what next?" Erix asked. "Let''s buy you a pair of Tier-4 armor sets," Lilith grinned. "You two need more defenses since our Journey to Death Root won''t be easy. Granny May knew what we wanted, so when we finish our journey, we''ll have all the ingredients ready to manifest your unique bloodline." "Great," Rin rubbed her palms while smiling. "But before we leave, can we have some passionate training sessions so I can level up my Bloodline to the next level? I need 43 Blood Essence." "Of course. I also need it," Lilith chuckled. Both of them looked at Erix, but Erix shrugged and smirked, "I got you." ¡­ Soon, the trio arrived at a luxurious big shop in the city''s center area. Tier-4 was a new realm of power, and only the royal order could use the full power of Tier-4 items and skills. The reason was simple. Royal Order powerhouses no longer had Mana. Instead, they had Prana. It was an evolved form of Mana and stronger. The advanced magic formations all needed Prana to be activated, and all Tier-4 items and skills had Advanced magic formations, so without Prana, people wouldn''t be able to use them to their full potential. However, Rin and Erix could still benefit from the defense of Tier-4 armor sets because they were made from stronger materials and automatically gave them stronger defense. Moreover, the passive perks of Tier-4 armor sets would still apply to them, so having a Tier-4 armor set was better than a Tier-3 armor set even if one hadn''t reached Royal Order rank. "Next, let''s buy weapons," Lilith said. "Tier-4 weapons are useless to you, so we''ll get Tier-3 Legendary grade weapons." "Alright." "I need two weapons," Rin crossed her arms. "After that, My de Eater can finally evolve." Lilith chuckled. "No problem." Rin only added three weapons to her new de Eater so far since it had been reset after arriving in Abyss. After entering the special weapon shop that only sold weapons and custom-made them for customers, Rin readily chose two ded weapons. One was a Lightning attributed spear, and another was a wind-attributed battle-fan. Rin wanted a variety of ded weapons that she knew how to wield. Hence, she chose those. As for Erix, he couldn''t decide what weapon would be suitable for him. Standing in front of a showcase containing gauntlets, he rubbed his chin. "No more gauntlets. I can create custom gauntlets to exert the full potential of my punch skills, so I need something different." "Do you have any suggestions?" Lilith was standing beside him, thinking. "Actually, you shouldn''t buy weapons," Lilith said with a smile. "Let''s get you something else. Something that will allow you to be flexible since you have the Metal affinity." "What?" Rin curiously asked. "Magic Smithing. Let''s get him a craft-type Grimoire, Magsmith. During our adventure, we''ll also encounter many materials, so he can practice that." "Nice. Erix will be a walking shop of weapons then," Rin grinned. "He can make anything he wants." "That''s it!" Erix mmed his fist on his palm. "I wanted to do that in the first ce, but somehow it had left my mind." A grin spread on his face as he had many ideas. "Space and Metal, and with the ideas I have¡­." Erixughed. "You are going to be surprised at the ideas I have to create weapons." "What kind?" "Secret. But I want to create one weapon and a skill based on it before we depart." Lilith shook her head. "We won''t take long to depart. Our first destination is Fallen Land. We''ll train there and also clear abyrinth. That area is still safe, so we''ll also spend more time there for our passionate training sessions." ¡­ Lilith took them to buy a craft-type Grimoire, and Erix readily learned it. [Grimoire: Magsmith] _Level 1 [ 0/1000 Smith.Exp ] _Skills: ¡ª> Magic Furnace level 1. ¡ª> Magic Anvil level 1. ¡ª> Metal Mending level 1. ¡ª> Sigil Art level 1. Erix could feel a wave of new knowledge entering him as he learned the grimoire. He already had the basic knowledge of Magsmithing due to the ten-day sses he attended, so he knew how to use those skills. "There''s still one more thing left," Lilith said with a smile as they left the store. "What?" Rin asked in confusion. "Didn''t we get all the necessary things?" "Nope," Lilith started walking and said, "You two don''t have passive skills. Passive skills are hard to learn, and you two haven''t focused on it." "And Erix," Lilith turned to Erix. "Magsmithing will take a lot of your mana, so you need a passive skill that quickly recovers your mana by doing something akin to meditation. If you want to progress fast, that is essential." "Passive skills," Erix wryly smiled. "We indeed forgot about them." "Yeah. Monsters don''t drop skills, and we haven''t had time to create passive skills," Rin nodded. "How to create passive skills in the first ce? It seems harder than active skills." "Yep. To create a passive skill, you need a catalyst that acts as its core. I''ll teach you thatter. For now, let''s get some passive skills." Chapter 161: Skill Shopping & Knowledge Erix, Rin, and Lilith entered the biggest skill store in the city. The skill store was digitized but with magic. There were screens that disyed the skills'' names with their effects and their price. But Lilith directly went to one of the staff desks and said, "Show us Mana recovery passive skills of Tier-3." Erix and Rin arrived behind her and curiously looked around, checking out the skills. Many tempting active and passive skills! However, they weren''t interested in buying active skills that much because it was more fun and fulfilling to create active skills based on their style. "By the way, we can''t use Tier-4 passive skills too?" Rin asked. Lilith shook her head. "Nope. Tier-4 passive skills will burden your body and mind, lowering yourbat power since you don''t have Prana." "Here, we have three Tier-3 passive skills regarding mana regeneration," the staffdy was a dark elf. She presented information on three skills on a crystal tablet to Lilith. Lilith handed the tablet to Erix. "Pick one you can utilize the best." After reading them, he chose one he felt was best. [ Mana Revera ] _Type: Passive skill. _Rank: Tier-3. _Effect: Reduce mana consumption by 30% and take the other 30% cost from your stamina. You can convert stamina into mana with a 2:1 ratio. "This is great," Erix said. "I want this one." "I''ll bring its skill scroll," the staffdy nodded with a sweet smile and went into a door that led to the library of skill scroll. "As for other Tier-3 passive skills. Just take one of those hanging tablets and browse the skills. Pick the ones you like, and we''ll buy them," Lilith said as she pointed at the row of hanging tablets in the store''s center. Several people were looking through them already. "Great," Rin chuckled and walked towards it. Erix waited for a bit as the staffdy brought back the skill scroll. After he learned Mana Revera, he also went to pick the skills with Rin. As for Lilith, she said to the staffdy, "Do you have any Tier-5 skills?" "We have three in stock. Two are active, and one is passive," the staffdy quickly said, excitement dancing in her eyes. If someone was willing to buy Tier-5 skills, every staff would also get a bigmission. "Show," Lilith nodded. On the other hand, Rin and Erix were browsing through the skills. A few secondster, Erix suddenly said with raised eyebrows as he saw a passive skill, "Babe, how about we take passive skills that directly boost us without too much bullshit?" "Direct boost? Like stat increment?" "Yep." "That''s perfect, actually," Rin rubbed her chin. "Our active skills are good, so as long as we have higher stats, we can destroy stronger hurdles. You will also be able to kill a Royal-order monster with higher stats." Erix grinned. "Strength. I will increase my strength to the highest. One punch and everything gone." Rin chuckled, "That''s perfect." "Let''s browse them." After five minutes of browsing, the duo picked up the skills they wanted and went to the staff. Meanwhile, Lilith bought a Tier-5 passive skill for herself by spending a considerable amount of her fortune. "You bought something?" Erix asked as he saw a scroll ck scroll with draconic patterns made of strange material in Lilith''s hand. "Yep. My one Tier-5 skill scroll cost way more than everything I spent to buy things for you," Lilith wryly smiled. "Show us," Rin asked with shining eyes. She wanted to see a Tier-5 skill''s power. "It''s on the lower spectrum of Tier-5 passive skill, but I had one slot empty, so I thought I should buy it as well," Lilith said as she stretched her hand toward the duo. "Inspect it." Both of them inspected the scroll and got information. [Ruinous Dark Heart] _Type: Passive skill _Rank: Tier-5 _Requirement: 3rd realm of Darkness affinity. _Effect: An additional heart driven by darkness. Increase Darkness Elemental power by 150% and protect your heart with a dark heart that would only break when you run out of Prana. "150% direct increase in Darkness power?" Erix was dumbfounded. "Yep. Basically, all of my Darkness-attributed attacks will be a bit more than twice as powerful," Lilith chuckled. "This is not that much. I have another passive skill of Blood affinity that''s more powerful than this. But there''s a catch. These Tier-5 skills will lower in effectiveness as you are stronger. Once I reach the next rank, their effects will halve." "Damn¡­but it''s still powerful," Rin muttered. "You want Wind Affinity, right? I assume that was why you bought that Wind-attribute weapon," Lilith smiled. "The ce where we are going will help you awaken Wind affinity, but you''ll have to suffer for it." "Suffering is always there if we want to learn, I know," Rin nodded. "I had to suffer lightning bolts when I was trying to progress in my Lightning affinity." "I didn''t have much suffering, but it was hard indeed," Erix nodded. He had to remain focused and learn so many things about metal elements in various ores and metals and how they transformed into exotic metals before he managed to delve deeper into the mystical realm of Metal elements and reach 2nd realm of Metal Affinity. In a way, it was a mental torture. "Space Affinity will stretch you harder. Just wait," Lilith smirked. "Anyway, what did you select for your passive skills?" "Here, these are mine," Erix showed his skill list first. ¡ª>Power Core (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Strength. ¡ª> Strength Boost (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Strength. ¡ª> Hyper Heart (Tier-3 passive skill): +80 Agility, + 80 Strength. ¡ª> Kic Power Force (Tier-3 passive skill): +20 Strength. Increase your skill''s attack up to 200% based on its speed before impact. 2000 meter per second speed for max increase. "So you went this route, eh? Good." "Yep, and these are mine," Rin showed her tablet next. ¡ª> Lightning Force Frame (Tier-3 passive skill): +50 Agility. As long as you have lightning coursing through your body, your Agility and Strength will increase by +70 each. ¡ª> Hyper Heart (Tier-3 passive skill): +80 Agility, +80 Strength. ¡ª> Kic Power Force (Tier-3 passive skill). ¡ª> Dexter Might (Tier-3 passive skill): +70 Agility, +80 Strength. ¡ª> Rapido Motor (Tier-3 passive skill): +150 Agility. "I''ll bring them shortly," the staffdy happily smiled and went into the room behind the desk again. "Tsk, you should have brought us here to buy skills first before entering the event," Rin clicked her tongue. "We might have won with this power-up of so many passive skills, you know?" "Nope, unlike you, the top powerhouses there had passive skills already," Lilith shook her head. "You might have reached the top five, but the first rank was impossible from the beginning. We knew that after knowing some of the participants." "Gentle Death?" Erix said. "Yep. He won," Lilith smiled. "And he also got his wish of killing Savage Maw House''s leader fulfilled by me." "That old gramps was indeed powerful," Rin helplessly smiled. "He has Speed Concept! I really want that one." "You will get it if you wish for it," Lilith mysteriously smiled. "Concept powers are awakened through your thoughts and the amount of desire and hard work you do for it while keeping it in mind." Erix and Rin nodded. They had realized this, but it was still an obscure thing with no idea of how and when they would awaken more concepts. "It''s another matter to make progress in them, but you can definitely get it if you want to," Lilith added. "To make further progress in concept, you have to revolve yourbat around it and make new additions with your concept as center." "I see." Erix and Rin noted while Lilith continued. Lilith smiled and said, "Everyone''s first-level concept is the same, but the effects of 2nd realm concepts depend on the individual." "Wait, really? So, even if two people have the same concept in the 2nd realm, their power and influence inbat would be different?" Erix was surprised. "Yep." "I like that," Rin grinned. Soon after that, the staffdy arrived with a bunch of scrolls. "I apologize. We only have one Hyper Heart passive skill in stock, so only one of you can learn it," the staffdy put the scroll on the table and picked one before presenting it to them. "But instead of that one, I got a simr one," she said. "Please inspect and check. It''s a bit weaker than Hyper Force, so the price is also a bit lower." ¡ª> Blood Engine (Tier-3 passive skill): +60 Agility +90 Strength. "No problem, I''ll take it," Rin said with a nod and turned to Erix. "Erix, you learn the Hyper Force." "Alright," Erix smiled. The duo quickly learned the skills as the scrolls vanished one by one while Lilith paid the bill. "Thanks, sugar mommy," Erixughed. "What''s that?" Lilith curiously asked. Rin chuckled and exined the term, causing Lilith to wryly smile. "Thank you for your patronage, customers." " No discounts even though we bought so many things?" Erix asked, his eyebrows raised. "We won''te here a second time if that''s the case." The staffdy awkwardly smiled. "We don''t have discounts." "Tsk, nevermind then. We''ll go to another shop next time when we want to buy Tier-4 and Tier-5 passive skills," Rin said as she turned around and started walking. "Ah, w-wait. If you promise to buy higher-tier skills from here, I can talk to the manager," the dark elf quickly said. Lilith watched in amusement. "Alright, go and talk. I just settled my old business and have yet to find a new one for more money." ¡­ In the end, the trio left with a 20% discount overall. As they left the shop, Lilith asked, "Were you serious abouting back to buy more skills?" Erixughed. "Who knows? I don''t feel obligated for it, but if we are here by then, we''ll drop by for more skills." "Exactly," Rin chuckled. "That''s good," Lilith couldn''t help butugh and agree with them. Chapter 162: Progress, Weapon, and Eat Lilith? Lilith spent two days and used her connections to establish her guild in the Nether Wind City. She left the management to the Dark Troupe and gave them more freedom in handling it. Meanwhile, Rin and Erix finished refining their bodies to 100% with Lightning and Metal, respectively. Now, they could turn their body into an elemental body for an extended amount of time and forever as long as they had Mana to spare. "This is great!" Rin grinned and transformed into a lightning bolt before crossing a kilometer in a jiffy. Erix appeared beside her via teleportation, and his body was glowing with exotic metals. His arms, legs, head, and every part had different types of metal structures! The wind rustled, and both of them felt a slight chill as they were a bit injured by it. "Theher wind''s power is increasing," Rin turned to the north and squinted her eyes. Erix nodded. "It seems like the so-called Nether Storm ising. Let''s return to the city." The duo could make progress this fast in two days due to Lilith buying them a couple of high-grade Elemental fruits after they left the skill shop. Soon, they returned to the city and felt all influence of the Nether Wind disappearing due to a giant formation ced around the city that resisted the Nether Wind''s power. All cities in the Nether Region had the same formation to prevent Nether Wind from damaging people and structures. After the duo arrived at the mansion, they went to their room. Lilith was not there due to some minor work, but they had already nned to depart tomorrow morning. On the other hand, Rin and Erix entered the Limitless ne and started creating the spiritual formation. They were around 70% done with it, so it would still take several days to finish the entire formation and acquire their new spiritual power from their Spiritual Art. After spending thirty minutes making 5% of progress, Erix was surprised. ''It seems that the stronger our spiritual power, the faster we progress.'' Erix''s Spirit stat had already reached 73, and Rin''s Spirit stat had reached 66 since Erix was ahead in the progress. ''I''ll make my weapon''s blueprint first,'' Erix thought as he opened his eyes. The chaotic stormy world around him vanished as his eyes saw the vast sea and nket of inds in the Limitless ne. Rin was sitting beside him with her eyes closed, deep in meditation and in the chaotic stormy world to create the spiritual formation. He flew away and went to another ind so as not to disturb Rin''s focus. After arriving there, he rubbed his chin, his expression thoughtful. ''The outer structure material should be Starlite metal.'' Erix waved his hand, creating a huge piece of Starlite Metal before him with his imagination. Limitless ne was the best ce to experiment with his creation since he wouldn''t waste any real material and get the results quickly! ''Now, for the highest amount of the damage, I need a powerful material. Something akin to a uranium of Earth.'' ''But I would also need to process that Uranium-like material in such a way that I would be able to release a powerful projectile from my weapon. '' ''It would be hard to procure arge amount of such powerful material, so I need to create a core of it and a Sigil formation revolving around it so that my mana can be consumed to enrich it and then let it release the power.'' ''This should reduce the consumption of the material.'' ''As for my weapon''s design¡­'' Erix narrowed his eyes and waved his hand, thinking hard to create a proper and efficient design for his weapon. Blue mana strings manifested before him as he shaped them into a proper blueprint of his weapon with severalyers. He could design it quickly and design it better since his focus andprehension deepened in Limitless ne. ''Easy to shoot. And I should be able to let it travel via my wormhole for almost guaranteed hits on the targets.'' Erix''s Magsmith skill, Sigil Formation, was activated as he designed sigil formations to structure the weapon''s internal pathways and how Mana would flow, condense, shape, and transform into the power he wanted. After ten minutes, the blueprint was finallypleted, making Erix speechless when he looked at the overall size of his weapon. In short, It was a revolver. In long, the revolver''s barrel was two meters long and fifteen centimeters thick. The revolving cylinder was a massive half a meter in diameter, allowing it to house an array of colossal rounds. These rounds would be powered by the core of his weapon, which he would create using a powerful material akin to uranium that he would still need to find, and the sigil formation of it would use Mana to enrich the core and produce the powerful bullets in the cylinder. Since it would be made of Metal, Erix wouldn''t need to hold it in his hand. The revolver would just float beside him and fire at his will. The weapon was bigger because he designed it ording to the amount structures and sigil formations he would need for it. ''It''s big, but it''s fine. It''s not like I need to hold it,'' Erix shrugged. ''The blueprint is ready, but the materials are not. The outer structural material can be Starlite metal, but internal structure and parts need to be something that works with core, and for that, I need to decide what kind of core material I need.'' Erix put away the blueprint and imprinted it in his mind so he could design it outside. As for the core material, he would need to ask Lilith about that. But he designed to spend the rest of the Limitless ne''s time back to creating the spiritual formation and joined back with Rin. After a while, the duo''s consciousnesses were kicked out of the ne as they opened their eyes in their bedroom. "Phew, done. Our Spirit stat increased again," Rin turned to Erix and saw his stats as she was surprised. "Eh? How did the progress between us shorten? You should be higher." "I spent twenty minutes on my weapon designing," Erix shrugged. "Anyway, I need to ask Lilith something about the material. What''s your n?" "The Nether Storm is still urring, right?" Rin turned to the window and could see that the sky was dark and very windy. "I want to use this opportunity to feel this wind." "I feel like I have an affinity with Wind, so I want to awaken it," Rin grinned. "And the best way is to sit on top of this mansion''s terrace and spread my spiritual senses out of the city, far high in the sky, and feel the powerfulher wind of Nether Storm closely." "That''s a good idea," Erix raised his eyebrows and grabbed Rin''s hand. In the second, both of them disappeared and arrived on top of the mansion''s terrace. Their mansion was on the outskirts of the city with not much poption since Dark Queen guild was new in this big city. "Don''t waste time and go for it," Erix nodded. "We don''t know how long this will stay and when the next Nether Storm appears." "Yeah. Alright, then, you go and leave me be. I''ll definitely progress in this storm," Rin said, her eyes filled with a determined and excited glint. She sat down cross-legged and released her spirit sense outside of the city''s barrier. However, a pained expression appeared on her face, and Erix was still there, so he saw it. "What happened?" "Thisher wind, it''s affecting my consciousness," Rin gritted her teeth, kept her eyes closed, and straightened her expression. "It''s fine. If it affects my consciousness, then it''s all the better. I''ll be able to feel it more closely and understand it more." "You go and do your work, Erix. I''ll be fine." Erix smiled and kissed her lips. "Alright. Good luck and all the best." ¡­ Erix left and called Lilith. [Erix: Where are you?] [Lilith: I just returned. What are you two doing on terrece?] [Erix: Rin wanted to experience Nether Storm with her Spirit sense. Anyway, I need your help a bit.] [Lilith: Come to the kitchen. I am making food since I wanted to eat something.] Erixughed. [Erix: I aming, but you better wear a naked apron.] Lilith giggled and replied. [Lilith: Sure, darling. Come and eat me.] Chapter 163: Drowning In the Sea of Pleasure (R-18) Erix arrived in the mansion''s huge kitchen and really saw Lilith wearing nothing but an apron! Erix''s meat rod throbbed upon looking at her side boobs. Her smooth white skin faintly glistened in the light as she was slowly cutting veggies. Erix walked behind her and put his hands into the apron before grabbing her nipples and fondling her breasts. Lilith released a soft moan as a smile appeared on her face. "A touch of someone dear indeed gives you a current of pleasure." Erix kissed her neck as his clothes vanished, and his dick rested below her crotch, rubbing on her pussy. Erix pulled down her apron, and her breasts appeared open, tender, and plump as they shaped ording to Erix''s gropes. Lilith opened her mouth, her cheeks red, "Enter inside already." Erix chuckled and pulled her tightly while his dick entered inside and expanded as if taking a breath and hit her deepest part, causing a gasp to release from Lilith''s mouth as she felt a wave of euphoria. Erix started to move slowly as Lilith could no longer do the cooking. She rested her hands on the tform and turned her head around before her tongue entered Erix''s mouth as a passionate, long kiss started amidst the unhurried, pleasure-filling session with slow and rhythmic thrusts of Erix. The sound of flesh hitting flesh reverberated in the kitchen, and Erix slowly increased his speed after a minute. "It''s time to go wild," Erix grinned before he pulled out his dick and turned around Lilith as they faced each other. Seeing her perky ears red and flushed face, Erix nted his lips on hers before thrusting his cock inside powerfully. *Pat!* "Aaaaanhh~" Lilith moaned, their lips separated, and Erix pulled up one of her legs before he started moving his hips crazily fast, causing her breasts to jiggle wildly. Lilith wrapped her arms around Erix''s neck as a heavenly pleasure permeated her being with each of his thrusts and caused her to cum in just a few seconds, but Erix just activated his special skill to use her fluid as his energy and increased his stats but didn''t stop moving. Lilith moaned widely with her hair untied as ultimate pleasure filled her, and a minuteter, an explosion of euphoria assaulted her as Erix unleashed his hot white load in her, flooding her pussy with pleasure as her body twitched intensely. "So this¡­best," Lilith''s glossy eyes looked lovingly at Erix. Erix also groaned in ultimate pleasure as he unleashed his load and continued thrusting for a bit before stopping and hitting his dick on her inside wall, causing a jolting pleasure to sweep through Lilith. Lilith''s bloodline absorbed Erix''s love juice, filled with a unique power source of death and life, turning it into a potent blood essence for her. On the other hand, Erix''s hungry eyes targeted her plump breasts as he put one in his mouth and started sucking, increasing Lilith''s pleasure and his satisfaction twofold. The slurping sound was constant while his hands fondled them hard, causing Lilith to moan as her hands caressed his hair, and she moaned in bliss. "More¡­More, Erix¡­" Erix''s dick tightened as her pussy contracted while his throbbing and pulsing dick continued pouring pleasure. But it wasn''t long before he started moving again, as a new session of pleasure started. "Ready for round two?" Erix whispered and grabbed her waist before putting her on the tform, his dick still throbbing in her. "Wait," Lilith took out an incense stick of powerful tier-4 weed and lit it up as smoke started permeating. Erix took a deep breath andughed, "Perfect." Lilith smiled and nodded with eager eyes, "Now, we are ready!" Erixughed and started thrusting quickly. With Lilith using her hands around Erix''s neck for support, Erix freely used his hands to fondle her breasts and sucked them, his tongue ying with her erect bright light pink nipples. If only milk came out... Erix thought as he sucked with passion and pleasure while his dick continued ramming into her as Lilith moaned hard and squeezed him more. For more pleasure, he released a load shortly inside her, causing Lilith''s body to quiver as she loudly moaned and bit Erix''s shoulder in intense rapture before she let out a moan again since Erix''s dick was shooting streams of his hot white semen in her, filling her with energy and blood essence apanied by pleasure. "Fuck¡­.wh-why is this so good¡­" Lilith breathed. "Next position," Erix pulled her down, and as their figure blurred with quick speed, Lilith was leaning against a kitchen wall with her palms, and Erix was behind her as he started moving his hips as Lilith''s pussy. "Aaanhh¡­T-This is gives stronger jolts¡­" Erixughed and pped her buttcheeks, giving a pleasuring painful current to her as a loud flesh-hitting flesh sound reverberated, and she moaned with dreamy and water eyes filled with pleasure and satisfaction. She was so deep into the realm of pleasure she was feeling for the first time that she almost forgot to absorb Erix''s pimping hot semen that he shot after a minute. "Hey, babe, absorb it!" Erixughed and pped her cheeks with full power, but it only gave pleasure to Lilith as her butt vibrated. Erix''s felt his dick tightening more as all hot fluid vanished. Rapidly spinning Lilith while still inside her, he pushed her back at the wall and started sucking her breasts while continuing to move his hips at a rhythmic speed as his dick hit her deepest part every time. "I love you soooo much¡­" "Aaaaahh~...." "Th-this is too good, Erix..." Erix only sucked and yed with breasts hard in response, savoring her to the fullest. Lilith held him tightly as she felt filling up with satisfaction and pleasure and climaxed hard despite trying her best to hold back. But when her dam released, her pleasure reached a new height as he issued a passionate moan, but Erix quickly sealed her lips, causing her mind to tingle with more euphoria and¡­ Released his shot inside again, but instead of stopping, Erix groaned in rapture as he continued moving even after shooting his load, causing Lilith''s pussy to tighten and quiver, giving Erix ultimate pleasure. Moving at the maximum speed he could conjure, he received ultimate pleasure and gave the same level, if not higher, experience to Lilith as her consciousness and soul themselves drowned in euphoria, causing her eyes to roll backward as her body surrendered to loveful lust. Erix stopped after several seconds, his dick all the way into hitting her meat wall as he squeezed her body into his tightly, her breasts pressing onto him. In the ce where they were connected in Lilith''s pink world, both of them climaxed again with intense throbbing as their body quivered. Their minds were high, and it only increased the pleasure to new heights. "Fuck..." Erix breathed and kissed her as he was squeezed tightly, increasing his euphoria. Their bodies glowed as energy and power filled them while their satisfaction peaked, and both fell down with Lilith on top of Erix. Erix''s eyes were hazy while his mind and soul were rattling with jolts of pleasure since his dick inside Lilith''s pussy was still shooting loads while her pussy also squeezed and climaxed, with Lilith''s body was also twitching constantly in waves of pleasure. Lilith''s consciousness was entirely cloudy, even above cloud nine due to her entirely drowning in the pleasure of Erix''s dick inside her that she was squeezing, yet it was still throbbing and releasing currents of pleasure in her. Erix put his hand on her back and pressed her breasts on his chest as he decided to enjoy this position and savor the delightful and pleasurable bliss until itsted. But... He was still hungry. ''Erix? Where are you?'' A smile spread across his face, hearing Rin''s thought message. ''Kitchen.'' ... After two hours of intense fun and Erix releasing over a hundred loads, both girls were lying on the ground and breathing hard while Erix''s pristine muscled body stood before them, with his dick straight and glistering with wetness. "It seems that my boost in strength and spirit stat increased my overall capacity for everything," Erxughed. "N-No more....you were too wild in these two hours," Rin muttered with barely opened eyes and heavy breathing. Her body was still absorbing Erix''s pleasure, and her stamina was nil, both in body and mind. As for the kitchen, it was in no shape to be called one as floors were broken and furniture turned to rubble despite keeping strength minimum when moving and keeping it max when doing it. "Thank you for meal, I now sleep," Lilith murmured as she just wanted to sleep and drown in this sea of pleasure for now. Chapter 164: Trouble In Erix? Erix picked up bothdies and teleported into Lilith''s bedroom before putting them on the bed. Seeing them sleeping soundly with blissful smiles, Erix lightly chuckled and left the bedroom after wearing a casual ck robe. He returned to the kitchen and quickly cleaned it. "Erix? Where is Lady Lilith?" Suddenly, Lily arrived like a mist and spoke, startling Erix. "She is sleeping in her bedroom. Why?" Erix turned around and answered. Lily frowned as she saw the kitchen''s messy situation, and her nose also twitched. Her gazended on Erix''s crotch since his dick was still rock hard and understood the situation. ''This smell in the air¡­'' Lily helplessly smiled and said, "I guess she is resting?" "Yep," Erix cheekily grinned and nodded. "You darn zombie," Lily sighed. "Anyway, I was here about your trip. You guys are leaving tomorrow, and Lady Lilith told me to prepare a few things." "Oh? Like what?" "Like your vehicle. The custom-made flying ship will be ready after eight hours," Lily said before she opened her left hand''s palm, and a ship mode appeared. "The ship will be fifteen meters long and five meters wide. It''s small but speedy and equipped with proper defense to defend against a couple of sudden attacks from Royal-order monsters." "Wow, that''s a strong defense," Erix was impressed. "Yeah," Lily rolled her eyes. "You guys have fun during the journey." Erixughed. "Find a man if you are jealous." Lily''s expression turned speechless as a glint passed through her eyes. ''This brat..'' "Hahaha," Lily suddenly chuckled and smirked. "Oh, Erix~ I''ve also experienced everything, you know? And¡­I have more advantage over you in this situation." Lily walked towards him as heryered dress suddenly vanished and changed into a in yet sexy, short thin white top that was transparent and in underwear that hid her crotch. "Y-you¡­." Erix was startled. He was not expecting Lily to be this bold. Her curvy mountain peaks were clearly visible now. Usually, they were hidden behind heryered white dress, but they were truly juicy and different from Lilith''s and Rin''s. However, Erix gulped as Lily got closer to him and suddenly grabbed his meat rod with her hand. "What are you doing? Stop," Erix was speechless and quickly backed away. "Why? Are you scared of Rin and Lilith?" Lily chuckled and caught up to him, throwing her body on his chest as her face was only a couple of inches away from Erix. "It seems that you are not satisfied even after ravaging two beauties." Erix raised his eyebrows, his lips twitching. "Now, you are underestimating me, Lily." "I am indeed not satisfied yet, but I am not desperate," Erix grabbed her buttcheeks and nted his dick between her legs, automatically pushing her body on him. "But I know you are thirsty," Erix smiled. "I could let you experience this heaven, but it''s not for everyone." Lily''s cheeks turned slightly red. "Not even once?" "Why me? I''m sure you can get a man if you want one." Erix asked with a chuckle. "Why do you want yourdy Lilith''s man?" Lily moved her mouth closer to his ears and whispered, "Maybe¡­exactly because you are Lady Lilith''s man?" *Swoosh¡­* She turned into a mist briefly and distanced from Erix as she reverted to her normal appearance, in her signatureyered white dress and veil on her face. "I don''t like to be with any random Tom, Dick, and Harry," Lily chuckled, "Unfortunately, you are not one of them, and seeing Lady Lilith happy with you made me want to make a move on you." Erix shrugged and smiled. "Worry not. If I feel like getting eaten by you, I''ll make a move," Lilyughed and disappeared like a mist. ''Oof, women and their temptations,'' Erix rubbed his temples. ''And what the heck is wrong with my mind and body?'' Erix looked at his dick that was rock hard, and he was still energized. ''Why am I so fucking energetic even after doing it crazily for two hours straight?'' Erix was confused. Usually, he could at least feel some exhaustion in his mind, but he was not feeling it either. It was like he could shoot over a hundred loads more inside someone and would still be fine for the day. Meanwhile, Rin and Lilith were wasted by him. ''It looks like I''ll have to examine my body deeply,'' Erix thought with a nod. He arrived back in the bedroom and suddenly remembered an important thing. ''Shoot, I forgot to ask Lilith about the material like uranium.'' Erix looked at two naked beauties on the bed, sleeping soundly, and didn''t feel like waking Lilith up upon seeing her sleeping. He knew that she hadn''t slept properly even once since they arrived here and was busy setting up the guild and work. But Erix put that matter aside for now and went into the balcony garden before sitting cross-legged. Closing his eyes, he entered deep focus and prated his spirit sense deep within his body. In his origin region, there was his Magic Flower, which was his core of magic. On the other side were a bunch of skill runes, and aside from that, there were affinity cores. One was watermelon-sized and gray with exotic glints¡ªMetal Affinity Core, 2nd realm. Above this core was a faint golden-gray humanoid frame that was the mark of Erix''s Metal Elemental Body. Another was a smaller, thumb-sized core that was faint silver with dark silver hues¡ªSpace Affinity Core, 1st realm. These two were automatically formed, and he didn''t do much with them since they were only affected by his progress in affinities. There was also a faint image of a faint golden fist, indicating his level 1 Punch Concept. ''Hmm, nothing is wrong in my Origin Region,'' Erix nodded before he started biology searches on his body. There was one more thing in his origin Region, but it was obscure and faint. Moreover, it was spread throughout his body, and it was also the reason for Erix''s spike in overall capacity. His origin source! It was the power hidden in his body, his strange blood that was not red or much liquid, and his cells. It was something rted to one''s race, and one''s Bloodline was also dependent on that. Rin and Lilith had the same bloodline, and their bloodline''s origin source waspatible with Erix''s unique origin source, which was why they could absorb Erix''s semen and turn it into their Bloodline''s Blood essence. But it was not like only they benefitted. Every time they climaxed, Erix also absorbed the power that was produced bybining each other''s essences and got strong. In a way, his origin source, which hadn''t taken proper form yet, was also getting stronger. His unique perk of unlimited stamina was borne out of his origin source, and since his origin source was getting stronger, his perk was also strengthening. Meanwhile, due to daily training with that spiritual formation to create it, his mental power was also increasing, which exined why he was not tired even though Rin and Lilith were fully filled and had to sleep to digest both the power and pleasure. He made them climax a lot with intense poundings in exotic positions and ways, but they didn''t have unlimited stamina! As Erix searched his body to the depths, the activity of his cells, and everything, he finally noticed his source and what was wrong with his body! ''Damn...this...'' Chapter 165: Imbalance In Source Each of his cells and fiber was filled with a unique energy! It was not vitality because he could smell death from it, but death also had energy, and that was fueling him along with life. ''This strange energy and the feeling I had¡­'' Erix was shocked as he came to realize one more thing. ''But the death part seems more congested with life¡­wait¡­Life and Death source¡­ah, so that''s why.'' He stood up and wore his armor set before flying out and quickly teleporting a few times to reach the wilderness. Soon, he encountered a level 179 giant wolf with four eyes and ferocious ck spiky fur crackling with lightning. It was eating a beast that it had killed and was a hundred meters away from Erix with several thick trees between them. Erix had found it via his Space Mapping, so the wolf hadn''t noticed him yet. Without hesitation, Erix threw a powerful 200-mana Sling Shot punch that directly connected to the unsuspecting wolf''s head, who had no idea about the attack. *Squash!* Its head exploded, and it died instantly. Erix appeared beside the wolf after a swift teleportation and sat down cross-legged before entering deep focus. He observed his cells and foundation as he could clearly feel something entering him when he focused. It was entering from the wolf he killed, but nothing was entering from the already dead monster beside the wolf. But when Erixpletely understood this discovery, he got a sudden premonition that he was in very bad shape right now. Not him, but his source, but if his source was in bad shape, then so was his entire future. ''There is an imbnce in my source,'' Erix frowned. His cells were always energetic as they fed on death since he had the purest form of death in his source, allowing him to absorb death power every time he killed a living being. And he had killed thousands upon thousands! But Life was missing. His unique source, which was a mixture of life and death, had more death than life in it, making his source imbnced. Although death benefitted, Life was also essential because he was a hybrid, and he had to maintain this bnce. If he wanted to reduce death and get more life, he would need more of Rin''s and Lilith''s essence while also giving them more of his source. ''Shit¡­No wonder I am feeling more horny and energetic,'' Erix was speechless. After all, Death also benefitted him, but there was an imbnce in his source, and he had to fix it. The only way he could release more Death part of his source was through intersource and shooting his semen, which was an energy that contained the highest form of his source! He had to release more and then absorb resources that contained pure vitality! "Jeez, what do I do?" Erix muttered as he opened his eyes and stood up. "Lilith should know more about this. I''ll have to discuss this with her when she wakes up. Oh yeah, she got that Leaf of Life crystal for me, but she said she had to mix it with other ingredients for maximum benefits¡­" "But she likely doesn''t know about this imbnce in my unique source." Erix flew up and returned to the mansion. But he had nothing to do for now, so he took out am card and called Lily. [Lily: what''s up?] [Erix: If you are free,e to the terrace. I am searching for a material, and you might know about it.] [Lily: Alright. I am done with my work anyway.] Erix went up first, and Lily soon arrived in a minute as she sat at the table with Erix. "So, what kind of material do you want? "A material that contains a huge amount of powerful energy. It should be able to act as a core to produce stronger energy using our mana." "So, basically like the materials used as cores of weapons?" Lily asked. "Something like that, yeah," Erix nodded. "I also want to create a weapon." "They are based on elements, you know? Which one you want?" "Not any one particr," Erix shook his head. "I want something mixture and chaotic or a mixture of lightning and fire as they are most potent for explosive attacks." "Hmmm," Lily entered a thoughtful stat for a few seconds as she browsed her memories. "If you want that, then there is a Tier-4 material called sma Spark Ore," Lily said. "It''s a mixture of lightning and fire, with its energy color being sparkling deep purple. It is used to create one-time use explosive items." "Perfect!" Erix''s eyes shone. Grinning, he said, "I want that." "It won''t be easy," Lily chuckled. "There''s a mine of sma Spark Ore in the forest beside this city, but it''s upied by a guild. They exclusively use it and sell the explosive items." "I''m sure they have a price for it," Erix frowned. "Won''t they sell a chunk or two?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you know the meaning of a Tier-4 material and Tier-4 one-time use item? It can potentially kill a Royal-order powerhouse if not careful, and most of the time, such an item can kill a Ro-order monster." "That¡­you are right," Erix wryly smiled. "So that means that it is also a rare material." "Exactly." "Tsk, I want a chunk, though," Erix smacked his lips. "What should we do? Can Lilith get it?" "She can, of course, get it," Lily smiled. "Nobody here is over Royal order. She is most powerful in this city, but no one knows that yet." "Phew, then good. I''ll tell her about this when she wakes up," Erix sighed a relief and grinned. "I definitely want that material to make my weapon." Erix stood up and said, "Alright, let''s go." "Where?" Lily asked in confusion. "You got money, right? Let''s go and buy some materials. I want to practice creating normal items and weapons before fiddling with something like Tier-4 sma Star ore," Erix said with augh. "It will not be funny if I wasted a valuable Tier-4 material." "That...is true. Alright, let''s go." Lily nodded. "Don''t worry, we don''t need to buy main materials since I can create metals easily," Erix grinned. "We''ll buy materials to make internal structure and Sigil formations." "It''s fine. I have enough money to even buy Tier-4 materials. If you can''t create Tier-4 metals yet, we can buy a couple for you to practice." "Oh? Then that would be great. I need to study Tier-4 metals to understand their structures and copy them anyway." Chapter 166: Erix In Big Trouble, Skeleton?!! After doing some shopping with Lily, they returned back to the mansion. Erix went to the mansion''s backyard and used the Grimoire skills, Magic Furnace, and Magic Anvil. In the Magic Furnace, he would have to melt the ores and metal after infusing Mana in it and control it. Then, in the Magic Anvil, he can shape the weapon. But those two were normal uses of it, not magical uses. After all, Magic Furnace is also used tobine multiple metals into one to create a metal, and the Magic Anvil was even bigger. It had a water tank, a metal table, and a design box for him to design his weapon''s parts. After cracking his knuckles and stretching his limbs, Erix started training by creating some simple melee weapons with Tier-1 materials. He produced his own metals, and while the metal was being processed, he created Sigil formations. Sigil Formations were "simr" to magic formations of skills and other things. The only difference was that they had to precisely add the paths and other magic formations inside a Sigil Formation that would empower the weapon and give it "Effects." ''Hmmm, I should add a self-destruct sigil formation that uses up everything of a weapon and explodes as well. These weapons won''t be my main weapons, but I can still use them since I can control them.'' After failing a few times, he finally created his first Tier-1 weapon after half an hour¡ªA meberg Dagger. "Not bad," Erix grinned. [+10 Smith experience gained.] "Next," Erix threw the weapon into his Hunter Card. He consumed some Mana and created a bunch of Tier-2 metal materials before processing them in the Furnace for his next weapon. ¡­ Time passed by quickly while Erix continued training and honing his Magsmithing skills. After four hours, Lilith woke up feeling refreshed like never before and stretched her arms upward with a freshened smile. "I''ve progressed more than I should have," Lilith smiled as she checked her source and the amount of Blood Essence. "But how?" Lilith was curious. "Did getting a huge boost in strength and crossing 1000 stats in Strength riled up his source more?" ''That should be it. His source always gives him unlimited stamina, but now that his Strength has increased dramatically and his Spirit has also increased, the synergy of his other stats with his source was boosted, which exins why he was not tired at all.'' She turned to Rin and scanned her before specting that it would still take five hours or more time for Rin to digest Erix''s source power. Before going to the bath, she spread her Spirit Sense and found Erix''s presence. ''What are you doing, handsome?'' ''Lilith? Perfect. I need to tell you something.'' ''Alright, I''ll be there after a quick bath.'' Lilith turned into a shadow, entered her bedroom''s bathroom, and filled her big bathtub with water. But just as she stepped inside and was going to sit, Erix teleported inside. "Erix?" Lilith was surprised. "Ahh, wa¡­" Erix''s clothes vanished, and he appeared behind Lilith before he sat down in the bathtub with Lilith on hisp and his dick into her pussy. "Close your eyes and feel my source," Erix said in a serious voice as he held her from the waist but couldn''t help but grab her juicy tits instinctively. "What happened?" Lilith asked, surprised. "Just focus and check it. You''ll know soon," Erix said before he moved Lilith''s waist up and down with his full strength to thrust at a quick, blurry speed, causing Lilith to lose focus and making her let out an involuntarily moan and also climax. "Oh my¡­Ahh¡­Y-You went all out right off the bat! And I am still very sensitive¡­" "How can I focus with this?!" Erix stopped after several seconds and shot his load into her while he absorbed her juice with his special skill, "Now check. I released a load. Inspect it deeply and then Inspect my body." "Alright," Lilith nodded and closed her eyes. After two seconds, her eyebrows raised, and after another two seconds, her brows furrowed into a deep frown. In the next second, she absorbed Erix''s load and opened her eyes. After making a turn to face Erix while his dick still throbbed into her, Lilith bit her lips and sighed. "You are in trouble, Erix." With his throbbing dick, she could clearly feel that Erix still needed to release a lot of his source and also replenish it, but with pure vitality higher than death. "What will happen if this continues?" Erix asked with a frown. "Do you feel any side-effects or strange for now?" "Nothing except for more horny and wanting to release more load." "Hmm, that''s a defensive reaction of your body and mind to your source, telling you to bnce your source since one aspect is heavier than the other." "Yeah, I figured it was something like that," Erix sighed. "But how do I fix this? And what will happen if I don''t fix it?" "Your source is a newborn unique source and hasn''t developed yet," Lilith exined from the start. "But when you get a Bloodline, your source somewhat bnces since a Bloodline depends on one''s source. The resources I am collecting are bnced between life and death to trigger a proper unique bloodline from your source that is a mix of life and death." "However, if death power in your source overtakes life power, you will gradually lose¡­well, life," Lilith wryly smiled. "Ultimately, you will be a skeleton with no flesh." Erix''s face turned paler than it was already pale. "Fuck!" "You also won''t be able to fuck anymore, which I would really hate," Lilith smacked her lips. "Since you are an evolved lifeform already, your intelligence and everything will still remain even if you be a skeleton. After all, when a source lead changes, it also helps you adapt and transform." "Tell me we can fix this, please," Erix said, his lips twitching. "I don''t want to be a skeleton king!" "Of course," Lilith kissed him and buried his face into her breasts as she started moving her hips slowly. "Your semen contains the most amount of your source, so you''ll have to release a lot of it. As for how to gain pure vitality, Rin and I can give you that when we climax, and you absorb it with your special skill, but our sources still have the influence of death, even though it''s not as pure as yours." After all, Rin and Lilith also had death power in their source, which was the main reason they could quickly form Blood Essence using Erix''s semen. Erix sucked her tits and released a load after a while as Lilith moving on her own also gave a new type of pleasure to him and Lilith herself. "Absorb it¡­.Aaaanh~" Lilith also climaxed. Their bodies glowed briefly as they absorbed the powers from their essences. "Alright, I paid attention this time, and shooting one load is like a drop in the ocean of my source," Erix was speechless. "Your essence contained 3 parts of death power and 7 parts of life power. Although your death power doesn''t feel much, it didn''t make much difference since I am releasing a mixture, losing both the life power and death power of my source." Erix sighed. "If I could release just the death power part¡­but that''s impossible since it''s mixed." Lilith held Erix''s cheeks and raised his head to face her as she lovingly smiled, "Don''t worry. We''ll fix this problem. For now, just release some loads inside me and absorb mine." "Fine, I am going to be wild and fast for faster stimtions," Erix stood up and properly held her buttcheeks while his dick fit into her pussy and hit her end. Afterward, he opened his mouth wide and put one juicy into his mouth for more pleasure, his tongue ying with her nipple. And then, he started moving his lips in a rhythmic fashion. ¡­ After two hours, they left the bathroom and arrived in the backyard. Lilith was still a powerhouse of peak Royal-order rank and so also actively processed Erix''s essence, not needing to sleep for it. Previously, she was also tired of continuous work and climaxed a lot in the kitchen, so she had to sleep to recover. However, just doing this deep with Rin and Lilith was not going to solve this problem. "I want to give you this Leaf of Life Crystal, but it''s more important for your bloodline," Lilith said as she sat down at a chair while Erix started doing his Magsmithing work. "Even if I give it to you, it won''t fix your problem instantly since one Leaf of Life crystal is not enough to bnce your source. Moreover, this valuable material is used as a catalyst to trigger your source and manifest your bloodline. If I give it to you without preparation, you might experience some side effects and damage to your source." "Then what''s the n?" Erix asked as he created some Tier-3 metals and put them in the Furnace. "This is a unique situation and first time for me too, so we''ll experiment a bit first," Lilith said. She took out am card and called Lily. "Lily? Why her?" Erix asked, his eyebrows raised. "I''m going to have her buy some Life-attributed ingredients and see how your source reacts to them when you absorb their energies." "Ah, alright," Erix nodded and continued his work. After half an hour, Lily arrived and took out three ingredients. "Here, try this Tier-1 material first," Lilith handed over a green mango-like fruit with dark green patterns to Erix. "What''s the matter with him?" Lily curiously asked as she sat at the table beside Lilith. "Did something happen?" "Well, you can say that," Lilith nodded and proceeded to tell her about Erix''s condition. On the other hand, Erix took quick bites and finished the fruit in two seconds before closing his eyes. ''Let''s see¡­'' Erix thought as he focused deep and started observing. Chapter 167: Lily (1/2) Erix saw the life power entering his body after he ate the fruit. However, his source wasn''t affected in the slightest. "No effect¡­" Erix mumbled and opened his eyes as he shook his head at Lilith. That fruit didn''t do anything." "It simply means that Tier-1 life-attributed resource is useless to you," Lilith said. "Eat the Tier-2 fruit." Erix picked up the Tier-2 fruit and ate it before closing his eyes. The fruit''s vibrant life energy entered him, and he observed as his cells absorbed it this time, but it didn''t have any effect on his source''s imbnce. Erix told his discovery to Lilith, who rubbed her chin. Lilith stood up and walked towards Erix before sitting on hisp, "I''ll observe myself this time. Eat the Tier-3 one." "Alright." Erix ate the Tier-3 fruit while Lilith closed her eyes after resting her head on his chest. Lily was eating snacks while watching them. After a few seconds, Lilith opened her eyes and stood up before sitting at the table. "So?" Erix blinked at Lilith. "Even Tier-3 fruit didn''t have much effect in your source. The purify of life power in these ingredients is not enough to affect you," Lilith said. She turned to Lily and smiled, "Lily~." "What?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to taste Erix''s divine dragon?" "If that''s your order," Lily answered. Erix''s lips curled into a cheeky grin. "No, it''s not my order," Lilith chuckled and gently held her chin. "Do you want to do it with Erix?" Lily''s white cheeks turned a ting pink. She nced at Erix and coughed. "Umm, sure." "Erix, absorb her essence and see how it affects your source," Lilith said with a smile. Erixughed and stood up before he stretched his hand towards Lily, "Shall we go,dy white?" Lily bit her lips and took his hand. A secondter, Erix teleported into Lilith''s bedroom''s bathroom. "It seems that your wish was fulfilled quickly," Erix grinned. Lily cutely snorted as every piece of her clothes vanished, and she became wholly naked with her curvy big breasts, supple and soft, appearing in glory before Erix. "So what? You think you can resist me?" Erixughed as his clothes also vanished and his figure blurred. Pulling one of Lily''s legs up, he inserted his dick inside her pussy with perfect precision, causing her to involuntarily take a sudden breath as she felt hot and filling up. "How does it feel?" Erix grinned, but he didn''t move and grabbed her breast as he pushed towards a wall and raised her higher such that her boobs appeared before his face. Lily''s face was wholly red, and feeling a throbbing hot dick into her. She was barely holding back on moving her hips on her own. Erix made a five thrust quickly in a second, causing Lily to gasp and moan as she directly climaxed. "Y-You¡­" Lily felt wholly wet and embarrassed that she climaxed this fast. However, Erix closed his eyes and absorbed her essence. Every person''s essence contained the purest life-attribute power since it could literally create a life. Meanwhile, Lily was a pure human, so her essence didn''t have death power. She had a bloodline, but it was a bloodline she manifested herself, called Mistborn Lake Bloodline. As Erix absorbed her essence, it was quickly absorbed by his body, while his source showed more changes than when he ate the Tier-3 fruit. Erix opened his eyes and smiled at Lily, "Good news for you." "What?" Lily felt her heart racing to see Erix''s expression. Erix started slowly moving his hips as her boobs danced before his eyes, while Lily instantly started feeling too good. "I am going to suck you dry." Erix put her breast into his mouth and started enjoying her body while Lily moaned and held Erix''s shoulder tightly. Each of Erix''s rhythmic thrusts was sending waves of pleasure into her, making her feel euphoric like never before. Erix continued and let her have his taste after a minute as he shot his load into her. "Aaaaanhhh!!¡­" "S-So good¡­" "Right?" Erix paused after pushing hard into her chuckled. Lily snapped out of her trance, her face flushed. "Stop teasing me!" Erixughed and walked back, causing Lily to lose the support of the wall. He held her waist tightly as his dick shot loaded into her, making Lily squirm her body as it reactively twitched in pleasure as Erix''s cum dripped from her pussy. He used his special skill to turn his essence into energy and said, "Absorb it. It might not help much, but I don''t want to pull it out." Lily''s chest rose as she breathed, feeling hot and euphoric. Just as she absorbed that energy, Erix buried his face into her breasts and started thrusting again. But this time, he did it speedily. "Fuck, Nghh¡­Aaanhh¡­T-This is crazy¡­aaaaahh¡­" After not even a minute, she climaxed despite trying her best to hold back. "Good," Erixughed and started sucking her breast and ying with her nipples to give more currents to her as she quivered in pleasure, making her climax more satisfying. Afterward, their figures blurred at a quick speed as Lily was on all fours on the bathroom floor while Erix rammed her from behind, causing Lily to moan wildly. Erix used his hands to grab her jiggling breasts from the sides as he groped and yed them hard or pinched her nipples. "I''ll be shooting more loads, but you can try to hold back if you want this tost long," Erix grinned, pulling both of her nipples hard before he thrust in strongly and released his load. "Aaanhh!" Lily couldn''t hold back despite trying because when Erix released his load into her, it just felt too good, causing her climax. Thankfully, she didn''t have unlimited stamina, and she would need time to recover, so the next round of pounding went without her climaxing for a while as she enjoyed the ride. ¡­ s, Lilysted for two hours before she was sucked dry. Seeing her lying on the bathroom floor with half-eyes open, Erix sighed. "Too weak." Erix was in the bathtub and said, "Come on, take a bath and then sleep." Lily stood up, yet her body quivered in pleasure again. After she stepped into the bathtub and stood before Erix, she bit her lips, "This is bad. I might want to do it again in the future." Erix grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him before he pointed at this still-standing rock-hard dick, "For now, put this inside and sit." Lily opened her pussy with her fingers and sat down on Erix''s dick, putting inside. "I can''t climax anymore," Lily said. "It''s fine. I just want a bath while it stays inside in a warm and tight ce," Erixughed and said, "Why? You don''t like it?" Lily got closer, her eyes dreamy and fulfilled, "I like it very much." "Good," Erix grabbed her breasts and started rubbing them with his hands after using a body wash liquid. Lily felt more pleasure and aroused and even wanted to move her hips to get Erix''s dick thrusts, but she was tired! "So, what''s your history?" Erix asked. "What do you mean?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "I know your biology and physiques. Now I want to know your history," Erix said with a chuckle while ying with her breasts. "If you want to know my history, then it means you want to connect to me emotionally," Lily stared at Erix. "Do you want that? Or want to make this sessiondy Lilith''s order?" "Nah, it depends on you," Erix smiled. "I can handle more women, and I love both Rin and Lilith because they love me and care for me genuinely." "But I don''t have such strong feelings towards you, though that can change with time and effort on your part." Lily just looked at Erix while Erix added, "Take your time. If you want to tell me your history, then it means you are willing to take that step." After saying that, Erix cleaned her breasts and started sucking one while ying with the other with his hand. Meanwhile, he internally moved his muscles to make his dick vibrate into her pussy, causing Lily to quiver as her eyes almost rolled backward in pleasure. ''What do I want?'' Lily questioned as she maintained her focus and looked at Erix, who was ying and sucking her breasts with his eyes closed and enjoying her. "One iing." Lily suddenly felt Erix''s dick releasing his pimping hot semen load into her, spreading an ultrafortable and blissful yet pleasureful current into her. Even if Lily couldn''t climax, Erix could. After all, he needed to release his loads. Lily softly groaned in pleasure, but she reined herself in and thought about her feelings. She opened her eyes and looked at Erix, who was still busy with her breasts. She had watched Erix long enough to recognize what kind of person he was. ''If I didn''t feel attraction to him¡­I wouldn''t have made that bold move in the kitchen. But do I love him? Can I care for him like how Rin and Lady Lilith do?'' When she asked herself this and got her answer, her sensations changed. Her body became hot along with her face, and Erix''s touch, his hands on her breasts, his tongue, and everything started giving her more pleasure and bliss. But she knew that she hadn''t gotten a concrete answer yet. This only meant that she was in the process. "Erix¡­" Erix looked at her face and blinked, "Yes?" "My history lesson is about to start. Do you want to listen?" Erixughed and shot his load into her before saying, "Sure." Lily''s trembled in pleasure as her butt twitched, "You beast¡­" she helplessly smiled. Erix grinned, "Alright, tell me. What''s the chapter 1?" Chapter 168: Lily (2/2), Liliths Plan for Erix "I was born on a called Zerax." Erix was surprised. "My parents were scientists, but they were killed when I was about two years old," Lily continued with a dry chuckle, "My parents attracted some enemies due to their research." "Rough from the start¡­" Erix sighed. "Nah, it went good and bad both," Lily smiled. "I was taken in by an organization that trained kids to be assassins. The ones who killed my parents put me there." "It was a very thorough organization with proper brainwashing. To kill our emotions and desires, our hormones were suppressed, and we had a Dependent called Mora as our leader. Dependents were leaders of young assassins and directed them after initial training." "But one day, the organization was bombed and destroyed. The leaders were targeted, so it was the end for it. Me and some others who were on the missions were left with no one to guide us." "But I was lucky," Lily smiled. "After I killed an old man, which was a mission, I awaited further orders, but they never came. Since orders never came even after I contacted them, I didn''t know what to do and felt a bit liberated. "I just stayed in that house and waited for my fate to act because that''s what I was told. Don''t do anything unless ordered." Lily paused for a bit before she continued with a wry smile, "And then the wife of that old man came to that house and took me in." "Wait, what?" Erix was taken aback. "You killed an old man, and his wife helped you?" "Yes. She helped me recover until I turned twenty-two. After that, she died of a heart attack, and I also killed myself." "Why did she help you?" Erix curiously asked. "Who knows? I never asked," Lily shrugged. "But she was the most important person to me because she loved me despite seeing her husband''s dead body in the room. After she died, I was lost again and just didn''t feel like living, so I joined her." "s, I ended up in this Abyss, and Lady Lilith picked me up. She recovered my body, cured me, and I became the first member of her Dark Troupe." "Wait, that''s all?" Erix raised his eyebrows. Lily leaned forward as her plump breasts pressed on Erix''s chest while her mouth appeared beside his ears as she whispered, "That''s all. As for the thing I talked about, the experience, I had none." Lily licked his ears as she continued, "This was my first experience, although I didn''t want to expose it, haha. And I only invoked this desire to do it with you because I saw Lady Lilith doing it for the first time with someone." "No wonder¡­" Erix muttered and nced at Lily as he grinned, "But you had a crazy journey in your life." "That''s why I managed to fool you in the kitchen," Lilyughed. "You really believed my words at that time, right?" "Of course," Erix wryly smiled and grabbed her breasts before he started thrusting slowly, "You will get punishment for fooling me." "Aaaaanhhh-" Erix sealed her lips as he wrapped his hands around her and went all out. Lily''s face flushed as Erix increased his speed, causing his dick to ram into her at super fast speed while the water sshed around in the big bathtub. ''Why does this feel so magical now¡­'' Lily was getting hotter inside, and her heart also raced faster. This ramming felt different and more blissful. ¡­ After half an hour, Erix put Lily beside Rin in the bedroom and went to the backyard. "How did it go?" Lilith mischievously smiled. "You wanted to her for that development?" Erix asked as he sat down beside his furnace and continued Magsmithing. "Of course. She has been with me for so many years, and I have noticed her behavior and mood changing ever since you became my darling." Lilith grinned, "So, you were the best choice for her, and she also wouldn''t choose someone else because I''ve raised her." "Well, I can see that," Erix chuckled as he remembered Lily''s actions in the kitchen. She was really acting out of her character, but since she was so confident and natural due to the kind of life she lived, Erix didn''t notice that she was just acting. "It was just a desire for her because she saw how I changed after meeting you. I awakened that desire in her, but I want her to love you as the opposite sex and also want you to care for her." Erix lightly sighed, "How could I not care for her after knowing that she had already made the first step?" "Eh? Did she tell you about her past? Haha, that''s wonderful," Lilithughed. "So, how were the results?" Erix fake coughed. "Ahem, I sucked her dry to thest drop of her essence, so she would need some days to recover," "But the effects of her essence on my source were higher than yours and Rin''s in regards to bncing." "It was like I ate over fifty Tier-3 life-attributed fruits." "Oh? Then you really sucked her dry," Lilith chuckled. "I somewhat expected that her essence would be better than the Tier-3 fruits." Erix rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. "Let me properly check and measure so I can make a progress bar towards my source bncing." After a minute, Erix opened his eyes, and a helpless expression formed on his face. "What? What''s the progress towards making your source perfectly bnced?" Lilith curiously asked. "0.3%?" Erix shook his head, "0.24%. I also lose some, but I can''t stop it because I need to lose my source and fill it up with life to bnce it, which makes the progress slower." Erix slumped on the ground, "I did it so much time, but only this much progress¡­Damn it, when will I get fixed? I think I had an imbnce in source ever since I became a hybrid zombie as I encountered so much death around me and at my hands, making the source continue tilting towards this imbnce." "Oof¡­.That''s exactly the case," Lilith put her head on the table and nced at Erix''s crotch. "You know what''s the best way then?" "What?" Erix raised his eyebrows. Lilith mischievously smiled, "We need to find you some women with Life-attributed bloodlines and have you absorb their essence." "You also need to lose essence filled with your source power, so the only way to quickly cure you is that. Moreover, girls with life-attribute bloodlines would have really pure and powerful life power, so it also won''t take long to fix you." "I don''t think that''s the easy way," Erix released a hollow chuckle. "It is fast, but it doesn''t sound easy." "What if I know a ce where you can find a girl or two with such bloodlines?" Lilith grinned. "But you''ll have to really work hard, reach Royal order, and win their hearts." "And~ I can help with that," Lilith blew a kiss at Erix, "We''ll go there once our adventure is finished. Meanwhile, you can continue ying with us three and some others on the way who will be willing. Suck them dry for your benefit in exchange for their pleasure and leave. No strings attached." "That sounds good," Erix grinned. "Nothing is bad for me in this, hahaha." "Alright, you can continue practice now. Meanwhile, I''ll go and get some solid information," Lilith stood up and took out her fancy ck umbre. "We''ll be departing tomorrow morning after exactly 14 hours." "Got it," Erix raised his thumb and grinned, "I''ll finish my Tier-4 weapon in these fourteen hours." ¡­ After two hours, Lilith returned to the mansion and went to the bedroom. She nced from the window and saw that Erix was still busy with his Magsmithing and didn''t bother him. Lilith sat down on a chair at the window while waiting for Rin to wake up because she knew that Rin would wake up anytime now. And after around half an hour, Rin indeed woke up as she stretched her limbs. With a big and refreshed smile on her face, she opened her eyes. "Good morning, although it''s not morning." Rin turned to the sound and was about to speak before she noticed another person beside her, "Lily?" "What happened to her?" "She was sucked dry by Erix," Lilith wry smile, "But Erix is in a big trouble." "Big trouble?" Rin frowned. "Why?" Lilith proceeded to tell Erix''s situation to her as Rin''s expression remained in a frown for a while before it turned into a shocked and terrified face at the end since Lilith only told the consequences at the end. "He will be a skeleton?! No fucking way," Rin shook her head. "That can never happen. I can''t let my Erix reduce to a bunch of bones. Where are those girls with Life-attributed bloodlines? Let''s go find them." "Chill, honey. The girls I am talking about have big status. I am not sure if they exist yet, but they should exist somewhere in the core domain," Lilith said. "Who are you talking about exactly?" Rin curiously asked. "Elves. There''s amunity of Elves in the core domain. There are also Nature Elves who are born with innate bloodlines, and the most pure ones would have Life-attributed bloodlines. We have to go there and see if there are any developed girls with Life-attributed bloodlines who are not taken yet and add them to our darling''s harem." "Otherwise, only his bones will remain." Chapter 169: Prepared For Departure, Situation ''No, this doesn''t flow fast.'' ''Damn it¡­'' ''This formation should work.'' It''s been twelve hours since Erix has been constantly training. He had scanned the Tier-4 four material, zma Star Ore, and could already reproduce it. It consumed 2000 mana to produce one kilo of its chunk, and that only amounted to the size of a small palm. But that was all Erix needed to make it his weapon''s core and inscribe sigil formations on it to make it work with the blueprint he created. He had already tried three times and failed as he wasted three chunks of zma Star Ore, but since he could reproduce it, he didn''t have to worry about spending a fortune to constantly buy it. A big benefit of having Metal Affinity in 2nd realm. It took him two hours to scan the zma Star Ore, and he had spent thest four hours only on creating his Tier-4 weapon. Of course, he only called it Tier-4 because he was using a Tier-4 material. But it wouldn''t be a true Tier-4 since he didn''t have ess to Prana, which only a Royal-order powerhouse could have. Meanwhile, Rin and Lilith had already grabbed the custom-made flying ship that was ready and built and prepared for their adventure buy, practically making it afortable small house for the four of them. One big bedroom took the full width of the ship at the back. Right on top of it was a big balcony of the same full width with a table and chairs and a kitchen table behind it to cook food using the meat of exotic beasts they would hunt on the way. Lilith had mastery as a Mystic Chef, so she could cook food that gave both the temporary buffs and permanent physical stat boost using unique, powerful meats of powerful beasts. As for the rest of the five meters of the empty deck at the front of the ship, Lilith put four magic mattresses to aid in focus and meditate toprehend powers on the way. The only thing missing was a big bathroom, and Lilith had a pre-made one-bathroom box in her storage ring that she could take whenever she wanted if they wanted to have a bath after fighting monsters and horrors. In short, the ship was just like a multi-floor yacht with enough space andfort. "Let''s wake up Lily and then call Erix. We have one hour max," Lilith said. "So we have to reach that destination before a certain time?" Rin curiously asked. Lilith nodded with a faint smile. "Fallen Land is a unique ce. It exists ten kilometers deep in the ground in the northwest of the Nether Region, and it only surfaces from the Murder Gorge for half an hour every day." "There''s such a ce?" Rin was shocked. "Yep. And the bad thing is that once the Fallen Land falls back, it''s very dangerous to go down that gorge even though it''s just ten kilometers." "Why?" Rin blinked. Lilith grinned, "That gorge and fifty kilometers of the area around it, which is essentially a colorful desert, belongs to a being." "Only when the Fallennd surfaces does that being stop its influence on the area and let people peacefully in." "But once the Fallen Land falls, the area belongs to it." "What is it?!" Lilith was keeping suspense purposefully. "A worm," Lilith chuckled. "But, an Empyrean-order worm. Even I would be exhausted trying to kill it even if I go all out." "You are saying you have a chance to kill an Empyrean-order monster?" Rin was dumbfounded. She didn''t know the gap between the royal order and the Empyrean order, but it wouldn''t be so easy, right? "You have no idea about my power, honey," Lilith smiled. "Although its true potential was only unlocked thanks to Erix, who acted as my awakening catalyst." "Yeah, you told us about your previous condition," Rin wryly smiled. Lilith was also in trouble, thanks to her Demon + Vampire hybrid situation. She was imbnced, and her source was deteriorating. Lilith could maintain that status, but she only found the cure to her condition and neared her goal of revenge thanks to Erix. "I''m d you two died," Lilith lightlyughed, "And I don''t feel bad about it." Rin didn''t know whether tough or cry, "I just hope everything and everyone I know is alive." Lilith coughed, "Sorry. But worry not. You two can leave when you reach level 200, right? Or 201? What''s the target you got?" "201," Rin wryly smiled, "We need to reach Royal order." "No worries," Lilith patted her chest, "I''ll make sure you two get through to Royal order within a year to a maximum of one and a half years." Lilith grinned, "After that, we''ll go to your world together." "Wha?! It takes so long?" Rin was dumbfounded. "Well, that was just a rough estimation," Lilith said thoughtfully, "Leveling to 200 will take you half a month to a month if you focus on killing fifty to sixty monsters 20-30 levels above you every day." "After that, you''ll have to progress in some other areas to breakthrough into the Royal order, and that depends on your individual capabilities likeprehension and hard work." Lilith smiled, "But you two will be prohibited from farming monsters for two months." "Eh? Why for two months?" Rin was confused. Lilith''s expression became somber, "For you, Rin, I''ll have you focus on progressing your affinities and bloodline for two months. You need one more affinity, and both of them at level 3. If you can add a concept or two, that would be ultra-powerful progress." "But all of these depend on your hard work and focus. Of course, you''ll face challenges daily, but specific challenges to improve yourbat, not about farming monsters to level up." "As for Erix," Lilith sighed. "We can''t let him kill monsters for two months." "Is it that bad?" Rin was startled. "It will be if he kills monsters and absorbs natural death power that his source actively tries to absorb. If there are dead monsters around, their death power will scatter quickly, but if Erix kills monsters, then his source would make a connection with them and actively absorb their death power that is produced upon one''s death, which will worsen his condition." Lilith looked at Erix below from the ship and continued, "I just hope you two won''t get shocked after a few days because his source had started to make changes in him, which was also why he finally felt uneasiness and discovered his condition." "What changes?" Rin''s eyes widened. "You didn''t tell Erix about it?" "Better not to add depression in him while he wants to focus on creating his weapon," Lilith helplessly smiled. "True," Rin lightly sighed. "So, what will be the changes?" "It won''t be serious, don''t worry. He will just enter a death state where a part of his source will initiate a defense mechanism that will start to prevent the imbnce from bing worse," Lilith said. "For one hour every day, all life in him willpletely vanish, and it will let death take over to let it spend its energy. In short, he will be a skeleton for one hour." "In this one hour, we''ll have to find some way to spend his stamina and power to reduce death power. It won''t be much, but he should still focus on either Magsmithing orprehending powers to exhaust him in any way." "We''ll have to tell him this beforehand, or he will panic," Rin wryly smiled. "I''ll do it when we depart. For now, let''s leave him to make his weapon. It should be done soon based on his excited expression in this attempt," Lilith smiled as she looked at Erix. "Yeah, that face tells me he will seed soon," Rin chuckled. Chapter 170: Perspective of Power "By the way," Rin thought of something and asked, "What if Erix''s source bes death-dominated and leans towards that evolution? Will he ever be fixed or remain that way?" Lilith thought for a moment and then rubbed her temple as she concluded after thinking for a bit. "It will be even harder to fix him or nearly impossible for a long time because after his source leans towards death-based evolution, he will need someone on the level of Granny May to fix him, or he would need to reach that level to alter his existential powers." "¡­" "That sounds like apocalyptic hard and a long, long time." "You can count people on the level of Granny May, so yeah. There''s not even a guarantee that you and I would reach that level," Lilith helplessly smiled. "Wait, can Granny May help Erix now?" Rin quickly asked with shining eyes. "Unfortunately, nope," Lilith shook her head. "She is in a big trouble. That''s why she is here. I don''t know the big picture, and I am not even qualified for it, but she told me her situation in simple words." Rin waited as Lilith continued. "Someone more powerful than her bound her to the Abyss Realm and forced her to manage it. She has to follow certain rules that are already predetermined and stay here for an indefinite time." "By the way, Abyss Realm means that I am talking about all five Abyss worlds, not just this Kanx Abyss. She has her avatars in all five abysses," Lilitth said. "Alright, that''s enough for today," Rin rubbed her temples. "I''ll focus on goals in front of me right now. Is it easy to get females here? Erix can''t kill monsters for two months, but he needs to suck women dry these two months, right?" "Exactly, he can''t just do nothing these two months," Lilith nodded. "If I buy him life-attributed resources instead, we won''t even keep up with the earnings and his spending, and it will also progress slower than this method." Rin helplessly smiled. "We are not enough, and I will even need a day or two to fully recover." "We must absorb his essence. It''s fine. He won''t get exhausted for the next five days anyway. After that, he will only need to sleep for ten hours to recover his spirit to full and continue working hard," Lilith chuckled. "The best way is to let him release loads and then him sucking dry other girls. They will get a crazy experience of a zombie once," Lilith snickered. "Well, I hope he can find some energetic and full-of-life targets," Rin helplessly smiled. "He will get it," Lilith smirked. "We are going on a dangerous journey, and we won''t be alone at the ces. There will be powerful and beautiful women with Bloodlines that are not death-rted. As long as Erix impresses them, he will be fine." "And if we encounter some nasty bitches, it would be fine if he sucks them dry," Rin sneered. Lilith raised her eyebrows, "I''m d I didn''t have to tell you this. In fact, I actually have a target for Erix that we''ll forcefully rein in." "What?" Rin was taken back. "Really? In Fallen Land?" "Yep. She is a peak Royal-order powerhouse, someone with a me-attributed dragon bloodline." "¡­" Rin was speechless. "Do you want to kill him? A royal-order powerhouse and one with a dragon bloodline at that?" "She will crush his dick." "Who said she is more powerful than me?" Lilith crossed her arms and smirked. "Rein, the Crimson Lady. Before I awakened and got my Bloodline evolved thanks to Erix, I would have definitely lost to her, but as I am now, I can kill and control her both." "So, what feud do you have with her?" Rin curiously asked. "None," Lilith shrugged. "But she is rather exotic. Her favorite food ingredients are humans, dwarves, and elves." "What?!" Rin was dumbfounded. "Well, she is a true dragon, not just a human who has a dragon bloodline," Lilith wryly smiled. "Even among other dragons, she is more cruel andvish. Her base is in the area that is essible when Fallennd falls in the Abyss Depths." "Does she eat¡­any age of other humans, dwarves, and such people?" Rin asked, feeling strange and somewhat familiar. "Well, unlike how we wait for a baby chicken to grow before eating, she has her dining schedule ready. She gets ingredients every month from her sub-organizations in the inner and core domains. She has a¡­farm, much like a poultry farm of exotic fishes and beasts." "H-how?! Then the rule of ten-level difference is useless," Rin mumbled. "Nobody cares. She dines on her exotic farmed ''ingredients'' four times a month," Lilith shrugged. "Those who care are too weak, and those who are powerful don''t care." "But, I felt that she was a good target for Erix because her Fire-bloodline is not just a simple me. Her fire''s uniqueness is its characteristic power, Radiant Vitality ze." "Sounds like something useful to Erix," Rin raised her eyebrows. "Yep. When I was gone for a bit after knowing his situation, I went to Granny May to get her information," Lilith grinned. "But, still¡­ I never thought I would hear about dwarves, elves, and human poultry farms," Rin felt strange, weird, and instinctive anger. ''Is this how those chickens must feel if they had sentience? Jeez.'' "Rin, you can''t care enough for others on this path to evolution," Lilith smiled. "Whatever you want to do, you need power to aplish that. Your conscience must have its bnce and should center around you and those who you absolutely care about." "I''ve lost everyone I cared about until I met Lily and found one. And then, I expanded myself when I found hope in Erix. Now, I have two more people in my life that I care about," Lilith smiled. "You are first in my king''s heart, and I am fine with it," Lilith grinned. "I don''t know if you are just buttering up or just saying what you feel," Rin chuckled. "I don''t need to butter up to people I care about," Lilith shrugged. "I''ll just say whatever I want to them. You''ve epted me wholeheartedly for Erix based on both emotional and logical conclusions. You have the potential to not get lost." "And that tells me why your reaction towards this human poultry farm was mostly based on the absolute perspective." "Mostly, not fully," Rin wryly smiled. "I don''t me you for that because that''s normal. But you''ve epted that reality and already determined that there would be more such ces in other worlds or somewhere else." Rin sighed, "Because power is what reins above others, and it is not tied by the morals of an individual or group." "Good. Now, you won''t be shocked to hear that there exist monsters who eat wholes and whoever lives on them. The only thing that matters to them is their hunger, not the tiny morality that lives on the." "You don''t like it? Do you hate them? Fine, be powerful and kill them." "¡­" "I understand. Thanks for today''s lesson and for increasing my knowledge yet again," Rin helplessly smiled. "Good. Now, I think you should go and wake up Lily. Erase the awkwardness because she is not what she looks on the surface." "Alright, I''ll ease her," Rin chuckled. "Haha, I never thought I would handle my darling''s harem one day. What a crazy world." "Harems aremon, and in the mighty realms, it is only avable to those who possess a certain perspective," Liltih faintly smiled. "Perceptive of power," Rin muttered as she looked at Erix. "He has it? I believe he has," Rin nodded firmly. "From perceptive of power, you gain perception into power, and that''s how this grand cosmos thrives." "Erix will attain it, and you will too if you want to be more powerful." Chapter 171: Plasma, Departure ''Good. Now, when I want to recharge the weapon, I can just rece the chunk of zma Star ore!'' ''Sigil formations are working in the frame and can extract power from the ore.'' ''The outer structure is a mix of two ores that can handle the power of zma Star ore. It should be able tost long.'' Rin, Lilith, and Lily sat at the table nearby, waiting for Erix to finish. "How long, babe? We need to depart now." "Just five minutes. I need to assemble this one and connect the sigil formations. After that, my weapon will be ready." After a few minutes, the girls saw a huge pistole with dark blue, purple, and my red designs ready and floating before Erix. "Hahaha, it''s finally done!" Erix grinned as he pointed his hand at the sky in a gun-form, his index finger pointing up. "Bang," Erix uttered, causing the huge pistol before him to glow in its pattern briefly before the trio heard a suppressed *blob* sound and saw a condensed huge energy bullet leaving the pistol''s barrel. It shot up in the sky for a kilometer before exploding into apact crackling purple st, which Erix named sma st. "Wow, that shot traveled fast," Rin was surprised. "It''s lightning-dominated after all," Lilith nodded. "It''s offense is powerful. And you can even continuously shoot this," Lily raised her eyebrows. "This indeed a good weapon for Noble orders." A pure offensive attack consisting of intense and instantaneous firepower of me with intensity and speed of lightning mixed. zma Star Ore was a sma-attributed material. It was an element born out of Lightning and Fire, and it was in a Tier-4 material, which meant that it had high potency. Boosted by Erix''s weapon structure and metal affinity, this sma Star Pistol had powerful and pure offense power depending on his Magic power and mana consumption. "Rin can also buff the weapon for additional lightning-attributed damage since it''s sma-attributed," Erix grinned and then shared the weapon''s status with others. "Unfortunately, it wasn''t recognized as a Tier-4 weapon, but it''s still a Tier-3 Legendary-grade weapon," Erix added. [zma Star Pistol] _Rank: Tier-3 _Grade: Legendary _zma Shot: 100 to 1000 mana cost. ¡ª> Attack: 1000 + 350% of magic power + 300% of mana consuption. _Effects: ¡ª> sma Attraction: Upon hitting a living target, the sma shot will actively rush to the target and attack unless something obstructed it. ¡ª> Burnt Shock: Targets attacked by zma Shot will have a chance to get instantaneously burnt on and null their natural recovery or other healing depending on the target''s resistance to lightning and fire or sma. ¡ª> Ultima Bomb: Consume 1000 mana and exhaust all power of zma Star Ore in the gun to shoot a condensed and powerful shot. Damage depends on the power left in zma Star Ore. "Good weapon, but you know you won''t be killing any monster for the next two months," Lilith said as she stood up. "Two whole months?" Erix was startled. He knew he would need to stop killings to prevent absorbing death power, but he didn''t expect Lilith to tell him to stop for two months. "I''ll tell you more on the way. For now, it''s time to depart, or we won''t make it in time." "Alright." ¡­ They just departed right away after boarding the ship since everything, and everyone was long ready except for Erix. Still, they left ten minutes before the deadline set by Lilith so they would reach Fallen Land on time. "How long is the journey?" Erix asked while eating delicious food on the deck with thedies. The food''s ingredients were full of vitality and hand-picked by Lilith. It wouldn''t help much in the grand progress, but it was better than nothing or something else. "The journey will take exactly one day based on the speed, and that''s what we want," Lilith said. "Ahem," Rin fake coughed before saying, "Let''s tell him about the full situation. His full situation." "Yep," Lily wryly smiled. Erix took a spoon of soup and then a meat dumpling into his mouth. Fifteen minutester, Erix leaned back on the chair, his expression speechless. "Ok, so first¡­I will be a skeleton after a day or two." "Yep." "Second, we are going to capture a dragondy." "Indeed." "Third, I need to suck dry lots of women on top of that." "In short, you''re going to have a lot of fun," Rin chuckled. "How lucky, right?" "I mean¡­I can''t help it," Erix yfully shrugged. "I would choose another alternative if possible, but this is the best and fastest, right?" "This is the only one for now," Lilith rolled her eyes. "Your situation is grave, and we need swift measures." "Zombie," Lily grinned. Erixughed and stood up. "Hahaha, then no more time wasting. I am even more energetic now after eating this food, so it''s time to train." "So, what do you want to do first?" Lilith asked. "I can''t hunt monsters, but I still need to be powerful, or I won''t get my medicines, right?" Erix grinned and jumped on the lower deck before sitting on the mattress. "So, for now, I am going to train and improve my powers. First is getting my Space affinity level 2." "Then let''s finish our daily one-hour session of Spiritual Art," Rin jumped down and sat beside Erix. "Good, we are also close to finishing our new spiritual power," Erix smiled and closed his eyes. "Alright, do your best," Lilith nodded. Afterward, both of them entered Limitless ne. Their consciousness materialized at an ind''s shore. "We are close to finishing our Spiritual Eye formation, so let''s finish it first," Erix said. "This thing is harder than others since it took us so many days." "Yeah, it would''ve definitely taken more time if we trained in this outside," Rin nodded. "Then we''ll do thirty minutes of progress inpleting our Spiritual Eye formation, and then the next thirty minutes for other things." "I''ll search for a windy ind and try to glean into Wind power to awaken its affinity." "And I''ll open that Babin Maw Hook again andprehend more about Space." Erix grabbed Rin''s hand and teleported to a nearby mountain''s peak. Both of them sat down as they chanted the mantra and initiated the chaos storm before continuing to finish their Spiritual Eye formation amidst the chaotic storms that enveloped their consciousness. Amidst the Storm of Chaos, I remain the Eye of Tranquility! Chapter 172: Liliths Prep Work "Lady Lilith, how about we just capture women for him?" Lily suggested. "Powerful noble-order women." "Fallen Land doesn''t have weaklings. There are many powerful adventurers, and our whole route is filled with them, so Erix won''t have a shortage of women," Lilith chuckled. "But if we capture and present them to him, it would be bad for him." "It''s better to let him get his targets and suck them dry.Sure, if we encounter any nasty bitches, he can nail them forcefully." "Sounds good," Lily smiled while she felt a bit antsy, "It felt so good¡­I can''t wait to do with him again." Lilith poked Lily''s stomach whileughing sweetly, "Little rascal, haha¡­" "You just had the taste, so I can understand your craving. Whenever you recover, you can do it with him, and he''ll ride you to heaven," Lilith chuckled. Lily''s cheeks turned rosy. "Alright, I''ll also go and train now." "How''s your progress towards Prana Pce going?" "It''s around seventy percent done." "Hmm, alright. You also need to break through to Royal order soon, so you''ll speed up your training with resources we''ll get on the way." Lily nodded. ¡­ An hourter, Rin and Erix were kicked out of Limitless ne during their training as they opened their eyes. "I feel like I am close," Rin mumbled. She looked at the atmosphere of the Nether Region and felt theher wind better than before. "Then continue," Erix grinned. "This region is perfect if you feel like you can awaken Wind affinity." "Yep. I''ll enter meditation for it. Kiss youter," Rin pecked on his lips and went back to meditation. She closed her eyes and entered deep focus while spreading her spirit sense outside and interacting with theher wind in the atmosphere. Lily was also beside them with her eyes closed while Lilith was on the upper deck, sitting at a table. ''What are you doing?'' Erix sent a thought message as he turned to her. ''Creating a Dark Blood Seal for that dragondy,'' Lilith smiled at Erix upon seeing him turning around. ''Oh? What does it do?'' ''So you can suck her dry without getting burned by her.'' ''Phew¡­so that was your card. You said you would handle her, but I still couldn''t figure out how I would actually suck dry a Royal-order woman of that caliber and power,'' Erix wryly smiled. ''Of course, I have everything set up,'' Lilith smirked. ''I don''t make ns without preparations.'' ''Fantastic. Alright, I''ll go back toprehending space.'' ''Good luck, haha. You might get a sh of inspiration and enlightenment, which can increase your progress by a lot.'' ''If only it was that easy,'' Erix helplessly smiled. ''Thanks for everything.'' Lilith rolled her eyes and chuckled. ''No need to thank me. Instead, you can just give me a wilder ride next time.'' ''For sure, hahaha!'' ¡­ Afterward, everyone went back to their work. Lilith was done with her Dark Blood Seal in two hours, and she was free afterward. To relieve her boredom, she hunted down flying monsters that were anywhere within a kilometers radius of the ship while sitting leisurely on the deck. From her fingers, tiny dark red strings that were micro-thin spread around and could attack anything within ten kilometers. As she was a Royal-order powerhouse, normal monsters were like flies to her. Even normal Royal-order monsters were nothing but akin to mosquitoes. ''Finally, a Royal-order monster,'' Lilith thought as she sensed a powerful presence. ''Although it''s a weaker than, it should help.'' It was a red and furry ten-legged horse with fourrge feathered wings. The monster was thirty meters tall and exuded a powerful aura of me, Earth, and a mixed element of Wood and Water. Its speed was fast, and it appeared beside the ship in a second from ten kilometers away while Prana potently whirled around it in the form of a red, brown, and sparkling green aura. s, it only stayed alive for one second before hundreds of faint dark red shes appeared around it. *Chree¡­.* Half a secondter, the huge level 218 Royal-order monster was finely cut into a hundred pieces. In the next second, another batch of dark red shes appeared as Lilith separated its organs and bones while keeping the vitality-filled meat cubes aside. "Good. This will be our dinner." Lilith stood up while humming a tune and stored everything in the storage ring before she walked towards the kitchen table behind her and started preparing other ingredients and exotic spice mixes. ¡­ After fourteen hours, Lily took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Aaah, that was a good session," Lily stretched her limbs and stood up. She turned to her side and saw that Rin and Erix were still meditating with their eyes closed. Erix had his Babin Maw Hook in his hand and was currently experiencing its curse. "Come up, honey. You''re done for today, right?" Lilith called out from above. "Yep," Lily smiled and nodded at Lilith as she flew up and arrived on the top deck. The big dining table in the middle was already filled with many big tes covered with lids, but Lily felt hungry just looking at them. "Lady Lilith, is this a special meal?" "Yep. Your stats have reached the maximum or Noble order, but Erix and Rin are far from it. I''ll cook daily to increase their physical parameters and also improve my Mystic Chef realm." "Two birds with one stone," Lily nodded before she turned around and leaned at the fence while looking at the horizon. "We are already deeper in the Inner Region. How many Royal order monsters did you encounter?" Lilith sat down at the table as she answered, "Three only. But the food I cooked from them will boost Rin''s and Erix''s physical stats by over fifty." "As for their Magic Flower boost¡­" Lilith smiled and waved her hand as a bunch of cores floated in the air before Lily. Three of them were particrly bright and big, with unique patterns on them. "Wah, hahaha, this is perfect," Lilith chuckled. Lilith shrugged. "It''s fine if they increase their stats faster because those two arebat freaks and wouldn''t settle for less when ites to fighting." "That''s good," Lily nodded and grabbed the three cores of Royal order monsters. "Do I filter these three for them?" "Once you are done, let''s wake up Erix first," Lilith said before she looked at Rin, "Rin seems to be deep in an insight, so we''ll wait for her to naturally wake up." "I am awake," Erix said as he opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. Rubbing his temples, he vanished and appeared on the top deck before stretching his limbs. "How did the session go?" Lily curiously asked. "I made progress is all I can state," Erix thoughtfully said. "Which means that I can''t say for sure when I will reach the second realm of space. I''ll just have to train daily." "But for now¡­ ahem," Erix scratched his head, a helpless smile on his face. "I need to release¡­" Lily''s cheeks flushed while Lilith mischievously chuckled. "The bedroom below is empty, and our Lily is craving her second experience. Go and have fun until shests." "Lady Lilith!" Lily stomped her feet, her face red. Why did she have to say it like that? "Why are you being shy when you''ve already done it?" Lilith rolled her eyes. Erixughed and pulled her pressed her towards him after pushing her back. "Don''t you want it?" he whispered. Lily''s ears were also red now, but her voice still rang slowly and faintly, "I want¡­" Erix kissed her and gently smiled before he teleported them to the king-sized bedroom below. Chapter 173: Fallen Land, A Tough Challenge After one and a half hours, Erix returned alone to the top deck and sat at the table beside Lilith. "It seems that Lily wants to savor the taste for a while longer," Lilith smiled. "She was screaming and moaning, full enjoyment, hahaha." Erixughed. He then turned to Rin and raised his eyebrows, "is that¡­" Lilith nodded. "Yep. Nine hours of continuous focus, and she got an insight as well. The wind around her indicates that she will awaken her Wind Affinity soon." "Great!" Erix grinned. ¡­ After half an hour, Lily arrived on the deck and sat at the table with a new set of outfits that consisted of her usualyered white traditional dress. "Did you have fun,ss?" Lilith mischievously chuckled. "Mhm," Lily slightly nodded with slight red cheeks and sat at the table. "Don''t say more, please. When you say it, I feel shy." "Erix, did you do it in rough style or moderate?" "Moderate and gentle, why?" "Then do it rough next time," Lilith grinned. "She''ll enjoy it more." "It''s more exhausting, but not more for me," Erix shrugged and grinned. "Sroooshhh* Suddenly, the winds started gathering intensely, and everyone looked at Rin. A greenish-cyan aura oozed out of her as all winds danced and whirled around her. "Since we are in the Nether Region, Rin can try to create a Nether Wind source instead of regr Wind," Lilith said, her eyes narrowed. "How?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Nether Wind was produced because a being above Empyrean-order died here. His death transformed thend and atmosphere, and since he was master of Wind, with a Nether concept attached to it, all winds in this region turned into Nether Wind." "Concept? So we can give more powers to our elements with concepts?" Erix was shocked. "Not all concepts," Lily wryly smiled. "For example, your Punch concept is not an attribute-type concept. It''s an intent-type concept." "So, we need an attribute-type concept to give powers to our elements?" Erix asked. "Yep. Many have tried to acquire this Nether Wind, but only a few have seeded," Lilith nodded. "Rin should also try and see. Moreover, the ce we are going to after Fallennd is the core of the Nether Region, so she might get higher chances if she works hard for it." *Swoosh!* All winds suddenly dispersed as they heard Rin''s voice. "What should I work hard for, eh?" "Haha, congrats, darling," Erix grinned and hugged her. "You got your second affinity." "Yey," Rin showed a victory sign after kissing him. "We were talking about the Nether Wind," Lilith faintly smiled. "If you want it, you might be able to get it." Lily exined about the Attribute-type concept and Intent-type concept, making Rin eager to try. "I''ll definitely focus on it," Rin nodded while grinning. "This Nether Wind is powerful. I know because I''ve been drowning my consciousness in it for many hours." "If I can have Nether Wind core, my offense will shoot up," Rin''s eyes shone. "Yep. Anyway, good work, everyone. Now, it''s time to have a feast." Lilith waved her hand and took away the clothing that covered the big dining table in the middle. ¡­ After having a big feast that energized them, Rin and Erix went back to training. Lily wanted to hunt monsters and collect cores, so she was sitting at a table and killing flying monsters that encountered them often in the air since Lilith flew at a low altitude. That also had a chance for monsters on thendscapes to attack their flying ship, so there were more monsters to hunt for our assassin, white deathdy. Time passed as seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours¡­ ¡­ "There it is," Lilith said before looking at the sky. "We have ten minutes," she added. The whole area below them was barren yet full of energy. It was a literal ck forest on this fifty-kilometer area of barrennd. But there was a five-kilometer area covered in a mystical, dreamy green and golden barrier in the middle of thend. "That''s the central of Fallennd that came up. Basically, it''s a lift, and it''s there for only ten minutes," Lilith informed. Lilith increased the ship''s speed. "Cool, that seems to be a massive and powerful barrier," Erix said as he looked at the giant barrier. "Yep. That gorge is not a natural hole. It''s a mystical gorge leading to Nether Depths, so a barrier is needed to prevent weaker people from dying from the magical pressure when thend falls," Lily said. "How weak?" Rin curiously asked. Lily weakly smiled, "Noble-order and below. Our bodies are not strong enough, and mana is useless against that pressure. We need Prana and powerful bodies like Royal-order powerhouse." Rin and Erix were startled. "But noble orders are abundant, and they are the main workforce. It doesn''t even take long to reach the noble order in Fallen Land due to its resources, but the danger is more so only brave and talented ones who are heirs and newer generations go there," Lilith chuckled. "With bodyguards, of course." "Just like that one that you two killed it." Rin and Erix remembered as they smiled. They also created their firstbo skill, Thunder Nuke, toplete that task. "It went easier than we thought." "Yep." Erix saw that their ship was going to reach the barrier, but the speed was not slowing. "Wait, why aren''t we slowing?" Rin confusedly looked at Lilith and Lily. "This barrier doesn''t prevent us. I have a pass," Lilith smiled as she took out a card with dark purple and dark green patterns. "They created these cards that will spread to make the barrier recognize it and let us through," Lilith said, and their ship also zoomed through the barrier. Erix and Rin felt a weird sensation of sensing some energy, but it wasn''t much. "These must be mandatory," Rin said as she looked at the card, but her gaze was soon attracted by the exotic city and buildings on it. "This is crazy. So many kinds of crystal, wood, and metal structured buildings of exotic themes? It''s chaos," Erix said in surprise. "Yep. This is one of the power spots and the first one in our journey," Lilith said. "Power spots means special ces full of resources and dangers." "But not simple resources," Lily interjected. "What we are talking about are opportunities and fortunes tied with dangers." "There are abundant resource phenomena, but they are verypetitive, so death ismon here," Lily eagerly smiled. "You''ll know once we reach there." "You seem raring to go, eh?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "Yep. I''ll break through to Royal order here," Lily grinned. *Dhoom!* Suddenly, everyone heard a rumbling sound before their ship stopped. Lilith''s expression darkened as she saw a muscr and humanoid lion giant floating before them with ck-gold mixed fur. "Who is he?" Erix frowned. "No idea," Lilith said before she vanished. The giant lion beast-man with a majestic mane suddenly saw Lilith appearing before him as she crossed her arms. "What are you doing, big cat?" But not even batting an eye, the Royal order beastfolk of the Dark ze Lion tribe said with a wide grin, "I saw you when you entered that barrier." "I like your beauty. Come with me." Lilith was speechless, "do you want to die?" "Hahahahaha! You can''t kill me." Erix arrived beside her as he teleported. "Get away, kitty. Or You will really die here," Lilith smiled and grabbed Erix''s arm, pressing it tightly on her breasts. The lion beast-man raised his eyebrows as he looked at Erix. "And I already have a man who is way better than you." "This puny guy?" the beast-man narrowed his eyes at Erix before he burst outughing. "You are saying this puny noble order is better than me?!" "So far, I''ve grabbed two Royal order women forcefully," the lion beast-man grinned. "You''ll be third." "Lilith, I''ve decided," Erix said in a calm tone before Lilith could speak. But the fires in his eyes told her and the beast-man of his raging emotion. "This circus lion will be the first Royal-order powerhouse I''ll kill." Lilith grinned and kissed him passionately before turning to the Lion beast-man, "You are below for two months, right?" "After two months, he''ll present your head on your hands." "Hahahahaha!!¡­" The lion beast-man barely controlled hisughter and anger as he spoke with a rageful grin, "I didn''t expect to get looked down to such a degree. Alright!" "I am here for two months. Decide name and ce. I''ll be there to kill him and take you." The beast-man threw am-card at Erix. Erix grabbed it and grinned, "Come and die after two months." *Swoosh.* The lion beast-man vanished towards the city with a powerful gust of wind. "Oh darling, you''ve really put yourself into a tough situation," Lilith lovingly said. Rin arrived beside Erix and snorted as she looked at the aura trail that the beast-man had left. "Humph, that''s how it should be, Lilith. Erix made the correct choice in challenging that asshole." Rin grinned. "This is more challenging and fun." "Hey, honey. When a random woman wants you someday like this, then I''ll challenge her," Rin chuckled and pinched Erix. "That would be great," Erixughed and pulled her into his hug. The three of them teleported back to the ship as Lily said, "Lady Lilith, how much power would Erix need to kill that Lion?" "Him reaching Royal order in two months is impossible, right?" Lily was concerned. "Lilith must have some idea, which was why she followed up with Erix," Rin said as she turned to Lilith and blinked. Erix turned to Lilith and coughed before he said with a serious expression, "Although I was also half-relying on your idea, I am prepared to work harder than usual, and a part of me challenged him to put more pressure on myself." Lilith wrapped her arms around him and smiled, "In the next two months, you need Space Affinity at level 2, Metal affinity at level 3, Punch concept at level 3, stabilize your source to 50%, and defeat a Royal order monster to get your unique and powerful ss." "You will be able to kill that circus lion¡­only if you meet these conditions within certain time-frames set by me." "In short, you need to kill a Royal-order monster after twenty days, even if it''s a level 201 Royal-order monster that just recently evolved." Erix''s eyes burned with resolve, and the thrill of the pressure motivated him further, "I am ready." "Good. Now, we wait for a few minutes until thisnd falls and joins with the rest of the vast Fallen Land." Lilith looked at the colorful city as the ship floated on the outskirts. "But we''ll have to descend before it falls." "Let''s book a hotel room. We''ll n our initial schedules first." Chapter 174: Badass Lilith "Wow¡­" At that moment, Rin and Erix were looking through the window of their hotel room while thend fell down. The scenery was blurring with glowing lights around them, but they could still stand on the floor despite the speed at which thend was falling. Ten seconds passed by quickly without any hups before they finally saw the new scenery. A nket of exotic buildings and people. "Wee to the Fallen Land, a region that is in the ce we call Abyss Depths," Lilith said with a smile. "The whole city is sixty square kilometers big, and aside from that, it''s all dangers and bases of adventurers in the exotic wilderness all over this vast region that is five thousand kilometers in area." "And our first urgent destination is the pce of a certain dragon woman." "Rein, The Crimson Lady." ¡­ After ten minutes, the group arrived before the gates of Sanguine Pce, which was the Crimson Lady''s base. They stood two kilometers away on a hill amidst a grassynd that had light purple grass all over. "Are you just going to make her submit like that?" Erix asked and creased his brow. "Of course. We need her in urgency now that you have a tough challenge toplete," Lilith chuckled. "You have confidence, right?" Rin asked with a cough. "It''s not that we doubt you, but this is her base, so¡­we wouldn''t want anything to happen to you," Erix said with a serious expression. Lilithughed and flew forward. "Just stay here and watch. I''ll be back soon." Seeing Lilith going away, Lily confidently said, "Don''t worry, you two. Lady Lilith had means and now also has power thanks to her awakening and evolution." Meanwhile, Lilith really made an entry with a bang as she conjured a slick blood sword that crystalized like a ruby and waved it after she appeared before the pce. The silent yet potent wave surged forward, struck the barrier surrounding the pce, and made a cut into it, allowing Lilith to enter without any obstruction. "Intruder!" "Someone is attacking the pce!" Lilith stopped over the garden in the pce grounds and floated while holding her umbre open. Not even a secondter, a figure appeared before Lilith, floating ten meters away from her. That figure looked like a human with smooth peach skin without a single blemish, but she had a pair of crimson dragon horns over her head and dark red eyes with vertical slits. However, her aura surged, and her body transformed as scales covered, a unique natural crystalized helmet appeared around her head, a pair of big red dragon wings with shining dark red scales conjured behind her, andstly, a thick and powerful dragon tail emerged from her back. "Not bad," Lilith smiled with a nod. "What do you want?" Rein asked, her voice threatening and thundering despite being feminine. "I have a man, and he needs to fuck you. You cane willingly, or I can forcefully take you," Lilith spun her umbre while casually speaking. "Choose." Rein''s face behind her headgear turned dark, "Are you a moron or acting like one?" "How rude. I am sincerely asking, and you are making fun of me," Lilith pouted and sighed. The subordinates of Reinana that floated away from the two were sweating buckets hearing the conversation. "Get inside, you all! Prepare a feast of two young human girls and elves. I''ll be there to eat the dishes when they''re ready," Reinana spoke, her voice spreading everywhere in and around the pce as her subordinates quickly rushed inside the pce. "It''s been a year since I killed a Royal order powerhouse," Rein crossed her fingers and pulled as a crackling sound rang. "Is that so?" Lilith chuckled. Rein disappeared from her position as her zing red punch struck Lilith''s stomach. However, her body just vanished into ck motes while Lilith''s voice rang behind her. "Sigh, your Spirit is lower than mine, not to mention Magic power and Bloodline." Rein quickly turned around as a burning rope appeared in her hand with sparkling dark red patterns. *BOOM!* It traveled towards Lilith at lightning speed as air and atmosphere crackled. "Not bad," Lilith nodded as her open umbre blocked the attack while she was shot several meters away due to the impact. A pair of huge demonic bat wings appeared behind her that paused her movement and stabilized her in the air. "Argh!" Reinana roared as her body glowed and vein patterns of her bloodline as she turned into a wisp of me before arriving on top of Lilith. *BOOM!* An inferno spread within twenty kilometers in an instant as even air trembled. ''She shouldn''t have remained unscathed from this,'' Rein thought. However, she immediately sensed a presence behind her and did a quick back chop with her right hand, coated with intense and condensed mes of level 4 Fire affinity. *BOOM!* A loud st exploded as a powerful heat spread from her hand upon impact. However, that impact hit Lilith''s dainty hand coated in magical blood participles that remained slick and clean, not at all affected by her powerful firepower. "Your mes have two powers due to your bloodline as it gained an attribute of Radiant Vitality ze. It can absorb your target''s vitality to fuel itself, so if it enters inside me, it will be hard to remove and heal myself." Lilith smiled and tightened her grip before Rein''s face suddenly paled, and her stomach exploded into blood gore. "Y-You¡­" "Second, you can heal your wounds quickly with your me." Rein''s exploded stomach immediately lit up into radiant orange mes as her wounds quickly healed. However, her expression didn''t get any better. "What do you want from me?" Rein asked while gritting her teeth. ''This bitch. Her Death and Blood affinity are higher than my highest level affinity, and she even has a skill that is abination of those two¡­Who is this freak?!'' ''I can''t win¡­'' "I already told you what I want," Lilith smiled and let go of her hand. "Your healing won''t keep up, trust me," Lilith added upon seeing struggling emotions in Rein''s eyes. "Even if you dragons have high vitality power, I will still kill you before someonees here to save you." "I am above you in every path of power." Rein clenched her fists, "How long will I need to satisfy your man?" "He needs life power, and your pure life vitality due to your bloodline will fulfill that need. Once you be useless¡­" Lilith smiled. " I''ll let you go." ''Her man won''t be that bad if she is this powerful¡­'' Rein thought. ''And I might even get a chance to teach this bitch a lesson after escaping her ws.'' "Fine. But do-" Her voice was cut off as a bright red light blocked her vision. When she regained her senses, her body trembled as fear crept up in her. She looked at Lilith with panic and anger, "What did you do to me?! Why is my magic power suppressed?! M-my blood¡­" "Oh, poordy," Lilith patted her head, and Rein wanted to smack her hand away, but she could only produce that thought, not act on it. "You see¡­I created a rather powerful seal, but it had a tricky activation condition. I have to somehow convince you that you would agree to help me. You decided to agree, and I pped my seal on you," Lilith smiled. "My darling, who will pound you daily from now on, is a bit weak for now, so I have to ensure that you don''t do anything funny, right?" A cor appeared around Rein in front of her disbelief gaze. "N-No..." Lilith grabbed the rope that attached to the cors and merrily said, "Let''s goooo¡­" Their figures blurred as Lilith flew back to the location of Erix and others. Chapter 175: Dominating Reinala (1/2) "She really brought her quickly¡­" Rin was dumbfounded as she saw two figures streaking toward them, one straight and one roughly behind, as if being pulled. "Here she is." Erix looked at the bombastic beauty and turned to Lilith, his eyes filled with shock, "So fast?" That red hair-hot beauty was a Royal-order powerhouse! But Lilith pulled her here like she was her dog. "It was easy," Lilith shrugged and smiled. "She is yours to use, and she won''t resist. Her physical powers and magical powers are suppressed, so she is just the peak of Supra-order rank now." Lilith waved her hand, causing all clothes from her body to shred as Rein trembled, forcing her now bare breasts with erect, juicy nipples to jiggle. They were huge, plump, and soft as if filled with water due to how they moved when she trembled. They wouldn''t fit into Erix''s big hands! Erix gulped, and his horniness increased. Lilith grinned and took out the flying ship before she threw Rein on the deck. "We are beginning our adventure right away. Our first destination is Howling Tombs." "Let''s go." The ship flew in the west direction, the same direction where Rein''s pce was located. When they passed over it, Lilith said, "This is her pce." Rein looked at it and bit her lips. "Her subordinates are trying to find her and you both," Lily chuckled. "It''s a big pce," Erix muttered. Rin nodded before she turned to Lilith, "Anyway, what is at the Howling Tombs?" "Let''s sit first." Lilith sat down at the table, and others followed, filling up all four chairs while Rein stood nearby, still naked. "Hello? Can I get some clothes? You''ve suppressed my powers, so this wind is hurting me," Rein said as her body trembled briefly. "He is your master now, so ask him. Whatever he says, you will have to do it," Lilith smiled and pointed at Erix. Rein looked at Erix as her lips curved upward, showing disapproval. "I didn''t expect your man to be this weak. His aura seems a mess." Erix raised his eyebrows. "That''s why you are here, bitch," Rin snorted. "Just be thankful you are going to have a good time because of our needs." "That''s right," Lily narrowed her eyes at Rein, "Know your position here and behave like the ve that you are." Lilith rubbed her chin and smiled. "Erix, go and make her obedient in the bedroom." Lilith added, "I''ll brief you about Howling Tombs after twenty minutes." "Good idea," Erix cracked a grin and stood up before turning to Rein. Rein looked at Erix and thought. ''If I can defeat him in the bed by preventing myself from climaxing, he won''t be able to benefit and will also lose his self-esteem.'' ''Hehe, two birds with one stone,'' Rein sneered. Erix directly and rudely grabbed and pinched her nipple with his thumb and index finger before pulling her towards him, "Let''s check how effective she proves." Both of them disappeared as Erix teleported them to the king-sized bed below. Throwing shocked Rein on the bed, Erix put away his clothes inside Hunter Card''s storage. "S-Space affinity?" Rein uttered, startled. Erix cracked his finger as he pulled Rein''s leg and spun her, getting her position on all fours before pping her buttcheek. "Humph, you won''t be able to satisfy me. I''ve never done it in humanoid form, only in dragon form," Rein snappily said before she thought. ''I won''t feel much in human form...right?'' "You dumb dragon," Erixughed and pped buttcheeks before he spread them and inserted his dick into her tight and dry pussy. "Bitch, you''ve really never done it in humanoid form, eh?" Erix was surprised as he could indeed feel it was an amateur hole. "Heh, I feel nothing. Stop wasting your time and let me go," Rein sneered as she nced at Erix behind her. But immediately after that, Rein felt movement from the thing within her as it was expanding and throbbing. ''W-what was that?'' Rein thought. It made her tickle and feel good, making her involuntarily aroused. "Get ready," Erix chuckled. He wasn''t even fully awakened, but his dick fully expanded inside her and thrust it inside all the way, hitting her deepest spot. Afterward, Erix first started thrusting slowly ording to his n and closed his eyes. ''Let''s see her spots.'' On the other hand, Rein shut her mouth tight and focused. She started feeling it, but it wasn''t enough to make her climax. ''If I focus, then I can defeat him.'' A minute passed in silence except for the rhythmic sound of flesh hitting flesh. But suddenly, Erix opened his eyes and deviously grinned. In the next second, Erix started moving a bit fast and released a load inside, but still continued moving while the sound of flesh hitting flesh became a bit lewd. Rein bit her lips and then mocked, "You couldn''t hold back, heh. I guess that''s what you amount to." Erix just smiled at her useless attempts and continued thrusting from behind while slowly increasing his speed. But Rein was feeling it more and more, making her confused and nervous. ''What''s going on? W-Why is it feeling better and better?'' ''Damn it. I have to hold back.'' Another minute passed with minor struggles from Rein, but Erix made some changes to his thrusting and increased his speed further, now thrusting twice in a second. Rein was on all fours, so her breasts were crazily jiggling, and Erix grabbed them from the sides before ying with them roughly. "Y-You¡­Mghhhh," Rein wanted to speak, but her arousal increased exponentially as Erix''s thrusts became more and more effective and arousing her. She buried her face on the bed to prevent moaning and focused on herself to reduce her arousal. Erix grinned when he saw that. ''It''s time.'' His body briefly glowed, and veins appeared all over his body as he suddenly went all out and increased his speed to full, causing his figure to blur. Before Rein could process anything, her pussy was pounded hundreds of times in a few seconds as she screamed loudly, and her body trembled intensely as she instantly climaxed. The jolts of pleasure that spread into her caused her mind to turn nk. Her pussy contracted and expanded rapidly as she squirted hard. "Mmhfff¡­.Urghhh¡­." After releasing a muffled groan, Rein fell to the side as currents of euphoria spread through her body. On the other hand, Erix greedily sucked all of her senses via his special skill. ''Wow, this is working!'' Erix''s eyes shone as he saw how the life power from her essence affected his source better than anything he had done before. "Hahaha, good," Erixughed and pped Rein''s buttcheeks. "Bitch, this is just the start." *Swoosh¡­* Erix''s figure blurred as he picked up Rein and pushed her at the wall before raising her leg and inserting his dick inside. "Have you heard of techniques?" Erix grinned before he started moving again at the speed of three thrusts per second. Rein''s face was red, and her eyes steamy, "Y-You¡­I won''t let it happen again." "Hahaha¡­" Erixughed and grabbed her breast before sucking it voraciously. He groped hard and sucked hard as his tongue and lips yed with her nipples. And then, he shot his load inside her. "Y-You can''t even hold back¡­You''ve already released three times," Rein mocked while trying not to show how her body was feeling and doing her best to prevent from moaning. Erix didn''t answer but immediately released another load in her as her eyes turned wide before the piping hot semen that flooded her pussy and womb caused her to moan loudly. "H-How¡­" Erix grabbed her chin and pulled down her face at him since she was taller than him. "Release it," Erix uttered while looking into her eyes with a dashing grin before he pulled his dick out and immediately inserted it with precision at full force and released the sixth load. "Aaaaanhhhhh!!" Itpletely broke Rein''s defense as she intensely trembled at the struggle to hold back. "N-No¡­" Rein''s body quivered intensely, but her words were not enough to stop it as she felt her dam bursting and her eyes rolled upward. ''F-fuck¡­'' Erix quickly absorbed her essence, but his pimping hot load was overflowing from pussy as Rein''s legs turned weak while ecstasy and satisfaction filled her up, rattling her mind while her defenses started to crumble. Chapter 176: Dominated Reinala (2/2) The moment he pulled it out and backed away, Rein fell on the ground as she quivered. She looked at her crotch and saw how it was dripping with Erix''s semen and looked up at him, "H-how?" Erix didn''t answer and went back to the bed beforeying on his back, his divine dragon standing still and stiff while faintly throbbing. "I am going to suck you dry whether you try to hold back or not, as I have many ways to fuck you, and this was not even 1% of the techniques I got. So better get your ass here and be my bitch until you''ve exhausted your use." Rein looked at Erix''s meat rod and then at her dripping pussy. ''Why did it feel so good in humanoid form? Because of the flexibility that dragons don''t have while they do it?'' Rein didn''t know, but she knew she had no choice. Her mind and body were still screaming with pleasure from the loads that Erix poured and his dick that caused her climax despite trying to hold back. Biting her lips, she stood up and walked towards the bed while Erix''s eyes glued on her juicy boobs. "Put it inside." Rein silently sat on Erix''s crotch and grabbed his throbbing hot dick before putting it into her pussy. She instantly felt good, making her feel as if her pussy was eager for it. And it was. Her legs were in the W position while she sat on Erix''s crotch with his dickpletely inside it. "Move." Rein bit her lips while looking at Erix''s faint smile and started moving her hips slowly, but once she started, she automatically increased her speed. ''Why it feels good now¡­'' "Lean forward," Erix stretched his hands and grabbed her nipples before pulling her forward. "Nghh¡­." Rein felt stimted at her breasts as well. She obediently leaned forward when Erix slightly pulled her. Erix put one into his mouth and started roughing her breast and nipple up with his mouth, teeth, lips, and tongue while her other breast served his hand that enjoyed it. "Aaanh¡­" Rein increased her speed to feel more good as she focused on her hip moving. Her bubbly buttcheeks were moving at the full speed that she could muster. After two minutes, her eyes shot open before they went upward, and she suddenly paused her hip movement after mming down fully as Erix''s dick struck her womb while her dam burst. Rein started taking breaths while thinking, ''I guess¡­I have no choice.'' ''Better to enjoy it than thinking about futile escape n¡­'' She felt all of her fluid vanishing before it dripped out and thought. ''He is absorbing it for himself¡­'' "What is your problem?" Rein asked. "Wait, sit straight," Erix said as he stopped sucking her breasts. Rein sat straight above his crotch area before she saw Erix grabbing her buttcheeks from the sides tightly. "Let me shoot a good one first," Erix grinned before he started moving Rein up and down with his hands, grabbing her buttocks. "Aaahhh¡­." Rein felt wavesing in as she closed her eyes and put her hands on Erix''s chest for support. But suddenly, Erix went all out to increase his hand movement''s speed as Rein was startled. Before she could process anything, her pussy started getting rammed hundreds of times as her figure blurred. Even her moans were broken, and her breasts looked like they were moving very slowly up and down in a blurring motion, even though they were jiggling super fast. Erix continued this hyper-speed for ten seconds before abruptly stopping with a m and pouring his big umted load inside. Rein couldn''t even scream as she just slumped onto Erix with an intensely trembling body while she had a crazy organism as she felt she was sucked dry in exchange for ultimate euphoria and pleasure filling her up. "Haah..haaah¡­" Rein breathed hard while her head rested on her Erix''s chest. She looked up slightly at his face and saw him with his eyes closed, savoring the pleasure as well as absorbing her essence. Her eyes also closed soon. ''I guess he is also tired now¡­'' "Alright, one more climax bomb." Rein didn''t even hear it properly, but then she felt her buttocks grabbed by him again. "W-what?" Rein opened her eyes to look at Erix''s face, but Erix justughed and started moving his hands at a moderate speed. Instantly, a tsunami of ecstasy started flooding into Rein again. Her pussy tightened, and she moaned loudly while tightly grabbing Erix''s shoulder to prevent herself from flinging up. "That''s it! Hahaha," Erixughed as he felt his dick wrapped tightly around thefortable, hot, and pleasuring insides of her vagina, making her feel ultimate pleasure. "I-I, wait¡­I can''t hol- Aaanhhhh!" Rein tried to speak, but Erix suddenly went all out again, increasing his speed to blurring movements as Rein''s mouth was wide open, her tongue stuck out, and her eyes rolled backward. ¡­ Twenty minutester, Reiny on the bed while twitching often, but a stupid wide smile was on her face. "Hey, get up! I energized you with myst few loads using my special skill, so you shouldn''t be tired," Erix came out of the bathroom after he cleaned himself and wore his clothes before pping Rein''s buttcheeks, but she had no effect. Rein turned to Erix and got up on the bed. Looking at the current appearance and remembering her initial attitude, Erix couldn''t help butugh. "What happened to your bravado, eh? Didn''t you say you weren''t going to climax?" "You came ten times in twenty minutes, and I didn''t even go all out," Erix sneered. Rein''s face turned red. "I-I was just not used to doing it in the human body. Humph, just wait. I''ll get used to it soon." ''I might as well treat this as my vacation and enjoy,'' Rein internally thought while looking at Erix. ''This guy has a strange life force. And why is he not tired at all?'' "How much vital essence do you still have?" Erix asked as he grabbed her hand. "A bit over sixty percent¡­" Rein answered. Hearing her, Erix was startled before he burst outughing. "You released ten times, and that was forty percent, eh? As expected of a dragon with a life-rted bloodline. I''m sure you also recover faster." Erix grabbed her chin and pulled her close before saying with a devilish smile, "Don''t worry, bitch. I''ll make sure to empty you today." Rein could only look at Erix with a red face, feeling dominated yet hot. Chapter 177: Black Mountain, Howling Tombs, Serene Spots "Now, let''s go." Erix teleported both of them to the top of the deck and saw a huge ck mountain a few kilometers before them. "Is that the location of Howling Tombs?" Erix curiously walked a bit upon looking at the ck mountain with ck and dark red lightning crackling around it amidst dark clouds. "Yep," Lily nodded. "How did it go?" Lilith mischievously asked as she looked at Rein. "Her bravado disappeared, eh?" Rin chuckled as she looked at Rein, who obediently stood behind Erix. Erix turned around and looked at Rein as he chuckled, "Her vitality is indeed powerful, and her essence is full of life vigor. I''ve made her climax ten times, but she still has sixty percent of it left." "Do it wildly in the wilderness. You can truly go all out here," Lilith chuckled. "But for now, let''s enter the howling tomb for boons and practice." "By the way, can I wear some clothes? I don''t want to resist anymore, but I don''t want to be seen naked by others," Rein said. "It seems that we can expect people at the howling tomb," Erixmented. "Yep," Lilith nodded and waved her hand as a dark red robe materialized over Rein. It had ck and red designs, but it was loose, and her cleavage was visible. "So, are you going to challenge the tombs for boons or excavate?" Rein asked as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Lilith turned to Erix and said, "As she said, we can challenge tombs of powerhouses. These powerhouses have powerful martial arts and skills. People challenge them to improve theirbat ability, but it''s not a game." "Your stats will be exactly the same as your opponent''s, but theirbat ability and skill sets will be exotic and powerful. People still die challenging them, so you have to be careful." "Aside from tombs, the mountain is filled with Serene Spots. In those spots, yourprehension can be increased in exchange for the exhaustion of your Spirit force." "Outside the mountain is chaotic red and ck lightning. Those can be useful for Rin." Rin showed a victory sign with a grin, "Lilith chose this ce carefully. It will boost us considerably if we work hard here." "And there are caves inside, so you can ravage her whenever you want," Lily chuckled. Rein bit her lips. ''They''ve reduced me to a ve¡­'' But her thighs tightened as she felt tingles in her pussy upon remembering the experience that she just had. ''I''ll take revenge, but I''ll enjoy this vacation for now. No need to make myself frustrated and angry by their remarks.'' "We''ll go there by flying from here," Lilith waved her hand as the ship vanished, and everyone floated in the air. "There will be people inside, and although there won''t be much traffic at the tombs, the Serene spots will be upied," Lilith said. "So, we''ll have to forcefully take them from others," Rin grinned. "Alright, time to have a st while suffering to get stronger," Erixughed. The group flew towards the giant ck mountain. "I''ll be suffering most," Rin wryly smiled, "That ck and red lightning doesn''t seem very friendly even though I have the Lightning affinity." "Must you get struck by them?" Erix sighed as he hugged Rin from behind. He wanted some Rin-skinship after fucking Rein. "Of course, I need to," Rin rubbed her cheeks against his. "How else would I get powerful?" "Hehe, don''t worry. Those lightning doesn''t seem friendly, but I''ll subdue them." "I am going to give my Lightning affinity an attribute-concept!" Rin resolved as she looked at the crackling ck and red lightning. Erix squeezed Rin into his embrace for a bit before releasing her as he lovingly chuckled and flew alongside her, "Alright, I know my Rin can do it." "You focus on your work," Rin elbowed her with a chuckle, "You have more workload than me, hahaha¡­" "Indeed. And his workload might increase after we go inside," Lilith yfully smiled. "Erix, don''t forget to grab some useful fish if you can. This one Rein won''t be enough, and you know that." "Ahem," Rein fake coughed to attract their attention and asked, "Can I know what his problem is? I might be able to help more after knowing it." "I need pure life-power, or I''ll be a bag of bones, simple as that," Erix said with a wry smile. "So that''s why you snatched me," Rein mumbled. She nced at Lilith, Rin, and Lily before turning back to Lilith. ''Humph, just wait. I''ll have revenge.'' The group arrived at the mountain base and descended at a huge entrance. This was the only entrance and exit of the ck mountain. There were no other ways to get inside, and the mountain walls were also indestructible. Lilith turned around to face others at the entrance as glowing red wisps appeared around her. "We''ll snatch a big cave with serene spots first and let Erix create portals that lead to multiple ces from our cave," Lilith faintly smiled and opened her demonically beautiful umbre. "After that, our power training will begin." Her loving and thrilled eyes focused on Erix. ''Daarling~ This is the beginning of your rise.'' However, Lilith also saw Rin, who oozed out the same level of energy and excitement as Erix. The same determination and the same resolve that entwined together in them. They were on the same wavelength. "Rin¡­I''m d this happened," Erix said as he looked at the darkness within the entrance. "Sadly, me too," Rin softly sighed before her eager and sparkling eyes peered into the darkness. "What are you talking about?" Lily asked confusedly. "Haha, nothing," Erixughed and started walking, "Let''s go. I want to quickly fight some tough opponents." "We''ll definitely need to beat some skulls if we want a big cave with more serene spots," Rin caught up with Erix. Lily helplessly smiled and joined them. Rein also quickly followed. ''Waves wille, Granny May. These two will definitely create them in the near future after leaving Abyss,'' Lilith thought as she caught up with them with a step. ''Waves wille and rise.'' Chapter 178: Getting a Cavern, Quick Wipe-out After entering the ck mountain, they arrived in a huge hollow hall with three passages. One passage led people to Howling Tombs, and the other two passages led people to go upstairs to other areas inside the mountain. A couple of groups in the middle were on the floor while discussing and talking with a barrier around them. They looked at Lilith and others who just entered but minded their own business after ncing at them. "They are small-fries Noble-orders. It seems that they didn''t get any Serene Spots," Lilith remarked. "Or should be on their way to search for other spots." "I''ll map this mountain," Erix said as his eyes shed silver briefly before the scenery before he changed. He could see through the walls, so he looked around and scanned the entire mountain with his Space Mapping, creating a 3D model of the mountain. "Alright, there''s a big cave with nine presences inside," Erix said as he turned to Lilith. "That should be arge cave with Serene Spots, right? I can also sense the spots since they give a unique aura and there are ten spots in this cave." Lilith grinned. "That''s a big and perfect cavern." "Now, let''s teleport outside the cave because teleporting inside wouldn''t be possible." "Yep," Erix stretched his hand. "Everyone, hands." Everyone put their hands on Erix''s hand before they vanished a secondter and appeared before a glowing ck cave wall. Lilith walked a few steps before turning around to face others, "Wait here. I''ll go alone first. If there are royal order powerhouses, I''ll make quick work of them." "Humph, I won''t be surprised if you can kill an Empyrean," Rein snorted. "Why are you still in the Royal-order realm when your masteries are the same as those of Empyreans? To bully them?" "Don''t speak as if you know everything," Lily coldly said. "Lady Lilith had a troubling problem that was blocking her evolution and ascension." "Well, It''s not like I''ve spent hundreds of years in royal order," Lilith smirked. "It''s just an extra fifty years, which means I was already fast." "Your age is higher than mine," Lilith smugly smiled. "So, don''t me others for your weakness." Rein clenched her fist. "I''ll challenge you in the future after you let me go." "Sure," Lilith chuckled as she turned around and entered the cave. "Do you think there are multiple Royal orders inside?" Rin asked Erix. ''What makes this bitch think she will be free?'' ''Who knows?'' Erix internally chuckled and replied. ''The only good thing about her is her figure and bloodline. We''ll keep her until her use exhausts and then finish her off because I''m sure she will want to get back on us after we let her go.'' "No idea," Erix shook his head before he adopted a thoughtful expression. "Their presences were on the same aura intensity level, probably because they were focused and meditating on Serene Spots, which made their aura output minimum." "Let''s go inside," Lily suddenly said. "Lady Lilith called me." "I''ll stay outside," Rein said casually. "I am weak, so tell me when you are done inside." Lily had already entered while Erix grabbed Rein''s hand and forcefully took her inside. "Come inside, or I won''te inside." "Pff¡­.." Rin whizzed and elbowed Erix, "You rascle." "Hahaha," Erixughed. "No, I want you toe inside..." Rein muttered. "It''s the best and peak moment when you pour it inside." ''I''ll have to agree with this,'' Rin chuckled. ''When can I do it with you, babe? How much have you recovered?'' ''Lilith''s food recovered me, but you should exhaust this bitch first, so she can start recovering for the next session. After all, you need her essence more.'' ''True.'' The trio passed through the ck wall of the cave magically and arrived in a huge cave beautifully illuminated by glowing white-yellow crystals. There was also a small pond and greenery inside with trees and wooden abodes that the people inside created with someone''s wood affinity. "Do you think we''ll lose against your noble orders?!" "Quietly leave. We don''t want conflicts." ''Erix, st them with your new weapon. They are all Noble-order hunters, so my attacks won''t affect them.'' Erix got Lilith''s message and saw how they were gathered together in a defensive formation. Without wasting even a second, Erix obscurely moved a couple of steps to go behind Rin and Lily since they stood ahead of him and created a wormhole with some space before putting his Star zma Pistol there from his Hunter Card using his space power. None of them noticed the wormhole since it was before him and hidden behind Lily''s and Rin''s back. Those two also knew the n, so they didn''t move. "Fine, we''ll not risk it," Lilith said, clicking her tongue. On the other hand, Erix didn''t bother using normal shots and loaded an Ultima Bomb before pointing the pistol downward. Ultima Bomb: Consume 1000 mana and exhaust all power of the zma Star Ore in the gun to shoot a condensed and powerful shot. Damage depends on the power left in zma Star Ore. The pistol faced another wormhole near Erix''s knees that was connected to a wormhole at the ceiling of the cave that was fourteen meters above, right on top of the group of nine people consisting of humans and beastfolks. ''Bam,'' Erix pulled the trigger with his control. The pistol turned slightly and glowed while shooting a single condensed dark purple energy shot thatnded atop the barrier around the nine people within half a second. *BOOM!* A chaotic spiral of dark purple lightning tendrils containing extreme heat manifested upon the st that put a hole in the barrier. Three people instantly died when the tendrils struck them, while the others tried to use various defensive means and barely survived. Suddenly, a huge condensed water python shot toward Rin and Lily, who were already halfway towards them. "I got it," Rin said as her de Eater shaped into a Katana before a burst of electricity oozed out from her and the weapon. Her figure vanished into a lightning bolt as she passed through the water dragon nake, cutting it into two before directly entering the fray of six people who survived the ambush of Ultima Bomb. "Don''t hit that Royal order even by mistake and kill the other four!" the middle-aged human with a sharp jaw face and long light brown hair shouted. "Really?" Suddenly, he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him and quickly swept his sword around, only for his arms to feel numb and cold after hitting something solid. He turned around and saw Erix smiling at him while his sword was blocked by his left-hand gauntlet that produced a mini-round shield of dark blue color with icy-white patterns. ''What the fuck is this Strenght stat?!'' the middle-aged man screamed internally because Erix had also grabbed his neck right after he turned to face him, and he couldn''t budge from the grip. "Too bad," Erix sighed as his right hand that grabbed the man''s neck faintly shone before it blurred. *BOOM!* What he did was retract his hand from his neck, form it into a fist, and release a solid Sling Shot Punch that sted his head. "I told you all that you wouldn''t win," Lilith sighed as she looked at thest two people in the group. "See, now your group died." One was a dark green-haired human male looking in histe twenties and wearing a light-weight silver leather armor set. Another was a beastfolk woman with long, sharp violet hair, white skin, and long violet bunny ears. She wore a tight ranger outfit showing her slim and curved physique with a modest bust. "P-Please let me go," the man trembling said as he kneeled down. The woman also pleaded as she stopped resisting. The group was a makeshift group in the first ce, consisting of duos and solos who gathered to form a big group for better safety. "Will she be useful for Erix?" Rin asked as she pointed at the woman. "Depending on her bloodline and power," Lilith crossed her arms. She looked at the man and said, "Take out everyone''s Hunter Cards, and we''ll let you go." "T-Thank you," the man quickly nodded, and he was overjoyed to keep his life. He quickly went to the corpses and took out their hunter cards. "What a-about me?" the bunny woman asked, gulping while sweat beads formed on her face and neck that dripped into her slightly visible cleavage. Chapter 179: Prepping Cavern, Erixs surprise? "What''s your name? Do you have a family?" Erix asked as he put away his gauntlet. "M-My name is Klelia. I don''t have family here, w-why?" "What''s your bloodline?" Lilith asked. "Lotus Bunny Bloodline, It-it''s a support-type," the Klelia said before she thought of something and hesitantly said, "If you want, then I can act as a support for your group. I have healings and buffs, and my ss is very versatile when ites to various types of support." "Here are the cards, c-can I go now?" the man said as he presented seven Hunter Cards to Lilith. Lilith twirled her finger as those Hunter Cards floated from his hand and went towards Klelia. Klelia looked at Lilith in surprise. "They are yours now. Wee to the group," Lilith said with a smile and pointed at Erix. "But you''ll support him with your body, not skills. Is that fine?" The man looked at Erix enviously but turned to the bunny woman. ''I made my advances on her, but she didn''t ept¡­what will she do?'' The bunny beauty looked at Erix, who shrugged at her, "Make your choice. But if you agree and then you don''t prove useful to me, we''ll let you go." Klelia thought for a second before she firmly nodded. "Alright." "Then why didn''t you ept my advances?" the man blurted but immediately shrank his neck as he nced around. "I''m curious. Answer him," Rin yfully smiled. "That¡­" Klelia hesitated for a moment, "You are evil." Her answer dumbfounded everyone. "What?! How can you say that when you know nothing about me?" "That¡­it''s a secret! But I know," Klein firmly replied. It was her secret power, and she didn''t want to expose it. "Interesting," Lilith smiled, a hint of intrigue in her eyes. "Do you have a power that scales people''s hearts and intentions towards you?" Klein snapped to Lilith, startled. "How do you know?! It-it''s simr to that." "Well, I saw how you were the only one who suggested leaving, which means that you sensed that I was not lying when I said your group would die if you fought us," Lilith smiled. "So, you were baiting them from the start," Erix wryly smiled. Rin chuckled. "She is honest, but no one believes her," Lily helplessly smiled. "I mean, who would believe that? We didn''t want to leave these precious Serene Spots," the man said. "You are an extra here. You got the answer, so you can leave now," Lilith said as she nced at Lily. *Swoosh!* In the next second, White Death Lily released her signature Snow Mist de that pierced the man from behind and froze him. The de vanished, and the frozen man turned into tiny icy shards. Rein blew her breath as mes vaporized the tiny icy shards. "Now, let''s hear why did you agree to support him with your body?" Lilith asked. "Well, He didn''t show any¡­bad intentions towards me, and the letting me go if I was not useful was true," Klelia said while ncing nervously at Lilith and others. "You all are more powerful, so I also thought that I would be safer and benefit more if I agreed." "Wise decision," Lily nodded. "Alright, then, let''s prepare," Erix said as he waved his hand and created portals below the dead bodies to pile them in the corner. "Incinerate them, Rein." "Oh yeah, I''ll need to make a soundproof abode with metal," Erixughed. "Please do," Lilith chuckled, "or it will be hard to focus for those who will be using Serene Spots." "Rin, Lily. You two sit on the Serene Spots while Erix and I will make routes." "What do I do?" Rein boringly asked. "The house is ready. Wait in there," Erix said as he finished creating a metal box. "Do you want a bed inside?" Lilith asked. "Nah. It''s better if I do it wildly and quickly," Erixughed. "It''s more fun that way." "Like how you roughed me up the first time?" Lilith chuckled. "Exactly." Klelia''s face flushed. ''What is going on? They are all his women or what?'' "Yeah, I don''t want to waste too much time, so I''ll fuck them wildly to make them climax fast and suck their essence at a faster speed. This way, I''ll have more time to improve my Space affinity and other things." Lilithughed. "That''s a perfect way to do it, for sure." "Seriously," Rin wryly smiled. ¡­ After twenty minutes, Lilith and Erix finished their routes, with Erix teleporting both of them to various suitable spots to check them out. "Done. These four portals are deactivated for now, but I can activate them anytime." 1stled to the top of the mountain for Rin toprehend the unique powers of that red and ck lightning. 2nd led to the entrance of Howling Tombs. 3rd led to the Cold Spirit River that is flowing under the mountain, even below Howling Tombs. Lilith said it was a great spot to increase Strength and Agility stats at the cost of pain. 4thled to wilderness behind the ck Mountain. Lilith nodded with a smile. "Good work. Now, we can finally start training." "I heard Serene Spots won''t be useful to Royal orders from Rein, which is why she is touching grass there." "Hey," Rein tilted her head at the duo and stood up after pulling out the grass. "If you are done, then let''s start already." "Suck that idiot bitch dry," Lilith chuckled and kissed Erix. "Serene Spots loses its effectiveness the more you use it. Rein must have exhausted its effects on her, but I can still make use of it. Of course, it won''t be as effective on me as Noble orders, but it''ll still help a bit." "Alright, then you can peacefully meditate and wait for my surprise," Erix grinned. "You still need a lot of my essence, right? Wait for it." "What do you mean?" Lilith raised her eyebrows, but Erix just turned her around and pushed her back towards the glowing white-golden Serene Spot under a tree. "You''ll know soon," Erix cheekily grinned before he turned to Rein, "Hey,e inside." "Finally. Let''s go," Rein immediately removed her robe and went inside the metal house. "Umm, d-do I need toe too, or will it be fine if Ieter?" Klelia said as she looked at Erix. "Later. By the way, you''re not inexperienced, right?" Erix asked. "N-No, I am not. But I also don''t have much experience," Klelia said with red cheeks. "Oh, thene inside. I''ll finish you off fast. After that, you can return here to train on a Serene Spot?" ''It won''t take long, and I cane back to train as well?'' Klelia was pleasantly surprised. ''This is good.'' She quickly stood up from her serene spot that was near the pond and followed Erix inside the house. "She doesn''t seem that old and didn''t have much experience¡­" Lily muttered while sitting on a patch of grass on top of a Serene Spot. "It looks like she will have a brand new experience today." "Well, let''s hope she can be useful for him," Rin replied while her eyes remained closed. Both of them didn''t speak afterward and entered deep focus. Rin was focusing on finishing the Spiritual Formation as she wanted to finish it first. ''Hmm, Erix and Ihaven''t entered today''s one-hour Limitless ne session,'' Rin thought but decided to tell him after he finished sucking dry those two women. Chapter 180: Singular Focused Erix, Clear Sight and Goals Lilith was peacefully sitting under the tree in meditation on the Serene Spot. It had been half an hour since Erix went inside with Rein and Klelia. But suddenly, Lilith heard Erix''s voice in her head. ''Don''t resist. It''sing.'' Lilith was confused, but immediately a secondter, she felt a familiar throbbing meat rod suddenly entering her pussy and quickly started pouring semen bursts. Lilith bit her lips, and her face flushed at the sudden st of pleasure, but she quickly absorbed the Erix''s essence as it was important. Erix made several thrusts to tease Lilith before his dick disappeared. ''You rascal! Come back and finish what you started.'' ¡­ "W-What is going on?! Why I can''t feel your thing inside me, but you are still thrusting so fast?" Rein was dumbfounded as she looked at Erix while her arms were tied around his neck. Erix didn''t answer and just pounded Rein hard at his full speed while Lilith was receiving all the effect of that pounding because Erix had created a portal at Rein''s pussy entrance that was connected to another portal, at Lilith''s entrance to her pink cave! After Erix made Lilith Climax in two minutes and absorbed her essence, he heard her voice. ''Good~ I won''t tell you to do this for this next time, but you can still pour loads.'' ''Haha, of course. Next, I''ll surprise Rin and then Lily.'' "Hey, brat! Why didn''t you release it in me?" Rein asked with a beet-red face. "W-what are you talking about?" Klelia was having a secondhand embarrassment. Erix turned to Klelia and said, "Go outside. I''ll call you after two hours. You can sit on a Serene Spot and train until then." "O-Okay¡­" Klelia stood up and left. "Alright." After Klelia left, Erix turned to Rein, who was ring at him. He grabbed her chin and strongly thrust inside, causing her body to mellow out while she tried to hold back a moan. "If you want my essence, then you''ll have to act more servile," Erix grinned and started ramming her while being on top of her. Erix suddenly controlled his muscles and started thrusting at another spot, instantly causing Rein to climax that she was trying to hold back for revenge. "You won''t be able to hold back, hahaha." "Fill it fully once¡­please," Rein said while biting her lips, lust and desire clear in her eyes. "I want you to fill it." Rein suddenly squeezed her pussy with all her might and moved rhythmically with Erix''s thrust to bring even more pleasure. Erix groaned at the euphoria and suddenly increased his speed, causing Rein to climax again within a minute, and he also poured his load. But it straight went to Rin this time, who released a muffled moan outside. Lily opened her eyes and saw Rin''s body moving up and down crazily while she had a savoring expression. ''Don''t tell me¡­'' Lily was startled.'' With his space powers, this is really possible.'' ''What creativity¡­'' Lily couldn''t help but chuckle out loud at this trick. "No wonder¡­" Klelia also realized what Rein meant when she saw Rin. ''What a crazy group¡­'' But after a while, Klelia saw that Lily also started moving up and down wildly as if something was thrusting her. ''He won''t do that to me, too, right?'' Klelia became nervous but also felt like trying it. ''If Ites, then I won''t resist. If not, then forget it.'' But the next two hours passed without any disturbance in her, making her feel rather anti-climatic. ''Klelia. Come in.'' Kelia suddenly heard Erix''s voice in her head and was startled as she verbally replied, "Y-Yes." She stood up and walked towards the metal house, both nervous and feeling anticipation. ''Thest time I did it was with myte partner in my world¡­'' ''How will it feel?...'' ¡­ Inside the metal house, Rein waspletely drained of her essence while Erix sat cross-legged, checking his condition. ''Damn, 1.3% progress from 100% of her essence? That''s fast,'' Erix thought. ''But even if she recovers her 100% vital essence in 24 hours, it will take over five months for me to get cured.'' ''Not enough.'' "Hey, how long will it take you to recover all of your essence¡­" Rein barely opened her eyes and nced at Erix, wanting to curse him. She only got one load at the very end while she couldn''t hold back and got herself suckedpletely by him. "I will need to eat Royal order meat for energy and need 24 hours," Rein obediently answered, regardless of what she thought inside. "You didn''t even give me your essence, so I don''t even¡­have much stamina and energy¡­" Rein mumbled before her eyes closed in exhaustion, and she fell deep asleep. Klelia entered right after that and saw Rein sleeping. "She won''t wake up even if you scream loudly," Erix chuckled and beckoned her. "Come here." Klelia arrived and sat before Erix. Her eyes nced at his twitching stiff meat rod. "Y-you, why are you not tired at all?" Erix wryly smiled and exined his situation to her, just enough so she could understand what and why he needed to do this. "I see¡­" Klelia wasn''t as nervous after conversing with him and Erix calmly and answering her. "Now that you know and agree, let''s begin," Erix leaned forward and put her down. "Raise your hands," Erix faintly smiled. "Mhm," Klelia nodded while her chest was heaving up and down. Her heart raced at the bold thing she was going to experience after a long while. She didn''t find any aversion against him because her innate ability ensured that he didn''t think badly of her, nor did he have any bad or harmful thoughts for her. She raised her hands, and Erix locked their wrists with his hand. "Put away your clothes." Klelia willed, and her clothes vanished from her body into her Hunter Card. Her tender round breasts popped as if released from the tight outfit. Erix kissed her neck while his dick rubbed on her pussy, causing Klelia''s heart to race even more. Her face flushed red, and her arousal increased. "Good," Erix put his mouth on her tender breasts to suck them and gently groped one with his remaining hand while he adjusted his hip and put his meat rod''s tip into her pussy to stimte her more. Feeling her insides getting wet, Erix didn''t wait much and thrust it inside the super-tight pussy while Klelia issued a moan, unable to hold back anymore. "Aaaahh¡­T-This¡­I-I can''t¡­" Klelia''s hips suddenly quivered. "Hahaha," Erixughed as he could sense what was happening, but he didn''t stop and continued. In a few seconds, Kelia couldn''t hold back and climaxed with a loud muffled moan. Her watery eyes looked at Erix as she said, "It had been a long time¡­Felt too good suddenly and couldn''t hold back." "It''s fine," Erix causally said before he started sucking her breasts to stimte her more while he absorbed all of the essence that she released. "No need to waste effort on holding back. Just surrender your body and enjoy." ¡­ In just one hour, hepletely sucked Klelia dry even though he wasn''t that wild with her. With a stupid grin on her face, Kelia was fast asleep on the floor. He poured several of his loads into her and used his special skill to benefit her, but released others inside Lilith and Rin so they could create more Blood Essence and progress. ''Three hours for these two daily? Nah, I''ll have to increase my game and shorten the time spent on that,'' Erix stretched his limbs and put on his clothes before going out of the metal house. ''If not, I won''t beat that pompous Lion bastard.'' "Erix, you done?" Rin asked as she opened her eyes. "Yep. Let''s enter Limitless ne and finish our one-hour training session." Chapter 181: One Week, New Realm Daily 1 hour of Limitless ne session. Daily 3 hours of source bncing progress with girls. Daily 1 hour of a break to eat Lilith''s daily delicious food and rx. And the rest of the hours spent on training. Rin would go experience lighting for a while and then sit on Serene Spots to get insight into her experience. Erix would also do the same to increase his Space Affinity''s progression. He needed to make it to level 2. Lily was also working hard to create her Arcane Spirit Pond, which was the final and most difficult requirement to break through to the Royal Order. Arcane Spirit Pond was the next evolution of Magic Spirit Flower. Supra-order ¡ª> Magic Core. Noble-order ¡ª> Magic Spirit Flower. Royal-order ¡ª> Arcane Spirit Pond. Arcane Spirit Pond was the next step of the progression and evolution of one''s magic, which would allow one to wield Prana, which was a higher level of energy than Mana. In fact, Mana was just a part of Prana, but Prana was a higher level and purer magic energy, so only after one attained a certain level of evolution in body and magic could one attempt to create Arcane Spirit Pond. The call and insight to crate Arcane Spirit Pond would be different for fall, but one would only encounter it after one reached level 200 and attained 1000 fundamental stats in Strength, Agility, Stamina, Health, Spirit, and Magic/Mana. Lily had just reached level 200 a week ago, but her stats were maxed out via other resources before she reached level 200.As such, she had a hunt grind a week ago and had been trying to create her Arcane Spirit Pond since then. As for Lilith, she had cleared all hurdles except for one where she had to saturate and stabilize her bloodline that evolved because of Erix. Once done, she would immediately enter Empyrean-order. In short, she just needed to take Erix''s essence every day until she stabilized her bloodline. This daily routine for the group continued for a whole week, and it went wonderfully pleasant. Erix''s imbnce in the source was gradually recovering. After a week of sucking dry Rein and Klelia daily, his progress bar increased to 6.01%. ¡­ *Crackle!* 8th day since the group arrived in the ck Mountain. On top of the mountain, Rin was floating with long and wide, sharp lightning wings behind her back. Their colors were constantly changing among various hues of blue. Rin was high in the sky, where the strange red and ck lightning were roaring amidst the dark clouds. Her consciousness was bathing in this lightning of dual color. Many people have tried to understand and acquire this attribute-concept for their lightning affinity, but no one has seeded in thest hundred years. Those strange pitch-ck and blood-crimson lightning waves, bolts, and tendrils couldn''t do anything to Rin''s body. Whenever the lightning struck her, it would readily enter inside her. She couldn''t do this before, but she just gleaned the next level of lightning a day ago and increased her mastery of lightning, sessfully reaching the 3rd Realm of Lightning Affinity after seven days of continuous focus on it! In her origin region, her Lightning Affinity core was shattered yesterday. Instead, a strange phenomenon appeared. A lightning pool and a dark cloud hovering over it. The pool had strange electrified motes that gathered to be like lightning water, and the dark cloud above it asionally struck lightning into the lightning pool. [Lightning Affinity] _Realm: Delta¡ªLightning Pool. ¡ª> Thunder Weaver: ¡ªAll lightning-based damage and effects of users is increased by 30%. ¡ª> Lightning Pool: ¡ª All Lightning-based damage and effects are increased by 100%. You can now create and cultivate lightning spirits from your lightning pool to aid you in battle. \\_Description_/ ¡ª> 1. Attunded to Lightning. Ability to turn mana into lightning. Level 2 maniption of lightning. ¡ª> 2. The ability to refine one''s body with lightning and acquire a Lightning Physique, which gives the power to transform the physical body into a lightning elemental body for a brief moment. ¡ª> 3. Your lightning mastery has reached enough level to interact with your spirit. Your Spiritual Attacks can be infused with lightning-attribute. Lightning will dance at your will. ¡­ Inside the metal house, Klelia had fainted on top of Erix with his dick still inside her. She waspletely sucked dry. Her fluffy, long bunny ears twitched along with her body, but Erix just leisurelyy down while his face was straight up, looking at a big round portal that showed Rin floating amid the dark clouds littered with lightning. ''You can do it, Rin!'' Erix grabbed Klelia''s butt cheeks and pulled them up as he slightly quivered. He slowly put her to the side as she had already fallen asleep and slipped into a euphoric dream. ''Hmm? What''s happening?'' Erix suddenly saw something strange surrounding Rin. It was a blurring, digi-looking lightning of ck and red. ''Is she seeding, or is something wrong?'' Erix frowned. But the next second, he suddenly that the bing thick and condensed before enveloping Rinpletely. But not even half a secondter, the cover cracked while multi-color lightning waves exploded from Rin. A small smile was hanging on her lips, and Erix couldn''t help butugh seeing that. Rin opened her eyes, and they gleamed with a lightning glint of red and ck as she looked at the wormhole and grinned. She vanished and appeared right above Erix, her crotch pressing on Erix''s stiff dick. "I am recovered and also raring," Rin licked her lips and pointed her finger at Erix. It flickered as her finger shot a red lightning bolt into his body. Erix felt a strange,fortable sensation while his body faintly glowed. [Your Strength increased by 78 points + 10%. Your Agility is increased by 101 points + 10% for one minute.] Erix grinned and teleported Klelia and Rein outside while they were sleeping by opening a portal below them and connecting it to another portal outside. ¡­ For the next minute, loud banging and crashing sounds reverberated in the metal house, along with screams, moans, and groans. Chapter 182: Greeting Death s, the fun between Rin and Erix didn''tst long because, after five minutes, Erix''s source suddenly entered a self-defense mechanism, preserving all life power and turning Erix into a skeleton. More precisely, Erix was turned into a faint dark gold skeleton, not white. "Damn it¡­" Rin cursed as she felt Erix''s dick suddenly disappearing. "Sorry, babe," Erix said with a chuckle, causing his jaws to cackle. "What can we do?" Rin kissed his skull''s forehead and wryly smiled, "Time for you to focus now." Rin stood up, and her figure was quickly covered by light pink pajamas made by Lily using a mix of Mist and Wood elements with her mastery. Erix initiated teleport as both of them arrived on Rin''s Serene Spot. "I''ll get Death soon." "Get it," Rin grinned. Erix teleported and went to the Serene Spot under a tree. Rein and Kelia also sat on different Serene Spots to meditate and train. Lilith wasn''t present, but she soon arrived after ten minutes and took out a meter-big b of meat. On the empty central area of the cavern, Lilith took out cooking items and conjured Mystic Chef stove and knife. The stove lit up in a blue me, but Lilith did something that made it turn into a dark orange me. Afterward, she put in some leaves and edible nt-life veggies. These were Tier-2 and Tier-3 edible veggies. While Lilith was preparing meat and other things to cook dishes, time slowly passed. An hourter, the breakfast was ready, but Lilith just closed the dishes and sat on her Serene Spot before taking a scroll. But before she could startprehending the scroll, she abruptly paused, and her eyes showed surprise. Turning her head towards Erix, she saw that Erix was oozing out faint ck motes from his dark gold bones. Rin''s eyes also opened as she sensed it and turned to Erix. "Is he awakening it or some phenomenon due to his source?" Lilith smiled, "So far, it looks like he is awakening Death Affinity, but it won''t be easy." Just as Lilith finished, the ck motes around Erix suddenly scattered. "Darn it," Erix cursed as his skelly figure faintly glowed. "I thought I got it, but it was wrong about Death," Erix said. "Continue. Don''t waste time because it might take more than three days for the next skeleton transformation," Rin said. "Yep." Erix turned to the front and entered deep focus again. The others also resumed their training. But after ten minutes, Erix snapped out of his focus and resolved to do something drastic. He pierced a hole into his life orb, which was now ck and glowed faintly at the center of his chest. Since he was a skeleton, it was clearly visible in this form. But the hole he made and maintained was quickly seeping away all the power from his life orb as Erix started feeling weak. Lilith''s eyes shot open, and she vanished, arriving a meter away from Erix. Rin''s eyes also opened, and her figure blurred into a lightning flicker while Lily also appeared beside Erix. On the other hand, Erix was, in fact, nearing true death. ''What is he doing?!'' Rin hissed in anger and worry. ''Erix¡­'' ''Calm down, you two, and just focus. Protect and support until he is done.'' Lily and Rin focused and created barriers while Lilith also did the same, but was also prepared to fully heal Erix using her Bloodline healing skill that was equal to a high Tier-5 skill. On the other hand, Erix poured all of his focus and activity on his fading consciousness. At this moment, Erix was at the weakest he had ever felt. Even when he died the first time, he didn''t feel it much because it was instant. However, he felt himself nearing death and saw how his source was trying not to scatter away yet helpless regarding it. If he died, his source of power would scatter. ''Death¡­I will die?'' Erix''s fading consciousness registered this feeling of death, and he didn''t see it. Seeing Erix''s condition, a glint passed through Lilith''s eyes. She immediately used her Bloodline Healing skill to the best of her ability. 0.5 Life Orb. 0.3 Life Orb. 0.1 Life Orb. And then, with Lilith''s skill, his life orb instantly filled up. 100 Life Orb. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that Erix deliberately greeted as long as he could death and returned. Erix didn''t even spend a second on other things and instantly focused on entering deep meditation. The girls wanted to give a piece each to Erix but left him alone to continue hisprehension of death. And he was making massive progress as visible. These dark gold bones once again oozed out mystical ck motes, and they increased stably this time. In ten seconds, they increased enough topletely envelop Erix in it. "Alright, it''s confirmed now. His gamble paid off, and he managed to get what he wanted." Lilith smiled. "This cocoon of death is entirely made of Death element." ¡­ Half an hourter¡­ [Death Affinity] _Realm: Alpha. _Description: Ability to turn mana into Death Stream. Death Stream is an energy that eliminates life from anything. Death Stream can also turn into Death Wisps, which can open the realm of Undeath for the user to glean and wield death to their capabilities. "Can you create Death Wisps?" Lilith crossed her arms. "I can," Erix nodded. "Death Wisps can activate powers rted to death," Lilith said as two faint ck wisps shed in Lilith''s eyes. "I spent some mana and infused two Death Wisps into my eyes. Now, I can see the flow of death in the atmosphere. It will lead to the ces with the most death power, and such ces can quickly allow you to form Death Streams." Erix''s eyes also shed with two ck wisps as he immediately saw a big flow of death going to the corner of the cavern where Rein buried the bodies. "You can also use Death Wisps to take a dead corpse under your control, but I don''t use this part of Death Affinity often because I''ve exclusively created a few skills of Death-elementbining with Blood and Darkness element and they are enough," Lilith smiled. "Teach me everything you know, and I''ll learn it all," Erixughed in anticipation and eagerness. Lilith''s Death Affinity was one of her two most powerful affinities. It was at 4th realm! As such, she started teaching all the tricks and workings of the Death element. Chapter 183: Lessons "Death element is a duality element along with Life. Without life, death wouldn''t be born, and without death, life wouldn''t get its meaning." "Death can give death and Life and can give life, but Death can also give life, and life can also grant death." "They are opposite but share a connection. Hence, it''s a Duality element with Life." "That''s why you can control dead things as if they are alive but not living. You can reverse death but can''t oppose life, just as how life can''t oppose death. Hence, those who live through death are called Undead." "I see¡­" Erix nodded thoughtfully. "I got an undead energy source from my previous Zombie Lord ss. Is it a byproduct of Death energy?" "Yep. It''s a sub-energy of Death, exclusively for the Undead department. sses are a good thing since they give you another reserve of certain energy rted to it and more skills." Erix nodded with a grin, "I can''t wait to get my new ss." "I would give some information on sses, but that will be forter." Lilith crossed her arms, "For now, let''s focus on Death Element." Erix nodded while Lilith continued with her lecture. "Although Death and Life are duality elements, they still have their own aspects thatpletely remain dominant over each other," Lilith smiled. "Death Stream''s effects on general living things are straightforward: it will erase life from it. But to have its effect on meta-living things and erase any form of life from them, you need to have sufficient understanding of Death element''s aspects." "Meta-living? Form of life?" Lilith smiled and twirled her finger as a rock floated from the ground and arrived on her palm. "Does this rock have life?" Erix wryly smiled. He didn''t know how to answer. Was it alive? Or maybe it was dead? "Maybe the rock is alive, and that''s why it has this form?" Erix said after thinking for a second. "If you use Death Stream on it, and it crumbles or something, then I guess the rock has life." "Let''s see," Lilith smiled. A tiny ck mote appeared above the rock and touched it. "This death stream''s mote was produced from 1 point of mana." In the next second, the tiny rock turned ck and turned into tiny particles before vanishing. "So it has life?" Erix raised his eyebrows, but then a glint shed through his eyes. "Wait¡­" "I didn''t sense any death power from the rock¡­" Erix mumbled. "If it had life, then killing it should produce death power like the monsters I killed." "Or is it that the death power it produced was weak and minuscule such that I couldn''t sense it?" Lilith didn''t answer and twirled her finger once as a small rock floated before Erix. "Use death stream worth 100 mana on it," Lilith yfully smiled. "Why 100?" Erix was confused. "It''s just a rock, so wouldn''t 1-mana death mote work?" "No, do it with a death mote of 100 mana," Lilith crossed her arms with a grin. "You''ll get a surprise." Erix curiously put the rock on his palm and produced a tiny death mote condensed from the death stream worth 100 mana points. That death mote touched the rock, and Erix expected to see it turn into particles and vanish. However, the death mote simply stuck to it, not doing anything. Erix''s shocked eyes turned to Lilith, "What is going on? I know my magic power is way weaker than yours, so my mana wouldn''t convert into a death stream as powerful as yours, but¡­" Erix turned back to the tiny rock. "It was worth 100 mana points! How¡­did it not affect the rock at all?" Lilith chuckled and said, "This is your lesson. If you can ''Kill'' that rock with your death stream, then your Death Affinity will reach level 2." "This is something you have to understand yourself, so y with the Death element in your origin region and try to gain insight." "You can also experiment with various things with Death element to understand, but get the most important thing right," Lilith''s expression turned serious before she continued, "Your understanding of an element directly affects its powers. If you can understand its various core aspects, then you can make progress towards the next realm." "And," Lilith cheekily smiled, "I''ve told you enough things about Death element for you to make the breakthrough, so it''s up to you." "Affinities are the powers like Concepts that rely purely on yourprehension. If you get them right, you may break through quickly in quick sessions. If you fail, then you might stay stuck in a realm for years." Erix was fired up! "Alright, I''ll get to it right now," Erix grinned and quickly went to his Serene Spot and started training after entering deep focus. ¡­ ''The rock didn''t die by my death mote because Icked understanding of Death.'' ''Understanding of Death¡­'' Erix produced Death Stream, which was essentially a stream of cartoony ck energy. When he used a bit of it on a handful patch of grass, the grass quickly withered and died, but his source didn''t even bother to get the death power the grass produced because it was too much below its threshold. ''The grass died, but the rock didn''t.'' ''Rock is already dead, but then Lilith managed to kill it¡­'' ''Lilith mentioned about Meta-living things, so I guess rocks fall under that category.'' Erix sat back on the Serene Spot and closed his eyes that contained resolve and a direction. ''I have to forget about Life in a normal way and direct my influence to pure death.'' After a second, Erix fully enveloped himself in a ck sphere that was made of Death Stream. ''Remember all the encounters you had until now¡­.'' ''The properties of that Undead energy¡­Its effects weren''t in my influence but given to it by the ss core, so it will help me if I recall and understand it.'' Time slowly passed as Erix let himself fall into the deep focus of understanding the realm of death. Meanwhile, Lilith woke up others and told them to eat to recover, especially Rein and Klelia. Thedies sat at the table and started eating. "You two," Lilith looked at Rein and Klelia, "You better eat to full and recover in time so that Erix can suck you dry again tomorrow." "Mhmm," Kelia nodded with a slightly red face while Rein just grunted in response and started eating. "Lilith, It''s time that I go and kill something with my de," Rin said with a determined expression. "I got my Lightning affinity to level 3. The wind is level 1, but It might take a bit more time to get it to level 2, so I want to get my de concept to level 2." "Concepts are a journey of myriad paths, and level 2 concept is the biggest hurdle because you have to decide the higher meaning of your Concept," Lilith said after taking a bite from a veggie sandwich. "If you think you can give a higher meaning to your de, then you can act ording to it," Lilith smiled. "So, I''ll be your sparring partner. I''ll use my umbre and make my stats the same as yours." Rin''s eyes shone. "That''s perfect!" "But¡­" Rin chuckled before she continued, "If we are going to fight purely physically, then you might need higher stats since I have de concept, and it automatically makes my de attacks 50% stronger." "That''s not necessary, Rin," Lily said as she shook her head. "Did I tell you that I also have two concepts, and one of them is Prate at level 2?" Lilith grinned. "Prate?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "That Gentle Death old man had Pierce concept¡­what is the difference between two?" "Well, both have differences physically, magically, and figuratively," Lilith said after taking a meat dumpling into her mouth. "Pierce is when something pointy makes a hole into something if we speak about physical Piercing," Lilith said. "Figuratively speaking, it''s like ''your words pierced my heart.''" Everyone nodded as they listened. "But Prate is broader," Lilith smiled. "Pration doesn''t mean a precise or localized action of creating a hole. Pration means going inside." "Aaaaa!" Rein''s eyes turned wide. "Now I understand how my stomach suddenly exploded from inside!" "Your skill was influenced by the Prate concept, so it prated inside me before exploding." "Yep," Lilith chuckled and nodded. "Pierce is making an opening, and Pration is simply going inside. It can be physically or magically. Since I prated my skill inside you because your spirit force was too weak to block it, I easily injured it. Normally, I don''t use Prate like this, but you were too easy of a Royal order." "..." Rein grit her teeth, but then started eating with her head down. On the other hand Rin and Kelia nodded in understanding. "It sounds like Pration is more powerful than Pierce," Klelia said after she took a sip from the juice ss. Lilith shook her head, "Concepts are wholly dependent on individuals, especially after reaching the 2nd realm of any Concept." "Let''s eat quickly and spar," Rin grinned and started focusing on eating. Chapter 184: Death Wraith Rin and Lilith sparred for two hours after eating, and the score was interesting. 5-2 Lilith managed to hit Rin five times, while Rin hit her two times. They were still sparring as the sound of shing metals reverberated in the huge cave. Both of them were moving all around the front area while their weapons shed against each other. If Rin initiated the attack, Lilith would deflect it and attack. When Lilith attacked, Rin would deflect it and attack. After fighting for two hours against Lilith, Rin also managed to grasp some of her styles. "Not bad¡­" Lilith smiled. Her holding her umbre blurred and appeared before Rin''s de, which was about to strike her chest. After Rin''s de struck her closed umbre, Lilith opened it and pulled her hand back since Rin was still forcing. However, a glint passed through Rin''s eyes, and she immediately jumped back. "I am not going to fall for that again," Rin snorted. She knew that Lilith could let Rin overwhelm her for half a second by pulling her hand back and then immediately pushing while opening her umbre, which would make Rin unstable and give Lilith a chance to strike her. "You fell for it once, but not twice, eh? Good. If you fell for it again, I would''ve been disappointed," Lilithughed and dashed forward as her figure appeared before Rin with a stabbing motion of her umbre. The sh started again, and the statement of their shessted for ten minutes before Rin saw an opportunity and closed in towards Rin while Lilith''s umbre went wide at Rin''s armpit. Lilith''s eyebrows rose while Rin hit her weapon''s handle at Lilith''s arm, making her miss the opportunity to use her umbre to defend herself. Immediately after that, Rin controlled her wrist and hand as her Katana made a horizontal sh at Lilith''s neck. *sh* A white mark appeared on Lilith''s neck, causing her to wryly smile while Rin grinned, "Got you." "That was nice. You can only rely on constantly improving styles that you would need to develop based on your opponent if your opponent''s fighting style is not weaker than yours," Lilith smiled. "Mhm," Rin nodded as that was what she did. "If you know how you want to use your de in your wildest imagination, then you can sit in the Serene Spot and try to enter the next realm of your de concept," Lilith said as she put away her Umbre. "Alright, I am going to try," Rin grinned. ¡­ Four hours passed by, but Erix was stillprehending Death, and he was close. ''Death''s own domain of rules¡­'' ''Death''s aspects¡­'' At this moment, a whole new world of Death element had opened before Erix as he was enveloped in the death stream around him. Death was not just about erasing Life! Death was also destruction. It was also a curse, necrotic, decaying, and negative in a sense. The more his understanding increased, the more powerful his death stream grew, and he was feeling it directly and instantly. The moment Erixpletely understood why that rock didn''t die from his death mote, he broke through. Naturally, this breakthrough also opened a whole world of Death element to him that he would need to gradually understand. The death stream around him seemingly vanished back into his body before he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He picked up a rock and put a tiny death mote worth 1 Mana on it. The moment that death mote touched the rock, the rock turned ck before it decayed into particles that soon vanished. With a faint smile and eye excited glints in his eyes, Erix knew that hisbat prowess increased a lot with just this one addition of making his Death affinity reach the 2nd realm! ''Erix, since you are done, then eat the food. Also, congrats for getting your Death affinity to level 2. I knew you could do it.'' Erix turned to Lilith upon hearing her words in his head and wryly smiled, ''But the lesson you gave and then what you said at the end was tricky. You said you told me everything I needed to reach level 2, but it wasn''t the case.'' ''Nope. It was,'' Lilith mischievously smiled. ''The only thing I didn''t tell you would lead to you reaching the 2nd realm, and it was up to you to understand that thing, which you did.'' ''Yeah,'' Erix helplessly smiled. ''I understand. Thanks to that, I actually managed to rify many things.'' [Death Affinity] _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Death Wraith ¡ª> Death Wraith: The Death Stream you produce will be 30% stronger in terms of power. \\_Description_/ ¡ª> Ability to turn mana into Death Stream. Death Stream is an energy that eliminates life from anything. Death Stream can also turn into a Death Wisps, which can open the realm of Undeath. ¡ª> Refine your body with a death stream to acquire Death Physique, where your body can transform into a Death elemental body. This state prevents your life orb from exhausting and dying, but your Death elemental body can be damaged or obliterated just like other elemental bodies. ¡­ After eating, Erix went back to his Serene Spot and started refining his body with Death Stream with the help of Lilith to make it fast. Since Lilith also had Death Affinity, she sat behind Erix and put her palms on his back to aid him in his body refining by using her death stream. This also made the speed of progress faster. After five hours, they made a whole 20% of the progress! "Daily five hours for this, and we''ll be done in five days," Erix said with a grin. "Yep." Rin opened her eyes and stretched her arms. She turned to Erix and Lilith, "Erix, you reached 2nd realm of Death affinity?" "Yep." "Damn. Well, let''s finish our one-hour session of spiritual art, then we''ll get back to our individual training." "How''s your progress regarding de Concept?" Lilith asked. "I roughly know what to do and understand, but it will be based on my style, and I don''t want to rush it," Rin said. "So, I''ll pause this until we fight in Howling Tombs and make my concept reach 2nd realm while fighting." Rin flew up and arrived beside Erix before grabbing his hand. "That''s good. We''ll go to Howling Tombs after five days, which will mark two weeks spent at this ce. Progress as much as you can in the next five days. After that, you''ll progress in creating your skills andbat prowess in Howling Tombs." ¡­ Four days passed as everyone made progress, but this day seemed to end with a bang because some guests arrived to their cave and wanted it. Chapter 185: Overwhelming Combat of Rin & Erix (1/2) "People areing to take our cave? Are they more powerful than us?" Klelia nervously asked. "Well, there they are," Lilith spoke, and several people entered the cave. It was a group of eight people. The strongest was a middle-aged man with a long ck beard and hair¡ªa Royal-order powerhouse at level 300 (peak Royal order). The second strongest was a man looking in histe twenties¡ªa recently ascended Royal-order powerhouse, level 203. The other six were three females and three males. One of them was a middle-aged woman, while others looked in theirte twenties. However, the peak Royal-order powerhouse''s gaze directly stuck on Lilith after he entered. His eyebrows shook slightly before he quickly smiled. "How about we solve this peacefully in a famous way?" Hearing him, the others in his group were shocked. "Elder Noll, that¡­" ''Elder Noll, can''t we kill them normally? We can handle that Royal order, and others can fight with Noble orders. We outnumber them.'' ''Shut up, you all. If we want this cave, then we can''t fight them head-on. The noble orders will have to handle this task because the enemy Royal order can¡­easily overpower me.'' ''¡­'' Everyone was speechless. The easy task they thought suddenly had a twist. "If you want to do this peacefully, then you''ll have to do this my way," Lilith said with a smile. "Let''s hear it," Elder Noll nodded. "Rin, Erix. Do you two want some tough challenge?" Erix and Rin raised their eyebrows before grinning and stepping forward as they stood beside each other. Rin transitioned from her normal appearance to activation of her bloodline form as two beautiful and deadly crimson horns emerged from her forehead, along with a pair of dark red demonic wings and a tail. Meanwhile, a pair of majestic dark-gold glowing blue patterned gauntlets appeared on Erix''s hands while the rest of his body was covered in a thin and flowing dark silver karate-type outfit with ck and dark gold patterns. "If these two killed all of your Noble order powerhouses, then you''ll have to give us resources that can satisfy us. If your people killed Rin and Erix, then this cave is yours." "You mean two vs six?! Are you serious?" the level 203 Royal order powerhouse asked, dumbfounded. The others were also startled but then felt d. "We agree," Elder Noll firmly and quickly replied. "I hope you don''t go back on your words." "But you may try to go back on your words," Lilith smiled. "But the problem is¡­ Lily chuckled and added from the side, "You won''t be able to go back alive." "Bingo," Lilith grinned and waved her finger, causing a ck chain with menacing red patterns to appear around both enemy Royal Order powerhouses. Elder Noll vanished from his spot before the chains could bind him, but the other one was unfortunate as he was trapped. "I-I can''t move, Elder Noll! My mana¡­h-how?" "If you don''t want to go with the peaceful way, then say it from the start. We''ll leave," Elder Noll grunted as he floated ten meters high to Lilith''s left, fifteen meters away. "I am just holding you captive," Lilith smiled and snapped her finger. "Rin, Erix. You two can start now." "Shit!" "Attack!" The six Noble order powerhouses were ready to cast their skills, so two of them who looked like assassins separated from the group, while two mages cast buff skills on themselves and the other three who stood before them with a sword, a spear, and a long bow. They hurled their attacks towards Rin and Erix. Their skills were powerful, at Tier-3, and undodgable. The swordman released a dark green sh, a mix of wind and darkness elements with pure offense. However, the enemies couldn''t even see properly with their weaker perception and couldn''t sense correctly with weaker Spirit stat that¡­.Rin shed five times with her katana before the sh and dispersed its attack power. She destroyed the attack. Meanwhile, the other two attacks released from the Bow-ranger and spearman were handled by Erix. *Boom!* The spearman released a spiraling golden-red beam that zig-zagged at lightning speed, aimed at Erix''s forehead. As for the swordsman, he charged at Erix while wrapped in mes. To counter those two, Erix made two actions within 1.5 seconds. He first threw a punch in the air that vanished from his wrist and greeted the swordsman who reached halfway towards him. The powerful Whirlwind Punch was imbued with death elements and powered by his special metal gauntlet. Second, a wormhole materialized right before his forehead that connected to another one that popped up behind one of the mages, a man looking in his twenties. The wormhole caused the spearman''s spiraling golden-beam attack to hit the mage. Both mages seemed to be preparing some kind of spell right after they finished buffing the party, but the unexpected attack of their ownpanion killed one. Lilith''s eyes shed, and she proactively absorbed the death power produced by that mage''s death. She had to prevent any death power from going to Erix''s source. ''Tsk, this torublesomething thing. A bit of it still went to Erix,'' Lilith frowned. "Fuck!" the level 203 royal order powerhouse cursed loudly. "Space?!" ''Their levels are low, but¡­.their stats and powers,'' Elder Noll was shocked before he calmed down. ''It''s fine. They still have a chance if they fight carefully. They need to improve theirbat ability and decision-making. Let''s hope those two are not that experienced inbat.'' However, he was proven wrong in the next second and the following battle would only make him more shocked at Rin''s and Erix''s masterfulbat styles and their self-created skills. A second after the mage''s death, two assassins who disappeared into the darkness of the cave walls emerged and released ''X'' shaped projectiles toward Rin and Erix. However, Rin took care of both of them while Erix grinned and snapped his finger. Instantly, ten wormholes appeared. "Weak," Rin snorted as she destroyed the enemy attacks with her powerful skill technique, Rend, which used Lightning and Wind in tandem for a superfast and lethal attack capable of cutting the skill''s structure and dispersing them with her lightning. It was a simple thing. Rin''s lightning affinity was at level 3, and none of the enemies had a level 3 affinity. "Throw more attacks," Erix said with a chuckle. "Yeah. We need some challenge, but you all are too easy to kill," Rin wryly smiled. "So, at least show us what you got before dying." "Argh!" The swordsman backed up as the remaining mage healed him with a skill. "Stop!" Lilith shouted to stop the fight. But the swordsman had already unleashed his most powerful skill with the sole goal of killing Erix. Chapter 186: Overwhelming Combat of Rin & Erix (2/2), Screw-It Punch The swordsman stabbed his sword toward Erix despite being twenty meters away, releasing his ultimate offense skill since much of his mana was consumed along with strange fire-type energy due to his ss. Instantly, a powerful and condensed me sword with dark orange sparks materialized and shot toward Erix. Danger! Erix''s pupil shrank intensely before a mad and thrilling glint passed through his eyes. ''I''ll use that technique-skill.'' Erix knew that this attack could reduce his Life Orb to 0 because his defenses were useless against it. He didn''t have a tough enough defense skill to block that attack. But he had enough power to destroy that attack, and he used this method to use a technique-skill that was insanely hard to execute, and¡­he hadn''t seeded in executing it yet. It was a risky gamble, and he thrillingly executed it. His entire figure blurred as his physical power was exerted to the limit, consuming an unknown amount of stamina to execute his physical effort. His posture also changed in that blurry motion into a simple karate front stance while his right arm swung forward while gathering the power of his entire body''s exertion. That arm had formed a fist of his hand that had transformed into a slick-surfaced icy blue gauntlet with tiny ck holes covering it. He elementalized the surface skin of his arm into this Tier-4 metal. Netherfrost Ore. The influence of Nether in this area was high, so Erix had scanned it on the way ten days ago. Technique Skill''s Name: Screw-it Punch! Execution cost: -1500 mana, X-stamina. Erix grinned and twisted his fist from wrist 360 degrees at the fastest exertion speed that was still in motion right before it hit the swordsman''s attack. He had to crush his wrist bone and mesh veins, and all the things at his wrist, hand, and arm had to be controlled to let the force mix and empower with the 360-degree twist. It was a physical phenomenon executed to extreme levels to produce a devastating show of physical power mixed with magic. *Shrill¡­!!* A ck frosty fist emerged from his punch, surrounded by a deathly whirl of a condensed death stream into a razor-sharp formation of his punch projectile. The attack had frost due to the Gauntlet''s material, but the ice was ck because Erix used Death element to transform it during the execution. The ck holes on the Gauntlet were for that. The punch projectile''s power and deathly whirl around it were eating away the atmosphere and scratching the space, producing a loud and harrowing screeching sound through the cave. *BOOM* The punch projectile instantly obliterated the sword before it proceeded towards the swordsman. Matter of 0.5 seconds. But when Erix''s punch materialized, one of the assassins had a foreboding and quickly took out a dreamy brown glowing crystal and shattered it in his hand. The proceeding Screw-It Punch was going to take the swordsman''s life, but the assassin''s timely intervention saved his life as a powerful barrier surrounded the group. However, Erix''s punch was deadly and deathly both. Even the one-time-use item''s barrier cracked after the Screw-It Punch devastated it. "We stop! We stop!" "What''s the matter?" Elder Noll looked at Lilith. Rin and Erix also turned to her. "Don''t kill them," Lilith said. "It''s not worth it because Erix''s source takes some death power when they die, even if I try to snatch all of it." "I guess we can practice more with them," Erixughed and turned to the group. "Come on, give it your all!" The enemy group was pissed and furious. Both assassins vanished before they appeared before Rin and Erix, shing their dual daggers against the duo, but both of them were smashed back while Rin and Erix separated from each other to dodge a barrage of attacks from the woman mage. *Boom!* *sh!* "Come on, you all are too slow!" The enemy group was frustrated as none of their attacks could injure Rin or Erix, although they had a close call once. ''Fuck! Their Spirit state is clearly way higher than us!" ''Work together and synergize! We don''t have to individually attack them when they are capable of obliterating our attacks.'' ''Their movement is too masterful. We are dancing on their palms! Ignore one and just attack that space guy!'' Rin and Erix werepletely enjoying and in the zone, as they just dismantled their attacks andbat styles. In short, this battle quickly became a thrilling training for the duo. ... After twenty minutes, all six of them were on their knees. Klelia was overwhelmed just looking at the battle. She didn''t know Erix and Rin were that powerful. ''Their martial prowess is fucking high,'' Elder Noll was screaming in his head. ''Why the fuck are they improving so fast, even during the battle? Do they have some unique Spiritual Art?'' ''But even so, they had to have super talent for martial arts andbat to improve this fast.'' ''Damn monsters¡­'' Elder Noll internally cursed. ''If only they ended up at Cloud Dagger Guild.'' It was aplete defeat for the enemy. However, Erix and Rin had a lot of fun and improvement in theirbat. "Jeez, what''s wrong with you two?" Lily speechlessly asked before she helplessly chuckled, "You''ve be monstrous to Noble orders simply because of yourbat styles." "They are using their masteries highly efficiently with their self-created skills that unleash the full potential of their powers," Rein mumbled. "d you understood that," Lilith chuckled. "Because you certainly don''t use the full potential of your powers through your skills." If Gaze could kill, Rein would''ve killed Lilith thousands of times. "Hey, baldy. Bring out your resources. Elemental fruits or any other natural treasures," Lily said before she turned to the group of noble orders thaty on the ground, depressed. "Get up, losers! Get good instead of feeling despair." Elder Noll sighed. He looked at Rin and Erix before helplessly asking, "How are you like that?" Rin shrugged. "I don''t feel particrly special. You guys were weak." "Haha, It is how it is," Erixughed, "But I believe in the saying that there''s always a bigger mountain above a mountain, and there''s always much to be seen." "But if there are better mountains, then we''ll simply grow over them," Rin grinned. "Exactly," Erixughed and looked at the enemies. "Take out the loot, and you can go. Good luck in your adventures." "¡­" Chapter 187: Serendipity Enlightenment From Effortful Focus Rin and Erix got a good haul from the group, but it wasn''t useful to them. ording to Lilith, they could sell it for a reasonable sum and exchange the two valuable Insight Elemental Fruits of Earth and Fire element with other Insight Elemental Fruits that Erix and Rin require at Fallen Land''s market or trading centers. Insight Elemental Fruits were very rare in the wild and also one of the rewards for some Abyss Events. After the battle, everyone continued with their training. Rin and Erix hadn''t spent one hour on Limitless ne yet, so they entered shortly and finally finished the Spiritual Eye formation. The moment they formed the entire formation, the chaotic whirls around them were forcefully absorbed in an entrically patterned single eye. The world cleared around them, and they looked at each other with shock. It took them a bit over half a month, but they finally finished the formation and acquired their new spiritual power! [Spiritual Mystic Eye] _Description: this eye has already merged with your soul and consciousness, recing your Spirit Sense with Spiritual Eyes. _Effects: ¡ª> Spirit +100. ¡ª> The power of Spiritual skills increases by 20%. ¡ª> Spirit Focus: By using the Spiritual Mystic Eye toprehend anything, you will enter Spirit Focus, which will increase your learning andprehension abilities depending on your innate improvement and focus level. _Note: Spiritual Mystic Eye is a foundation-type Spirit ability and can evolve depending on the user. "This is awesome!" Rin''s eyes shone. "Yeah," Erix grinned. "It''s a big boost to our overall power." The Spirit Force''s most basic function inbat was universal strengthening. For instance, if they used a skill and used 100 Spirit Force in it, the skill''s every aspect would be boosted, ording to the Spirit stat x 100 Spirit Force. So the stronger their Spirit stat, and the more amount of Spirit Force they possess, their overall power would automatically increase. The way people used their Spirit Force in battle varied from person to person and their wits. Unlike Mana, which can be recovered quickly via potions and skills, the Spirit Force could only be restored naturally over time and by meditating. "The only problem is that it doesn''t say how to evolve this power," Rin said, thinking for a second before she shrugged. "Whatever. Even if we find the method and way to evolve it, we won''t be able to do it now." "Yeah, we just got the power," Erix wryly smiled and added, "Anyway, we still have thirty-four minutes, so let''s make full use of it." "It''ll be a long time since we used Limitless ne forprehending elements," Rin chuckled. "Alright, I am going to that ind with destructive winds. Time to get wreaked and learn." Erix ruefullyughed. That was the only way to get strong faster. He also went to an ind with an abundant amount of Metal elements. The limitless ne was wonderful because they would get whatever they wished here and use that to learn. Erix wanted to make his Metal affinity reach level 3, so he started working on it. Lilith was also bringing many Metals to him daily, so he had also progressed a lot in knowing various metals and how they structure with external natural interference. Since both Rin and Erix got a huge boost in their Spirit stat after getting Spiritual Mystic Eye, they knew their speed of progression would increase further. However, Rin didn''t expect she would break through quickly. Her Wind affinity reached level 2 after 13 minutes! On the other hand, Erix was also already in an enlightened state while surrounded by a storm of golden and gray dreamy particles. He was on the way to achieving 3rd realm of Metal affinity! When five minutes were left, Erix finished his breakthrough. The giant ind that resided him shook, and everything rted to Metal raptured out of natural order. Erix floated up in a singr, deep spirit focus. He automatically floated up while the entire ind was shredded into pieces and absorbed into the gigantic metallic storm around Erix that was increasing in size every second. The metal particles changed colors and structures every second while Erix''s eyes were shut tight inplete serendipity amidst enlightenment. Rin was startled and quickly escaped from the area. "What''s going on?" Rin tried to send her thoughts to Erix, but her spirit thought was stopped in the storm, shocking her greatly. ''Erix is onto something big,'' Rin''s eyes shone. She watched how the storm had be several kilometers big and all kinds of constantly changing metal particles. Their colors ranged from brightest to dimmest, glowing to dull, and absurd to exotic. All of that was the reaction of Erix unlocking countless possibilities of Metal. This phenomenon triggered something in the Limitless ne as a familiar dreamy golden face manifested beside Rin. "Interesting." "You''re here," Rin raised her eyebrows, surprised. "What''s going on with him? Wait, you can tell us your name now, right?" "Tenebria," the gorgeous face smiled. Her faintly visible eyes contained a hint of mncholy as she looked at Erix. "Tenebria, eh? Nice name," Rin grinned and gestured thumbs up before turning to Erix. "Back to the main point. What''s going on with Erix?" "You want to do the same?" Tenebria chuckled. "It''s not in my control," Rin shrugged. "But it''s in your capabilities," Tenebria smiled. "Just like how you reached 3rd realm of Lightning affinity at absurd speed and even attained attribute-concept for it, Erix is also doing the same, but¡­" "But?" Rin pressed, her eyes eager. She wanted to know! Tenebria looked at the increasing metal storm and Erix at the center as her smile slightly widened. "But he is doing it at a whole another level of power. The quality of power he is attaining is a few times higher than yours." "A few times?!" Rin was dumbfounded. "So, like, he is manifesting an attribute concept of his own for his Metal affinity, but that attribute concept is inly more powerful than mine in its general effects?" Rin looked at her attribute-concept. [Crimson Onyxbolt] -Type: Attribute-Concept. _Description: An attribute concept manifested from the flowing blood of conflict and darkness of one''s heart that manifested as dreadfully punishing Crimson Onyxbolt lightning, bearing crimson red and onyx ck color. _Effect: Your lightning attacks deal 15% extra damage and disrupt the target''s focus and senses when hit. If those injured by your lightning have blood in their flesh, they will receive Bloodbane Debuff. ¡ª> Bloodbane: Weaken the potency of the target''s blood, reducing their Strength by 15% and reducing their healing by 99%, which gradually reduces depending on the target''s resistance. ''My attribute-concept is considered powerful ording to Lilith. Thest one who got this attribute-concept from here was a hundred years ago¡­'' Rin thought as she looked at Erix amidst the dreadful and exotic storm. "A few levels higher than that," Tenebria smiled. "How powerful would that be?" Rin mumbled as her eyes shined. She wanted to see this new power of Erix as soon as possible! But then she remembered something. "It''s been around two minutes," Rin turned to Tenebria urgently and anxious, "We have less than 3 minutes! If we get kicked out of here, Erix''s enlightened state will break!" "You have to do something!" Rin with a severe yet pleading face. She wanted Erix to finish his enlightenment and acquire his power! It would be terrible if he failed after getting this close. "That..." Tenebria looked at Erix and then slowly looked at Rin, her expression somber. Chapter 188: 4th鈥擹eno "That''s indeed a problem," Tenebria nodded with a somber expression. "What do we do?!" Tenebria smiled, "Well, I said it''s a problem, but I didn''t say it''s a problem without a solution." "Your daily time in Limitless ne has increased to one hour and thirty minutes," Tenebria added, causing Rin to widen her eyes. "Seriously?!" "Yep." Rin was overjoyed! An extra thirty minutes in Limitless ne was a tremendous boost. "Thanks a lot," Rin grinned. "This upgrade is heaven-sent." "But howe our time upgraded? And how can we upgrade it more?" "Your time increased because you twopleted the second stage of Way of Unfettered spiritual art byprehending the second verse and learning Spiritual Mystic Eye." "I see¡­so, will we get the third verse of Way of Unfettered after getting stronger?" Rin eagerly asked. "You will have to earn it," Tenebria wryly smiled, "What I''ve given is not something everyone can get at starting like you three." "The Spiritual Art?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "Is it that valuable?" "It is. And I can only give you up to two verses, which I did. If you want the next verses, then you''ll have to join my Cosmic Faction, gather contributions, and get a chance and test to acquire it." "Soundsplicated." "More than you think," Tenebria grinned. "I''ve gambled on you three, and it''s going very well." "Why us?" Rin frowned and felt confused. Why did Tenebria teach them the Way of Unfettered Spiritual Art? Even the way to acquire it was strange as they experienced an entire lifetime in the mysterious world of inds. "Because I Alone Am Unfettered," Tenebria smiled. "My decisions are fickle, and they are based on my fickle observation. I observed you three and decided that you were my bet in this world based on my guts." Rin was dumbfounded. "So, it wasn''t like we had some kind of destiny or fate?" Tenebria chuckled. "My decisions have a certain level of power not to get bound by fate, luck, destiny, or any nning of others, so even if you two had some kind of fate or destiny, I have already interfered with it." "Wait, so this fate and destiny business is the real deal?" Rin was shocked. She didn''t really believe in fate or destiny since she was young. "They are real, but not fully controble unless it''s done by someone very powerful into something small and weak area, like your, Earth." "I see¡­" "Well, Putting your life on the path of unfettered and reaching there is not easy. My cosmic faction is weak because it''s hard to progress in this Spiritual Art at the 5th verse and higher and some bad rumors, which caused people to leave, and then we became somewhat famous negatively." Tenebria sighed. "You''ll understand when you join the faction." "How bad it is in short?" "I am the most senior member of my faction, and here I am, wandering like a ghost." "¡­" Rin held back fromughing and said with a grin, "Don''t worry. I, Erix, and Isabe will make your cosmic faction rise." "I believe you," Tenebria smiled. "That''s why I chose you three." "But you said it was a fickle decision," Rin was speechless. "It was, but Ipletely believe it. Doubts can''t bind me," Tenebria faintly smiled. "...I see. Sounds profound. Anyway, I''ll go and train now instead of wasting time. Time is precious here, haha." While Rin went to train, Tenebria''s faint face avatar was still there, and she was watching the two. ''Keep going, Erix,'' Tenebria was slightly thrilled at Erix''s progress. Rin was fighting against make-shift monsters she produced with her imagination and trying to hone her de as she wanted to reach 2nd realm of the de concept. And Erix, he was going further in this bout of enlightenment. When it was only two minutes left, Rin returned to Tenebria''s side and looked at Erix. "I suppose time can''t be extended anymore, right?" Rin asked with a frown. "Nope, but no need," Tenebria smiled. "He will be done in the next minute." Rin looked ahead and observed Erix, though he was not visible amidst this entric metal particle storm. For the entire next minute, there was no change in the exotic metal storm, but suddenly, everything vanished. Erix floated in a cross-legged sitting position while everything around him turned normal and silent. "Great," Tenebria chuckled. "Rin, you''ll have to catch up to him because his Metal affinity is a level higher than your Lightning." Rin nodded with excitement and resolve in her eyes. Erix just wanted to reach the third realm of Metal affinity, but not only did he additionally manifest an Attribute-concept, but he also went a step ahead and reached the 4th realm of Metal affinity! Despite knowing what he did, Erix was still filled with shock and thrill as he looked at his affinity. Erix only entered the 4th realm of Metal affinity, so he didn''t know what he needed to do, but he knew that he had a huge boost in his overall power! However, when he looked at his affinity''s description to know what he had achieved and his progress in detail, he was dumbfounded. [Metal Affinity] _Realm: Zeno¡ªMetal Lord ¡ª> Metal Maestro: All metal you produce has a 30% stronger structure and effectiveness of their properties. ¡ª> Metal Nexus: The powers of Metals you create are increased by 100%. Your Metal Nexus helps you scan, learn, and create metals faster at a lower cost of Mana. ¡ª> Metal Lord: Your Metal element is boosted by 100% potency in all its aspects. \\_Description_/ ¡ª> Absolute Telekinesis over Metal objects with no limits on their size and weight as long as the upper limit of your mind can bear the exertion. ¡ª> Allows you to refine your body with Metal Motes and acquire Metal Physique. You can turn your body into any type of Metal elemental body. ¡ª> Your Metal mastery has reached enough level to interact with your spirit. Your Spiritual Attacks can be infused with your metal-attribute. Metal will dance at your will. ¡ª> Your Metal mastery has reached enough level to allow you to sense Metal elemental dimensions and connect with them. You can create a Metal Elemental World in your origin region by making connections with exotic Metal elemental dimensions and using them for your progress. ''Connect to elemental dimensions¡­create my metal elemental world? Damn¡­Level 4 seems crazy,'' Erix was pumped up with excitement. Just what kind of powers would he acquire and create with this progression? Chapter 189: Devorex Metal While Erix was reeling in excitement, he heard Tenebria''s voice and finally opened his eyes. Rin and Tenebria arrived before him. "You are here again," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Yep. I only have one minute here, so listen. You have six months to reach Royal order and exit this Abyss to return to your world. If you fail to return after six months or exactly 180 days, you will miss an important opportunity." "What opportunity?" Rin asked. "No idea, but there will be one, so be on time," Tenebria smiled. She turned to Erix and added, "Rin will tell you some things I told her since our time here is up. I might or might not visit here again, but I want to see you two in the flesh, so hurry up." Tenebria faintly smiled and added, "And all the best." Afterward, Rin and Erix nked out of Limitless ne and saw the scenery of the cavern before their eyes. After Rin told Erix about her talk with Tenebria, Erix came to know of some matters regarding her cosmic faction and how they could get to the next stage of their Spiritual Art. "By the way, how''s the progress about your source bncing?" Rin asked. "11.08% done," Erix wryly smiled. "Long way." "We need the elf that Lilith was talking about," Rin chuckled. She then remembered something and quickly said with shining eyes, "You also got an attribute-concept, right? Show me the details." "It''s a bit strange," Erix said as he opened his attribute-concept panel and shared it with her. [???] _Type: Attribute-concept _Description: An attribute concept manifested specifically for Metal elements based on Erix''s hunger for power and vision. _Effect: You can create a unique metal called [???] with your mana that can devour other Metals you create to evolve. The limit of evolution is one step higher than the highest Tier of Metal you can create. _Note: This is your own concept, so please name it appropriately. If the name shes with other concepts, it will be denied. "What is this?!" Rin eximed, dumbfounded. "No name? And the effect is crazy." "What happened?" Lilith and Lily curiously arrived beside them. Rein nced there but didn''t approach them, while Klelia seemed to be in deep meditation on her Serene Spot and didn''t hear Rin''s shout. Meanwhile, Erix shared the attribute-concept''s details with Lilith and Lily, giving them a shock. "Interesting. I''ve heard about this," Lilith smiled with amusement and surprise. "Although many concepts were birthed naturally through some idents or coincidences, many also birthed with peoplebining elements, exploring possibilities and doing experiments." "Erix, you are thetter," Lilith grinned. "Congrats. You created a new attribute concept." "I want to see its power, but we''ll have to wait for that," Rin wryly smiled. "Also, what do you want to name this concept?" "I''ve thought of one just now. How about¡­Devorex Metal? [ Congrattions. The name has been epted.] "Not bad," Lilith nodded. "It got epted, so I guess I can''t change it even if I want to," Erix chuckled. "Anyway, I''ll mess with this concept for a while to see what it is." "We''ll go to Howling Tombs the day after tomorrow, so make all the preparations and progress you want to make," Lilith announced. "I''ll be done preparing food after two hours, so train with that in mind." "Is it special today?" Rin curiously asked. "I had to make your stats rise, especially Erix''s stats since he can''t kill monsters before his source progresses to at least 20%, so this feast will increase your stats permanently, and I want you two to eat the dishes as soon as they are made." "It looks like you are going all out in this one." "Of course, darling," Lilith smiled at Erix. ¡­ Everyone started training except for Lilith, who went to collect food ingredients. Erix was experimenting with his Attribute-concept, and the results were good. He had four Tier-4 Metals in his arsenal of creation, so he created a big Devorex Metal b worth 1000 Mana and then created small blocks of three Tier-4 metals, each costing 200 mana. He didn''t use zma Star ore, but the other three Tier-4 metals. The Devorex Metal was quick. It looked pitch ck, but once it started devouring the other Tier-4 metal blocks, the transformation started. Erix keenly observed everything with his Spiritual Mystic Eye for ten seconds before his Devorex Metal stabilized into a piece of dark silver Metal with entric, dark blue and ck patterns over it. [Devorex Metal 1.1]¡ªYou can change the name. _Rank: Tier-4.5 _Effects: ¡ª> Defence Structure: A metal structure designed for absolute defense against piercing and blunt forces. ¡ª> Offence Structure: A metal structure designed for shing-type weapons. ¡ª> Quirks: This Metal contains reactive icy bursts filled with darkness with the power of corrosive freeze. It has high resistance against light element, fire, and wood element. ''Cool¡­'' Erix was impressed. ''Let''s see the true level of my level 4 Metal affinity,'' Erix grinned as he pointed at the Devorex Metal 1.1. In the next second, Erix''s eyes shed faint golden before the metal b turned into tiny particles. Erix''s eyes shone. His control over Metal was off the charts! With a twirl of his finger, he designed a structure in his mind while the Devourex Metal 1.1 particles quickly took the shape of it and established themselves into a humanoid. Erix made this humanoid structure''s coating like a dragon''s scale and gave it some designs, making it look like a dragon warrior with two long and thin daggers. There was no face, as Erix just formed a helmet instead of a head. ''I can create melee foot soldiers now, but if I tweak a little bit and inscribe formations in them, I might be able to give them simple skills.'' Erix looked at his first high level of creation using Metal Element and nodded. ''I should create one Melee soldier, and one ranged soldier. Whenever I want to upgrade them or give additions, I can simply modify them.'' Erix felt that it was a good idea to create some soldiers as guards. "Butter," Erix muttered and stored that Samurai-like metal humanoid, but with long dual daggers, into his Hunter card. "Devorex Metal 1.1 sounds bad. Hmmm, based on the Metal''s powers, Umbrost Metal sounds good," Erix casually gave this new Metal a name and then entered meditation on his Serene Spot. ''Today and tomorrow. Let''s see if I can make my Space affinity level 2.'' ¡­ "Alright, time to go. Howling Tombs are dangerous and also life-threatening when you challenge the tombs. Remain cautious." The group stood before the portal that led to the Howling Tomb. "Can''t you unseal me a bit now? We are going to a dangerous ce." "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you," Lilith snickered. "You are still useful." "I wonder if I am ready for Howling Tombs," Klelia muttered as her long bunny ears touched each other in nervousness. "What I can say is that you have sufficient power toplete the challenge," Lilith said without looking back. "As for how you use your powers toplete the challenges¡­Well, that''s entirely up to your capabilities andbat prowess." "Let''s go." Lilith entered first while dragging Rein, followed by Rin, Erix, Lily, and Klelia. The group arrived at the ground entrance cave of the mountain, behind a bunch of boulders and vines. Erix had hidden the portal there to prevent other people from noticing it, though it was still noticed once and was destroyed since it was closed and those people attacked it. After exiting the portal, the group walked to the far left corner of the huge cave and arrived at the entrance of the Howling Tombs, which was an entrance to another big cave that contained multiple caves, each containing a howling tomb. Without further ado, everyone walked through the ck mist covering the entrance and entered inside. Chapter 190: Howling Tombs The group saw a vast cave with multiple passages around the cavern with numbers on top of each cave passage. There were a total of 10 cave passages and ten numbers, from 1 to 10. "The numbers indicate the difficulty." After Lilith finished speaking, Erix created a portal connecting to their cave. A few other people were waiting while sitting, talking, or training in this cavern while theirpanions or subordinates went to challenge Tombs. They were surprised to see Erix creating a portal and noted the group. Afterward, Lilith and Rein stayed at the portal while Erix, Rin, Lily, and Klelia went to the level 1 cave passage. After entering, they saw three tombs and no people. Lily walked ahead and said, "These are three level 1 tombs here. We have to touch one of them, and it will absorb us into the battlefield, where we''ll fight a challenging individual." "Then let''s go," Rin grinned and went to touch the first tomb before disappearing. Erix also did the same as he touched the same tomb as Rin and disappeared. Seeing that, Klelia and Lily quickly did the same. ¡­ Erix arrived on a barren battlefield with block-soakednd and rotten skeletons. Fortunately, there was pure death power here, so Erix''s source didn''t absorb it. Rin and others were also on the same battlefield, but none of them were together. They had to fight 1v1 against the challenge. *Roarr!!* Erix soon saw strange ck mists gathering together before him and turning into a three-meter-tall humanoid with its entire body covered in heavy ck-blue scaled armor and wielding two heavy ck swords. [Specter of Dark Warrior] _Level: 199 _Stats: ¡ª ¡ª> [ Strength: 1200 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1200 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1200 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 1200 ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: - / Spirit Force: - ] ¡ª> [ Magic power: 1200 / Mana: 5000/5000 ] *Swoosh!* Just as Erix nced at the warrior''s status, he was assaulted by the aura that exploded out of the Dark Warrior and covered a one-kilometer area around him. [You have been affected by Dark Mud debuff. Strength -10%.] ''Great,'' Erix grinned. He saw the Dark Warrior immediately blurring while his left arm was already swinging the sword towards his neck. *BOOM!* Erix transformed in the blink of an eye while already moving his hand that wrapped into his newly created Gauntlets and punched the sword. To make up for his decreased Strength and already having lower Agility than his enemy, Erix intended to finish this battle quickly. The moment his right fist swung to the left and shed against the sword with his Whirling Punch, a powerful gust of physical force shook Dark Warrior while his left hand was already in motion. The gauntlet swiftly transformed into a Sling Shot Gauntlet. The moment his fist touched the Dark Knight''s head, Erix''s eyes became bloodshot and dark as he exerted a great deal of his stamina, 1000 mana, and consumed 500 Spirit Force to execute the Sling Shot Punch¡­.2.0. This caused his fist that touched Dark Knight''s forehead to retract at double speed as all power condensed more into his fist and immediately hit the Dark Knight''s chest in the same second at twenty times the speed of sound before his entire arm and even the tough gauntlet shattered. However, the force that shot from his fist immediately put a huge hole into Dark Warrior''s chest while thendscape behind Dark Warrior shattered into tiny cubes before creating a huge crater. In the next moment, Erix disappeared from the battlefield and appeared outside. "Damn...Hahahahaha! I fucking did it!" Although his entire left arm was wasted, Erix was overjoyed! After all, this skill-technique required an unknown amount of stamina, enough to cause Erix''s source to rile up due to him exerting his unlimited pool of stamina to his limit. Second, this punch required Erix''s physical structure with stasis blood and organs that worked differently than humans since his source provided a unique life force in his internal structure due to his Hybrid-Zombie status. The downside was that he was biting more than he could chew, destroying his own arm in the process. ''I''ll have to refine other techniques and make them catch up to my powers.'' Since his Metal affinity reached level 4 and Death affinity reached level 2, he could do much more. Although he really wanted to reach 2nd realm in his Space affinity, he fell short of it. However, Erix was getting closer to the realm and believed he could achieve it soon. Erix went to Lilith to get his arm healed. Meanwhile, Rin and Lily soon arrived after half a minute, but Klelia took one full minute before finishing her challenge. When she emerged, Erix, Rin, and Lily had already defeated the 2nd tomb. Erix remained uninjured this time since he didn''t go overboard like previously. When Klelia finished her 2nd tomb, Erix, Rin, and Lily defeated the 3rd tomb''s challenge and emerged. The trio left level 1 cave and went to the level 2 cave, where they saw two people sitting in the corner and recovering. Same as level 1, this cave also had three tombs, but there was one difference that would appear if one defeated all three tomb challenges. Rin, Erix, and Lily challenged the 1sttomb of level 2. The stats of the enemy inside were the same as in level 1 cave tombs, but they became more intelligent and seemed real. While Erix finished his battle in several seconds, Rin was having a fun and delightful battle with her enemy, who was a samurai wielding a katana. Their de caused air to tremble, and their shes changed thendscapes of the battlefield. The battlested for two minutes before Rin''s aura suddenly changed and became sharp. Her eyes shed dreamy silver and gold, and her katana blurred and vanished before ten faint shes overwhelmed the samurai, cutting him into pieces. [You have envisioned the meaning of your de and solidified it. You have sessfully progressed to 2nd realm of your de Concept! Congrattions.] Rin floated in the air, her eyes closed. The sharp aura around her slowly retracted while she also disappeared from the battlefield and appeared outside. A secondter, she slowly opened her delightful eyes filled with excitement. ''I finally did it!'' She had practiced a lot with her de, and she onlycked such a battle to make a breakthrough to the 2nd realm of the de concept. [de]¡ªConcept. _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Severing de Chapter 191: Tomb Severing [de]¡ªConcept. _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Severing de ¡ª> Severing de: Your des are Severing des whose shes will inflict ''Severum'' on sh-hit. As long as you reach a certain amount of ''Severum'' on anything, no matter how tough, you can sever it. _Effect(s): ¡ª> All de-rted attacks deal 50% extra damage. ¡ª> Your severing/sh attacks deal 50% extra damage. ''So it''s like that¡­'' Rin had emphasized severing/shing in her skill techniques to new heights andbat with des, so her de Concept broke through in that direction and manifested power based on that. But Rin was more than happy about this because she envisioned her de to be able to sever anything, be it magic, physical, or anything else. She wanted to be able to sever anything she wished, though it would still take a long time to achieve that level of power. However, breaking through to 2nd realm of de Concept and acquiring Severing de was a prim and proper start for her vision. ''Wait, if I can sever anything¡­'' Rin looked around the tomb. She wanted to try severing something tough! "Rin? What''s up?" Erix emerged from the 2nd tomb after defeating his challenge in a jolly mood. He was having a lot of fun and improvement in hisbat prowess. With Death and Space affinity in the fray with his level 4 Metal affinity, he wanted to refine his existing skills and make new skills, sobating was the best option to see what hecked and wanted. "Oh, Erix, hahaha. I reached 2nd realm in my de Concept, and it''s awesome!" "Severing de¡­Wow, this is powerful, Rin!" "Yep. How''s your Punch going?" "Soon. I am only using Punches and striding toward 2nd realm of the Punch concept," Erix said before heughed and wrapped his arms around her neck. "You want to try your Severing de?" "You know me best," Rin slyly grinned and kissed him. "Then¡­" Erix looked around before pausing his gaze on the tomb. Rin followed his gaze and burst outughing. "You''re kidding me." "Seem good," Erix grinned. "Alright, this is probably the most tough thing here." Both separated before Rin wielded her de Eater and transformed into Katana form. *sh!* Nothing happened to where she hit her sh, but Rin saw something. "Erix, can you see that?" Erix confusedly looked at the tomb. He couldn''t see any mark left behind by Rin''s de. "Nothing. It seems that this tomb is indestructible by us, but that makes sense." "Nope," Rin licked her lips and shed again with a sharp smile. 14998. There were two dreamy shes on the same spot, but only Rin could see it. As for the number, Rin suspected that it was the number of shes she needed to sever the tomb. "Erix, I can see a number and strange mix of faint gold and faint red dreamy shes on the spot where I shed." Rin turned to Erix and grinned before she added, "The number is 14,998 now after I shed twice." Erix raised his eyebrows, surprised. "So¡­after fourteen thousand nine-hundred ny-eight shes, you can sever this tomb?" "Let''s try and see." "Noice." Rin started shing at her full speed by exerting her full physical strength and even transforming into her Bloodline form for more stats boost. At her highest speed, she could sh 16 times per second, but it also consumed her stamina and mana faster. ''Fifteen thousand shes at full physical exertion is not easy,'' Erix thought as he saw Rin shing her katana at blurring speed with lighting coursing through her body. The total time it would take for her to sh would be fifteen minutes at this speed. Klelia emerged from the 1st tomb after two minutes and was immediately shocked since Rin was shing the 1st tomb. Lily also emerged a couple of secondster from the 2nd tomb. Both started recovering their energies with Erix while watching Rin as Erix exined what Rin was doing. "What if something bad happens when she severs this?" Lily muttered. "No idea, but we''ll see I guess," Erixughed. Lily wryly smiled, "Well, I also want to see." Klelia wanted to challenge the 2nd tomb after recovering but decided to postpone it because of fear of something happening once Rin severed the 1st tomb. Suddenly, Rin''s de glowed a bit, and her mana consumed a bit more. After she shed 16 times in that second, she paused and took a deep breath. "If I use a more powerful skill technique involving shes than the initial ones I was doing, the number of Severum it inflicts increases more." "Oh? How about you try your most powerful move and see what happens?" Erix curiously suggested. "Yep." Rin took a deep breath and stood in a simple stance after taking four steps back. In the next second, she empowered herself to max with lightning by consuming 100 mana before her figure blurred forward, and her crackling katana shed the tomb. ''Revolving Flow sh.'' Her entire figure made a circr motion when she shed her katana at the tomb. The skill-technique cost her 1000 mana, 1000 de energy, and a lot of stamina, along with the precise flow and procession of the energies to execute the skill-technique. This high-speed double sh of the Revolving Flow sh skill-technique inflicted a whooping 1293 Severums on the tomb with this skill. "Not worth it," Rin wryly smiled. "I''ll go with conservative shes like before." "How many Severums you inflicted?" Lily curiously asked. "1293." Everyone nodded. The skill was naturally powerful, but if she used Revolving Flow shes, she would quickly run out of mana and stamina. Instead, it would be better to use conservative shes that consumed almost no mana or stamina because she was consuming both at a simr pace as her recovery speed of mana and stamina. "I''ll make one more Revolving Flow sh and use Spirit Force to boost it this time." Rin moved back again and executed the skill-technique again, but this time, she spent 1000 Spirit Force to boost the skill. *Zoom!* This time, the skill inflicted 1655 Severums on the tomb. "1655 Severums," Rin raised her eyebrows, "It''s a boost of¡­28 percent." 28% was a huge boost! "We can make a form based on this," Erix chuckled. "If it''s twenty-eight percent, then your 341 Spirit Force plus 1000 Spirit Force is divided by 50, which should be the form that gets you 28%." "Yeah, that''s correct," Rin nodded and started shing the tomb again. "Spirit stat is not bound to our magic source or origin source," Lily said. "If you want to increase Spirit stat, you will need either resources that increase spirit, which are the rarest kind of resources, or naturally increase it via other methods." "Naturally?" Klelia questioned in confusion. "I just recently awakened my Spirit stat, so I was wondering how to increase it because I couldn''t increase it using stat points like Magic." Erixughed and answered, "When Rin and I broke through in our affinities to 3rd realm, our Spirit stat increased automatically. I had more Spirit power than her because I managed to get to the 4th realm in my Metal affinity, but she caught up to me after getting her de concept to the 2nd realm." "So you need toprehend more stuff to increase it?" Klelia was surprised. "You can also increase it via Spiritual Art or by doing something tough that stretches your mind and body to your limit," Lily said with a wry smile, "Although the second method is not something we should often do since it''s situational and dangerous." Time passed, and after several minutes, Rin stopped. "Is it thest one?" Erix asked. "Yep," Rin grinned. "You all should move back at the entrance in case something happens." Erix walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her belly before hugging her from behind and putting his head on her shoulder. "I''ll teleport us all out if something happens." "Alright. Lily, Klei, hold on to him," Rin said as she raised her katana. Lily and Klelia put their hands on Erix''s shoulders before Rin made thest sh. Meanwhile, they could also hear footsteps of peopleing through the passage to arrive here, but it was toote as Rin shed. The Severum count reached 0 while all the dreamy shes that only Rin could see shone and materialized in reality before a sharp aura spread out and severed the huge stone tomb into ten clean pieces. *Shcriiiiiiii!!!* Then, a loud screeching sound echoed throughout the cave before a powerful and nefarious aura oozed out from the broken tomb and manifested before the group. Erix created a portal behind Klelia and Lily before he pushed himself behind while pulling Rin. Everyone escaped through the portal and arrived outside, falling right beside Lilith, who was sitting leisurely on the chair with a book in her hand. However, Lilith was also no longer reading the book as her eyes were on the 2nd level cave''s entrance. She disappeared at full speed and arrived back with Rein since it was her whose footsteps everyone heard in the cave. Lilith had sent her there after unsealing her power to peak Noble-order since Rein was bored and pleaded to Lilith to let her challenge the Howling Tombs. "What did you do?" Lilith turned to Erix and others, who got up and dusted themselves. "We destroyed a tomb," Rin shrugged. "And something emerged from it," Erix turned to the 2nd level of the cave. "It wille out from there¡­probably," Lily wryly smiled. *Screeeeeeee!!* The whole cave shook at the loud and sharp screech, startling everyone in the huge cave as everyone looked at the 2nd level cave. They also nced at Erix and others since they felt it was connected to them. Soon, dark aura oozed out of the cave, making everyone''s face somber and apprehensive. Chapter 192: Dangerous Battle, Dead? ck trails, along with aura, slowly emerged from the 2nd level cave entrance as everyone finally saw the appearance of the monster that made people in the huge cavern. It was a floating ck energy robe with no legs or arms visible out of it. Instead, it was filled with a limbless humanoid ck aura with a faint dark blue hueing from it. Two red eyes were visible under the hood, but there was no face. The powerful aura it exuded indicated that it was¡­a Royal-order being. [Remnant of Shadow Antsa] _Rank: Royal-order. _Remnant Core: 100%/100%. _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 0 ¡ª> Agility: 2000 ¡ª> Stamina: 2000 ¡ª> Health: 2000 ¡ª> Magic: 2350 / Prana: 10,000/10,000 "So it''s a remnant," Lilithmented and smiled as she turned to Erix and the gang. Erix grinned and said, "I want to challenge it solo." "Good," Lilith snapped her finger and trapped the monster into a fifty-square-meter faint, almost transparent dark crimson barrier. The monster conjured ten ck orbs around it with a scream to attack, but its attack had no impact on Lilith''s barrier. "Go. You''ll pass through the barrier," Lilith said. "You can do it," Rin smiled and kissed Erix, activating Ignis Ed Intimacy as both of their auras increased, their overall stats boosted by 30%! "What was that?" Rein was startled. Klelia was also shocked. ''A kiss and their power increased so much?'' "Special skill," Erixughed and turned around as he walked towards the barrier while his body shone and transformed into a metallic humanoid body that was just a meter tall. He shrank himself in elemental form. His arms, torso, legs, and head and all parts had different metallic properties, while his eyes became faint dark gold. ''Brawler Pathways Formation,'' Erix focused as the internals of this metallic body started changing. As he stood before the barrier, wisps of ck aura also oozed out of him slightly as he formed ten Death Wisps around him to use inbat by consuming 1000 Mana. He could infuse a Death Wisp and give any of his attack Death-attribute. *Scree!* The Remnant of shadow Antsa turned to Erix and screamed as it started attacking, but Lilith''s barrier still stood between them. Rin and Lily felt a bit worried, even Lilith, but it was natural. After all, Erix was going to fight something way stronger than him. The other adventurers in the cave already understood what was going to happen. "Young man, I think you are overestimating yourself, haha. I bet you will be saved by thatdy within ten seconds." Lilith nced at the Royal order powerhouse who had just spoken and was about to cut off his arm with her skill just because she didn''t like hisment, but before that, Erix spoke and made her cancel her intention. "If that happens, I''ll be your servant by contract. However, what if Isted more than ten seconds?" "You want to bet, eh?" the middle-aged manughed. "I am Bnor, and if youst more than thirty seconds against it, you can ask for anything from me, but If you fail tost thirty seconds, then you''ll be my servant by contract." "Thirty? Haha, alright," Erixughed before he turned to face the barrier. His zma Star Revolver floated beside him and charged up six bullets at the cost of 1200 Mana, each costing 200 Mana, while his fists were infused with two Death Wisps. "Lilith, can you expand the barrier to its double size? I am ready." "Alright." The barrier suddenly expanded, which automatically made Erix enter inside. *Scree!* The Remnant instantly created a crescent ck sh that shot toward Erix, who narrowly dodged it while his zma Star Revolver released a bullet. *BOOM!* -6.7% *Hraaaaa!* The entire barrier was suddenly covered in ck miasma after the bullet hit the Remnant, but Erix''s eyes shed faint silver as the space around him wobbled slightly, and he teleported ten meters to his left while increasing the distance between him and his enemy to fifteen meters. He conjured ten wormholes and positioned five of them around the Remnant before his arms blurred to execute two powerful punches. Instantly, two punch projectiles shot into wormholes around him while he moved away to dodge the Remnant''s projectile ck orbs. *BOOM!* His punch projectiles, one with a ck whirlpool whirling around the punch and one shining dark gold with sharp and condensed form, both hit the Remnant squarely, shaving away 18.7% of its HP/Remnant Core. Whirling Punch dealt a bit less damage, but its impact forced the Remnant to shoot backward as it crashed into the barrier. The sight caused everyone watching to turn wide-eyed. "Just how much power he masterfully condensed and formed into those punch skills?!" "Enviable skills. Those who use pure fists as their main force of attacks are rare." *Scree!* Erix quickly recovered his mana by converting some of his stamina with Mana Revera passive skill. His other four passive skills were also at work as they contributed to increasing his damage, especially the Kic Power Force (Tier-3 passive skill): +20 Strength. Increase your skill''s attack up to 200% based on its speed before impact. 2000 meter per second speed for max increase. Erix was taking full advantage of this passive skill by releasing fully elerated punches at the cost of higher exertion of his physical body and stamina, so his attacks were boosted to 200% right after he executed them. Moreover, his entire metal elemental body was modified with his self-created pathways to channel the highest amount of power for his punches! And this was only possible with Metal and such type of elemental body. Unlike me, water, lighting, and such elemental bodies, he was Metal! A solidified structure, and he took full advantage of it to empower his skill executions! Lilith and other Royal-order powerhouse were more impressed. ''You went a step ahead, darling,'' Lilith smiled. "Kill it!" Rin cheered with shining eyes. "You can do it, babe." Erix grinned and continued as he dodged two wide scyth projectiles from the monster while his zma Star Revolve released two bullets into wormholes. He didn''t want to risk getting his attacks dodged, so he made use of sending his attacks through the wormhole for sure-hits. Right after that, both of his fists also glowed as he executed his newly created skill-technique that required both of his fists. Quickly putting both of his fists against each other, the metal gauntlets and his internals vibrated intensely as a loud drilling-like sound at ultra-sonic speed started echoing in the barrier. *Hroooooo!!* Naturally, his opponent wasn''t going to stop, but Erix hadn''t reduced his focus on it and once again narrowly dodged the attack since he was already on the move before his enemy''s attack formed. Erix was observing it through his Spiritual Mystic Eye, so whenever the Remnant''s aura and energy circted, he was ready to move or teleport. Although this Remnant wasn''t that intelligent and acted like a monster, one could clearly discern its frustration at not being able to hit Erix. The za Star Revolver that floated fifteen meters away from him released two more bullets and created a sma field with purple tendrils of solidified heat on lightning around the monster, shaving away its HP and annoying it. Meanwhile, Erix separated his fists as they were wrapped into a strange flowing dark gold energy with a death aura as Erix infused the rest of Death Wisps in them. Strangely and interestingly, both fists had the same type of aura, and both of them also acted and flowed exactly the same. After preparing his fists that cost him 2000 Mana and 2000 Spirit for the boost, Erix teleported to the corner of the barrier and stood in a simple horse stance while he separated his fists as they rested at the sides of his waist. In the same second, his body shone, and vein patterns manifested all over his body as he channeled 500 Mana for the execution and final touch. ''Symphony Echo Punch.'' Erix released his right fist first as it released a dark gold punch projectile with a circting aura around it, and immediately after that, Erix released his left fist as its projectile shot right behind his first punch. But instead of crashing against each other, the second fist projectile entirely merged into the first one right before it entered the wormhole. His first punch and second punch both had the exact same level of frequencies in execution structure and waves, which allowed them to merge together, producing a way more devastating punch than if both of them hit separately! The brightly shining dark gold punch with strange waves oozing came out of the wormhole behind the Remnant and squarely struck its back. *BOOOOM!* With a deafening sound, the punch revoltingly distorted the Remnant''s body, dealing devastating damage, making this Erix''stest, strongest attack. -43%! Every single person watching was dumbfounded at how much HP he shaved away with that punch. Of course, he also paid sufficient Mana and Stamina for this skill-technique, utilizing both to the maximum potential possible by his body. This was his peak Punch skill-technique! Unironically, this skill''s creation had a concept of simple modern physics: the same frequency of sound waves could create a significantly more powerful wave. But Erix used this concept at a supernatural level using magic with his own bits into the fray to boost his punch, and since such a powerful punch got boosted by 50% due to the Punch concept and other factors, it resulted in devastating damage to this Royal-order opponent. However, it was not dead. Immediately after Erix''s punch put it at the death''s door, the Remnant''s red eyes glowed brightly, and it issued a sharp scream before ck miasma with faint dark blue exploding outwardly from its body. Erix had just controlled his weapon to shoot thest two bullets, but both bullets dissipated in the maelstrom of miasma around the Remnant. ''What the fuck is going on?'' Erix frowned. ''Be careful,'' Lilith sent her thought to Erix. If even a single attack hit Erix, he would be forced to sit at Death''s door or even outright die, so his priority was dodging all the attacks. However, the maelstrom of miasma suddenly burst forth towards Erix in arge area. Moreover, the Remnant actually dispersed into this attack, indicating that it was the final attack. Rin and Lily opened their mouths, their eyes wide. Lilith''s index finger glowed, her expression somber. ''Erix!'' However, Erix, the closest to the attack, felt dread. If that hit him, he would 100% die unless some miracle happened, but he didn''t even have time to think of anything except to act for his survival. The maelstrom closed in while Erix''s eyes burst out with a silver gleam. He had already instinctively put his arms into X form while creating a metal wall before him, but it was of no use. The maelstrom entirely devoured him, even putting a slight crack in Lilith''s barrier after coursing through Erix. Everyone was shocked! However, when the maelstrom dispersed and Lilith removed her barrier, everyone saw a strange scene. Chapter 193: Dooming Bet As the dust settled, everyone saw a strange scene. Erix was standing there unscathed, but he didn''t seem to be present physically. They could see a faint transparentyer on him, but it was actually Erix who detached himself from the physical world and entered Space Limbo. Erix''s eyes were shut tight, but when he slowly opened his eyes, even he was shocked. "I think I broke through to 2nd realm of Space affinity¡­" Erix muttered. "You scared me!" "Seriously." Rin and Lily heaved a sigh while Lilith couldn''t help but wryly smile while shaking her head. "Would that have killed me or not?" Erix approached the group while other people who were watching snapped out as well. Lilith shook her head. "Nope, but you would''ve been very severely injured, including your source, such that we would have to find a few rare things to heal you." "Hey, you remember your bet, right?" Rin crossed her arms and sharply looked at Baltanor. Erix also grinned and looked at the middle-aged man, who appeared hesitant. "What''s going on?" A few people emerged from the level 4 cave passage and walked towards Baltanor. "Baltanor?" one of them was a woman looking in her early thirties with long dark green hair, and behind her was a duo of a young man and woman simr to Erix''s age in appearance. "Nothing," Baltanor shook his head at them before he turned to Erix. "What do you want?" Erix turned to Lilith. ''I leave this to you.'' "If he had lost, then he would''ve had to be your servant by contract," Lilith said as she walked beside Erix and Rin, facing Baltanor with a smile. "So¡­he will want something of simr value." Baltanor''s face became stern. "Senior Baltanor, what''s going on?" the young man confusedly asked. "Your senior made a bet and lost, hahaha." Someone from the other group in the cave''s left area answered with augh. "Is that true?" the woman frowned. She was also a Royal-order powerhouse. "Yes, Maleina," Baltanor nodded with a hint of regret in his voice. He looked at Erix and Rin as he nodded, "I understand. Ask for something equivalent to that, but I won''t be your servant." "That''s not equivalent because I am at Royal-order rank, and you are at Noble-order." ''What happened? Tell me from the start,'' Maleina talked with Baltanor via telepathy using spirit sense. Rin sneered. "Are you out of your mind? Give us a few months, and both of us can kill you individually." Erix chuckled and crossed his arms, "Yeah, you sure like to underestimate others and overestimate yourself, old man." Baltanor''s face turned hot due to embarrassment. "And you even said he can ask for anything," Lily snorted. "You should cut off your tongue permanently if you like you speak so much but can''t back it up." "Stop," Maleina frowned. "I understand the situation. What do you want except for him bing your servant." "Then you can be one," Lilith raised her eyebrows and spoke in a cool, almost t expression. "Or I can kill both of you and take everything you possess." "If you kill them, none of you will live," the girl with a short light blue ponytail said, her expression fierce. "Really?" Lilith smiled. "Who is going to kill us? You?" "No, but her father," Maleina coldly said. "An Empyrean-order powerhouse situated in Core-Domain. We are here to explore the Fallennd for these two, that''s all." The majority of people here were outside of Fallennd, which was why they didn''t recognize Rein. The ones who had lived here had already explored this ce and other ces. "I don''t care," Lilith carefreely dismissed them before her gaze went to the ponytail girl who looked in her mid-twenties. Lilith smilingly walked towards them while Erix and others followed her. The group became face to face with just two meters of distance between Lilith and them. "Baltanor lost the bet, so we''llply, but don''t demand something excessive," Maleina said, her voice firm. "Lilith, if that bitch''s father is an Empyrean order, then she must have a good bloodline, right?" Rin yfully grinned. "Humph. I have a powerful bloodline of Epic grade. Luminance Aquanor Bloodline. It''s better that you just quietly do your own thing and leave us alone lest you write your death sentence." However, Erix and the group entirely ignored her threat. "You want to add one more here?" Erix helplessly smiled. "Sigh, she seems to be more feisty than Rein." "Won''t it be more fun to make a feisty one obedient?" Rin chuckled. "What are you talking about?" Baltanor frowned. Lily smiled and said, "If you don''t want to be a servant, then won''t we need to choose another?" "Senior Baltanor, Maleina, let''s just fight them. You are two, and the enemy is only one Royal order. I''m sure you two can kill her," the ponytail girl said while gritting her teeth, her murderous intent glowering. She was never insulted like this! It was always she who would decide others'' fate, not the other way around! "That''s right," the young man nodded as he took out two ck daggers with dark green and dark pink patterns on them. "Lynia and I will take care of the Noble orders." The other people in the cave went back to the edges as they thought a battle would soon ur. But one of them shouted, "If you want to fight, do it outside! This cave is big, but not big enough for a group fight like yours! We don''t want to get involved." "You want to fight, eh?" Lilith chuckled. "No," Baltanor shook his head. ''Lynia, Hokran. We can''t afford to fight them,'' Maleina said. ''Their Royal order is more powerful than us, their Noble-orders than you two. That guy just broke through to the 2nd realm of his Space Affinity after almost killing a Royal-order monster,'' Baltanor also said to Lynia and Hokran both. Lynia''s face was slightly distorted upon hearing all that. "Do you have any pure life-element resources?" Erix asked. "And by that, I mean Tier-5 and above resources of Life-element." Lilith, Lily, Rin, and Erix were also in the single chat group of spiritual thoughts, so they were conversing as well. "We don''t have those," Maleina shook her head. "Useless," Rin muttered. ''Erix, It would be better if you got that Aqua-bloodline bitch. She will be more useful to you, and it doesn''t seem like she is any good.'' ''Her murderous intent is visible, and her father being an Empyrean-order had made her arrogant,'' Lily added as they spoke in the spirit chat group. ''Her bloodline can be useful since it''s a water-life base. Her essence must have more life power than Klelia''s essence. She is the best resource for you from them,'' Lilith said. Erix helplessly smiled. ''To be honest, I know she is terrible by her behavior and intent, but I don''t want to revel in forcing someone. What if I get addicted to it?'' Rin turned her head to Erix and stared hard. ''Are you kidding me?! You are not that weak, darling. She is just a piece of meat that you have to beat in order to bnce your source. She is a resource, just a live one.'' Lilith and Lily couldn''t help butugh at what Rin said, making the other group, who was silently waiting for their response, more irky by each second. ''Cough¡­'' Rin raised her eyebrows. ''There''s no way that''s your main reason not to get her. You are more aware of junglew than me.'' Erix ruefully smiled. ''Well, my current progress is 11.21%, and it''s really slow. I need resources, but she is weak. If I can get more like Rein, I could progress faster.'' ''Ah, so that''s the case,'' Rin grinned. ''You feel like your time is better used on other things instead of sucking that Noble-order bitch¡­'' ''Yeah¡­'' ''Then why didn''t you say it first?'' Rin crossed her arms. Erix grinned. ''I wanted to see your response.'' Rin rolled her eyes. Lilith suddenly remembered something and asked, ''By the way, can you check if your ss task of killing a Royal-order monster while being at Noble-order waspleted?'' Erix checked and was startled! ''It''s actuallypleted because of that fight! But didn''t deal the killing blow it¡­'' ''Haha, nice. It doesn''t matter, but since you finished that task, don''t you want to finish the other task and get the ss quickly?'' ''I do,'' Erix nodded with a sigh. ''It would be best if I can get it before I fight that lion-man. He seemed way stronger than Remnant of Royal-order.'' ''For sure, he is. Alright, let me handle this,'' Lilith smiled and winked at him before turning to the Baltanor''s group. "We''ve decided what we want," Lilith said. "What?! Hurry up," Lynia said as she crossed her arms under her C-cup boobs. "We want¡­" Lilith''s voice trailed while she smiled, but she was internally speaking with the group. ''Erix, I leave Lynia to you. Immobile her with your 2nd realm space affinity. It''s easy peasy for you now.'' ''Lily and Rin, kill that Noble-order guy in one second. Don''t give him any chance. I''ll take on those two.'' "Please tell it," Baltanor said with a somber face. "We''ll give it as long as we have it." Right after that, Baltanor''s and Maleina''s expressions drastically changed. Time slowed down as their hands slowly moved and their Prana whirled, but before they could do anything, a huge dark red blood magic circle appeared above them, mming them onto the ground. Lynia and Hokran were unaffected because of protection, but Rin and Lily moved at breakneck speed. Rin turned into a light, her katana already in a crescent shing motion at Hokran''s neck while Lily''s sword also went straight towards his neck. As for Lynia, she was frozen in her ce as if space itself held her, and before she could use a skill, Erix stered a bunch of metalyers around her, sealing her in a tenyered metal armor. With his level 4 Metal affinity, it was impossible for her to break it or react to his element-conjuring speed. Chapter 194: Conclusion After Maleina and Baltanor were smacked to the ground with dark blood tendrils covered in ck patterns that pierced them throughout their bodies, a shining dark silver aura burst forth from a strange crystal floated out from Maleina and shattered. It enveloped them in a protective dark silver barrier with entric structural motes. Rin and Lily were expelled by the barrier as a powerful force assaulted them, but Erix reacted swiftly, freezing them in space with his newfound control over the Space with his 2nd realm space affinity, saving them from a potential crash. Meanwhile, the barrier nullified Erix''s and Lilith''s attacks and effects, freeing Maleina, Baltanor, and Lynia. Lilith raised an eyebrow, recognizing the power, and an amused smile spread across her face. ''So her father is Dark Sterling Valen.'' Hokran died instantly with Rin''s and Lily''s first attack, so he remained dead in the barrier. Lynia was mostly unharmed because Erix only intended to trap her and then tame her. However, Erix acted promptly and quickly pped his palms together, exerting full control of Metal and Space and sealing Lynia in ten different metalyers almost instaneously. ''Good job realizing it quickly, honey,'' Lilith impressively chuckled. Although the barrier was powerful, the Abyss rule still applied! Erix was a noble-order, so although the barrier removed his attacks, it couldn''t stop his attacks from forming inside again! His quick thinking salvaged the situationpletely! "You''ll regret doing this!" After hastily downing a few potions, Maleina and Baltanor shouted in desperation. Still, their injuries were not healing much because Lilith''s blood and death-attributed attacks'' healing and recovery reduction effects were quite high, making their struggles to escape futile because Lilith''s overwhelming power made that scenario impossible. ''Did you expect this?'' Erix asked before he rxed as he saw Maleina''s and Baltanor''s faces turning ashen when he sealed Lynia again. ''Their backer is an Empyrean order, after all. It''smon to have this kind of safety measures, but this one is not powerful enough against me.'' "This will not end well for you if you continue," Baltanor said somberly with distress in deep in his eyes. "What do we need to do for you to let us go?" "Stop joking," Rin and Lily returned to the group and stood beside Erix and Lilith. "Do you think there won''t be any retaliation if we let you go?" Rin sneered as she pointed her katana at them. Lilith''s eyes gleamed as her aura burst out, and a dark red domain expanded from her, covering thirty meters around her. The dark silver barrier started to flicker before cracks started spreading on it. Maleina and Baltanor saw that, and instinctive despair appeared in their eyes, their heart turning heavier than ever. They didn''t underestimate Lilith. No. Both knew she could kill two of them alone without breaking a sweat. But to quickly destroy this barrier?! This sequence of development drained their hope of living! "Good luck in your next life," Erix waved his hand with a sunny smile, specifically at Baltanor. *Shatter!* The barrier shattered, and immediately following that, Baltanor''s body exploded, sttering blood and gore on trembling Maleina. "Let me inspect you," Lilith said. "If your bloodline is useful, you''ll live." The sudden hope of living right after the despairing situation and death of her partner broke her. Her defense lowered, and her face paled ashenly. "Hmm¡­Not bad," Lilith nodded and turned to Erix with a small grin. "She won''t be as useful as Rein, but she''ll contribute positively." Erixughed. "I am ready to go next level." "W-what are you talking about?" Maleina was having a bad feeling. "There''s no pain, only gain for you, so stay obedient, and you''ll live," Lily said before crossing her arms, "And might even enjoy while itsts." "ept the seal," Lilith snapped her finger, causing aplex and entric magic circle to manifest before Maleina, a centimeter away from her chest. Maleina knew her powers would be suppressed once she epted it, but she saw no other choice and epted it. She wanted to live. After dying once, she knew the importance of living. Erix removed exotic metalyers from Lynia after Maleina epted the seal. It didn''t take long for her to be aware of the situation. But despite that, she begrudgingly epted to be captive and seal on her powers. "You all will die," Lynia hissed. "Whether you kill me or not now, you will die!" However, no one gave a single hoot about her. Rin chugged a mana potion and said, "Let''s return. The 2nd level cave to thest 10th level cave is supposed to give us rewards if we defeat all tomb challenges in each." Rin, Lily, and Erix returned while Klelia, who was about to follow them turned back to Lynia and whispered, "It''s no use. This group is crazy. But they are powerful and fun. You''ll enjoy it if you ept reality and the thing that''s about to happen to you two soon." "Fuck you!" Lynia cursed at Klelia while Maleina had aplicated yet defeated expression. Lilith chuckled. "I was just saying for your own good," Klelia shook her head and turned around, going back to the 2nd level cave. "Lilith, don''t you want to try thest level? It''s for royal orders," Rein said. Lilith rolled her eyes. "You stupid dragon. Are you that eager to talk to these two bitches alone?" "I was just saying," Rein snorted. "I''ve be obedient and enjoying it. I don''t mind bing your subordinate even if you free me now because grouping with you while being free would be better." "I was getting bored of my life here anyway, so I''ll join in your journey." She added. "Wait, you¡­" Maleina carefully looked at Rein and shockingly uttered, "Are you the Crimson Lady, Rein?" "Is news of my kidnap already spread everywhere in the city?" Rein clicked her tongue and muttered, "Well, it''s been two weeks, so it''s not strange." Maleina nodded. When they arrived at Fallen Land a week ago, many were talking about it in the city. "I''ll think about your proposal," Lilith casually said and dismissed Rein before taking out her book with a faint, mysterious aura and starting to read it leisurely. Rein''s fate was to be decided by Rin and Erix, and she knew their decision. Either Rein would remain forever like a servant until she gets killed for them or get killed by them, but her freedom was out of the question. The other Royal-order powerhouses in the cave were murmuring about the incident that just took ce, and soon, all of them knew about Rein when one of them suddenly recognized her. "Aren''t you afraid of news of my captive reaching my father?" Lilith slightly tilted her head to the right and nced at Lynia at the back, "I am not afraid of your Empyrean-order father. Even if he knew, here''s how things will y out." Lilith turned her head back to her book and nonchntly continued. "First, he won''te here personally because if you are born here, then you are not his sole child. He will send several powerful Royal order powerhouses, but that wouldn''t make any difference to me." "After they die by hands or get captive for my darling to drain like you two, your father mighte here personality." "Then all of you die!" Lynia shouted with bloodshot eyes. Lilith chuckled, "Your father''s name is Valen. He is called Dark Sterling Valen in Core Domain." "And if hees here, he will die too." Chapter 195: Vigor Force Erix faced a ten-meter-tall giant wielding two axes. Their battle was intense because the giant seemed to have speed intent and deadly lethal swiping attacks of the axe that even cleaved his bullets. But Erix had different methods and leisurely defeated him from afar, not even giving the giant a chance to get close or let its attack hit him. The 2nd realm of Space Affinity immensely increased his warfare because he could teleport speedily, modify space to slow down projectile, and, as usual, hit with 100% hit-rate with his wormholes despite him using punches! [Space Affinity]?_Realm: Sigma ¡ª Space Walker ¡ª> Space Walker: Physical ess to Space Limbo and ability to affect the physical world''s space at the minimal cost of Mana or Spirit Force, depending on mastery of space. _Description: ¡ª> Ability to turn mana into Space Matter and wield space matter in myriad ways ording to your understanding. Ability to observe space limbo and connect to it using space matter. ¡ª> Allows you to refine your body with Space Matter and acquire a Space Physique, which allows for enigmatic interaction with space and its uses. A couple of seconds after Erixpleted the tomb''s challenge, something new happened instead of him directly leaving the tomb''s sub-space. [Congrattions. You have sessfullypleted 2nd level of howling tombs. Please spin the wheel for a random reward.] "Oh?" Erix was surprised. A vertical spinning wheel appeared before him with six sections and a pulling handle beside it. [ A random Spiritual Skill ] [ A random Magic skill ] [ A random Talent Catalyzation ] [ A random item ] [ A mystery box ] [ Nothing. ] Without further ado, Erix pulled the handle, and the wheel started spinning while the section''s edges rapidly hit the needle. [ Pull again to stop the spin] Erix raised an eyebrow. After waiting for five seconds, he pulled the handle again as the wheel started slowing down. In the end, it slowly came to a stop after five seconds, stopping on the 3rd section. [ A random Talent Catalysation ] Erix suddenly felt zing hot throughout his body before a strange pain assaulted the depth of his source. He thought it would be over soon, but the pain actually increased several folds at once, causing a scream to leave his mouth. His body flickered from being a dark gold skeleton to his normal form several times. ''What the fuck!'' The strange heat continued seeping deep within him while his source started riling up. The strange pain to his source and even feeling its harshness directly to his soul, Erix felt the pain peaking to a new height after a few seconds, but he tried his best to stay conscious and endure it. His senses shook at this process, threatening him to nk out, but Erix gritted his teeth, opened his eyes wide, and roared to cope with the pain while keeping his willpower burning and fighting whatever was happening to him. After a whole ten seconds that felt like way longer, all pain suddenly vanished, and afortable stream of power started to spread throughout his body. [Congrattions. You have catalyzed a permanent talent extracted and developed from your parameters and potential.] "This¡­" Erix was startled and then pleasantly surprised. However, his expression turned slightly sour when he read the talent''s note. [Vigor Force] _Description: A talent manifested and catalyzed from your pool of potential unlimited stamina and hybrid source. _Effect: Your stamina can turn into Vigor Force, which is an evolved energy form of Stamina. Vigor Force empowers physical exertions and skills 30% higher than stamina. You can store up to 1000 Vigor Force for now. _Note: Due to your source not being in bnce, the talent''s conversion rate is 8 stamina = 1 vigor force. Only after your source is perfectly bnced will it covert 1 Stamina into 1 Vigor Force. Right after he finished reading it, the scenery around him changed, and he appeared back in the cave before the 3rd tomb. No one was present, so others were still in the challenge. "Let''s see¡­" Erix murmured and closed his eyes. He filled up his gauge of Vigor force after spending 8000 Stamina, but he didn''t feel a dent in his physio-structure at the consumption of this stamina. ''Hmmm¡­This talent is a good way to check how much of my potential unlimited stamina pool I can ess before I start to feel pressure and blockage.'' Although he had unlimited stamina, consuming too much stamina at once would instead affect his consciousness due to pressure and exertion of his body and source because this boon of unlimited stamina was rted to his race, his source. And his source was not bnced yet. A momentter, Lily suddenly emerged from the 3rd tomb. Seeing Erix standing there, she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Erix! What reward did you get?" Erix wryly smiled and shared its details with her. "Talent Catalyzation. It''s a top-ss talent, but I can only use it at its full potential once I bnce my source." Lily looked at the talent''s effect, and her mouth opened wide in shock. "This¡­this is a super talent, darling! You have a whole new reserve of powerful energy, and it''s based on one you have most abundance of." "I can''t deny that," Erix grinned. "It gave me a hell I never experienced before when it was catalyzing, but it was worth it. However, it will be worth more once I bnce my source." Lily pecked his lips and softly giggled, "Definitely!" Rin emerged from the 3rd tomb as well, but her expression was dark and dismayed. "Erix, Lily, let''s go back to the cavern and have some steam off. I am mad. I want to fuck." "Eh, what happened?" "I got Nothing in reward. Itnded on Nothing! Damn it!" "Ouch¡­" Lily made a painful face with a wry smile. "Alright, let''s go," Erixughed and created a portal as the three of them entered and arrived straight into the metal house in their cavern. After an hour of passionate session with lots of dents in the house, Rin and Erix returned to the cave and went to the third level cave. Lily wanted to rest a bit andprehend the Serene Spot as she felt a breakthrough. "Klelia must be in 5th or 6th level if she passed them all," Erix smiled, looking freshened and energized. "Let''s catch up to her." Rin was also fired up and raring, fully pumped up. "I am going to go all out right from the start in all tomb challenges!" "You''ll definitely get a good reward this time, babe." "What if I don''t?" "Then I''ll fuck you harder than ever," Erix devilishly grinned. "Deal." The duo touched the first tomb and vanished, continuing their challenges that sharpened theirbat prowessprehensively. Rin wasn''t joking because she emerged from the tomb shortly after cutting down her opponent into pieces in a mere five seconds after going all out right from the start, including using her Bloodline form. Her 2nd realm of de concept had increased her lethality to a whole new level, especially her Severing de, which could sever anything. Against the Tiger-humanoid in this challenge, she basically severed it with a single sh-type full-powered quick draw of her katana skill technique, utilizing full power of her 3rd ream Lightning Affinity and its attribute concept. On the other hand, Erix was having a thrilling battle to hone himself by limiting hisbat to only punches. Maybe because of the intense love-making session, but in just the first tomb challenge, Erix made a surprising yet expected breakthrough, sessfully realizing the 2nd realm of his Punch concept! Chapter 196: Progress, Mayhem Blaster Form Level 3 cave''s howling tombs. Results: [Erix] -> Spent a total of 5 minutes. ->Further refined his Symphony Echo Punch and perfected its execution for 100% utilization of his powers. -> Spinning Wheel Reward: Nothing. . [Rin] -> Spent a total of 2 minutes. -> Got an idea to create a skill to highly utilize her 2nd realm de Concept''s specialty: Severum. -> Spinning Wheel Reward: A random magic skill. Vortex Serpentvolt (Tier-4 skill active skill): Strike a locked target at a light speed and call forth the ancient spirit of the Vortex Serpent to encircle your target. The serpent discharges powerful bolts of lightning at the trapped foe, immobilizing and electrifying them for concentrated lightning damage. -Cost: Prana and Spirit Force. ¡­ Level 4 cave''s howling tombs. [Rin] -> Spent a total of 13 minutes due to wanting to execute her idea of the new skill, crudely created it. Yet to name it. -> Spinning Wheel rewards: A random item. She got a pair of mystic boots capable of conjuring wings. [Prismline Boots] _Rank: Tier-3 _Grade: Epic. _Perk: Reduce air resistance by 50% and speed by 10%. _Effect: Create an imaginary route up to 1-10 kilometers long and follow through that route with a speed of up to 1000 meters per second with your full control. ¡ªCost 100 - 1000 mana. . [Erix] -> Spent a total of 12 minutes due to wanting tobat more against a fun foe in 3rd tomb. -> Partial work on improving his Metal Diabolicus skill. -> Spinning Wheel Reward: A mystery box, which gave him a never-before-seen thing, a Battlecraft Art Rune. [Four Release of Destruction] _Type: Battlecraft Art Rune. _Cost: Stamina, Mana, Spirit Force _Descriptions: The user canprehend the rune to acquire four techniques. When used in a chain, it can cause devastating destruction of four types, based on the execution sequence of the four techniques. _Techniquesprehended: 0 out 4. After finishing 4th-level tombs, Rin and Erix went outside to speak with Lilith about a few things. Erix showed this new type of power, Battlecraft Art Rune, making Lilith surprised. "This is a rare one to get," Lilith smiled. "But given you two, you''ll eventually craft your own Battlecraft Art Runes because you have high talent in martial prowess, and your concepts are based on them." "Rin, we can research this together in our daily special training session," Erix grinned. "I''ll teach you what Iprehended." "Great," Rin''s eyes shone. "It''s going to be a tough nut to crack since it uses three types of energies in its execution, but that''s all more fun." "Yeah," Erixughed and nodded. Turning to Lilith, he said, "Anyway, let''s go back to Serene Spots. Rin and I want to meditate and get some deeper focus for our skills'' improvement." "It''ll take a few hours at most," Rin thoughtfully said. "Around that," Erix nodded. "Alright. Klelia also went back since she brushed with death on the 6th level cave''s 1st tomb," Lilith ruefully smiled. "Poor girl was severely injured." ¡­ Everyone went back to the cavern, including their two new captives. Looking at Lily, Erix, Rin, and Klelia sitting on the juicy Serene Spots, Maleina was talking with Lynia to adapt to their new situation. ''Lynia, they haven''t done anything to us, but we''ll have to cooperate with them if we want to live longer and get a chance to be saved by your father.'' Lynia''s dark and stuck-up expression faltered. Maleina sighed and pushed a bit, reaching for natural and logical y. ''You have to understand that the situation we''vended ourselves in is not rare. You have used your backing tomit the same and worse acts before, but now we are in the same situation, so we have to improvise.'' ''Strong preys on weak, that''s how it works, and you know that.'' Lynia ground her teeth hard enough to make a sound. ''It''s all Baltanor''s fault! Why did he have to fucking bet with them?!'' Maleina internally felt vexed. Although Baltanor initiated it, Lynia contributed to it with her attitude. ''Not just her, I too¡­'' None of them thought they would be defeated this fast despite having a life-saving item made by Lynia''s father. ''We can''t change the past, Lynia.'' "Are you done talking?" Lilith asked as she closed her book and looked at Maleina and Lynia. "If you are done, thene here and do as I say." Lilith took out a bunch of cooking ingredients and items to prepare the 2nd meal of the day. Lynia and Maleina couldn''t refuse and obediently started helping Lilith. "Do I have to invite you separately?" Lilith shot a nce at Rein, who was boringly ying with fish in the pond. ¡­ An hourter, Erix finished redefining and improving his Metal Diabolicus skill''s foundational structure and enhanced its formation by arge margin, making the skill reach the peak of Tier 3! He also designed a 2nd form of the skill: Mayhem ster Form! Mayhem ster Form was a metal frame oriented for him to his punch skills'' projectiles for relentless mid-long range attacks inbination with Wormholes for 100% uracy. Moreover, he could also execute his Symphony Echo Punch at max power in this form! Opening his eyes, he saw Lilith working the three ves to the bone around herrge makeshift kitchen. "It seems that our Mystic Chef is preparing a big feast," Erix flew towards Lilith and hugged her from behind. Lilith was indeed preparing a massive feast for everyone and to further increase Rin''s and Erix''s stats with exotic magic food made from Royal-order monsters and Tier-4 ingredients using her mastery as a level 5 Mystic Chef. "Of course, didn''t you and Rin say I am also your sugar mommy?" Lilith chuckled, her pearlyugh containing peace and enjoyment. Erix gently bit her pristine ears and hugged her tightly from behind. "Sigh, what do I do¡­I want to eat you, sugar mommy." "Can''t you not act like that while we are staring?" Erix shot a nce at Rein and the other two, but his eyes hadplete disregard for them. "You are tools, nothing more than that." "Well said," Lilith chuckled and turned to face Erix before pecking his lips, her smile radiation affection. "I also want to ride to heaven with you while screaming unrestrained, but you have to eat others for now for your own sake." Chapter 197: Arcane Spirit Pond, Klelias Desire "This damn source," Erix regretfully sighed. He really just wanted to have love with Rin, Lilith, and Lily, but for his source, he had no choice but to also drill others. "Nothing you can do about it except to work on it," Lilith ruefully smiled and flicked his forehead. "If you are raring and feel the need, take these two inside and whip them up." She then quickly turned to the left and adjusted the temperature of the dark blue me on a giant wok with several ingredients shining and processing in bright red liquid that was gradually thinning. On the other hand, Lynia and Maleina felt a chill. However, Maleina quickly said to Lynia telepathically using spirit sense, ''Lynia, don''t annoy him anymore with your futile struggle and stubbornness. It will only kill you and me faster.'' Erix looked at Lynai and Maleina before turning to Lilith. "Alright, I will, but Rin will be done soon, so we''ll finish the 5th and 6th levels of Howling Tombs first. I am raring to use my improved skill and newbat form." *Crackle!* A faint thundering crackle resounded before Rin shed beside Erix. She also finished creating her new skill, and coincidentally, it was also a long-range and barrage-type projectile skill to utilize her ''Severum'' and boosted sh-type attacks. "I am done, darling! Let''s go," Rin said with an eager grin. "The challenges are fun and vastly versatile, so they really give inspiration to improve our skills." "Go and take your time. You can challenge more tombs if you want to because It will take two more hours to finish this feast," Lilith said. "Oh yeah, don''t jump on to 8th and 9th level caves'' howling tombs. You need more stats for that," she added. ¡­ After Rin and Erix left through the portal and arrived back at Howling Tombs'' main cavern, they quickly went to the 5th level of the cave and started their challenge. On the other hand, half an hourter, inside the cavern, Lilith suddenly paused and turned to Lily, who had been in her serene spot since she and Rin had a session with Erix. ''She did it,'' Lilith smiled. Lily''s body suddenly exploded with a powerful magic aura. Dreamy blue motes with a faint white-gold hue started producing around her from her body! It was not Mana but a higher form of it! Prana! Lily officially broke through to Royal-order rank as she sessfully manifested her Arcane Spirit Pond in her origin region! The Arcane Spirit Pond that manifested was swiftly filled with Prana to the brim at the breakthrough and started overflowing, which caused Prana to leak out from her. In the depth of her Arcane Spirit Pond was an enigmatic golden-blue fruit with curvy and entric patterns. That fruit formed from the Noble order''s Magic Spirit Flower, and one had to glean from the fruits'' profound magic patterns and form Arcane Spirit Pond using Mana and Spirit Force. Once the Arcane Spirit Pond formed and the fruit became the core of it, the breakthrough to royal order waspleted. From now on, Lily''s main energy reverse became Prana, effectively increasing all of her powers by 50% because Prana was entirely 50% more powerful and potent than Mana! Lily opened her eyes in excitement as her existential limits broke by reaching royal order! She could level up more and get even more powerful! "Lady Lilith, I did it," Lily grinned from ear to ear. "I broke through way faster than I expected. Maybe it was thanks to Erix?" Lilith mirthfully chuckled. She was truly happy for Lily. ''Oh, maiden in love. But she is not wrong. This new life has brought her much joy and color in her life.'' "You are not wrong, Lily," Lilith responded with a smile. "You must want to stabilize your newfound powers. Rin and Erix should be in the 6th or 7th-level tomb." "Mhmm, I''ll go right away," Lily merrily smiled as she turned into a stream of faint mist before entering the portal. Klelia was still in deep focus as she wanted to reach 3rd realm in her Water affinity. She was in the 2nd realm of Wind and Earth affinities, but even though she had her specialbat arsenals, she fell short of offense and defense against 6th level cave''s Howling Tombs since she narrowly avoided death and barely defeated the 1st tomb. Moreover, she was a mage, so her attacks were mostly projectile and magic-formatted in various forms. Half an hourter, she opened her eyes and left her meditative state, slight frustration and sinkiness in her heart. ''I need to keep up¡­'' Klelia saw that neither Erix, Rin, or Lily were there and bit her lips. She knew that with Erix making progress in his source, the benefits of her vital essence to him would lower, which would make her useless and even a burden to this group. But Klelia wanted to stay with them! She was getting attached to the group because of the feeling of overwhelming potential they exuded, which indicated to her a thrilling future with them. She had lots of fun every day, especially with Erix. The activity with him was heavenly for her. ''If I want to stay with them, I''ll need to prove my worth and usefulness,'' Klelia''s eyes burned with resolve. ''Only after that can I make a step forward to get a closer connection with them.'' Klelia didn''t want to be like Rein or the other two that were captured today. She volunteered to be Erix''s resource in exchange for staying here and improving here using Serene Spot, but she wanted to be more after staying with them for two weeks. She wanted to be a proper party member and theirpanion! Klelia took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, entering deep meditation and determined to make progress inprehending Water''s affinity to 3rd realm as soon as possible. ''Forget everything else and just focus on being water.'' ''I can do it!'' Well, only future would tell that. Chapter 198: Executionary Brilliance! Level 5 cave''sst howling tomb. Rin just entered, prepared to give her one touch to the fight. Thendscape was a hot desert of gleaming white-brown sand, and her enemy was a two-meter tall, slender, muscled humanoid with a spiky Scorpio tail and an exoskeleton covering its body. The distance between the two of them was one kilometer. Too Short. Rin narrowed her eyes. ''So, it''s counter-type.'' The challenger was standing wlessly, his back slightly arched and his scorpion tail beautifully yet dreadfully curved with a lethal sting. Rin didn''t waste time. She was prepared! 1 second into the battle. Her figure faintly shone as she straightened her sharp katana, its de whirling with dark red and blue lightning bolts. Seeing the katana pointed at him, the scorpion-predetor''s eyes ever so slightly narrowed. 2 seconds. The air around it changed, and a faint aura spread out, turning into a domain. Rin knew that this enemy wouldunch a powerful and swift counter, but the skill she was about to use wouldn''t give it any chance. Lighting permeated throughout her body. Her muscles and fibers stretched to the extreme as they were filled with power by exerting her stamina. 3 seconds. Her hand that held her katana stretched backward as Rin took a side-standing stance, with her de''s tip still pointed towards her enemy. And then, mana condensed into a formation that executed her skill while Spirit Force permeated her execution of skill, directly boosting it in every way. 3.5 seconds. And then, she swung her de just once with extreme precision and body movement that her one swing began a rapid spinning motion of her body. The electricity buzzed and screamed around her as she literally looked like an extremely fast spinning top whirling with dark red lightning! All the power she exerted, the skill she executed, consumed Mana, de energy, and Spirit force¡­was for this spin. At the moment, Rin had to exert her Spiritual Mystic Eye to the max, but she could begin her barrage anytime. At 4 seconds, Rin was spinning exceptionally fast. At 4.5 seconds, fifteen shes shot out from her spin, straight towards the challenger¡­.who, by any means, couldn''t react to the speed at all! The speed of those sh projectiles that emerged with such lightning speed that even space itself literally ripped slightly on their path was fueled by Rin''s body''s motion while her katana remained in rotation, at constant sh! She was essentially making thousands of shes during her spin while wielding her katana! At 5 seconds, hundreds of shes shot forward; her opponent tried to dodge but could only avoid a few while the rest increased Severums on him! The stacks! But Rin was not even going all out. *CHREEEE!!* Her enemy decided to attack her by getting close to her and powering up a lethal mid-range attack because its specialty, counter-attack domain,pletely failed to react to Rin''s shes! At 5.6 seconds into battle, the enemy swiftly closed the gap while Rin decided to go all out to finish the battle. The distance between them was a mere couple hundred meters, but the spinning Rin shone brightly with dark red sparks before a barrage of shes emerged again. At 5.9 seconds, hundreds of shes she released cut her enemy into pieces before the Scorpio predator could reach Rin, sessfully finishing the challenge! Notification rang out, and the spinning wheel appeared before her. Rin got the idea of spinning to maximize releasing her shes from this spinning wheel. It was only an idea of a simple thing, but it created the most powerful skill for her yet! For instance, a sh usually urs when Rin swings her katana horizontally or vertically, from left to right. But even if she swings her hands at the fastest speed to and fro to make shes, it would never reach the same number of shes a spin can produce! Rin was spinning with her katana! It was a single horizontal sh that could perpetually go on for as long as she continued to spin perfectly, at perfect precision, at perfect center bnce, with her speed! The number of shes she could throw each second depended on her spinning speed! This skill was the one she finalized in her meditation and formed! Unlimited de shes! Of course, she still needed to refine it and improve it. ''''Tsk, it still consumes more than I want. I need to optimize the formation and execution more." Rin looked ahead at the spinning wheel and pulled the lever, a grin on her face as she looked at the spin because it was the one that gave her the inspiration to create this skill. After a few seconds, Rin pulled the lever again as the spinning wheel started slowly down before finally stopping. [Congrattions! You got a random talent catalyzation.] A moment after that, Rin suddenly felt weird inside her, feeling numb yet hollowly cold! ''''What''s going on?!'''' Just like Erix, her Talent Catalyzation began. ¡­ On the other hand, Erix faced his challenger, the same Scorpio-tail humanoid with an exotic exoskeleton covering its body. Erix was five kilometers away from his enemy, and no matter what his enemy did, he would maintain his distance while sting it hard with his Mayhem ster Form! With an exotic slender metallic suit covering Erix''s body with two giant metallic gauntlets on his hands as a stark contrast to the rest of the form, Erix was an avatar of machine-gun Gatling punches as 1-meter long punch projectiles entered through wormholes and bombarded his enemy! Whirling Punch 2.0 projectiles, Sling Shot Punch 2.0 projectiles, Imposing Shock Fist projectiles! This form utilized his 2nd realm of Punch concept to his best, but Erix still felt he could go a step beyond and utilize his 2nd realm punch concept''s power more. [Punch Concept] _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Punch Ordinance. ¡ª> Punch Ordinance: All of your punch-rted skills can bepletely turned from melee into projectiles at your will upon execution whilst holding full power. _Effect: ¡ª> All punch-attacks deal 50% more damage. ¡ª> All punch projectiles have a dominance mark. If the Punch sessfully strikes the intended target, you gain a stack of Dominance Mark, increasing your Punch power and their effects by 1% per stack, up to 100%. Once at 100%, Your Punch-attacks ignore 30% magic and physical defense of anything or anyone until you are out ofbat or haven''t thrown any punch for three seconds. Chapter 199: Tough Challenges, Freshened From the level 5 cave''s Howling tombs, Rin and Erix further improved, and both of them got something from the spinning wheel. Rin catalyzed a permanent talent called Stormshock Chart. [Stormshock Chart] _Type: Talent. _Description: A talent for harnessing thunderstorms and wind currents, allowing the wielder to control and manipte the power of lightning and air in a seamless manner. _Effect: If your attacks are abination of wind and lightning elements, their damage is increased by 30%. Wind and Lightning elements were something that could synergize with each other, and Rin was practically using them in her every attack, which was most likely the reason for this talent to awaken in her. On the other hand, Erix got a Random Magic Skill. [Wrathful Roar] _Rank: Tier-3 _Type: Active skill _Cost: 100 Spirit Force and 500 Mana. _Effect: Channel a powerful roar from your mouth up to 100 - 500 meters distance. Every living being within the range will have their mana cirction slow down or disrupted, depending on the target''s focus and the user''s spirit stat. Erix was disappointed because this skill didn''t have much potential, but it could still be useful against a horde of enemies. ''Whatever, better than nothing. I can just learn its formation and get more knowledge,'' Erix thought. ¡­ After Rin and Erix went to the 6th cave, Lily also joined them after she swiftlypleted the 5th cave''s howling tombs and got [Nothing] as her reward. Although the trio defeated all enemies of 6th-level howling tombs without trouble, Rin and Erix both got [Nothing] while Lily got a Mystery Box, which gave her an assassin-type clothing armor set of Tier-4! And since it was something from Mystery Box, it was a top-ss Tier-4 clothing armor set. "Let''s go to the next one," Lily eagerly smiled. She wanted to check out the powers of her new armor set! The trio went to the 7th cave and saw a group of four resting there, recovering their energies. From the 7th cave onward, there was only a single Howling Tomb in each cave, and the reward model was also different. The challenge was not just about simply fighting an enemy right after entering. In this challenge, they appeared in a rather lively world with five different glowing pirs of light that were 50 kilometers away from each other. Each pir of light represented a challenge. One had to challenge them one by one, and killing one of them would increase the overall power of the rest by 10%. Erix and Rin didn''t n anything before entering this level 7 tomb challenge, but they coincidentally chose the same method to tackle this! Both of them first checked out all five enemies and determined the toughest enemy out of the five. After choosing one of them as their toughest enemy, they started challenging others so that they would get to fight against the most challenging foe out of the five since thest remaining one would have the highest power! They just wanted to push themselves to improve! It took them several minutes to kill the first boss with determination to improve themselves. 8 - 10 minutes to kill the second boss. A brief meditation rest to recover their Spiritual Force. 14- 15 minutes to kill the third boss. A brief meditation rest¡­ 20 minutes to kill the fourth boss. A brief¡­ And then they finally reached thest boss with their skill techniques also highly refined after all the battles. Recovering their Spiritual Force with meditation and Mana with the potion, they individually challenged thest boss in their own challenge world, entering the huge crater where a five-meter giant draconic humanoid floated with its eyes closed. The first toe out was Erix, but his right hand was missing, and he was injured. The second toe out was Lily, just a few seconds after Erix. But she was not much injured as she looked mostly fine, and her vitality was around 90%. "Eh? You shouldn''t be that much injured," Lily eximed when she emerged and saw Erix''s condition. "Yeah, well¡­I yed risky," Erix grinned. "I wanted to master a certainbat style, so I wasn''t just focused on killing thest boss with safe means." Lily creased her eyebrows in worry. "That''s fine, but be careful. Only do this if you can really gauge your enemies'' power and increase your odds." Lily spoke with expertise because of her experience. Not just recently, but since she was forcefully brainwashed to be an assassin. After all, an assassin had to increase the odds of sess by carefully assessing their target''s strength. "That does make sense," Erix nodded with a smile. "I instinctively gauge their strength based on their aura, but Rin and I can still get a more transparent feel when we examine them using our Spiritual Mystic Eye." "That Spiritual power you two have is an incredible boon," Lily wryly smiled. Suddenly, both of them sensed another aura emerging, but it was unstable. "Rin!" Erix and Lily quickly reached out to her. Rin¡­ was severely injured, and her consciousness was tethering. "I-I¡­I am fine," Rin weakly muttered while bouts of pain assaulted her body. Her back was bubbling with corrosive acid-like power, eating away her skin and bones. Her internals were also severely injured, with a small hole in the left part of her stomach. It was seething with dark green liquid while on my aura, but Rin''s lightning was fighting against it, stopping it from further inducing this burning poison in her. Erix didn''t even waste a second and teleported away after touching Rin. Lily''s hand was also touching Rin, so she also vanished with them. ¡­. Lilith healed Rin and also used a potion to remove harmful effects on her. "She''ll be fine after an hour," Lilith said as she gently patted Rin''s forehead, using her Prana to help circte the potion''s effect faster. Erix also was injured, so Lilith healed him after finishing with Rin. Erix sat on herp at his Serene Spot while Lilith cured harmful effects in him and recovered his missing limb. "It seems that you two yed a risky game this time," Lilith said as she nced at Erix. Erix sheepishly smiled, "It''s not exciting otherwise. We could survive, and that''s all we had to know to have fun and development. I improved a lot, and that''s also true for Rin, haha." Lilith jokingly rolled her eyes, "I know you two are sharp in that regard, but do keep it in limit." After kissing him, Lilith smiled and got up, "Alright, now rest and get some sleep. When you both wake up, the food will be ready." ... After waking up and having dinner that boosted their foundational stats to around 850, Erix and Rin held off challenging the 8th and 9th level of Howling Tombs and decided to take it easy for a bit and roam outside in the wilderness. Kelia wanted to tag along because there was also a magical pond in the wilderness, and she wanted to check it out in case it gave her some insight into Water Element. The trio returned after two hours feeling refreshed. "Rein has recovered," Lilith said when he saw Erix, Klelia, and Rin returning, "Klelia should have too." "Klelia is already empty," Rin chuckled. "We did go outside, and the pond was beautiful, so we decided to have some fun there." Klelia''s cheeks turned pink, her long bunny ears mping together. "Well, that also works," Lilith giggled. "Next time, we''ll go together to a good scenic ce and have fun there." "Good idea," Erix grinned. "Yep. Since you said it, then don''t keep us waiting long," Rin said. She was already looking forward to it because she liked doing it in different ces and styles with Erix. "Erix, also bring these two inside with Rein," Lilith said as she turned to Lynia and Maleina. Rin nodded with a sharp smile, "Yeah, it''s better if they watch it before experiencing it." "You have to dump a few inside this time!" Rein shouted with frustration. Rein''s sudden shout startled Lynia and Maleina. "Shut the fuck up, get inside," Erix rolled his eyes. "You two as well." Rein, Lynia, and Maleina went inside with different emotions in each of them. "Where''s Lily?" Erix asked seeing that Lily was missing. "She is challenging 8th level tomb." "Then I am going too. I''ll return with Lily," Rin said before disappearing like lightning into the portal. "I am also going outside, Erix," Lilith said as her demonically beautiful wings unfurled. "It''s time to hunt for the next set of ingredients." "Nooo...I wanted you toe inside with me this time," Erix pouted. "It''s been a while!" Lilith''s lips stretched into a cute yet seductive smile, "I''ll return shortly and help you dominate those two bitches." "Great! Don''t take too much time outside then." "As you wish, my lord," Lilith disappeared into the portal with a pearlyughter. Chapter 200: One Week The reward that Rin and Erix got after clearing level 7 cave''s single Howling Tomb was simple yet impactful. A scroll of Insight. One could get an insight into anything with this scroll. If one wanted insight into Wind Element, that person could just write [Insight into Wind element] on the scroll and activate it. Write it down, and you could get an insight into that one particr thing. It was a one-time-use item, so Rin and Erix decided to use it once they faced a solid wall during their Howling Tomb challenges. ¡­ After Erix and Lilith showed the real deal and whipped Maleina and Lynia to their ces, Rin and Lily returned shortly. The level 8 cave''s howling tomb was yet again different than level 7. It didn''t have one Howling Tomb, but five instead. However, the four out of five tombs were locked. Rin didn''t attempt to challenge the level 8 cave''s 1st howling tomb, as there was much more to it than just a direct challenge. She had to read a wall of text, and when she finished, Lily had just emerged from level 8 cave''s 1st tomb, telling Rin everything about the challenge and exining to her the difficulty. To unlock 2nd tomb, one would need to use both wits and power to solve some mystery in the 1st tomb. The enemies were also multiplied, and not just one boss, as the level 8 howling tombs were rather adventurous. After they returned, they spent the night in meditation rest to recover. Basically sleeping. But on the next level, to recover fast and fully, physically and spiritually. The next day, Rin and Erixpleted the 1st tomb challenge, but it took them three hours. A simr amount of time that Lily took. Moreover, they exited injured again, indicating that the difficulty was no less despite it being 1st tomb of level 8. Of course, Rin and Erix also purposely became daredevils to improve faster at the cost of danger and injuries after they entered that demonic world and unveiled it. Lily was at her own pace because she was stronger, and Rin and Erix after breaking through to Royal-order. Afterward, everyone''s daily routine once again began. The rest of the day went to Serene Spot meditation to improveprehension of their powers. Rin was focusing on improving her Wind mastery as she also wanted to make it reach 3rd realm. Erix was focusing on making Death affinity reach 3rd realm due to his Death-heavy state. When the girls recovered again, Erix would suck them again without wasting time. The next day, Lynia and Maleina had a taste once, and they at least removed their masks during the activity as they moaned and screamed in euphoria despite their egos burning with hate. ¡­.Their ego fell short against Erix''s poundings and the crazy pleasure that it brought them. But it was only because of Erix''s efforts to suck them dry as fast as possible to save his time, which in turn was improving his techniques at crazy speed, hence making everyone dry faster at the increasing pleasure that would linger deep with them and take root. Something that nobody had expected was soon going to happen with Erix due to his efforts in this carnal activity. ¡­ Just like that, a week passed by in the blink of an eye, making it their 22nd day since they arrived at the Fallen Land. During the past week, they also hit the peak of Noble order in terms of stats, thanks to Lilith''s mystic cooking with her Mystic Chef sub-ss. Erix''s source bncing finally hit 20% progress, so after getting a few more percentages of progress, he and Rin could go on a hunt to reach level 200, which they decided they would do once they won the level 9 howling Tombs'' challenge. They also finished level 8 cave''s five tombs and level 9 cave''s three tombs during the week, leaving only thest two for the level 9 cave. The level 8 cave''s reward was another Scroll of Insight, but level 9''s reward was going to be something called Scroll of Art. It could create a Legendary Tier-5 item of their design and power. Of course, one could exaggerate, and the scroll would manifest a bnced item with its capabilities and parameters capped at being a Legendary Tier-5 item. ¡­ On the 23rd day, Erix and Rinpleted the 4th tomb''s challenge, unlocking thest one. On the other hand, Lily had already finished all howling tombs, including thest level, and was focused on increasing her Mist mastery to reach the 5th realm after she used a Scroll of Insight to gain insights on the Mist element, an advanced element birthed from a precisebination of primary elements: Water + Wind. ¡­ Rin and Erix returned to the cavern afterpleting the 4th tomb. "Thest one is going to be the toughest nut to crake," Erix thoughtfully said. "Should we use a Scroll of Insight and see if we can make a burst progress in anything?" "If we can get enlightenment after using it, then we can definitely burst progress," Rin nodded, her eyes indicating deep thinking, "But let''s use it super carefully. I want to get insight into something impactful rather than just progressing in one of our affinities or concepts." "Yeah, I was thinking the same," Erix nodded. "I want something to utilize the worth of this wonderful item fully. We can still gradually progress in our affinities without it, heh." "What are you talking about?" Lilith asked as they saw the duo emerging from the portal while talking. "We are thinking about using a Scroll of Insight, but don''t want to just use it thoughtlessly," Rin replied. Both of them arrived at the aesthetic wooden table and sat across Liith. Lily was in deep meditation for five whole days without moving a muscle ever since she used the Scroll of Insight. Klelia was also on a Serene Spot while Rein, Lynia, and Maleina were working as maids as usual, mostly dressing and preparing ingredients. Not just for cooking but also for Alchemy because Maleina was a rather high-level Alchemist, at level 4. So Lilith was using her to make various potions and even experimenting to create new ones. "If you want to use Scroll of Insight to its full potential, then I have a suggestion," Lilith said with a faint, mysterious smile. "But, there''s a catch." "Oh?" Rin and Erix raised their eyebrows. "Hahaha, it''s funny when you show a simultaneous reaction," Lilith burst outughing. Rin and Erix wryly smiled. "So, what''s the suggestion with a catch? You left us hanging." Chapter 201: Scroll of Insight "Wait, really?!" Rin was startled at the suggestion given by Lilith, and so was Erix. "Is that possible?" Erix was doubtful. "I didn''t know Scroll of Insight was that powerful." "Of course it is," Lilith grinned. "You can either experiment in minor scales with your elements or let the Scroll of Insight decide it for you." "Alright, I am going to start checking it right away," Erix grinned. "Let''s go!" Rin was also thrilled. Rin and Erix sat on the Serene Spots and started experimenting first to see if they could glean something. Lilith''s suggestion of using their Scroll of Insight was rather simple. She told them to create an Element bybining two elements using Scroll of Insight. However, this had a catch because they might seed or fail, unlike if they simply used a Scroll of Insight like writing [ Death ], [Wind] on them, then they would 100% benefit. But she didn''t tell them that, unlike average people, the duo actually had a 100% chance of seeding and even having chances to make startling progress even if they attempted her worse suggestion! ¡­ Rin created Wind and Lightning energy from her Mana before she made them active with her control, turning them into elemental particles. The wind and lightning particlesbined under Rin''s control as they started reacting. In the first half an hour, Rin couldn''t make them seamlesslybine to create something new under her control. However, she only took a little time long to produce results. Sometimes, thebination caused tiny beams of colorful light to generate, while sometimes, it would generate gusty particles crackling with electricity. Since Rin was purposefully not applying her attribute concept during this, the new elements'' colors were also distinct, not influenced by her attribute concept. Rin continued experimenting to see which side she should choose and was soon lost in the beautiful and marvelous phenomenon she was unfurling. Storm element and Aerolit element were both possiblebinations of Wind and Lightning element, but it was up to Rin to decide which one she felt morefortable and confident with. She had to find what her guts wanted! Funnily but factually, purposefully trying to use one''s guts/intuition could also take time¡­or not much time at all. It was an individually fickle thing. On the other hand, Erix was in a pinch and would likely have to go with Lilith''s other suggestion. Rin could specifically choose her topic of Insight since she knew the results of the Wind and Lightningbination. However, Erix didn''t and couldn''t. He tried tobine Space Matter and Death Stream, but the result was chaotic. He couldn''t find and achieve a bnce point between them that could allow them tobine into something singr. For Wind and Lightning, It was easy, but Space and Death hadplex points andplexpatibility. Even Lilith didn''t know what could result if the Space element and Death element perfectlybined, but she was sure of one thing. They could 100%bine into something singr, and that Element had already existed somewhere in the Grand Primal Cosmos. Lilith was sure of that. But neither she nor Erix knew the name of that Element. If only they knew its proper name, they could write it down in Scroll of Insight. Naturally, there was another way. Erix could find a bnce point between Space Matter and Death Stream tobine them into a single new element seamlessly and automatically acquire its knowledge from the Mystic Root. However, that was easier said than done. "Damn it," Erix opened his eyes and cursed under his breath. He had been trying all sorts ofbinations between Space and Death elements while exerting his Spiritual Mystyci Eye but couldn''t find the bnce point. His Spiritual Mystic Eye was as deep as he could into both elements as he tried his ways tobine them, but no results even after two hours. "I am just wasting my time in this," Erix muttered and took out the Scroll of Insight. "Are you nning to write the lengthy one?" Rin opened her eyes and asked Erix, her eyes serious. Erix sighed. "Given that I have only one month and five days before facing that Royal Order Lion, this seems like a tough nut to crack. But I could try this in the Limitless ne." Rin adopted a thoughtful expression and called Lilith. "Lilith, how much does the length of words we write in Scroll affect its potency?" Rin asked. Lilith appeared on a boulder near them and thoughtfully tapped her cheeks. "Generally, it could make a big difference. If someone with averageprehension tries what Erix wants to do, then they won''t be able to awaken that Element even with Scroll of Insight''s help." "What?!" Rin and Erix were dumbfounded. "Naturally, you two are monsters regarding that, so worry not," Lilith chuckled. "The shorter you write on Scroll of Insight, the higher its effect would unleash." "But You both can still write something longer and would be able to awaken that element," Lilith smiled. "You might even break through a realm directly." "That much I can guarantee from my observation and assessment of foundational capabilities you two possess," she added with a small grin. "Wait, so¡­" Rin''s eyes danced with excitement. "If I only write a single word, then won''t I progress so much?!" "You would if you really worked hard on it and gave your all," Lilithughed. "Bing overconfident regarding such things is not our style," Rin grinned as she turned to Erix, who alsoughed and nodded. "She is right. We''ve gone to underground fighting arenas and martial tournaments, but when we learn new things, new moves, new techniques, we have to act like a child learning first steps and give our all." "That''s one way to start learning," Lilith raised her eyebrows in surprise and nodded. "That''s what my mother used to say," Rin''s lips curved into a reminiscent smile, missing her mother and father. "They must be rocking a mountain somewhere," Erix assuredlyughed as he sensed Rin''s thoughts. "For sure," Rin softlyughed and took a breath. "Alright, I''ve also decided." "What''s your choice?" Lilith curiously asked. Erix grinned. "I know what your guts want." Rin sneakilyughed in return. "Tell me already, Storm or Aerolit?" Lilith eagerly asked. [A/N]: ^_^ please feel free to make your choice after reading author''s note. Chapter 202: Super Exotic Elements! "Lilith, if Wind and Lightning canbine, then I am sure there are elements that are abination of three elements," Rin grinned. "That¡­" Lilith was surprised. "Exotic elements." "That is the only choice I have to make to get strong," Rin infused mana in her fingertip and started writing on the Scroll of Insight. [An elementbined from Wind, Lightning, ???] Rin showed the scroll to Lilith, "What do you think? This is the shortest I could think for what I want." Rin also showed it to Erix, who rubbed his chin. Taking out his Scroll of Insight, he also started writing. [An elementbined from Death and Space. Add third if required.] "Mine is a bit long, but I want to go with this," Erix said. "I feel like Death and Space can have another element as a medium, which would be way better," Erix added with a somber expression. "It will work," Lilith nodded as she released a rueful sigh. "You two are really....haha." Lilith couldn''t help but ruefullyugh. "That''s how it is," Rin shrugged with a cheeky grin. "Alright, I am eager to know the result. All the best and good luck," Lilith gave them her thumbs up and blessing. "I want to see you two seed." ¡­ Rin and Erix sat on their serene and activated their Scroll of Insight without hesitation. The scroll started glowing with a dreamy white-gold aura before it turned into motes and disappeared into their foreheads. Rin and Erix immediately felt like getting adrift into some wonderous journey as colorful sceneries rapidly shed before them. At some point, Rin found her consciousness in a strange dimension filled with electrifying, colorful light tendrils and aetheric wind currents weaving together apanied by golden sparks. These currents were chaotically moving as if defying their flow and rhythm while ethereal mirages of clockes were ticking everywhere in the background. Rin''s consciousness spread in this strange dimension of element, embracing and trying to understand it and¡­dominate it. On the other hand, Erix arrived in a rather dimly lit dimension. Everywhere around him were dark, hazy purple me streams, wisps, and other exotic shapes with silver hues that changed purple to various shades. Erix saw how these elemental mes would pass through each other but alsobine into strange multipleyering formations to build some crazy, constantly changing structures. It was a wonderfully dreadful elemental dimension in which Erix soon lost himself to devour and make it his. The elements that Rin and Erix stumbled upon were Exotic Elements! They were a notch above the Primary and advanced elements. But there was another category of Exotic elements, called Super Exotic Elements, because they had attributes of a Principle element. There were four Principal elements: Space, Time, Void, and Animus. If abination of three had a Principal element involved, it would be a Super Exotic Element. Rin was in the dimension of Chronace, a Super Exotic Element birthed from Lightning, Wind, and Time! On the other, Erix was in the dimension of Nihilir, a Super Exotic Element birthed from Death, Space, and me! Rin and Erix had stumbled upon an immensely powerful source of power, but unlike other elements, It was not going to be easy to make progress in these two Super Exotic Elements! However¡­if Rin and Erix managed to acquire those two Super Exotic Elements, then their powers would get a significant boost of super quality because even in just 1st realm, the Super Exotic Elements provided immensely beneficial powers. ¡­ Five days passed by with Rin and Erix still on their Serene Spots, surrounded by mysterious phenomena rted to the super exotic element they wereprehending. The daily schedule broke, and Erix didn''t suck anyone''s essence for five days due to this session of deep insight. Neither Rin nor Erix moved their single muscle these five days! "How long will they take?" Lily wondered with a wry smile. "I just hope they seed since they are surrounded by those phenomena today." "Mhmm," Lilith nodded as she looked at Rin and squinted her eyes. "Interesting," Lilith chuckled. "Rin also hit a bull''s eye for herself." "You found her third element?" Lily asked, eager to know. "What is it?" "Time." Lily''s jaw dropped. "No wonder she also had the same magnitude of phenomena as Erix." "Yep. Both are tackling a Super Exotic Element right now." "Lady Lilith, don''t you want to get Scroll of Insight?" Lily curiously asked. "Or did you already finish it?" Lilith chuckled and took out a Scroll of Insight, "I used one a long time when I directly got it, but the second one is still here." Lily was startled. "You''ve saved it till now." "Yep. I''ll use it after I enter Empyrean-order," Lilith grinned. "As for Rin and Erix, they can probably use it in Royal-order to maximize it or wait like me if they don''t feel the need to use it." "It''s better if they save one," Lily nodded. "I am also saving one." Lily actually made the intended use of her Scroll of Insight and already got her Mist affinity to the 5th realm! She could also proceed to create an Exotic element and try to acquire it since she had Mastery over Ice, Wind, and Water as well. In short, Lily had two primary elements and three advanced elements. A total of five affinities! But out of them, she had awakened two of them with her effects. Water, Wind, Wood, and from Wind and Water, she had manifested two advanced elements. Water + Wind = Ice. Wind + Water = Mist. Her Mist affinity was in the 5th realm, Ice in the 4th realm, Wind and Water in the 3rd realm, and Wood in the 2nd realm. With the skills she had weaved, Lily had rightfully earned the title of White Death. Of course, since her two Primary and two advanced elements were rted, she could actually progress faster in them and even increase her speed toprehend further. The above was also the reason why people would want an advanced element once they have two or more primary elements'' affinities. ¡­ Two more days passed, making the end of a month since they arrived on the Fallen Land and at this ck Mountain. Rin and Erix were still in trans. Their focus wasn''t broken yet, and they were still at it, trying toprehend a super exotic element respectively. On the other hand, Klelia had shown good progress during the past two weeks and was finishing howling tombs after breaking through to 3rd realms in her two affinities, Water and Crystal. However, Rein, Lynia, and Maleina were feeling worse than ever. They had to work more under Lilith like ves! And most importantly, they couldn''t even feel that heavenly pleasure for the past week with Erix, making their lives even worse! Chapter 203: Lily & Klelia, Gaoraths Burning Desire "Lily, did you decide?" Lilith asked. Lily smiled, slightly smug. "I have indeed thought of it." "Oh? Let''s hope it won''t disappoint me," Lilith grinned. "Tell me, what''s the name?" "Weave concept!" Lily said with resolve. "Weave?" Lilith raised her eyebrows. "So, you think you can bring out more of your powers by "weaving"?" "Yep. I just feel that when I truly weave together my Mist and Ice with the "Weave" concept, I can open the next level of mybat style when I get its 2nd realm. Lily clenched her fist. "I want to manifest the Weave concept." Lilith imagined how Ice and Mist could indeed benefit in myriad ways with "Weave" and the abstract principles this concept could grant. She also didn''t know its full potential, but she could still imagine its principles from the name and various effects it could "possibly" grant. "Alright, this has me convinced," Lilith smiled. "Go for it." A minuteter, Klelia emerged from the portal, injured and tired. "Lady Lilith, can you please heal me? Sigh, I got injured more than I expected in 7th level''sst tomb." "Congrats," Lilyughed. "You at least finished it and got a Scroll of Insight." "Do you want to use it right away?" Lilith asked as she waved her hand, using her Blood-attributed skill to heal Klelia''s wounds and a Blood-Death skill to remove harmful effects from her. "Yes. I will be thankful if you suggest something for me," Klelia smilingly scratched the back of her head while her bunny ears bent down. "I-I want to be more strong, like master Erix and Rin." "You managed to get your Water and Crystal elements to the 3rd realm, so your Spirit stats also finally increased," Lilith thoughtfully said, "Ride this promotion and upgrade your Earth and Fire affinity as well." "Yep. You already got Crystal to 3rd realm, so if you spend a full week in meditation, you should be able to make Earth and me reach 3rd realm," Lily nodded. Crystal element was an advanced element made from Earth + Fire. "And once you are done with that, you can directly try to create another advanced element," Lilith smiled. "Magma." Magma was an advanced element made from Fire + Earth. "Haha," Lily chuckled, "This type of progression is the best way to ensure that you get powerful faster and properly. Once we are in royal order, the challenges to rise further only increase." "Mhm," Klelia clenched her fists with determination and nodded. "I will follow that route and save my Scroll of Insight for now." "Good." Lilith and Lily agreed with that. As such, Klelia went to her Serene Spot and started meditation with resolve. Klelia was uberly excited as well. ''Luck is on my side. I managed to progress fast in the past two weeks, and I am sure they are impressed.'' ''I just need to work harder and show more and fast!'' No matter what, she wanted to prove her worth and stay in this group! ¡­ Fallen Land''s central city. The huge city was as bustling as always. After all, there were many other exotic sights like the ck Mountain, which had challenges and boons with danger. At the north of the city was a gigantic floating Skull Ind, a dreadful ind permeated with death and darkness. It had a permanent space slit opened, which was connected to a strange dimension somewhere in the Grand Primal Cosmos. That space slit had covered the entire Skull Ind in some sort of natural umbral barrier. Every now and then, monsters would enter the ind from the space slit while the energy of that ind also entirely modified the ind, causing it to produce exotic resources periodically. *Roarr!* A majestic lion''s roar suddenly echoed at a certain northeast area of the vast floating ind. "Gao, it''s time! A month has passed, and we''ve run out of supplies!" "You two go ahead! I''ll exit after an hour!" "Be careful!" Gaorath, the Royal-order powerhouse that Erix challenged to a death battle. Gaorath was battling against a giant twenty-meter-tall ape with dark silver scales on its body. With a punch, the monster sent Gaorath flying through the forest before he crashed into a hill. But Gaorath returned with double speed, wrapped up into a ball of ck-gold me with a crimson hue. *BOOM!* Arge hole appeared on the ape''s chest before Gaorath roared again, his mixed ck-gold fur glowing. Just a hundred meters away from him, in the sky, two royal-order women floated. One was a dwarf, and another was a human. Above them, various dark-colored hues bolts shed in the sky. The nts and monsters here were colorful, but their colors were of all dark shades. After drinking a potion, Gaorath looked at the two women, beckoning them. "Did others leave?" Gaorath asked as the women floated before him. "Yes, my lord." "Remove your clothes and bend down on there near that dark blue sparkling pond. I''ve had enough fights, so I need some fun." "B-but we can also do that after leaving this dangerous ce." "Shut up and do as I say!" Gaorath grunted. "Remove your armor and clothes, get to that fucking pond, and just do what you''re supposed to do!" "Yes, my lord." After an hour, Gaorath left Skull Ind on a chariot with both women in his arms. Licking his lips, he remembered that woman he had seen a month ago and hadn''t forgotten her yet. That slim figure but absolutely gorgeous figure with silky long hair, ample bosom, perfect buttcheeks, and her stunningly beautiful face that perfected her. ''That Noble order bastard is taking her to himself¡­Damn it!!'' Gaorath seethed with fury, just thinking about not having her. ''I want her!'' As he arrived at the Fallen Land. He entered a rather high-end inn and met up with a general informer of Fallen Land. Sitting across Gaorath at a table was a beastfolk man of Rat-tribe. "Things are going to get heated, Gao. The brat that challenged you has stepped up his game." "Not him specifically, but his party." Gaorath raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?" "Information doesn''te cheap, but this news will spread soon, so I''ll tell you for free," the rat-man said as a red glint passed through his eyes. ''A perfect stage is shaping up.'' Chapter 204: Rat King, Emergence "Are you sure about that?" Gaorath raised his eyebrow before a grin spread across his face. "100% sure," the rat-tribe man snickered." I was the one who sent that information to Dark Sterling Valen''s direct subordinate." "You and your connections, Rat King." Gaorath scoffed and pped the table. "If you know about that, then you should know their precise information. Give it to me." "Now, that¡­that doesn''te free, hahaha," Rat-kingughed with a dark glint in his eyes. ''You better work as I am expecting you to, Gaorath.'' ¡­ Erix''s group became somewhat famous in the Fallen Land''s city. First, the news of Rein bing their ve spread, and on top of that, a huge bounty also appeared in the Hunter''s guild in their names and faces. But the one who put the bounty was none other than Rat-king, the information broker of the Fallen Land. When he found out that Rein was missing, he dug deep and kept his ears open with his subordinates because it was one of the interesting things in his job. But, a week after Lynia and Maleina were captured, the people who watched that show in the cavern obviously spread the news in the city when they returned, filling Rat-king''s ears. This information caused him to think of something he had been waiting for a few months ever since he stumbled upon it. Another week passed by as the Rat King cooked up his n. He sent this information to Dark Sterling Valen and tried to reach some Dragon folks as well. But why? Only he knew about that. Rat King watched Gaorath leave after he fed him the information about powerhouses arriving in the next few days, not knowing he was also a pawn in Rat King''s scheme. ''Now then, let''s check if I can manage to rile up those dragons and some of theme here,'' Rat King stood up and called someone. "How many are in the city, and how many are in the three famous spots?" Rat King asked while a crystal card m card) stuck to his right ear. For a particr reason, Rat King wanted more Royal-order powerhouses to enter the Fallen Land, and he saw an opportunity to make this situation true. ''Hmmm, so the numbers haven''t fluctuated much. ck Mountain has nine, Spada Valley has thirteen, and Skull Ind has four since Gaorath and his ves left.'' ''And sixteen in the city,'' Rat-king put away them card. ''Not enough. But, once Dark Sterling Valen'' men arrive here, It can work.'' ''And If only some Royal-order dragons also arrive here, that would be perfect,'' Rat King thought and called another person with a maddening glint in his eyes. ''Once I seed, I''ll have the leverage to enter a Cosmic Faction despite mycking raw capabilities and exit this damn Abyss. Rat King clenched his fist. His condition to automatically leave the Abyss was reaching the Empyrean order, but he was having a hard time even reaching the Royal order. Despite trying for years, his progress was slow, especially in terms of affinities, except for his main one, Shadow. Due to limited capabilities, his path to power was also limited, so he was always finding a shortcut to power up or something that could make a cosmic faction ept him. But when he encountered a temporary dimension slit a few months ago in Southwest of Fallen, and it spewed out a strange thing, the Rat King finally ignited his ambition and rush that was going to bring a cmity onto the Fallen Land¡­for nothing other than his benefit and his future. ¡­ Two days passed by, marking their 33rd day in the Fallennd. Rin and Erix were still in the deep trans that Lilith suspected could end anytime. Klelia was on her Serene Spot, while Rein, Lynia, and Maleina were also on Serene Spots with Lilith''s permission. Lily was outside hunting monsters and trying to grasp the concept of ''weave'' by using her powers and consciously thinking about it all the time in her battle, using her imagination as a tool. After all, acquiring concepts was a matter of using one''s imagination, understanding that imagination, and applying it in reality with your thoughts to manifest it. While Lilith was reading her book, her hand holding the book automatically shook out of nowhere. Her consciousness did not induce this action, but it represented something. Lilith narrowed her eyes, a glint passing through them, ''Is it time?'' She put the book away and took out the route map that Granny May had drawn. The first destination on the route was Fallen Land, represented by a piece of cknd with red trees growing on it. The trees started to glow, blinking with a dark-reddish pulse. A second after that, Lilith sensed something and turned her head towards Erix and Rin, the phenomena around them slowly dissipating and their eye-opening. "Perfect time," Lilith smiled. Rin and Erix looked at each other and then at Lilith with wide grins. "We did it!" "Congrats. I believed you two could do it," Lilith chuckled and said, "But we can''t revel in celebration. Take a shower and freshen up. We need to have a meeting." "Eh? Is there any trouble?" Erix asked. "It''s a trouble and boon both," Lilith faintly smiled. "It is a challenge foreseen and set up by Granny May for us, but it won''t be easy." "Oh?" Rin was surprised. "Do you know what it is?" Erix was also curious. "Nope," Lilith shook her head. "But we know it ising, so we can prepare. You two take a proper bath if you want to while I wake up the others and prepare some quick food." "Alright." ¡­ Half an hourter, Lilith, Erix, Rin, Lily, and Klelia sat at a table, eating the food while talking. "So that means something big is going to happen?" Rin asked before putting a piece of juicy Royal-order meat steak into her mouth as it melted with her few bites. "Definitely," Lilith nodded. "You two also finished acquiring your Super Exotic Elements, so we must leave because my premonition and an indication of the route means we have to leave this ce." Lilith sipped a ss of wine before adding, "We''ll prepare enough to ovee whatever''sing and benefit from that, but we can''t do that from here. We''ll go to a more famous spot in this Fallen Land. "What are you talking about? Who is Granny May?" Rein butted in while she stood beside Lynia and Maleina, watching the group eat and talk. "That''s none of your business," Lily snorted as she created a barrier around the table. "This Scroll of Insight was useful, but we''ve spent sixteen days on it," Rin ruefully smiled and turned to Erix, "Sixteen days without our special daily training, but...it was well worth it." "Worth it indeed," Erixughed. Although it hurt them to miss out on sixteen days without entering Limitless ne, the power they learned and acquired was worth it. But they would only feel its actual worth when they put their new power into theirbat arsenal and faced the challenge about to descend. "Then show us the elements already," Lily eagerly said. "I''ve never seen a Super Exotic Element before." "Me too," Lilith chuckled. "At least, I haven''t seen one up close." Rin and Erix grinned. They could barely contain their excitement whenever they thought about the Super Exotic Element''s power and perks. They shared the status of their newfound powers with Lilith and Lily, soon causing their eyes to shine with a distinct type of longing. After all, wanting to have powers, be it in any form, was a forever desire in everyone on their path, no matter what path one was walking. Chapter 205: Chronace After everyone finished eating, Klelia raised her hand sheepishly, "Umm, I only need to challenge thest tomb toplete level 8 cave. Can I finish that before we depart?" "Eh, you reached that level?" Rin was surprised and grinned. "That''s good." "That reminded me," Erix said, "How about Rin and I attempt to challenge the level 10 tomb?" "No," Lilith shook her head. "Level 10 howling tomb is simple but has some particr things," Lily ruefully smiled. "Most importantly, the boss inside is immune to skills fueled by Mana." Rin and Erix were taken aback. "You mean we need Prana?" Erix frowned. "Tsk, so it''s impossible unless we reach Royal order," Rin clicked her tongue. "Yep," Lilith responded before turning to Kelia with a smile, "As for you, go ahead and finish it. You should be able to do that." "Yes! Thank you so much," Klelia excitedly and quickly dashed towards the portal. "Erix, how''s your source? Was it impacted?" Lily asked after Klelia dashed towards the portal. "It must have reduced," Lilith softly sighed. "With no activity and supply for sixteen days, Death should have slightly taken over." Erix helplessly nodded, "The progress decreased by 1.6%." "You three, get inside there," Lilith pointed at the metal house built by Erix as she nced at Rein, Lynia, and Maleina. "Finally," Rein grinned while Lynia and Maleina''s expressions became unnatural and conflicted, but one thing didn''t change in their hearts. Their hatred for the group. "Why inside?" Rin snorted as she shed her arm while a katana materialized in her hand during the motion. Her katana released a strange type of power. It was dark-red glowing light with a cracking zig-zag shape and exuded a faint, golden hue. This light, which was the form of her Chronace element, blinked at lightning and rapidly traveled around Rein, Lynia, and Maleina''s bodies, causing their outfits to shred into pieces with Rin''s control. Naturally, this was just one aspect of this power, and Rin limited it to cutting off their clothes. "This is fine as well," Lilith chuckled. "You want to watch while I do it?" Erix was speechless before he shrugged. "Well, I guess I would be able to finish even faster that way." ¡­ "Aaanh!¡­." Lynia screamed with her eyes rolled upward and her tongue out while her round breasts jiggled intensely. Facing her back was Erix, who had her hands pulled while he thrust his hips, hitting his pulsing cock into the squeezing pussy of Lynia and making her climax. He sent her vital essence full of life power into his source before letting go of her hands as she fell down with her feeble knees and drowned in relucent euphoria. "Get up," Erix conjured metal strings as they pulled up Maleina from the ground. Raising her right leg up and closing in, Erix started pounding her from the front at his full speed, intending to finish his sessions quickly. ¡­ It only took him an hour to finish with Rein, Lynia, and Maleina as he sucked their vital essencepletely. Afterward, Rin and Erix practiced with Lilith and Lily inbat, using their new element to find their various uses and apply them to their already perfected skills. Despite both Super Exotic Elements being on the 1st realm, their powers significantly boosted them, and their users were absolutely marvelous. Moreover, the progression paths of Super Exotic elements were entirely different from those of other elements. -Principal Elements: Time, Space, Void, Animus. -Primal element: Life, Death, Creation, Destruction, Chaos. -Primary Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness. -Advanced Elements: Lightning, Metal, Magma,¡­ etc., elements born from thebination of Primary elements. -Exotic Elements: Combination of three elements from primary or advanced. -Super Exotic Elements: Combination of three elements, with one of them being a Principal element or Primal element. The most unique elements were Super Exotic Elements, and to progress in them required a moreprehensive and constructive process. ¡­ An hour passed while Rin and Erix tried to find various uses for their newfound powers, with Lilith and Lily helping them. So far, both of them managed to get one direct application of their elements. "Try it on me," Erix stood before Rin and cut off his arm with a thin and sharp metal de made from a Metal ore with high affinity with sharpness, cleaning and cutting off his arm. "Seriously!" Rin''s cheeks puffed red. "You didn''t need to cut off your arm to do that!" Lilith and Lily could only wryly smile. "Begin quickly then," Erixughed and destroyed his cut-off arm. "Let''s see if it works." Rin stretched her palm towards Erix with focus before her eyes glinted with golden starlight. As she consumed her mana to produce Chronace, she controlled it and covered Erix in a shimmering liquidy starlight barrier with a sparkling golden hue. Erix felt strange, feeling a mystical power influencing his body. An ethereal gust of wind with electric sparks started whirling around Erix in the barrier before it specifically started whirling around his cut arm. entric patterns manifested soon before everyone saw their eyes as Erix''s armless shoulder materialized his cut-off arm as if specifically reversing time for Erix. "It cost me 476 Mana," Rin rxed as the barrier around Erix vanished. "How is your arm?" "Hahaha," Erixughed and moved his arm around, "This is nuts. It''s not the same as before!" "What?" Lily felt confused. "What do you mean?" "Don''t tell me it buffed you somehow?" Rin raised her eyebrows. Erix nodded with a grin and cut off his arm again, but right after that, his arm dispersed into lightning tendrils but in Chronace element''s liquidy-starlight form, causing his arm to be whole. "Wow," Lily was amazed. "What''s going on?" "It was a buff called Blitz Trace," Erix informed as he moved his arm, "It''s gone now, but It couldst for ten minutes or until it''s used up." "Interesting," Lilith rubbed his chin. "It may be some intervened use of lighting with time while wind traces the time''s influence with lighting being their medium." "What do you name this basic use?" Lily asked. "I can''t name it because it automatically appeared when I used it just now," Rin said in surprise. "It''s called Chronace Trace." Rin''s super exotic element, Chronace. Due to this element being abination of Time, Wind, and Lightning, it could use all three elements'' aspects and powers in myriad ways. The most basic uses she found were slowing down time or speeding up the time of singr things wrapped by her Chronace Flow during practice before she learned its first application, Chronace Trace. [Chronace] _Realm: Alpha _Description: A luminescent symphony of elements, it shimmers like liquid starlight with a sparkling golden hue. It contains the intertwined essence of Wind''s whispers, Lightning''s fury, and Time''s eternal dance, creating a power capable of casting wondrous phenomena. _Progress: -> It is required for one''s consciousness to travel to the Super Exotic element''s origin dimension to learn more and progress further, and for that, the user must progress in its foundational elements. ¡ª> Lightning: Level 3 / requirement: level 2. ¡ª> Time: 99% towards level 1 / Req: level 2. ¡ª> Wind: level 2 / Req: level 2. _Chronace Flow: the energy of Chronace element, abined essence of Lighting, Wind, and Time with unknown potential. -Utility: Chronace Trace. -Control: ¡ª -Offence: ¡ª -Defence: ¡ª "It''s good, but I want to learn an offensive application," Rin said. Lily ruefully said, "You both arepletely offense-oriented, and your fighting style is also like that, but it''s better to get trump cards. You two need them." "Exactly," Lilith agreed, "The Super Exotic Elements are always all-rounders and in broader terms than other elements. The challenge we''ll face came earlier than expected, so let''s make sure you two have a proper trump card that can save you." "Erix, let''s see what you got first," Lilith turned to Erix. "You learned an application, right?" "Of course," Erix grinned. "I think I can use it to create a trump-card-worthy skill." "What do I have to do?" Rin crossed her arms under her chest, causing her breasts to perk up as she smiled, "You better use it on me because I want to see if I can erase your effects with my Chronace Trace." Rin''s body was suddenly covered by a sparkling starlight liquid for a brief moment before she nodded, "I am ready. Let''s see how it goes." "Before I use it, I want to say that I love this element''s name," Erixughed. "Nihilir, cracks beyond death." Rin, Lilith, and Lily held their curiosity and waited. Just what could the proper application of Death, Space, and me disy?! Chapter 206: Nihilir, Departure "Get ready," Erix said before he stretched his hand forward. "Stretch your hand forward. I''ll hit it there." "Okie," Rin nodded and stretched her arm while her palm opened, facing Erix. "This is an offensive application and a destructive one," Erix informed thedies as they eagerly watched his palm release a wispy dark purple orb with a dark silver hue. It struck Rin''s hand before her face changed at the happening. The orb struck her and literally devoured the space around her in mes¡­including her palm. She took her hand back, and Lilith quickly healed it, but everyone could shockingly see Rin''s hands burning in the space. "This¡­" Lily waved her hand to attack that round space with the dark purple me burning Rin''s hand, but it made no effect." "It''s called Obline Portage," Erixughed. "Not many things can exist within Space Limbo, but this element can. In a basic sense, I can send whatever Nihilir touches into Space Limbo. For living beings, they can escape, so only their damaged part will go there," Erix exined. "At least, this is what I found so far, but I feel like I can do more. "This me has concentrated offense-aspects of Fire and Death," Lilith nodded. "It''s pure offense, but how will it work in their other aspects? I am curious." "Haha, this is just a basic use," Erix grinned. "I also have another application I am close to unfurling, and it''s not offense. It uses the Undeath aspect of death with me and space." "Interesting," Lilith''s eyes sparkled. "I am beginning to imagine Nihilir''s effects. If Space, Death, and Fire are really blended in exotic ways, you can do utter destruction and also support force. The creative uses can also disy its untapped potential." Erix nodded. [Nihilir] _Realm: Alpha. _Description: Its wispy dark purple nebulous energy shimmers with dark silver and radiant brilliance. Nihili is an ever-changing blend of cosmic purple, appearing as the cosmos itself is aze with an inner fire that brings death, destruction, and wonder. _Note: It is required for one''s consciousness to travel to the Super Exotic element''s origin dimension to learn more and progress further, and for that, the user must progress in its foundational elements. ¡ª> me: Level 1 / Requirement: level 2. ¡ª> Death: Level 2 / Requirement: level 2. ¡ª> Space: level 2 / Requirement: level 2. _Nihilir Essence: the energy of Nihilir element,bined from Death, Space, and me to create terrorful and defiant phenomena. -Utility: ¡ª -Control: ¡ª -Offence: Oblin Portage. -Defence: ¡ª ¡­ Klelia returned half an hourter, moderately injured but missing her left leg. Lilith healed her, and then Erix made her forget all the pain by fucking her and sucking her vital essence. Erix was going for thest round as he had carried Klelia with his hands supporting her buttcheeks. He was moving her hips with his dick inside her pussy while Klelia looked up with her eyes closed in bliss and issuing her usual moans of pleasure. Meanwhile, Erix''s mouth was also busy sucking tender and cuppy breasts with erect nipples. "Eh? Why are youctating?" Erix was startled as he suddenly felt milky spraying into his mouth when he sucked hard and was about to pour his load by increasing his speed. "W-what?" Klelia looked below at Erix''s face, confused. Erix put her breast into her mouth and groped it with his hand before sucking hard, giving Klelia an electric pleasure but also making her notice it. "This¡­I don''t know how," Klelia''s bunny ears mped as she replied. "Haha, whatever," Erix started moving Kelia''s wast again as she moaned and suddenly increased his speed higher as her cute breasts jiggled before Erix. Klelia''s voice broke as she moaned and climaxed hard as Erix quickly absorbed her vital essence before pouring his own load inside and making Klelia scream and quiver at the hotpot whirling in her pussy. "This is best¡­" Klelia muttered with her eyes rolled upward. Erix used the special skill again and converted his source into power to feed Klelia''s stats. Kelia wrapped her arms around him for support. Her body continued to quiver as Erix''s throbbing dick was still shooting, making her pussy feel the usual heavenly pleasure. "It''s time to leave." ¡­ After Erix and Klelia were finished, all of their tasks in ck Mountain werepleted except for the level 10 Howling Tomb for Rin and Erix, while Klelia left both levels 9 and 10 ipleted due to ack of capabilities to finish them now. It was urgent to leave the ck Mountain, ording to Lilith. "As expected," Lilith uttered, her eyes narrowed. On her flying ship''s deck, everyone sat at the table except for the three servants. "So, your guess was right?" Rin was surprised. "Yep. Some people are following us. It seems that we are already on the radar of some hunters." But it wasn''t long before Lilith had to stop her flying ship. The group looked ahead, surprised but not unnerved, despite the number of their enemies. Three Royal-order powerhouses and ten Noble-order powerhouses. The supposed leader of the group floated forward, his arms crossed. The man had a braided beard and long gray hair, looking like a Viking, but he had a single horn on his forehead. The other members of his group were humans and beastfolks. "You have two options," the enemy leader boomed loudly, his voice assaulting Erix and others. "Either die by our hands! Or get captured!" "Rin, Erix. Those ten Noble-order powerhouses are yours," Lilith licked her lips. "Lily, I''ll handle the leader, so you finish off those two." "Are you sure?" Rin was surprised. "Lily just broke through to Royal-order, but those are around level 250." Seeing them talking, the enemy leader grunted, "So you chose the first option." Lynia and Maleina''s eyes twitched upon hearing his words. They had seen the power of this group, and both could tell that the enemies were going to die badly. "Erix, this is a good chance to experiment without restraint," Rin grinned, her eyes shimmering with Chronace Flow. Now that both of them had Super Exotic Elements, they would obviously use their applications on all of their skills to boost them! "What are you looking all calm andposed, fools?" "Haha,e here and die!" Erix grinned and provoked the Noble-order enemies, causing their faces to dark at the words dripping with sincere scorn and a tone that looked down on them like they were ants. Chapter 207: Combat, Highest Category of Elements Oblin Portag. Twenty Nihilir Wisps surrounded Erix. He stood there with his arms crossed, his eyes focused, and a smile on his face. The five Noble-order powerhouses around him held various weapons and unleashed their skills, hurling colorful projectiles of various shapes. Ten enemy attacks, six Nihilir Wisps moved. Whether it was a dark burning explosion, a frost mallet, a piercing fiery blue arrow, or the rest of the attacks¡­ All of them were devoured by the influence of Nihilir Wisps, just a mere one meter away from Erix. Their attacks exploded, expanded, transformed, and disyed destruction, but they all happened in Space Limbo, covered in Nihilir aura. Erix waved his hand, snuffing out all attacks by dispersing his wisps and cutting the connection, leaving those attacks to be devoured by Space Limbo. ''Hmmm, If I spend a bit more mana, I could use those attacks in another way.'' "Go ahead. One more time," Erix provoked enemies with a mocking grin, "That didn''t even budge me." *Crackle¡­Boom!* On the other hand, Rin was disying pure savageness by assuming yful offense. All of her de attacks and projectiles were influenced by her control of Chronace flow, letting her freely control their flow of time. She was leaving shallow cuts and injuries on everyone while none of them could dodge her attacks. More than that, she could also affect the projectiles of her enemies with her Chronace Flow, and it was just a basic effect! ''Let''s do something new,'' Rin''s eyes flickered with lightning before she turned on her attribute concept''s passive influence, buffing her lightning as it turned ck-red. ''The wind will carry it all,'' Rin formatted, increasing aspects of wind in her Chronace Flow and condensing the Starlight into a dome around her. Her eyes shined as she could control time and also flow it like wind! All the projectiles slowed down as the Starlight danced around them. It not only affected the flow of time but also affected the time''s course physically with the wind. And with lightning, their course blitz. *Shroownn!* A Chronace storm formed around Rin, slowing down all the projectiles of enemies before changing their course with wind and speeding them up while tearing them down with tempestive lightning. The five Noble-order powerhouses around him clearly felt their skills breaking down as they lost control. But Rin still had control of her Chronace Storm! With a wide grin and eyes dancing with lights, Rin''s figure blurred, her speed untraceable. Meanwhile, the storm chaotically unleashed the energy back, influenced by the offensive tempest of Chronace flow. This forced all enemies to be on the defensive as they enacted barriers¡­s. Rin made a dash while in the motion of shing to spin. Using Chronace Flow to adjust her ws, she spun at her fastest and unleashed her Unlimited de shes, releasing thousands of dark red shes crackling furious bolts towards the enemies. Severums showered on all of them, shing all of their defensive means and shredding every one of them to pieces in a mere four seconds! Rin stopped as the atmosphere crackled with colorful neon lights around her due to the interaction of wind and lighting solidifying by her Chronace flow. She took a deep breath and stabilized her state while her eyes danced with thrill. That was super fun! ''But I need stronger enemies.'' Rin turned to Erix and couldn''t help butugh at how Erix was bullying his enemies to learn more about Nihilir. Erix had already found other applications of Nihilir. The utility one was solid because his Nihilir me could act as a teleport point as well. Erix was speechless at how easy it was for him to remain unscathed. "Bastard!" Suddenly, Erix felt a tingling in his brain and turned to his left. A bald man with a dragon tattoo on his head roared before a golden spear with a draconic dark gold pattern conjured and shot toward Erix. As usual, a Nihilir Wisp shed into it with Erix''s control. As with other skills, this spear should also teleport away, but it didn''t and pierced the Nihilir Wisp without a stop before prating into Erix''s left shoulder. "Nice, what was that?" Erix curiously asked as he waved his hand and teleported a Nihilir Wisp directly beside the bald man. The wisp touched the man and instantly wrapped him into a dark purple aura before detaching from the material ne and entering Space Limbo. Meanwhile, the enemy attacks he had frozen in Space Limbo, covered by his Nihilir aura, moved towards the rest of the enemies and exploded in the material ne, masking their vision and spreading chaotic energy due to the mixture. But Erix could still sense everyone with his Spiritual Mystic Eye, and he only had to move his arms. The Sling Slot Gauntlet pumped up and down at lightning speed, shattering Erix''s arms, but not before releasing over ten punch projectiles of Sling Shot punch 2.5 as they entered Wormholes and squarelynded on four enemies, exploding them to bits. The remaining enemy was in the Space Limbo, and he could feel the terror of the ce he was at. Seeing Rin''s and Erix''s battle against his subordinate, the trapped leader had a look of despair on his face. He was defeated in mere seconds as he failed to grasp the depth of his enemy''s power. Lily was in battle with the other two Royal-order powerhouses in a huge mist domain that she had created. She alone was pressing them with herbat prowess and style, as most of their attacks missed while they mostly failed to get away from Lily''s sneaky attacks. "What are those powers?" the leader asked Lilith. "Sometimes, you should also read some books or know more about what the highest category of elements looks and feel like," Lilith chuckled. "Highest?" the man frowned before his eyes widened. "Y-You mean Super Exotic Elements?!" "Those two¡­" the man looked at Rin and Erix, an intense look of envy bursting out of him. "You will never reach their level," Lilith smiled and twirled her finger as thin blood strings wrapped around the man''s neck before his entire body skewered out with dense dark red crystal spikes. Dead. Erix and Rin had finished their battle, but Erix brought that bald man back to Lilith. "He used some kind of power that negated my Super Exotic element''s energypletely." "I saw that," Rin nodded as she rubbed her chin, "It was strange." "Oh?" Lilith was surprised. "I know that elements have weaknesses to each other, but Super Exotic Elements shouldn''t have, right?" Erix curiously asked before he pped the man''s bald head. "Speak. Tell us in detail." Chapter 208: Onwards To Spada Valley, Rare Item "T-That''s¡­." The bald man stammered, and his eyes nced at the hanging ne with a tiny gold spear attached to it. "Interesting," Lilith grabbed the spear ne and broke the string. "Its aura is so reserved you can''t passively tell that this item is a special one." "I''ll need some time to unlock this," Lilith muttered, focusing on the miniature gold spear. "P-please spare me," the bald man pleaded, fear of death evidt in his eyes. He didn''t want to die, just like others. Erix smiled at him and pped his head, "Th why did youe here to block us? To invite us for a feast?" "T-That¡­" Erix''s eyes shed a faint dark purple before the man was wrapped into a dark purple me with inky ck sparks. "This is the offsive use of Nihilir I found. Pure destruction." "Arghhhhh!!" Wh the me elemt and Death elemt had higher conctrations in Nihilir, like in the Nihilir ergy that wrapped the bald man, the destruction was unique. The bald man didn''t feel hot. Instead, this Nihilir elemt was utterly cold, so cold that it directly pierced his soul and made him feel death clearly before it acted on his body from within. Soon, it turned the bald man''s body into specs of ashes, including everything he wore, in just a few seconds. But this was just a crude use of Nihilir that Erix tried to check its raw offsive power, which used more Mana for less effect, less potcy, and less utility due to not using the ergy through proper magic formations. "That was fast," Rin raised her eyebrows. "Erix, we have to fight in the Ara wh we return to Earth." "Definitely," Erixughed. They couldn''t seriously fight each other, but after returning to Earth, they could use the Ara function to go all out against each other. "Also, I got an idea," Erix grinned. "I''ll make something called Nihilir Cores." "For what?" Rin curiously asked. "They''ll be like a conctrated form of Nihilir ergy. But to use them, I''ll also need to modify my existing skills and frames like Gauntlets and both forms of Metal Diabolcus." "Anyway, I''ll be able to do that in our next session of Limitless ne." "Yeah, I also need to make changes to use my Chronace Flow," Rin nodded. "We''ll ter once we reach our destination." Neither of them had incorporated their Super Exotic Elemts into their main framebat styles/skills yet because they would at least need one session for Limitless ne to do that. "You two are fast." Lily soon arrived with two Hunter cards of the powerhouses she killed. "We were against small fries," Rin shrugged. Klelia weakly smiled upon hearing her. Any Noble-order powerhouse could be considered a small fry against Rin and Erix. "Do they have something good?" Erix asked as he nced at the Hunter Cards of Royal-order m Lily killed. "My powers mistakly destroyed their Hunter Cards, but I doubt they would have anything useful," Erix added. "We don''t have, so they wouldn''t," Rin said with augh and added, "I also didn''t bother about their hunter cards." "These two had some resources, but that can help you two," Lily said before she threw the cards at Klelia. "Take them. The things inside should be useful to you." Klelia grabbed them and used her spirit sse to check the things inside one before her eyes immediately shined. "Elemtal bs of Earth and Fire!" Lily smiled, "Check the other card." Klelia quickly did that, and her bunny ears instantly perked up. "More Elemtal bs of Water and Wind?!" "T-This¡­." Klelia knew that these resources could help her progress, but they were valuable. "It''s fine. These two are rtively poor, and these fruits are only useful to you," Lily waved her hand. "But you also have..." Klelia looked at Lily and Rin. "Elemtal bs?" Rin raised her eyebrows, "but they are not useful if you have 3rd realm affinity. I don''t need the Wind b. You keep it." "Yep. The water one is also useless for me," Lily chuckled, "I am in 4th realm already." "Thank you," Klelia bowed in gratitude. "I didn''t do anything, but I still got these things¡­" "You ar''t going anywhere yet," Lilith suddly said as she oped her eyes. "What did you find?" Erix curiously asked, looking at the faintly glowing tiny gold spear. "It''s a special item crafted for just one purpose," Lilith smiled as she snapped her finger. Prana infused into the tiny spear before a gold spear adorned with stylish patterns formed above her. "That¡­" Rin, Erix, and Lily used their spiritual sse and found, to their astonishmt, that it felt like a mystical mix of Prana and Spiritual Force. "So that attack is a Spiritual Attack?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Although my wisp couldn''t block the attack, I intded to teleport it, and the spear just passed through it." "Yep," Lilith nodded. "Because this spiritual skill has the effect of two concepts and a concept-attribute of Light while the skill''s elemtal structure is made of Light and Metal elemts." "What kind of concepts?" Rin asked. "I hav''t se one of it before, but from what I observed, it should be a ''Target'' concept," Lilith thoughtfully said as he nodded. "Yep, Target is the best word. The second concept applied to it was Speed." "The spear passed through your Nihilir Wisp for two reasons. First, Your spiritual force that was hancing that Nihilir Wisp was weaker, so the second reason appeared: The Target concept took effect after winning that bout, allowing it to bypass things betwe it and its ''Target''. So, it proceeded to strike you with quick burst speed." "Yeah, I used the amount of Spiritual Force I needed to win against their skills," Erix nodded. "But that Item-skill had more spirit force on top of that guy adding his own. Its speed was faster than I expected, so I couldn''t do more." "Jeez, these types of items can be fatal if used correctly," Rin crossed her arms. "What if Lilith made an item like that? It could probably kill a Royal-order powerhouse if used properly during a fight." "True," Lily chuckled. Klelia felt she would be happy to receive such an item. "It''s hard to make these types of items," Lilith narrowed her eyes at the tiny gold spear. "This is not from here, that''s for sure. Also, it''s made to be a limited-use item, and it can''t be used anymore." "So that guy used it on me as ast resort," Erix wryly smiled, "It struck me, but it wasn''t powerful ough to kill me." Lilith nodded and handed the tiny spear to Erix, smiling, "You two can try to see if you can learn from it using your Spiritual Mystic Eye." "Great idea," Rin nodded with shining eyes. She was interested if she could learn from it. "Yep. Now, let''s go. We should reach our destination in the next hour." Everyone wt back on the flying ship as Lilith continued to the Spada Valley. ... While Erix and the gang wt to the Spada Valley, the guests and hunters that Rat-king invited also fluxed in the Fall Land. "The targets are in Spada Valley. Sd more bounty hunters there, more in number!" the Rat-king ordered his subordinates, a whirling dark glint passing through his eyes. ''Spada Valley is ev a better choice.'' ''Since you are the bringer of death, Dark Que Lilith, you must bring me a mountain of death for my lord''s awaking!'' ''With his blessing and support, I''ll rise and return to my world...to that forsak ce and make it mine.'' Chapter 209: Spada Valleys Wonder, Settlement "What is this?" Erix asked with confusion, looking at the scery as the flying ship approached the Spada valley. This Spada Valley wasn''t like typical valleys. Instead, this valley was situated betwe two reverse mountains hanging from the top, stretching ev higher than the furthest clouds. At one or two nces, it would be hard to determine that these two colossus structures beside this thirty-kilometer-wide valley were upside-down mountains. "They are the upside mountains," Lilith chuckled. "You can''t see their upside-down mountain peaks from here, but they are not touching the g at all." "Their peaks are slightly above the g, not touching the g, indicating that they are indeed upside mountains, hanging fromnd somewhere above." "Crazy. I want to see how this was made, but I find this valley more interesting for now." Rin muttered while her eyes were focused on the long stretching valley that got darker and darker the further she looked ahead. "This is our yg," Lilith''s lips stretched a devilish smile. "We''ll go thirty kilometers deep, get a house tree to ourselves, and continue what we were doing." "But just this time¡­" Lilith looked at the mystical paper in her hand. "We''ll have to fd off troubles and avert a disaster that wille at an unknown time." "Lady Lilith, you determined that this ce is best to face whatever that''sing for us?" Lily curiously asked. "Yep," Lilith nodded as the ship continued moving deep in the valley. "The first fifty kilometers are safe, and people mostly live in this area. But after the fifty-kilometer mark, a thin membrane changes everything." "Once you pass that membrane, the tire valley will transform. That valley is what people call Spada Valley. A region of darkness and death." Lilith grinned, "Perfect for us and especially me. If I utilize myself carefully, I can kill Dark Sterling Val without much trouble." "Y-You¡­I don''t believe it," Lynia said, her weak but still fighting spirit left in her. Maleina sighed. She felt it was hard, but looking at this group and Lilith, ev she felt that Lilith might be able to win against Dark Sterling Val. "This is just my assumption," Lilith smiled, "I don''t think your father wille here. As for disaster, it could be anything." ¡­ The groupnded five kilometers away from the faint membrane that led to the umbral region, Spada Valley. "This ce is good," Lilith nodded as she looked a. The group stood near a fast-flowing river stream and looked a. They also ssed several presces near them. A bunch of trees and nts to the east and a small hill to the west. A patch of shallow greery area in the north for a bit before trees once again started, and behind them was a nket of trees, a thicking forest. "Hey! Go to somewhere else! This area is under Trailbane guild''s ownership." Everyone turned to the left upon hearing the voice in the east, where a bunch of trees and nts were growing wild. It was also the same ce where they ssed presce and a particr mystical aura. Most of the trees were 0 to 300 meters tall. Out of those trees, there was one particr tree that could be described as "fatty." This tree had wide branches, a small height unlike other trees, and a thick, fat trunk that was twty meters wide! It was a huge and big tree, but not tall. But one ev more extraordinary thing separated this tree from others. It was a magical tree, a natural resource. It bore some colorful fruits Lilith was not aware of, but the tree''s mystical aura indicated that it had varying effects on focus and meditation with its aura. The one who spoke was on top of the widest branch that spanned an area of 500 square meters with three aesthetic tree houses built on it and still plty of space for outdoor kitchs and other misceneous items if one wanted. "Can you please leave? It''s best to avoid conflicts instead of making them," the short blond-haired woman wearing a light, full-body silver armor said. She had a beautiful face and pointy ears, indicating that she was an elf. The other members of their group also emerged from the house and looked at them with frowns. "Go away if you don''t want needless blood. There are other trees like this here if you try to find them." Rin chuckled. "That''s going to be our home until we leave," Erix said with a grin. Lynia, Maleina, and Rein looked at the people in that huge house with nothing but pity. "Let''s go there." Lilith flew towards them while Lily, Erix, Rin, Kelia, and the other tree followed behind. Seeing them flying, the people at the treehouse seemed to speak and flew towards them, standing near their tree''s trunk. Lilith and others arrived before the group, who took out their weapons and were prepared to fight. "They have two Royal-order hunters, and the rest are Noble-order," the short blond-haired elf woman said with narrowed eyes, her Royal-order aura surging with Prana. The man beside her was also a Royal-order hunter, a human. Along with them, a middle-aged ck-haired woman wearing a witch-like hat was also a Royal-order hunter. Behind them were eight people of varying ages, five m and four wom, all at Noble-order rank. Lilith and the group arrived before them, standing t meters away. ''We must not kill them because Erix''s progress wt down in the past sixte days, so it''s less than 0% now.'' Lilith messaged everyone in the spiritualwork connected for fast conversations. ''They can be good sparring partners, so just dominate them,'' Lilith smiled. "I would prefer not to battle," the elf woman said with a somber expression before pointing her long sword at Lilith, "but if you want us to vacate this tree, you will leave us no choice." "I assure you, darling," Lilith smiled as she floated and sat on a dark-blood throne with crystalized designs, "Nobody will die, and you will also live peacefully." "What do you mean?" the elf woman frowned before she muttered, "Nadia." The busty middle-aged mage woman used a skill, creating a magic circle below them and buffing everyone as all of them received primary elemtal resistance and sev other various buffs that increased various types of defses. "Rx," Lilith smiled. "You know the rules. You three Royal-order puppies will fight me, and your Noble-order ones will battle these two." "Come on," Erix grinned at them while Nihilir Wisps floated a him. *Crackle..* With a sharp lightning crackle, Rin''s surings became strange, flowing with colorful liquid starlight and lighting sparks. Chapter 210: Co-existing Peacefully Looking at Rin, Erix, and Lilith, the Elv girl and the rest of the group felt a clear, particr wave hitting them. It was a wave of intimidation. They felt intimidated by their eyes, their postures, their aura infused with their unwavering will, and most importantly, the overwhelming sse of power they instilled a them. "If you are noting, we will," Rin made a motion to draw out her katana as a bright dark silver gleam shot out horizontally towards them, targetting the tire group. de She 3.0! It appeared at a speed impossible for them to dodge; ev the three Royal-order powerhouses couldn''t react amidst the tsion and this absurdly sudd attack. However, the long arc sh paused half a meter away from the Elf girl and the rest of the group. This action shocked the tire group because Rin was Noble-order, and her attack''s range included ev the three Royal-order powerhouses! If her attack affected them, they would be allowed to attack and kill her! The Noble-order powerhouses thought she was foolish, but¡­ The Elf girl and the other two Royal-order powerhouses gulped. "This is yourst chance," Rin said as her eyes flickered dark red. In the next momt, the battle began. Half of the Noble-order powerhouses rushed towards Rin and the other half towards Erix. "You are not allowed to surrder," Lilith spoke as she looked at the Royal-order trio with a smile. "¡­Why?" the Elf girl asked somberly, her fists clched. The man beside her grunted, his face turning ash. "We will give our loot. L-Let us go." Lilith just chuckled while her nce wt to the middle-aged mage woman. The middle-aged bust mage woman had her teeth clched, her heart racing, and her face red. She looked at the Noble-order powerhouses fighting Erix and Rin, but of them could evnd a single hit on them. Her staff was glowing, and she was constantly using skills to buff the Noble-order powerhouses. ''H-How could they have Super Exotic Elemts?!'' "You can continue to buff your teammates," Lilith''s smile turned mischievous as she said, "Let''s see¡­If you three introduce yourselves with your full name before my two cute childr defeat all of your savages, th I will let all of you go peacefully without killing anyone." "Aleona Zia!" the elf woman shouted. "Barkh Wolt," the man immediately shouted afterward. "M-m-m-m-m-m¡­" ''WTF!'' Zia''s and Wolt''s jaw mmed on the floor as they looked at the mage. "Maleua Neresha Nol M-m-m-m-mystelina Norahs M-m-m-m-Moragana!'' Wh the woman finally finished shouting thest word and oped her eyes, she only felt searing gazes on her. ¡­ The following evts flowed without trouble. Zia and her party must stay on the big branch and live in their houses. But, in the more than half-empty space of the branch, Erix and others built their abodes at the d. And th¡­.one day passed. Inside Trailbane guild''s ctral house, the party members sat on the chairs before Zia, Wolt, and Morgana, who also sat on chairs facing them. "Leader, can''t we just try to escape somehow?" "Somehow?" Wolt shouted. "You idiot! Lady Lilith is more powerful than us! Way more! And you all are also useless against Mr. Erix and Miss Rin!" "No need to call them formally here," Zia said as she waved her hand and looked at the Noble order members. "Sigh, if only you all could contest against Rin and Erix, you could easily escape." "But leader, they use strange powers¡­" "Yeah, it seems they are called Super Exotic Elemts. What the fuck is ev that?" "Yeah, it''s cheating. How could they wield such powerful elemts on top of having those crazy fighting styles?" "I am convinced they¡­" "Convinced what?" Morgana asked with raised eyebrows. "Nothing." Zia sighed and said, "It''s our fault. We failed to recognize the differce in power." "Anyway, our skills are helpless against their control of time and space mixed with other shit. Leader Wolt, I doubt you can ev win against Erix or Rin¡­cough." "What did you say?!" Wolt red at the beastfolk tiger young man who spoke. "I am not saying wrong," Tegw red back, "If you don''t believe me, try to fight those two! We are tired of being their punching bag!" "That''s right!" "We can''t do anymore, please. They almost kill us every several minutes!" "We get heals from Lady Lilith. But th they put us at death''s door again! And this cycle just continues!" "Yeah, I can still feel pain ev after getting healed." "Bunch of weaklings¡­" *Silce.* The one who spoke was a girl looking in her early twties with long gray hair. She had wolf ears and a tail, and her expression was deadpan. "Lyra?" Zia looked at the wolf-girl in surprise. "Leader, I am fine with being their punching bag," Lyra said. "Because I am focusing on improving myself. They are far ahead, but just like how they are using me to hone their skills, I am also learning." "You really like to be tortured, huh?" Lyra shot a nce at Tegw and coldly said, "I am here to get powerful, not to whine like a miserable bitch." After saying that, she left the room. "I am going to meditate, but I''ll still be out and sparring with them whever they want to." "She understands the situation," Morgana smiled. "She knows we can''t escape if they don''t want us to go, so she is using this predicamt as her another opportunity." "You all should learn from her," Morgana humphed at the Noble-order members. "¡­" "¡­" Ssing the silce, Morgana''s face turned red, "do you think wended in this trouble because I failed to speak my name fast!?" "No! Ev if I didn''t stutter due to all sorts of mtal exhaustion, they would''ve still defeated all of you in time." "If you can prove me wrong, I''ll do a naked dance, humph!" ¡­ It was five hours into the new day in this perpetual dark region. Erix and Rin were already meditating outside right aftering out of their today''s Limitless ne session because they were close to connecting the dots for the first technique of the Battlecraft Art Rune, Four Release of Destruction. But most interestingly, Rin and Erix were mediating collectively. They connected their Spiritual Sses into a single consciousness frame. Inside this frame, Rin''s and Erix''s consciousness interacted with each other, sharing their knowledge and results ofprehsion regarding the First Release of Destruction: Celestial Spiral Wave. It was extraordinarilyplex due to the thousands of paths they had to connect and traverse their Mana to execute it, but they first had toprehd and find those paths! But they were almost about to finish constructing the First Release of Destruction with their joint effort inprehding it. After half an hour, both of them oped their eyes at the same time. Surprisingly, both of them saw two of their sparring partners sitting in meditation t meters away on the branch. They particrly recognized both of them since theysted the longest during all the fights. The ctral area of the branch was reserved for meditation since doing that on this tree had beficial effects, much like Sere Spots. Lyra was not in deep meditation as she was just reviewing her moves and tweaking her skill formations. She wore a furred skirt with long leggings and a tight -brown top. Beside her was Velmord, a human man looking in his forties. He wore a light-material ck robe, but hisbat style relied on his dagger and sneaky skills due to having a shadow elemt and speed concept. "Come on, let''s have ourst sparring battle," Erixughed and stood up. The others also stood up, with Lyra feeling confused, "Whyst? Are you going to the Umbral region of Spada Valley after this?" "Not yet," Rin shook her head while her hand materialized her pitch-ck de Eater, which immediately turned into a long, dark red katana. "Next, we''ll spar with your siors," Erix wryly smiled. "It''s not much fun with you all anymore." "Let''s change ce, shall we? We ar''t supposed to destroy this tree," Erix snapped his finger as three Nihilir Wisps manifested, going to Rin, Lyra, and Velmord each. The momt the wisp touched them, all four of them vanished and appeared five kilometers away on a wide hill. *BOOM* Velmord vanished from his spot after throwing a bunch of ck papers a everyone, hiding in the shadows before each of them released a de spike toward Rin and Erix. Lyra''s body also crackled with lightning and light while red particles oozed out of her body. *Zoom!* In a blink, her hand equipped with a big w equipmt swiped towards Erix''s head. However, Lyra only saw Erix''s lips curling towards forming a smile that she couldn''t fully see before a metal b with a dark blue freezing surface collided against her attack. Moving behind her with a blink, Erix''s arm wrapped a her stomach before he spun and mmed her down on the hill, creating a crater. But Lyra immediately sprung and hurled her attacks. Both of them tried their best as usual, while Erix and Rin lgthed their battle at the cost of injuries but gain of improvemt. ¡­ Inside the Fall Land city''s northwest gathering area, Rat-King looked at thirty-one people gathered together from a tower two kilometers away. "How are they, lord Rat?" a man standing servile beside the Rat King asked. "I don''t care how they are. I am just looking at their number and see if they are at least moderately strong," Rat-King snappily said before he turned to his subordinate. "Wh are they ready to go?" "Tomorrow, my king." "Fine. Feed them and dangle more rewards, but just fire up them to kill those Noble-Order people with Dark Que Lilith." "Make her angry! She wouldn''t be able to do anything to Noble-order ants anyway." "Understood. I''ll rile them up ough." Chapter 211: Co-existing P-P-Peacefully "I am doing it." Erix floated straight before a small hill while Rin was beside him, looking at him from another angle. Lyra and Velmord stood t meters to the duo''s left, watching them. They saw Erix''s body covered in a calm, flowing dark orange aura before a hazy dark purple aura with a faint silver hue suffused it. "Are you adjusting Nihilir''s aspects to match the technique more?" Rin asked. Erix nodded, his eyes closed. "We''ve projected the first technique''s execution, so all left for us is to adjust and customize how we use our ergies for this." "Wait, let me see yours," Rin stretched her hand and put it on Erix''s shoulder before closing her eyes. Their Spiritual Mystic Eyes collectively connected as their consciousness appeared in one subspace. After five seconds, the duo oped their eyes, and Rin wt five meters away from Erix. On the other hand, Erix stood still and took a deep breath as the same aura veloped his tire body before his oped palms faced each other, creating a spherical sphere in the middle where his aura started conctrating and creating a tiny sphere. Immediately afterward, his body thrust into motion as his hands and movemt blurred, with hisst action of the second being pping his palm in a wing motion before him. That movemt was smooth and flowed the execution of the Celestial Spiral Wave, as his w-swipe felt as if Erix spun something invisible, creating a hazy, dark purple spinning sphere with countless spinning dark silver waves inside with an orange hue. But ssing something, everyone''s expression changed while Erix hurriedly dispersed the big sphere. Velmord and Lyra were breathing heavily, fully covered in sweat and terror, and barely just a meter away from where the sphere''s influce ded. "W-What was that?" Velmord asked, his voice hoarse and eyes trembling. "I felt I was going die." "That suction force pulled the whole space a to it," Lyra wiped sweat off her face. ''Ev he didn''t know that would happ ording to his expression? What kind of technique are they practicing?'' However, Rin and Erix were thrilled instead. They had learned the technique afterprehding it, but they still didn''t know its effect and power as they had yet to execute it properly. But wh Erix unleashed the First Release of Destruction, Celestial Spiral Wave, both of them understood the pottial of this technique. "So it indeed produces its effects based on our ergies as we expected," Rin grinned. "Yeah, but its core concept remains swift destruction, so we can adjust our ergies to aid that and," Erix grinned, "Add our additional effects that can produce with technique''s execution." "You did that!" Rinughed and punched Erix''s stomach. "You sneakily added it at thest momt, right? Teach me!" "Alright, but let me see your execution first. I''m sure you''ve also cooked up something with your Chronace flow in this technique." Seeing both Rin and Erix absorbed in their training with ardt, Lyra felt something inside her. "Is that how they usually train? Their learning method''s scope is differt than ours," Velmord muttered. However, wh Velmord turned his head to Lyra, he saw she was already training and trying to learn like Rin and Erix. The squad returned after an hour of practice. Lilith had finished cooking her feast as usual and sat down on a dining table outside their house. She had also invited Zia and Morgana to the table. "Serve the food," Lily nced at Rein, Lynia, and Maleina, the three maids standing at the table. Morgana smelled, her eyes shined, and she started eating. Zia felt speechless, but she ignored it and turned to Lilith with a somber expression, "What is the matter?" "It''s nothing," Lilith chuckled. "I just invited you two to a feast." "Why only two of us?" "The seats are full, as you can see," Rin answered before dripping the meatball into some sauce and eating it. "The food is so good," Morgana eximed and licked her lips. "It''s ergetic and gave me a few buffs." "You two are going to fight against Rin and Erix, so I thought I should also include you in the buff," Lilith smiled. "Eh? What do you mean?" Zia frowned. Erix lightlyughed and replied, "It means that we are going to spar, but without holding back." "Ara¡­" Morgana covered her mouth, surprised. "Eat fast so we can start soon," Rin said with a grin. "Erix will also be busy after that." ''Babe, you can fuck these two if you can. They ought to have a lot of stored up probably,'' Rin said to Erix. ''Yeah, I''ll try.'' ''What try? You can easily seduce these two and make them say oomph, hahaha. That mage is raring deep down, I can tell.'' Erix wryly smiled. "Are you sure about that?" Zia asked. "I know you two are powerful, but telling us to fight seriously might result in idts." "Don''t worry, I won''t let you two die," Lilith said with a smile. "You are that confidt?!" Zia felt speechless and th slightly angry. ''They are looking down on us too much.'' "Fine." "You''ll do v for starter," Lilith said. "Morgana will fight Erix, and Zia will fight Rin. Your yg is the whole area except for this house." Snapping her finger, a dark red orb with ck patterns materialized on top of Lilith before it flew up in the sky, reaching two kilometers high before it released a circr umbre-like ergy, covering t kilometers of the area. After chugging a potion to speed up recovering her ergies, Lilith said, "This barrier''s radius is kilometers big, with this tree as the cter. You can go all out in this barrier." The noble-order powerhouses of Trailbane Guild and Wolt looked upward as they could see a strange prest up from the orb that spread the barrier. "Is that an eye?" Everyone could clearly see an eye-shaped thing forming there with a pupil in the middle that could look at every angle. "It looks like an eye." "What kind of skill is this?" Wolt muttered. "It''s not a simple barrier." Suddly, the group saw Maleina approaching them. "Lady Lilith is calling you." Arriving before the dining table, everyone first had to gulp upon seeing the food and smell. "Lynia, serve them a meat roll each so they can also get an apt buff for their roles." "What are they gonna do?" Morgana asked. "While you two fight with us, the others will use their skills to interfere and attack us," Erix grinned. "That will be more fun." Chapter 212: Vs Royal-order After everyone finished eating, they immediately began the battle. Rin swept her sword with a river-stream of Chronace Flow, taking Zenia with her two kilometers away in a second. But Zenia remained unharmed as a protective energy coating covered her. Prana Kavach. It was a basic and utterly important power of those Royal-order and above. They could have a Prana Kavach of their overall elemental power, and it would protect them from harm until it was destroyed. *Swoosh!* Zenia swiped her sword at blurring speed as light particles made a wide crescent sh that cut all trees, but when her de neared Rin to sh her, the Chronace Storm around her bent the lights and caused them to spin around her while the rest around the storm continued and finished the sh. Rin quickly escaped her storm as it became vtile with Zenia''s attack, mixing it. *Crackle!* "Now this is fun!" Rin grinned as she vanished like a bolt. Her Katana and Zenia''s swords constantly shed as they hurled skills at each other. On the other hand, Erix''s battle had also started, and a giant blue energy hammer that Morgana summoned struck him abruptly as it appeared behind him and threw him into the pond. Morgana floated above the pond, magic circles whirling around her as she created spells with her Spell Tome by using several spells as a base and creating them ording to the situation. She was a support and versatile mage but a more experienced and powerful Royal order than the other two. Suddenly, her face changed as she felt a presence behind her. Erix teleported, his punch already in motion. *BOOM!* Morgana felt a jolt, her Prana Kavach consuming a lot. ''Damn, what power!'' Morgana clicked her tongue and blinked once. But Erix disappeared. "I am here,dy." Before hearing a whisper, Morgana had already conjured purple ice shards around her, shooting at Erix. But Erix simply grabbed her waist while his single Nihilir Wisp covered him. The shards touched and struck the Nihilira aura and started reducing, but they also vanished into Space Limbo, keeping Erix safe. "Aren''t you a naughty young man?" Morgana chuckled before Erix suddenly felt something, and a glint passed through his eyes as his Spiritual Mystic Eye sensed the anomaly in the process. *Blink.* Morgana appeared fifty meters away while her body that Erix had held exploded into a crystalized purple flower, freezing even the air and everything as the ice crystal flower suspended in the air. "Unfortunately, our senses are a tad bit stronger than regr Noble-order powerhouses," Erix grinned as he appeared before Morgana again after teleporting away in time. "That''s not a level of just a tad bit stronger," Morgana was speechless. Erix shrugged before he grinned and donned his Mayhem ster Form, covered in an exotic metal suit with two barrel gauntlets. "Continue attack," Erix said as he shed his gauntlets before pointing at her, "The battle has just started." *BOOM!* Two fist-sized punch projectiles covered in a hazy purple glow shot toward Morgana before she quickly conjured an all-around barrier as she knew Erix could make 100% hit attacks with his wormholes. The two fist projectiles struck her dark purple icy barrier, causing it to crack, but it held on. Meanwhile, she had already started attacking Erix with her projectile attacks made from her level 4 Ice element, having a rather powerful attribute concept at level 2. "Tsk, lower stats, but scary fighters," Morgana wryly smiled as she saw Erix running away from her ice shards. ''So, he figured it out?'' She had measured Erix''s powers, so her current attack was not something Erix''s Nihilir wisp could teleport. But suddenly, Erix vanished from her sight. ''This annoying teleportation.'' Still, the purple ice shards made turns and shot toward Erix since Morgana spiritually targeted him while using her Ice mirage again. Erix knew Morgana had be fake this time as she escaped early, but his Spiritual Mystic Eye quickly found her, and he teleported again while also going all out. "Since you don''t want to go all out, I''ll have no choice but to force you to," Erix grinned, and his eyes gleamed brightly. His muscles condensed, and energy pumped throughout his body as he exerted his pool of boundless stamina. ''Vigor Force.'' Erix filled up his Vigor Force as well, increasing his skills by 30%. Morgana gulped as she felt a distinct difference in temperament and aura. Her expression became somber, and ten magic circles formed around her at once, activating her full multi-tasking space. In the next second, she saw punch projectiles shooting towards her, not just one type of punch projectile but various types! Some had whirling energies around them. Some were covered in light beams and had quick speed; some were spinning, some were condensed, and some were vibrating! But all of them had one thing inmon. They had an abundance of metal elements and Nihilir''s destruction aspects¡­which consisted of a recently discovered new use of Nihilir Essence. The offensive use: Dismantle. However, each of those destructive punches vanished into thirty wormholes and just started circting around among them. It created a big area with wormholes in a spherical formation while the punch projectiles chaotically roamed around them, ording to Erix''s calction and direction. When a few punch projectiles left a wormhole, they would enter another one ande out from another, but then enter another one. "There are one hundred Punch Projectiles whirling in this art that I call very aptly¡­Death Zone," Erix smiled. "It won''t even take me one second to throw all of these Punch projectiles at you, so¡­" Erix grinned and beckoned her with his palm, "Finish your preparation and throw your most powerful attack at me." "I want aparison of pure power, so I know what I am going to deal with." "You might regret it," Morgana said with a somber expression. "What if I don''t regret it?" Erix devilishly smiled. "What if I beat you?" "Then I''ll do a naked dance, humph," Morgana pouted her cheeks. The ten magic circles around her glowed and doubled in number as they spun. "Get ready," Morgana smiled. "I am waiting," Erix crossed his arms. He suddenly received a rain of arrows at him, but he was bored of their weak and slow attack that he could easily detect and dodge. Meanwhile, Rin and Zenia were in a hyper-speedbat as both of them were more speed-oriented. Rin''s Chronace Flow was absurdly annoying to Zenia because despite having essentially stronger attacks than Rin''s, her attacks never-ever managed to hit her! Her frustration was increasing, and she threw it all away after a while, going all out. ''I''m sure Lady Lilith will save her even if my attack might prove fatal.'' ''Hurry up and go all out, dumbo,'' Rin was speechless and decided to throw a fatal attack at her to force her. ... On the other hand, Erix looked at Morgana, and three secondster, Morgana suddenly exploded with a sparkle of dreamy purple aura. A pair ofrge purple ice crystal wings and dragon-like tails formed behind her while her front was covered in a beautiful exoskeleton resembling a gorgeous dress. A strange, unknown type of energy was also whirling around her in sparkling matter as her aura urately felt threatening to Erix. "Awesome!" Erix grinned before his wormholes changed direction and bombarded Morgana. Chapter 213: Death Battle Zenia''s entire body was covered in a faint light gold coating with abundant blue, red, and green motes. She had decided to go all out since Rin''s deadly attacks had already broken her Prana Kavach and injured her. "Finally raring, eh?" Rin grinned and swiftly chugged a Mana potion to recover her energy as she floated 100 meters away from Zenia, maintaining a safe distance. ''Then I''ll also have to use energies I''ve been saving.'' Rin hadn''t used her de Energy to boost her attacks, but the next moment, lightning crackled in every particle around her before she vanished from her spot, her arm swinging her Katana as she started spinning. But this time, she had improved her skill technique such that she could move while spinning as well. At that moment, Zenia''s expression changed as her Spirit Sense captured deadly shesing at her, ''You left me no choice.'' Zenia''s body suddenly flickered in digital style, breaking into particles before her coatings melted into her sword. Rin lost Zenia''s presence for a second as her shes struck the forest and Lilith''s barrier. The world around Rin changed as she appeared in a dark gold ocean with golden lights holding colorful motes below in the sea. Rin stopped, her eyes wide. Zenia floated fifty meters away from her and said, "This is my Domain Art: Sea of Myriad Lights." And then, in the blink of an eye, Rin saw a golden river enveloping her in a meters radius area, with colorful glowing swordfish of spirit form whirling in the spinning spherical stream. She could feel Zenia''s presence, but it suddenly fell all over in this sphere. Rin decided to spend half of her Mana as she unleashed a few thousand shes towards the domain that trapped her. Her Severum activated, but since her shes were hitting different targets each time in this flowing domain with an abundance of those strange swordfish, the Severums couldn''t stack enough to sever it. "Prepare your big move, Rin." Rin suddenly heard Zenia''s voice. It was deadpan, not mocking her. However, Rin could sense Zenia''s confidence in beating her and a clear disdain. Rin''s eyes shed a red glint, and her grip tightened. She didn''t want to use her Blood Essence because she was close to leveling up her Bloodline. ''But to find out my current power against proper Royal-order, I''ll have to go all out.'' Rin was forgetting that she was weaker than Zenia in terms of almost everything statistically. She stood straight and held her Katana before her as she spent all of her Mana, turning them into Chronace Flow before she spent all of her de Energy, Spirit Force, and 7 Blood Essence as per the limit of her skill''s execution. Shebined all energies and fueled them into her body''s paths, which all pointed toward the execution of a powerful move. "Usually, you won''t get this much time when you face a Royal-order in their domain, and the attacks I will unleash won''t be bound by your strange element''s power because of my attack''s structure and speed. Most importantly, their raw power that''s higher." "This is a sure-death move, Rin. So I hope¡­yourdy Lilith can save you." Rin''s veins glowed, and the space around her turned blurry. "Bring it on. I am ready." The abundant swordfish whirling around in the domain''s border glowed before releasing deadly, scorching beams toward Rin. Rin''s figure blurred at once as she made a horizontal sh and started spinning. In an instant, a slick dark silver spinning disk formed around Rin, its sharpness immeasurable. The tiny dark red crackling particles were further empowering it and kept it bnced with Rin''s control. Without Chronace Flow, executing this move was impossible. She spun in one ce while her Katana continued a perpetual sh in this single space, forming this perpetual round sh resembling a chakram. She wasn''t releasing shes but condensing them into one! As Zenia''s beams struck Rin, the Chronace Flow''s influence triggered in a way different than Zenia expected. It didn''t slow down her attack, but Chronace Flow made her attacks alter every so slightly as they passed by Rin at mere centimeters, causing those beams to hit Zenia''s own domain. Naturally, this had no effect on Zenia''s domain. She just received her spent energy back. However, Zenia also felt strangely threatened as she looked at the condensing de around Rin with her perpetual spin. She attacked Rin for two seconds more but got her energy back. ''Time to finish it,'' Zenia thought as she knew Rin was about to release her attack. ¡­ On the other hand, Morgana had also enacted her domain, a purple icy forest with exotic ice crystal purple flowers, trees, and other ntations. Erix initiated his attacks, his punch projectiles shooting at Morgana at lightning speed due to gathering so much force while on perpetual move without pause by going through wormholes. But a big ice purple flower opened and burst out glowing purple icy pollen, freezing all iing punch projectiles. Erix immedialty halted, saving half of his Punch projectiles as he controlled wormholes and took them back. "Why did you pause?" Morgana smiled. "Tsk, I wasn''t expecting you to nullify my attacks so straightforwardly," Erix clicked his tongue before he grinned. "It looks like I''ll have to get into my more powerful form." His metal suit changed specifically his limbs. They pumped and connected to Erix''s mind. His level 4 Metal Control began as he vanished from his spot and appeared before Morgana with a teleport blink. Sling Shot Punch 3.0. His punch went forward, but Erix saw a metal hexagonal te appearing to block it, but before that, his wormhole also appeared. Morgana also saw a wormhole before her face, making her eyes wide, ''You little¡­'' *BOOM* The punch square hit her face, but Morgana was pushed towards Erix since he was at the back, so both of them were shot down. But before crashing onto the ground, Erix blinked away and floated above Morgana. "Sigh, I made a mistake again of not putting a round barrier," Morgana stood up and looked at Erix with her nose bleeding. Erixughed, his metal suit changing colors as it turned into a dark orange metal suit, exuding heat. But suddenly, two flowers sprung pun by Erix''s sides and sprayed him with that strange pollen, instantly freezing him into a purple ice popsicle. "But you can''t win against me in this domain, handsome," Morgana chuckled. *Crack..* The ice around him cracked and turned dark before breaking down. "That¡­we''ll have to wait to see," Erix''s eyes glowed, his metal suit now finallypleting the transformation as exquisite dark purple patterns appeared on the zing red and orange suit with entric gauntlets and leg armor designed to boost his attack executions. "Ara, that''s good." Morgana''s grip tightened as a long ice staff appeared, boosting her control to another level in this domain. ''I''ll need to have an edge in terms of counters.'' Erix''s suit glowed with the patterns indicating the channeling of his energies. *BOOM!* He punched once, releasing a meter-big fist projectile before he disappeared from his spot. All left for him was to go all out of his punches and execute Celestial Spiral Wave in a timely manner. Chapter 214: Results, Insight, Free Time (1/2) :3 Both battles took barely ten seconds to finish after Zenia and Morgana used their domains. Neither of them could hold back and went all out against Erix and Rin, who were already stretched beyond their usual limit. The domain dispersed, showing the results. At one ce, Zenia''s whole body had cuts, and she was bleeding with arge sh on her stomach that she had closed, her mouth oozing out blood. At another ce, Morgana''s exoskeleton was shattered while her skin was cracking and oozing blood. However, standing before Zenia was Rin, her entire left half cut off and the other half burned. Her eyes were white with no pupil visible. Dead. Before Morgana, Erix was separated into five different seven chunks covered in dark purple frost. Deader than Dead. But suddenly, Lilith''s barrier eyes glowed and released a dark red stream towards Erix and Rin. Morgana and Zenia saw Lilith''s power enveloping Rin and Erix while their powers lost their effects instantly. A secondter, the dark red cocoon vanished as Rin and Erix appeared once again, perfectly fine. "W-what the fuck¡­" Rin muttered. She clearly felt death and died. Her consciousness was wholly nk after her attack shed with Zenia, but she lost the bout. The same thing happened with Erix. He unleashed his most powerful punch attack, Symphony Echo Punch, which was already improved and infused with his powers of Nihilir Essence, but he still lost the bout and was struck by Morgana''s deadly ice attacks. All four of them heard Lilith''s voice in their heads, calling them back. Everyone flew there, and Rin immediately asked, "What was that?" "That''s sub-power of my domain," Lilith smiled. "Death Reverse. If someone dies, I can preserve that death status and soul from leaving so I can revive them again after healing their body." "So that''s why you told us to go all out," Morgana muttered. Lilith waved at her and healed both of them as she said with a smile, "Haha, they also did a number on you. Surprised, right?" "Usually, if you die, your soul immediately leaves your body, so there is no chance of reviving even if you heal the body¡­" Zenia said, her eyes on Lilith bing more shocked. "You awakened your soul?!" ''No wonder¡­.she has a whole new arsenal of power that directly boosts her everything.'' "Wait, Lilith¡­You knew we would lose, right?" Erix asked. "But we had confidence all this time to beat Royal-order," Rin muttered, "It turned out to be over-confidence." "You two are powerful, very powerful at Noble-order rank, but that also made you cloud your eyes a bit," Lilith grinned. "So battling against bonafide Royal-order powerhouse who have their arsenals together was something you two needed to see how powerful an average Royal-order powerhouse is." "Ayo¡­we are not average," Morgana crossed her arms under her bust and snorted. "If I said you are average, then you are average," Lilith raised her eyebrows. Zenia''s lips twitched while Morgana weakly smiled upon hearing that. They had to swallow that despite not agreeing with Lilith. Lilith looked at Erix and Rin. "Have a break for the rest of the day and focus on anything aside from training so that your subconscious canpile and digest what you''ve experienced." "When you use your spiritual art training method tomorrow, you will get more insights and paths," Lilith smiled. "Since you experience the power of Royal-order, then you should know what you need to kill them." "You can kill them, but you just need that one skill, one technique, just one move, to do that." Rin and Erix understood. This serious battle with Zenia and Morgana truly opened their eyes about what it was to be a Royal-order. The difference between Royal-order and Noble-order was way higher than the difference between Noble-order and Supra-order. Utterly vast. This also made Noble-order powerhouses akin to the normal workforce in the Abyss. One could only get a proper rise after reaching Royal-order! But Rin and Erix had enough powers cultivated to kill Royal-order powerhouse. They just needed a more powerful attack capable of utilizing those powers in a way capable of killing a Royal-order powerhouse in one move. Lilith wanted them to do that because if Royal-order powerhouses faced Rin and Erix, they would look down on them and wouldn''t go all out from the start. However, Rin and Erix could take that advantage to kill them in one shot, but they needed to create that one-shot attack. "Erix, take Rein, Lynia, and Maleina to that pond or anywhere else to drain them," Lilith said. "Ah, yeah, it''s time," Erix looked at the trio and snapped his finger, shooting three tiny Nihilir Wisps toward them before they disappeared. "I''ll join him," Rin said with a wry smile. "I spent some Blood essence, but I was close to finally leveling up my bloodline." "Do that," Lilith nodded with a grin, "You roughly need 78 loads to upgrade your Bloodline and unlock more power along with a surprise." "Is it rted to the strange power you use?" Rin''s eyes shone. Lilight mischievouslyughed. "Who knows? Do it to find out." *Zaap* Rin disappeared with a tiny sh of lighting. "Now then¡­" Lilith swept her nce at Zenia, Morgana, and Wolt. "I have a task for you three." "What task,dy Lilith?" Wolt asked, stepping forward as he stood at Zenia''s left. "Follow me," Lily smiled at them and flew away. "Go," Lilith beckoned with her hand. Zenia, Morgana, and Wolt flew behind Lily. "Umm, what about us?" Lyra asked hesitantly. The other Noble-order powerhouses also waited. "You can escape if you want to leave your current guild and this party," Lilith yfully smiled. "I will not stop any of you." "This barrier will not stop you from leaving for the next minute. So you have one minute to decide." Klelia wanted to stay something but remained silent. ''I am scared¡­but they''ve been nice, sody Lilith might listen?'' Klelia wanted to spar with those Noble-order powerhouses like yesterday because they were around her level, and she was improving with them. But if they leave, she won''t have any sparring partners. She would be the weakest of the group! Her nce went to Lyra and Velmord. ''These two might not leave, and that will be perfect. The others are weak anyway.'' She decided to wait instead of speaking to Lilith. Chapter 215: Free Time (2/2), Interesting Place? Surprisingly, no one left despite Lilith''s giving them the chance. "We won''t be leaving, Lady Lilith." "The guild has been good to us and has taught us things." "We will stay here." Everyone nodded while Lyra''s lips curled into a small smile. ''I guess they are not as wimpy as I thought.'' "That''s great," Klelia eximed with a grin. "Then let''s spar." Lilith chuckled and waved her hand, creating a 2-meter tall blood-red pir ten meters away. "Just touch this crystal, and even your fatal injuries will be healed." It was effortless for Lilith to heal injuries caused by Noble-order hunters with her power so that crystal was enough for them until it depleted its powers. ¡­ Inside the pond''s depth, Erix had created a sizable room made of coldfy metal. He spent an hour sucking dry Reinm, Maleina, and Lynia while shooting his loads into Rin, who was sitting cross-legged with a blockage between them, and using Erix''s essence to increase her production of Blood Essence. "Aaaaanhh!.." Standing with her hands locked on the wall to prevent her from falling, Lynia was moaning and groaning with her tongue out while Erix was pounding from behind. ''It''sing out¡­ Nnghh¡­.'' Lynia felt constant jolts of pleasure with this quick and strong pounding into her pussy while her breasts were tightly squeezed by Eri''s strong palms. She released herst orgasm, her eyes rolling upward, but Erix continued the pounding while absorbing her vital essence for his source. Erix made a strongst thrust before he squeezed Lynia with his arms. His meat rod pressed into her womb and released his 74th load, hitting her and then flooding her with euphoria. It was Lynia''s first load in these twenty minutes of constant pounding from various wild styles that made her climax crazily. It gushed into her, making her mind and body empty except for the tsunami of pleasure permeating into her being. Erix didn''t waste too much of his semen and quickly used his Special Skill to strengthen Lynia. He then removed Lynia''s hand locks, causing her to slide down on the ground while her butt and body twitched in pleasure. "One hour and six minutes," Rin''s voice rang as she stood at the door''s edge with a grin. "I improved by four minutes," Erixughed and walked towards Rin. Rin''s clothes vanished as her exquisite breasts with pink nipples stood erected in a beautiful curve. Erix arrived, and their lips met into a passionate kiss while his right hand grabbed her breasts and her nipple between her fingers. Rin moved her hips slightly, sliding Erix''s cock into her pussy while they continued their passionate kiss. Lynia''s half-opened eyes were watching Erix and Rin in a passionate, loving activity, unlike with them. ''This bastard never kisses us anywhere and always attempts to make us climax faster¡­'' However, her entire body and mind were reeling with those poundings and pleasure as he shoved them in her, decreasing her resistance towards him. ''Once I escape and get saved, I''ll make him my ve and make him fuck me whenever I want,'' Lynia thought with hateful yet possessive eyes. Suddenly, she saw both of them disappearing. Erix teleported into the water for a new experience. ''Go wild, honey,'' Rin grinned as her body crackled with lightning and also buffed Erix. Erix''s burning and longing eyes closed before he started kissing Rin while pounding at his full speed as his dick constantly rammed into Rin''s squeezing pussy five times every second. The pond was sshing crazily due to the force generated by their passionate battle. Erix mapped the 10-kilometer area around him, and his eyes shined as he teleported both of them again, arriving inside a naturally illuminating cave with cold water. *Ssh* The pond of freezing water was shallow, but the due still continued their activity. Rin''s legs were wrapped around Erix''s waist while she hugged him tightly and moved her hips at lightning-fast speed. "Aanhh!" Rin moaned with a wide grin and closed eyes, "Fuck¡­" Erix also poured his load inside, creating a hotpot of pleasure into Rin''s pussy. Erix sat at the pond''s edge with Rin still hugging him and his meat rod releasing shots, as evident by Rin''s twitching. Gently fondling her breasts and kissing her, Erix started moving Rin''s hips up and down, making constant lewd sounds along with the pond''s waters since only their upper half was out of the pond. §®???$??£¤?$ After another round of pounding and climax, Rin and Erixy beside each other in a hug while Erix sucked herctating breasts. She wasn''t pregnant, but she wasctating because it felt good when Erix sucked her breasts and drank milk. "How''s the progress now?" Rin asked, her left hand caressed Erix''s head while he sucked her tits. "21%," Erix wryly smiled as he looked up at her and started kissing. He pulled her leg up, inserted his meat rod inside again, and started moving rhythmically. After a round, they started wild mode again as Erix released his loads constantly into Rin. After releasing forty loads in one hour and Rin climaxing crazily as well, both of them finally stopped. "I¡­" Rin opened her mouth to speak as her body was glowing with vein-like patterns appearing all over her body. "My bloodline is upgrading." "Awesome, then let''s go back," Erix carried Rin, but she gradually turned into a dark red cocoon with ck and dark violet patterns. ''Oh?'' Erix was surprised. ''It looks like Bloodline level-up provides more than a small boost.'' Erix teleported away after covering his body with clothes, directly putting them over his body from his hunter card''s storage. "You''re back," Lilith said as she saw Erix appearing with a cocoon on his hand. "She started it? Good. Give her to me." The cocoon floated towards Lilith before she wrapped it up in a dreamyyer of red before it floated beside her. "I''ll cover her," Erix snapped his finger, encasing the cocoon into a rectangr box with plenty of space even inside. The metal he used was gray and diamond-structured, a Tier-4.5 Metal with the strongest overall durability against others'' magic and physical, but its defense lowers when multiple different types of attack hit it at once. Erix had named it Aegis Metal after creating it using Devorex Metal and several other tough Tier-4 Metals. "How long will it take her?" Erix asked. "Ten hours," Lilith said before she mischievously smiled. "Why don''t you search Lily''s aura with your Space Mapping? I''ve sent them to an interesting ce I''ve found. That ce was also the reason why I stopped here." "Alright," Erix nodded, curious, but he knew Lilith wouldn''t tell him to keep it a surprise. "Also, I think I''ll need stronger women. Noble-order hunters aren''t cutting out after 20%. Klelia and Lynia both give me minimal progress," he said with a wry smile. *Swoosh* Two figures quickly arrived and touched the blood-red crystal, healing their injuries. Lyra and Klelia. "Erix, you are back," Klelia looked at Erix in surprise before she smiled. "I will fully recover after half an hour, and then we can do it." "What?" Lyra curiously asked, "If you are going to do a special training, I would like to join." Lyra looked at Lilith and Erix before she added hesitantly, "If you allow it." Klelia couldn''t help butugh while Erix dryly chuckled. "What?" Lyra was confused. Although Erix doesn''t love anyone aside from Rin, Lilith, and Lily, he can''t help but get hard and want to taste when he sees someone beautiful. Of course, he wasn''t a savage that he would force himself and could control it, but he was noticing the urges. "That reminded me, where are those trio that you drained?" Lilith asked. "Ah, they are still there," Erix said before he disappeared, teleporting back into the metal room deep into the pond. "What were you talking about?" Lyra asked Klelia after Erix disappeared. "What do you think about Erix?" Lilith yful asked before Klelia could answer. "He is strong," Lyra answered. "I want to be as strong as him and Rin." "Are you attracted to him or not?" Lyra''s wolf ears twitched, and her cheeks slightly turned red, "I am attracted, but...I am weak." "What if he mates with you? Will you like it?" Lilith asked with a grin. "Mate..." Lyra''s fluffy wolf tail straightened before it started moving, but she immediately controlled it as her face flushed. "You seem to know about Beastfolk''s way." Lilith chuckled, "You are attracted to strong ones who are simr to your age, and Erix is an ideal male for you." "But I will not survive beside him...not as I am now," Lyra said with a sigh. "I am unqualified to make him my mate." "Then forget it," Lilith casually waved her hand. "If you ask him, he will mate with you like he will do with Klelia, but if you don''t want to, it''s fine." "Kelia, no need to wait thirty minutes, let''s go now," Erix suddenly arrived again after he put those three into the left house''s room with a big leaf bed. "Now? Okie," Klelia nodded before she elbowed Lyra and winked at her. Chapter 216: Primal instincts and Desires Blooming a Grand Ambition Erix walked towards Klelia while he nced at Lyra and saw her expression. He roughly understood what happened here while he was away and faintly grinned at Lyra, "Do you want toe?" Lyra''s flurry tail was bent behind her, silent. Her wolf ears fluffed and her cheeks red. ''I want to¡­'' "Yes¡­if you are willing." "Then let''s go," Erix grabbed her hand and pulled her hand into his embrace along with Klelia before teleporting away. ¡­ Erix dealt with both of them within half an hour, especially Lyra. "N-No¡­.It''sing again!" Lyra quivered while her legs were raised up, her back resting on the metal wall''s cool andfy surface while Erix pounded her from the front. Sensing her orgasming, Erix also poured his load inside her after absorbing her vital essence, making Lyra hug Erix tightly as she twitched in the ultimate pleasure she was feeling for the first time. Staying for ten seconds in the glued position with hotpot and throbbing dick in her pussy, Erix tried to push and let go, but Lyra was squeezing him tightly with her legs, arms, and even pink cave. "Lyra¡­" Erix whispered in her ears, infusing with his spiritual force to make her conscious. But Lyra just trembled and released a strong, muffled moan. Her body glowed with water elements before she squirted hard and squeezed Erix''s cock tightly. "C-can we stay like this for a bit longer?" "Fine," Erixughed and decided to lie down while Lyra stayed on him. ''Let''s see¡­hmm? Her vital essence gave me such progress?'' Erix was surprised, but then he remembered and realized something, ''It was her first time, so she must have purer vital essence, which exins this high quality and amount of life power simr to Rein.'' "Erix¡­" Klelia opened her eyes from the side and sat beside him. Erix turned his head to look at her and chuckled, "What''s up? You still have some?" "How long will you keep me?" Klelia asked, her fiery eyes looking into his. "Will you keep me forever?" Erix raised his eyebrows but was not much surprised at Klelia''s sudden questions. "Will you¡­" Klelia closed her, her plump and tender breasts squeezing around his arm. At the moment, time had slowed significantly. Erix had no hesitation in his eyes, and he knew what to do. His mind formed by his experience and wildest instincts was set. On the other hand, Lyra was closely connected to Erix in spiritual and physical depth. She had ingrained Erix in her as her first mate by her instincts and mind. She knew this man had extraordinary potential, and she wanted to be in his pack. But Klelia''s questions had effects on Erix on every level as his eyes became calm and a smile formed on his face. Lyra felt Erix''s meat rod weakening, and this phenomenon, along with her current high consciousness status with pleasure and spirituality, both gave her a certain revtion. It was the revtion of Erix''s answer that he was about to utter, but she received it on fundamental levels, with full reasoning and understanding behind his answer. The shock and other intense unknown emotions she felt at that time were something she didn''t know she would ever experience. And then, Erix uttered. "No." His smile and eyes were calm while he patted Klelia''s head and closed in on her before pecking his lips on hers, "I''m sorry, but I can''t keep you forever." Klelia was stunned and nk, digesting his words before Erix added another sentence. "I am not keeping anyone around forever," Erix chuckled. "Lyra," Erix turned to the front and slid his hands between their chests before he grabbed her breasts and pinched her nipples. Lyra twitched and raised her head, but Erix was slightly taken aback looking at her eyes. He felt a slight unknown tingle but brushed it away as one of the pleasure currents and said, "Get up. We''ve stayed enough." "Mmmm," Lyra nodded, her eyes whirling in circles with red and purple due to her pupils. Putting her aside, Erix got up and stretched his limbs. "Erix," Lyra called out. Seeing Erix turning his head at her, she added, "I believe you." Lyra''s wide smile contained a hint of insanity, her eyes filled with strange, hungry resolve as she spoke again. "I believe you." "That''s good," Erix said with augh in response before he sent two wisps towards Klelia and Lyra as they teleported into a bedroom in the central house. ¡­ ¦Ñ§à$¦Ø%¦Å%§Ô#¦Å?-§¾¦Ã-? Klelia and Lyra arrived on a soft, slightly bouncy leaf bed. But Lyra immediately sat up and pulled Klelia out of her nk expression, "Hey, Klelia." Klelia also got up and sighed. "What?" "Stop sighing, idiot," Lyra said with a sharp expression and pped her breast. "Look up." Klelia looked up at Lyra''s face with teary eyes. "What?" "Stop wasting time in crying," Lyra gritted her teeth. "He is not keeping anyone around him. We have to keep up with him." "We are not worthy of him. That''s what he feels, and that''s why he rejected you!" "Was he also your first mate?" Lyra asked. "No, my first mate died. But I want to stay with Erix and his group forever until I die. I love my life with them." "Too bad you won''t stay with them for long," Lyra crossed her arms under her bust and sat cross-legged. With a determined expression and crazy hunger in her eyes, Lyra said, "But he is my first mate, and I want him as myst, so I will not rest or waste my time." "What do you mean?" Klelia asked, confused. "In his eyes, we two are someone who can''t keep up with him and his lovers, so his decision was always the same from the start. He won''t fall in love just because of fucking you daily." "You should''ve realized it long ago," Lyra narrowed her eyes. Klelia bit her lips as she nodded. "But I am trying to keep up." "It doesn''t work like that," Lyra''s face became stern and cold, "We can''t be his equal by staying with him and riding along with him." "I want that man, and I only have one thing to do for that," Lyra stood up as her body was covered in a fur coat and her usual light, beautiful gray-ck robe. She stretched her hand towards Klelia with a smile that was filled with a drive that she added for herself to make herself strong and also achieve a goal. "If you want to be around him forever, then we have to leave." "B-But¡­how do you.." Klelia was confused as to how Lyra knew all that when she met Erix recently and mated today. "I know because I felt his instincts screaming at mine," Lyra grinned. "He doesn''t recognize us to be his equal, so he will never produce love for us. That''s how his mind works, and that too in a refined way." "He wants to reach and rein at whatever top there is and enjoy with his lovers. His thirst for power and doing that with partners equal to him is his strongest and most primal desire. I felt that clearly. He probably only has those three in his heart." Lyra breathed before she added with a maddening glint, "His dick literally started weakening the moment he thought about loving us." "But I want him¡­I want to reach his level and tell him I am equal to him!" Intense mes of desire and thirst for power burned in Lyra because Erix had awakened Lyra''s most primal instincts and ignited an evergrowing ambition. Lyra also caused Klelia to awaken with her words because Klelia''s desires matched hers. After all, Both of them were beastfolks, and Klelia''s desire was umting and stronger. Taking Lyra''s hand, Klelia nodded with a grin, her eyes the same as Lyra''s, "We will show him!" "But how? Do you have any n?" Klelia asked. Lyra took out a strange blue round ball with entric crystal and digitized pattern. "No n, duh. I didn''t think I would do something like this," Lyra said with a yful mocking smile. "What''s this?" Klelia looked at the apple-sized ball. "I don''t know, but I got it as a reward from a hidden event," Lyra said with a serious expression. "ording to its effect, once I use it, up to three people will get transported out of Abyss and thrust into Myriad-" "Wait, wait, wait!" Klelia snapped and quickly said, "Don''t use it now." "I-I want to do it one more with Erix, so let''s leave tomorrow wherever you want to go with this item?" "Mhmm, me too," Lyra put the device with a grin. "I want to imprint his scent and presence inside me, so we''ll do it one more time tomorrow and then leave." ¡­ Meanwhile, Erix started scanning the area with his Space Mapping to find the secret ce that Lilith talked about. He was tracing Lily''s presence since he had it stored in him and soon found her with three other presences. ''That deep into the ground?'' Erix was surprised and curious. ''Interesting ce, eh?'' ''Let''s see.'' Chapter 217: Up To Date Lilith, The Mysterious Box While Erix went to the interesting ce where Lilith had sent Lily and others, Lilith was not sitting idle. While leisurely sitting on the couch beside Rin, her eyes were faintly glowed and showing different scenery every second. ''It looks like I''ll need a few more eyes, but what is his purpose for targeting us?'' Lilith wondered while a faint shadow akin to a small bird conjured above her and vanished into the Fallen Land''s huge city. After all, she had to remain up to date because her group was somehow targeted. Her guts, along with Granny May''s route, told her that something big was going to happen. A hint of thrill coursed through her eyes before she calmed down and focused on her work as her shadow familiar roamed the city while giving her information. Naturally, a few were destroyed by some Royal-order powerhouses who sensed them, but she could just produce more while they would never be able to track her. ''Little ants,'' Lilith chuckled. ¡­ Erix arrived at the base of a small mountain near the umbral membrane, approximately twenty-five kilometers right from their Tree-base. The cave entrance was already buried perfectly, but since Erix Space Mapped the area, he knew that Lily and others were two kilometers deep below this mountain, in a cavern. After directly teleporting inside without breaking open the passage, Erix immediately arrived behind Lily. Lily swiftly turned around by reflex, though she knew it was Erix when she turned halfway in the millisecond. "You''re here," Lily grinned and put his arms around his neck and kissed him. "Yep," Erix smiled and kissed her back before he looked behind her. "So this is the interesting ce, eh?" Lily turned around while Erix hugged her from behind and nodded, "Yep. Lady Lilith found it." Morgana, Zenia, and Wolt looked at Erix but turned back to the "interesting ce" and continued their work. In the center of the cavern was a pond of faintly glowing dark gray water, giving a strange and sharp feeling to Erix when he tried to sense it with his Spiritual Mystic Eye. But that was not all. A finger-width pitch-ck trunk grew a meter above the pond''s surface before entrically branching into dreamy white-blue branches with no leaves or fruits. The branches were glowing and had strange, chaotic patterns over them. It resembled a tree, but it didn''t look like one. "What''s the deal with it?" Erix asked, ncing at Morgana, Zenia, and Wolt. The trio stood at the pond''s edge and were using their Spirit Force to search the depth of this pond, the root of this strange thing growing in the middle. They had already found it over an hour ago, but it was protected and well-rooted such that they had to shave the defense around it with their Spirit Force continuously. Erix also joined them as he dived his Spiritual Mystic Eye into the pond''s depth, following Lily''s spirit sense that actually went two freaking kilometers deep. "What kind of pond is this?'' Erix wondered and joined the spiritualwork with the other four. ''Your spirit force is weaker than us, but your senses are strangely sharp, even more powerful than Wolt''s, and simr to ours,'' Morgana said with a chuckle. ''I would like to battle Wolt and see how I fare,'' Erixughed. ''No need,'' Wolt grunted. ''I am weaker than these twodies, and I have no confidence to win against you because I haven''t perfected my domain.'' ?§Ô?§à¦Ô#¨À&??-¦Ó§à?-!?¦Ò§è#-+§¾§å#- ''You can fight with me if you want to,'' Morgana said with augh. ''Alright, I''ll do that soon. You better be prepared to cry.'' ''Let''s focus now. We are close,'' Zenia said. ''Ouch,'' Lily abruptly eximed as sharp pain shot through her mind when her spirit sense dug into the barrier they were shaving. ''Don''t let your spirit sense enter it, everyone!'' Lily immediately cut off herself from there and rubbed her temples after warning others. "What happened?" Zenia opened her eyes and turned to Lily, curious. "Did you see what thing grew this strange tree?" Zenia and Wolt also opened their eyes. They shaved the protection but didn''t sense inside due to Lily''s warning. However, Erix was still in focus, his Spiritual Mystic Eye looking at the mysterious ck wooden box with gray and dark silver patterns. ''What the heck is this?'' Erix was surprised because the box was broken slightly in the middle, and this strange tree''s trunk grew from there, up to two kilometers long anding out of the pond before branching into that strange tree. Erix spent his Spirit Force and exerted it to cut off the trunk but failed. ''Erix, don''t do anything more.'' He suddenly heard Lily''s thought message and stopped. ''Yeah, my spiritual power has no effect on it.'' Erix opened his eyes and asked, "But why aren''t you all using Prana to take it out? Or¡­" "Yep, you can''t," Morgana wryly smiled and snapped her finger as she caused a dark purple ice crystal to shoot into the pond. Erix looked at it and saw the crystal diving inside, but before it barely crossed two hundred meters, her attack was dissolved. "Prana or Mana is weakened due to this water that the thing deep within the pond affects it." Lily narrowed her eyes at the strange tree, "This thing is Spiritual-attributed more than Prana and Mana." "And a super strong spiritual force can negate and affect other things, especially weaker than the power of that spiritual force." Zenia nodded in agreement, "the thing inside this pond has way stronger spiritual force than ours." "Lady Lilith needs toe personally to retrieve it," Wolt said. "Alright, let''s return first," Erix said as he conjured a big wormhole behind him and created its exit 10 kilometers away. Erix flew back while pulling Lily as they disappeared. Zenia, Morgana, and Wolt entered the portal and arrived in the sky somewhere, but there was another portal before them. They entered the portal again and arrived right on the fat magic tree''s vast branch and saw Erix and Lily sitting on a sofa couch before Lilith, telling her what they had found. "So you didn''t know what was there?" Erix asked with a wry smile. "Of course not," Lilith chuckled. "I just sensed something interesting there, but I didn''t know it was something like that." "But from what you described, this is more than interesting~ haha," Lilith grinned and stood up. "Let''s go take a look." Chapter 218: Dread From Depth "I''ll stay here with Rin," Lily said as she sat beside Rin, who was in a cocoon. "Alright." "And what do we do?" Wolt asked as he crossed his arm. "Do whatever you want," Lilith smiled, "but don''t try to escape. I''ve removed my barrier, but I still have eyes on you." "Not nning to," Morgana shrugged and stretched her arms as she yawned, "I''ll go and take a nap." Morgana left, but Zenia coughed and said with a serious expression, "When will we cross the Umbral membrane? I''m sure you are also in Spada Valley for that and not for a vacation on this Treehouse." "We''ll cross it after exactly 19 hours," Lilith smiled. "You can do whatever you want before that." Erix stretched his hand towards Lilith and said, "Let''s go." Lilith held his hand before Erix teleported both of them. Soon, they arrived at the cavern with a mysterious gray pond and the thing growing out of it. "Oh my," Lilith raised her eyebrows, faint shock in her. ''But if I sensed it when I arrived here, then if some Empyrean-order came in the Spada Valley, they would have sensed this strange thing if they scanned the area as well.'' ''Could this be one of the Granny May''s route effect? Or no Empyrean-order arrived her for long, and this remained undetected as it grew?'' Lilith knew this Fallen Land didn''t attract Empyrean-order powerhouses nor peak Royal-order looking for improvement. This Fallen Land was mostly a rising ce for Noble-order hunters and a training exercise region for the early-mid Royal-order hunters. "Do you know what it is?" Erix curiously asked. "Not yet. What I sensed was the aura of this weird tree, but that thing inside the pond¡­" Lilith shook her head before she sent her Spirit sense into the pond and saw the same box that Erix, Lily, and others discovered after shaving away the strange spiritual barrier it produced around it. Erix shortly felt a powerful wave of spirit force bursting from Lilith. The tree at the center of this pond intensely glowed for a second before it turned into countless tiny motes and vanished. "Got it," Lilith opened her eyes as her finger slowly moved upward. "It''s strong enough that I had tobine my spiritual and physical powers both to cut the thing growing out of the box," Lilith wryly smiled. "Wait¡­you boosted your spirit force''s power with your physical powers?" Erix startled. After all, it was the Spirit force''s main effect to boost one''s physical and magical aspects. But to boost spirit force with her physical powers or magic powers? That wasn''t what he could do, nor had he heard about that! "It''s not something even a regr Empyrean-order can do," Lilith chuckled. "It''s no surprise you don''t know about it," she said before focusing on the object. "This is one of the perks of the Limitbreak I previously told you about." "I feel like being able to do that can allow one to create crazy skills and tricks...." Erix muttered as he just got the feeling that physical and magic aspects affecting the spirit force to modify and empower it sounded big. "You can indeed produce a lot of tricks and entric skill structures with that," Lilith chuckled, "It''s good that you are able to envision its potential. It means that your understanding of spirit is deeper." "But this thing is even more amazing," Lilith looked at the pond. "The pond water is fully in control of whatever thing inside the box and its increasing resistance to stop me from pulling it out." Lilith increased her spirit force''s power more as Erix saw her surrounded by a dark red spiritual aura. ''How exactly strong is Lilith?'' Erix was speechless. ''I guess she was in that outeryer because of her foundational problem, but after I fixed her, she became¡­free?'' Erix focused on the pond as he started getting tingles in his brain. The pond water behaved chaotically while the wooden box was gradually getting pulled up by Lilith. "By the way¡­.we are not biting more than we can chew, right?" Erix started feeling strangely nervous as he felt some strange aura and something foreign affecting him, raising his instinctual dread. "You must understand, my darling," Lilith turned to Erix with a tantalizing smile, "The dread you are feeling is justified because it''s several levels above you, but to me, it''s a simr type of thrill you and Rin get when you are suddenly thrust into a death fight with Royal-order powerhouses." Erix gulped before his lips twitched and spread into a crazy smile, "Alright, bring it up." "Let''s see what kind of horror that box is hiding." The pond became more and more chaotic as Lilith''s index finger slowly but steadily moved up. Eyes bubbling with excitement, Lilith licked her lips as she fought the resistance and finally pulled up the box. *Crack...* The box slightly cracked as it approached Lilith. ''It''s aura suddenly converged entirely?'' Erix was startled. The dread welling up in him also disappeared. It was his mind and instincts giving him those feelings to warn him, but that also vanished. "Don''t do anything, Erix. Not even using your senses on it," Lilith warned, her expression somber. Erix nodded. He hadn''t heard Lilith this serious before. "Alright." He moved back a bit as Lilith manipted the box and made it float between them. There was a hole at the center of the box from where the tree''s thin trunk was growing. When Erix and Rin looked at the hole, it suddenly glowed dark gray with alluring ck that strangely shone before both Erix and Lilith heard a terrifying voice in their heads, shaking them. ''HOW DARE YOU!!!'' Erix even lost his strength as he fell to the ground while holding his ears. His red eyes became fully inky dark red. "Arrrgh¡­." An involuntary scream left his mouth as he felt shaken to a core he never knew existed. Lilith''s eyes glinted coldly before dark red threads entirely covered the palm-sized box. "It looks like we really got something that can''t chew right now," Lilith muttered, "Granny May, was this your route or just a coincidence?" "What the hell was that?" Erix wiped the sweat as he got up and looked at the box with ink-red eyes that slowly recovered. "That crazy spiritual force that assaulted me...something is alive in there?! But¡­what was that¡­" "It''s an eyeball," Lilith grinned. "But that''s all I know." Lilith looked around the cave and rubbed her chin. "This ce is bigger than the branch and not that bad as well because it''s hidden from normal senses. Unless it''s an Empyrean-order, they won''t be able to find us, so let''s move everyone here." "Everyone means only our group," Lilith added. "I''ll have to inspect this eyeball here." "So we are giving away that tree?" Erix asked before he suddenlyughed and continued, "Wait, of course not. We can just go there to meditate and train whenever we want." It was not like they would or could stop them from using the tree. "Yep," Lilith nodded before she looked at the floating box sealed in a fewyers of dark red threads with an eager smile, "If I want to study and find out more about this eyeball, I''ll need to do that here." "Researching this outside of this underground cave will be troublesome." Erix still felt dread when he thought about the thing that he just experienced. "But what was that assault? It was so strange, but invoked fear from my depth," he muttered. Chapter 219: Strange Eyeball "If it''s outside, we might get into trouble because this eyeball can influence livings with its strange spirit power or, should I say....soul power. What you experienced was not spirit force, but a power simr to it, yet more versatile and individualistic force that is born when your spirit is powerful enough to awaken your soul." "Soul power?" Erix was surprised. "This whole process of soul awakening through spirit way is one of the boons of Mystic Root to all living beings it influences in its sphere," Lilith smiled. "In other ces of Grand Primal Cosmos that are outside of Mystic Root''s influence, they have a different process of soul awakening." "Since you said it''s a boon, then I guess it''s better than other processes?" Erix rubbed his chin. "Way better because when we awaken our soul through that process, we''d have umted tons of soul potential, but the only problem is we have to work harder to reach that stage to acquire the boon, while it''s easier to awaken a soul outside of Mystic Root''s influence, but they don''t have any soul potential when they awaken their soul in their easy process." "So that''s why this thing is something we can''t chew," Erix weakly smiled as he looked at the floating box. "Yeah," Lilith nodded with a grin as a glint passed through her eyes, "but I will find out more about it." "Alright, then I''ll set up a long-range portal for easier travel between two ces." For a long-range portal, Erix just had to mask this point of space, create a portal, and then create another before connecting both portal''s marking points. Erix created a lone wormhole first that connected to nowhere but Space Limbo before creating another wormhole and leaving the cavern through it to reach the fat magic tree faster. After reaching the Treehouse, he created another lone wormhole before connecting it with the one in the cave using what he called Space Mark, which basically means marking a certain point of space so he could find it easily by watching Space Limbo. He couldn''t interfere much in Space Limbo before, but after achieving 2nd realm of Space affinity andprehending Nihilir, he had learned a few tricks. "Wolt and the other two users of Wood element," Erix looked at the Trailbane guild''s members, who had been meditating since they had exhausted Lilith''s healing crystal. Klelia was also meditating alongside Lyra, deep in focus. "Come to that cave. We need you three to build some cozy wooden abodes with your wood elements," Erix smiled and gestured at the portal he connected to the cave''s portal. "Are we getting paid for it?" Wolt snorted. "Yes. One more day to live," Erix jokinglyughed. "Alright, hurry. We are going to cross Umbra Membrane tomorrow, so you''ll be free after that." After they entered, Lily stood up with Rin''s cocoon in her hand, "I want to train here, so I''ll go and put Rin beside Lady Lilith." Lily went before Rein, Maleina, and Lynia packed up the alchemy table-tools and also entered inside. All the potions Erix and others use were made from Maleina''s expertise, while Rein and Lynia acted as her assistants to speed up the process. read-this-on-MVLeMpYr "Create the stock within 19 hours," Lilith said, "I don''t want even one potioncking. If youck materials, then we have a whole forest outside. Erix had set the portal, so go and gather the ingredients youck with Lily or Erix." "Tsk, we do it always, alright?" Rein clicked her tongue. ¡­ Back at the Treehouse, Erix and Lily spent some quality time together in the room for an hour. Lily was lying beside him while Erix was sucking her big breast and moving his hips as she moaned, drowned in pleasure. "I-It''s...Nghh..st one..." Lily moaned. Erix kissed her and hugged her tightly before moving quickly. Turning straight with Lily over him, Erix grabbed her buttcheeks and moved his hips while also moving her butt at crazy speed for strong and quick waves of pleasure. She soon climaxed, and Erix also stopped after releasing before Lily approached Erix, and both started kissing. Lily quivered and twitched with Erix''s throbbing dick releasing his shots inside, exuding as much death power as he could in his vital essence before using his special skill to make it a nourishment energy and spread through Lily. It couldn''t increase her stats, but it could recover her energies and stamina. After a while, Lily got up and stretched her arms and chuckled as she looked at her crotch, Erix''s dick still inside her, "You are just not doing down." Erix wryly smiled. "My source is not decreasing in its power unless I like released a thousand shots daily, sigh. I am just recing death with life when i do it with you all to make it bnaced, so this energy I have is hard to exhaust." "Today is a good day exhuast yourself then," Lily smiled. Erix grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him before he started sucking her juicy and plump breasts of perfect big size while Lily just rested beside his head, savoring the pleasure and his love. "Alright," Erix stopped after a while and got up. "I won''t waste much time." "You continue your routine," Erix stretched his arms and kissed her before getting up. Lily also got up and pulled Erix''s cheeks with a pleased smile, "You know how not to get bored without training or fighting." "Yeah, I guess that''s the only thing I can do for now," Erix wryly smiled. "At least, it won''t be a time-waste that way." "Yep. Go and knock them out," Lily pecked his lips with a smile before she put on her clothes and disappeared like a mist. Erix looked outside the window towards the pond and forest, feeling his palpitate slightly, invoking the feeling he had gotten when that eyeball''s power assaulted him. ''What is this strange feeling?'' Erix thought as his eyes became unfocused, entering daze. But he snapped out of his daze after a few seconds and shook his head. ''I am just being paranoid because of that damn eyeball.'' Erix thought before he turned around, his eyes shing faint silver. ''I better divert my attention on purposeful things and make use of this break.'' A secondter, he disappeared from his room and arrived in a room where Morgana was sleeping on her left side wearing a loose gown. But she soon opened her eyes. "You really took your timeing here, Mr. Erix." Chapter 220: Disturbed Erix An hourter¡­ Laying beside Morgana, who hugged him from the side with her big breasts squeezed on his chest, Erix was looking at the room''s ceiling, his eyes shing with his status. ''Add parameter of progress towards my source bncing.'' [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Noble-Order _Level: 117 _ss: ¡ª (Death Reaper-X) _Source Bnce: 22.01% _Life orb: [100%/100%] _Vigor Force: [1000/1000] _Stats: 30 unassigned. ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 + 400 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 + 80 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 589 / Spirit Force: 6890/6890 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 1000 + 200 / Mana: 5,000/5,000 ] _Talent(s): Vigor Force. ''If I suck Morganapletely dry, I''ll have 0.4% of progress due to her umtion. Hmm, but I''ll need more for what''sing.'' Erix put away the status and closed his eyes. ''Something is wrong with me?¡­'' He sighed, feeling annoyed and tired without even knowing the cause. "Hey~ Sorry for the wait. I am ready again." Morgana whispered and sat up before going over to him. Herrge round breasts were hanging before his face as she prated herself again. Her lustful eyes rolled upward when she felt Erix''s meat rod hitting her deepest part, and she started moving immediately. Erix snapped out of his daze before he grabbed her milkers and started sucking them ravenously and even moving his hips in rhythm with Morgana''s hip moving, making her feel even crazier pleasure. ¡­ Feeling the slight tremors and moanings, the Trailbane guild hunters who were outside decided to go on a hunt for monsters and train. The male members especially had envy bubbling in them as they couldn''t bear to stay at the treehouse. Only Lyra and Klelia remained in meditation to train, unbothered and focused. After half an hour, Zenia returned and saw the duo before entering the house. She went upstairs to call Morgana but saw her sleeping naked on the floor while Erixy on the bed in a daze. "You two..." Zenia''s face turned beet red, especially when seeing Erix''s meat rod standing erect and pulsing. Erix looked at her, and absent-mindedly asked, "You want to do?" *Thud!* Zenia closed the door and turned around with her chest heaving up and down and her face red. ''What''s wrong with him.'' ''And that face,'' Zenia saw Morgana''s face. She couldn''t imagine what she had experienced to make a face like that while sleeping. ''Disgusting.'' Zenia bit her lips. *k¡­* Zenia stiffened as she felt a pair of hands wrapping around her bust, gently pressing them as she felt current coursing through her. "I will not ask a second time, beautiful~" Hearing the soft murmur at her ears before getting her neck kissed and the touch revealing her, Zenia felt her knees turning weak as Morgana''s expression once again shed past her eyes. Erix felt her clothes suddenly vanishing. Feeling her bare, juicy breasts, he groped them masterfully and pinched her nipples between his fingers before pulling her into the room. And then, loud screams and moans reverberated in the room, along with constant lewd flesh-hitting-flesh sounds. ¡­ Erix didn''t hold back in the slightest andpletely made Zenia drown in crazy pleasure, sucking her entirely dry in an hour despite having a big umtion of vital essence she had. Leaving the room, Erix immediately flew out of the corridor''s window and saw Lyra and Klelia meditating. He sat on the couch chair nearby, thinking about what to do as he entered the daze again. And then, he slipped into sleep as everything he had experienced since the beginning of the apocalypse to dying and arriving here shed in his dream. He woke up after an unknown amount of time, stretching his arms and getting up. "How long was I sleeping for?" Erix muttered. "We have seven hours left till our departure," Lily''s voice rang from behind him as she opened her eyes. "I see. It''s soon, huh." Erix walked towards the portal and said, "Rin will soon awaken if that''s the case." Yawning, Erix sighed, "Arg, I am bored." Entering the portal, Erix saw Liltih sitting before the floating box with her eyes and spirit sense enveloping it. "How''s it going?" "How do you feel?" Lilith questioned back as she looked at Erix, her eyebrows raised. "Eh? Is something wrong with me?" Erix asked. "No, but from what I found out about this Eyeball''s powers, the attack you received might have affected you, so I am asking whether you are feeling something strange." Erix sat down before the floating box across Lilith and said, "I am¡­yeah, feeling a bit strange, but I can''t pinpoint it or anything." "Symptoms?" "Just strangely tired," Erix weakly smiled. "But my body is energetic, and mind is influenced from well¡­this strange tiredness from deep within." Lilith turned into a shadow and arrived behind him before putting his head on her bosom and pressing his forehead, "Rx, and let me check." "Alright," Erix nodded and closed his eyes, rxing on Lilith''s support and feeling her soft breasts as he cushioned his head. Rein, Lynia, and Maleina nced there for a bit, then continued their work. After two minutes, Lilith opened her eyes, and Erix also did as he sensed Lilith''s strange power leaving him. "Did you find anything?" Erix asked as he got up. Lilith appeared back to her position like a shadow before shaking her head. "I didn''t sense any foreign element affect you, not even your unawakened soul." ''But something is bothering him, and he can''t understand it...nor did I find anything about it. Strange...'' *Crack¡­* Suddenly, Rin''s cocoon cracked as everyone turned to the cocoon resting on a blood-red crystal stand that Lilith made to speed up the process and benefit her. After two seconds, the cocoon cracked into the glowing motes, revealing Rin sitting with her arms curled around her legs and head down. Erix looked at her status and couldn''t help but grin. [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Bloodline: Ourous Scion (Legendary-2) _Level: 118 _Rank: Noble-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer _Vitality: [100%/100%] _Stat points: 32. ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 (+300) +180 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 (+300) + 350 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 541 / Spirit Force: 6441/6441 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-B / Magic power: 1000 (+300) / Mana: 5000/5000 (+3000) ] _Talent(s): Stormshock Chart. MVLeMpYr-reader She got an extra 200 stats in all of her stats except for Spirit upon upgrading her Bloodline from Legendary level 1 to 2! Erix could only imagine how powerful his Bloodline would be once he manifested it because, ording to Lilith, the one he would manifest would be a notch higher than hers! "Daarling~" Rin opened her eyes, shining with beautiful ruby sparks as she vanished and appeared in Erix''s embrace. She felt her newfound power and her deep connection to Erix that also resonated through her Bloodline. "I am more hungry after I upgraded," Rin looked into his eyes and kissed him. Erix felt a lot better as heughed and hugged her tightly. "We have seven hours, so go and have fun. You can even go to the city if you want to, but only in disguise," Lilith smiled. "Good idea! We never visited checked out the city," Rin said with a grin. Turning to Erix, she licked her lips smilingly and said, "Let''s go there after an hour of passionate spar." "Alright," Erix giddily smiled. Chapter 221: Farewell Rin and Erix spent two hours before going to the city in disguise, wearing random armor sets they got from one of the many they killed. With their faces also covered, the bounty hunters wouldn''t recognize them. ''Don''t you think there are more people than before? Especially the Royal-order hunters.'' ''Yeah, it''s as Lilith said.'' Rin and Erixmunicated spiritually while roaming the city, eating asionally, and checking out various stores and things. They didn''t stay in the city for long and returned after two hours. Sitting before Lilith, the duo also joined to inspect the Eyeball sealed in the box. This was the only thing interesting at the moment. Moreover, Lilith had indeed made progress. She unsealed the box except for a thinyer of threads on it and said, "Come out." Rin and Erix were surprised upon hearing Lilith and soon saw a dark grey smoke oozing as it took a form¡ªa dark gray, misty mouth with ck teeth. "Free me!" A jarring and crackling voice prated their heads and directly rang the trio''s minds, startling Erix and Rin. The mouth turned to Lilith and growled, "Free me!" "Answer me first," Lilith spoke, "what are you?" Rin and Erix gulped. They were feeling creeps from the aura of this mouth. "I am Fallen Hex." "What''s that?" "I don''t know." Lilith raised her eyebrows. "Wait, what about the other body parts?" Rin questioned. "This box only has an Eyeball, right?" "Yeah," Erix nodded, simrly curious. "I think it really doesn''t know anything," Lilith said, "The Eyeball has powers, an even more higher realm of powers than what I have, but it''s working based on survival instructions." Lilith pped the mouth and said, "You were trying to spread your aura so that someone could find you, and that was why you gradually developed that thin two-kilometer-long branch over the years and then created that strange tree so that others could find you." source-at-MVLeMpYr "Am I right?" "I don''t know. Free me!" "It doesn''t seem to be able to speak with much intelligence," Rin wryly smiled. "Well, it''s an eyeball." "It looks like I''ll have to slowly shave away the soul consciousness in it and make this eyeball ownerless," Lilith ruthlessly grinned. "No! Free me!" The mouth shouted hysterically. "Be careful," Erix looked at Lilith. "Since you said it has a higher level of powers than you, then you shouldn''t be careless." "Mhm," Lilith smiled, nodding in understanding. "Yep. I''ll handle it with ultra caution. As for you two, it''s time." "Two hours are still left, but you should cross the Umbral membrane now," Lilith said as she waved her hand and created two finger-length shadow birds with a single tiny eyeball in ce of their heads. "They areing?" Rin was surprised. "We also saw a group of over thirty powerhouses in the peripheral area of the town, so I guess they are the onesing to us." "And a bunch of Royal-order huntersing for you and Lily," Erix said. "Yep," Lilith grinned. "We''ll handle it here, so you two should go earlier and feel the true Spada Valley." "Maintain contact with each other usingm cards, but don''t get close physically during battles." Lilith''s expression turned slightly serious, "Do not underestimate the uing hunt. You two are powerful, but fighting in Spada Valley is different. The specters there are attracted by strong, so you two will have a rough time." "But as long as you survive that, you''ll have developed enough power to kill a Royal-order with a trick," Lilith added with a smile. "Lady Lilith, the potions are ready." Maleina walked towards them with her hunter card in hand. "Empty it," Lilith said as she gestured at Rin and Erix. "These are your supplies to recover your Mana and buffs. Use them wisely." "Alright." "We''ll be back in two days." Lilith nodded. "Two days. No less, no more." ¡­ Arriving before the Umbral membrane, Rin and Erix stood and looked at the thin, dark violet membrane. It reflected them and the scenery behind them, but I couldn''t see anything past it. "Wait!" Klelia and Lyra were rushing towards them with a movement/fly-skill as they swiftly arrived and stood before them. "What''s up, girls?" Rin asked in surprise. "We want toe with you," Klelia said. "And then leave," Lyra said. "What do you meane and leave?" Erix asked in confusion. "Umm, we will be leaving soon¡­like forever," Klelia hesitantly said, her words causing Rin and Erix to be slightly taken aback. "Forever? You decided to leave?" Rin asked with one eyebrow raised. "Yes," Lyra said with a sharp and determined expression, her fixed eyes on Erix. "Before we leave, we want to spend some time with you." "We''ve recovered half at least, so¡­" Klelia bit her lips. Erix felt slightly strange while Rin''s womanly instincts were telling her a different story when she looked into their eyes and expressions. ''Erix, I feel like we really might not meet them again yet¡­I see a strong desire for you in them.'' Rin nced at Erix. ''They are likely going to do something reckless.'' Rin deduced their motivation! Erix understood that their decision had something to do with what he said, but that was none of his concern except that he felt slightlypelled to do something. "Alright," Erix smiled. "Come with me." Lyra''s and Klelia''s eyes instantly shone. "I''ll go ahead," Rin chuckled as it rang melodiously, "You should give them a passionate farewell." Erix kissed her and nodded with a smile, "Alright, see you soon." After Rin left, Erix smiled at the duo and grabbed their waists before pulling them towards him, "Enemies areing in two hours-" "We won''t even take an hour," Klelia said, her long bunny ears perked up straight and her eyes serious. ¡­ An hourter, Erix stood amazed as he looked at a strange-dimension door that Lyra opened using an entric ball. "This..." Lyra looked at Erix with burning resolve and ambition, "We will make you look at us as your equal and make you fall for us with your whole so that you will never feel forced again." Erix was startled. ''Forced?¡­maybe, she is right¡­'' "We don''t know how long it will take, but we will return," Klelia said, her expression no less intense than Lyra''s. "We will make you want us, Erix." "I have strange confidence that awakened thanks to you," Lyra grinned. "We will carve our path towards you, but we don''t want to see you behind at that time." Erix pulled her in and gave her a passionate kiss. "You will not see me behind, I will make sure of that," Erixughed and pulled in Klelia next before hugging both of them. "And I will not stop¡­but you must make sure to return to my arms." Chapter 222: Beginning of First Mark (1/8) Lilith had returned to the Treehouse from the cavern and leisurely sat on the couch, sensing tens of huntersing at the spot. She had already warned Trailbane guild members, so they left and continued their journey after crossing the Umbral membrane with one member missing forever. Lyra. *Swoosh! Swoosh!¡­.* A few secondster, ten Royal-order hunters floated before Lilith. But to her left floated roughly forty Noble-order hunters! "You seem to be the Dark Queen Lilith. Our target." "Where are your Noble-order team members?" Lilith leisurely sat in her dark red dress, covered in a ck feathered magic coat covering everything except the right hand holding a wine ss. She took a sip and smiled, "Any more Royal-order hunters arriving or just you ten?" "We ten are enough to kill you," a woman with long dark indigo hair indifferently said, her aura bursting as a pair of dark indigo my wings and the same color exquisite dress conjured over her light armor-set. "I see," Lilith took a sip with her eyes closed, totally looking down on them. Turning to the bunch of Noble-order hunters, she dismissively said, "Rin and Erix are past Umbral Membrane. You are free to go after them." "Let''s go!" Someone shouted, and all of them turned into colorful lights that covered various aura of their powers and flew towards the Umbral membrane. Right after they left, two blinding fast attacks shot towards Lilith. One was a red flowery prison, and another was a powerful arrow-shaped projectile of dark indigo color, oozing out an aura mix of lightning and water. But the prison intending to trap Lilith dissolved into flowers that softly fell on her while the arrow was wrapped by a rapid motion of dark red strings thatpletely shattered it. "Keep me entertained, alright?" Lilith chuckled before the sky above turned dark red while a pitch-ck moon with a mystical red border hung above. With an exquisite array of blood and bones mixed with nature, the ten Royal-order hunters found themselves suffocating from their depths as they were trapped in Lilith''s domain. But their face only sank and turned dark when they realized they couldn''t use their domain at all. And that was also when a certain reality was shoved into their throat. None of them were idiots, but they were fooled. Hence, they knew after facing this woman and entering her domain that¡­.they were sent here for another purpose. They¡­they were sent here to get killed. ¡­ Erix and Rin were already in their separate ways and started battling the Shades. Shades were a phenomenon of Spada Valley where if an individual died here, their death would birth a shade having simr powers as them. These Shades would always attack others who crossed the Umbra membrane, trying to kill them. Aside from that, this true Spada Valley waspletely different. It was the realm of darkness with no light anywhere, only the gloomy lights from gloomy ntations. There were trees and nts, but none of them were green. All of them were colored dark shades of various colors, and nothing was safe. Even a tree might be a monster in Spada Valley. The valley was straight, and it had three zones. The first zone started from the Umbra membrane to 50 kilometers deep in the valley until a raging and deadly dark violet river that asionally oozed out monsters. This river had a ''U'' shape, with the bottom of U being the river belt separating the first zone and the second zone. With huge mountains blocking both sides of this 60-kilometer-wide valley, the river''s both ends went deeper into the 2nd zone before stopping thest zone, famously known as the Spada zone. The only problem was no one knew why this valley was called Spada Valley or that zone Spada zone because those who had gone there had never returned. Not even peak Empyrean-order hunters, who were the limit of rank and peak of power in this Kanx Abyss. As such, it was a general knowledge here that thest zone was a forbidden zone so that no one would go there. Since Erix had awakened Fire-affinity when heprehended and awakened Nihilir, he also had to progress in it. Using only me along with his metal was a goodbination. He had a Tier-4 metal with conductivity to me energy, so he used it to boost his attack further. Meanwhile, Rin was focusing on using the Time element''s powers. It was her priority to progress in Time affinity and also acquire the Speed concept. She was battling with those two things in mind. After they roamed separately for an hour, they met up at a barren hill spot fifteen kilometers deep in the 1st zone. "Let''s hope they arrive soon," Rin said while practicing her de swings slowly but doing micro-management within her body and control of power flow. "Have you thought about what skill you want to create to one-shot unsuspecting Royal-order hunters?" Erix asked while he was also in a thoughtful state. "If I go all out, my Infinite de Ring technique can kill an unsuspecting Royal-order hunter," Rin said with a wry smile, "But not a suspecting one, and if I use it, they will most likely sense threat my attack possess." "We''ll have to upgrade our skill-formation-making method, as Lilith said." "Yeah," Rin nodded in agreement as she rubbed her temple, "That book Lilith made read have some great example, so let''s create small skills by mixing those type of skill formations and applying those magic effects." "To kill Royal-order in one shot, one of the magic applications is a must, but we never used it when creating our other skills before." "Which one?" Rin curiously asked, but then also immediately realized it as she remembered the content, "Pre-sequence magic application? We deemed it not worth it since it took more space in our formation, and we were confident in executing our skills and delivering it perfectly, but¡­" Rin nodded with shining eyes, "Alright, I get it." "Our sacrificialmbs are also here," Erix grinned as he turned to left upon sensing several auras entering his Space Map. "Best tools to improve ourselves," Rin sharply smiled as her eyes glinted starlight purple. Both of them exploded their aura to signal their enemies and then separated into different directions. Chapter 223: Beginning of First Mark (2/8) Erix sensed twenty aura rushing behind him but continued flying, ignoring shades and other Umbral monsters from this valley''s naturalndscape. None of those could hit him, so he didn''t n to waste his energy and time on them. Rin was doing the same, leading the group of enemies behind to the extreme other side. In the end, both stopped at the raging rivers that were going deeper into the 1st zone and started confronting their opponents. *sh!* Surrounded by her Chronace flow, Rin simply side-tracked all iing attacks and went past an enemy as a cross-shaped ultra-thin de light struck him. As the ultra-thin de light suddenly expanded, the man was cut into four pieces that flew in different directions. Rin already went to another enemy while cutting a dark blue electric someone released to trap her. *Crrr!* But nothing could stop her as she was akin to an invincible de cutting everything. When only ten people remained, their faces twisted, and they used all of their powers! To escape. ¡­ On the other hand, Erix had enacted his Death Zone of punches, brutally destroying each one at a time while the Noble-order hunters tried to hit Erix. They even managed to strike him, but Erix''s defense had grown expectantly since he learned to master his Metal affinity at level 4 and use exotic metalbinations. Two dark gold rectangle shields floated beside Erix as he flew around or asionally teleported while his Punch projectiles roaming to and fro from various wormholes struck enemies. ''Small fries.'' Erix didn''t let anyone escape, but¡­he didn''t kill anyone. Erix floated near the river while his eyes shed faint silver. His stance was straight, and his arms were at his waist, his hands forming solid fists that dreamy dark purple with silver hue. Twenty peopley at various ces within five kilometers before him. They were not dead but brutally injured. One of them suddenly drank a healing potion to return from his severe injury status, but the moment he flew up, a punch projectile struck him from a wormhole out of nowhere, shattering his left shoulder as a scream left his mouth. ''Damn it.'' ''What do we do?'' ''He is not letting anyone go but keeping everyone barely alive!'' ''Nobody told us he was such a demon. FUCK THIS!'' ''Rat-king''s henchman said we are fucking more than enough! My ass.'' ''I don''t think any Noble-order hunter here can kill him. We are screwed.'' ''Even if I call my Royal-order senior member, he wouldn''t be able to hurt that bastard.'' ''I-I''ll try to talk to him.'' Erix was waiting for someone to move and try a new kind of punch while thinking of various conceptual actions to imagine which one would bring out more power from his current arsenal of powers. ''What if I try to think of ''shattering'' concept to match with punches? But if the target is more powerful, it will not really shatter at once¡­'' ''Conditions like hitting weakness and counter element should increase chances along with Spirit Force, the main one.'' Using spirit force cleverly inbat was one of the most important things, and it affected the result significantly. ''But how do I acquire it? Do I just imagine shattering things, powers, people¡­with my punch?'' Erix rubbed his chin. ''Or should I think of other concepts? There''s no limit after all¡­'' Suddenly, Erix sensed someone''s spirit force approaching him with no defense and oozing out surrender intention. ''They are mistaken if they think I am going to spare them,'' Erix speechlessly thought. It would be a joke if they really begged for their life. [Erix: Tell me your name first and then speak.] [???: I am Maukil, sir.] [Maukil: D-Do you n to kill all of us?] [Erix: You got it right, smart one. I''ll kill youst.] [Maukil: sir, what do we need to do for you to spare us?] [Erix: Why did youe here?] [Maukil: W-What?] [Erix: Why the hell did youe here and chase me with killing intent?] [Maukil: T-That¡­we had o-orders¡­] [Erix: There you go. I have no reason to spare you, but I also don''t want to kill you.] [Maukil: R-Really?¡­] [Erix: Yeah, so how about we do this? You all try to run all at once.] [Maukil: B-but¡­you will still hit all of us¡­] [Erix: Yes, I will. But if you all think of escaping and suddenly awaken a concept that helps you, I will let you leave.] [Maukil:¡­] [Erix: It will hurt a lot, but if you want to live, you''ll have to bear some pain.] [Erix: Keep trying, okay?! Now go!] Erix waited for them with a smile as he rubbed his palms and roused his energies. ''Get up and work hard for your life!'' Erix released a spiritual wave, sending his thoughts to everyone. He knew exactly where each one was with his Space Map, their aura bright as red stars to him. Thus, Erix began a game of death with them to improve himself. Not knowing something lurked in the river behind him, waiting for an opportunity. ¡­ On the other hand, Rin had killed all of her enemies but was in no way a leisure time. It was exactly the opposite. A Royal-order rank shade emerged at the riverbank after Rin killed everyone and began fighting it. There was a dark yellow sphere with vein-like red patterns all over it in ethereal form, indicating the mark of a domain. A bubbling yellow-redva world surrounded Rin with floatingvatic inds, ck rocks, and destructive debris in this domain of her Royal-order foe. Rin was shing away all obstacles and cutting her way through the catastrophic attacks to approach the core where her foe, a woman with longvatic hair, floated while controlling the domain to kill her. ''Interesting. This domain is big and full of destructiveness...But I can sever it all.'' Rin''s arms blurred, and she shot forward into a bolt of lightning at the iingva-condensed pir, cutting five kilometers of distance while slicing it in half. ''As long as I cut her down, I will win,'' Rin thought as she crossed a kilometer with a crackle of lightning again, but suddenly, three spinningvatic drill spikes shot towards her. Rin''s pupils shrank, feeling a sense of foreboding. Chapter 224: Beginning of First Mark (3/8) Since those attacks were spinning, it would give hard resistance to her Chronace Storm. But that was when she got an idea. ''Why am I giving just a singr form of flow to my Chronace storm?'' Rin''s eyes glinted, and a grin started spreading across her face as those attacks entered her Chronace Storm before those drills dissolved into a flow of energy and mixed into her storm. [Congrattions. You haveprehended and learnedChronace Flow¡ªOffence: Dissolution Flow.] Rin swung her de as time slowed it ording to her control. She gathered energy and condensed it to an extreme. There was a certain flow whirling around her de, chaotic yet orderly, but always in criss-cross form. She immediately made use of her newly acquired knowledge of her power to create a certain formation. As her de moved forward against a solidyered barrier that her opponent enacted to defend, Rin''s de struck it and seemingly passed through it without destroying the barrier, and then a spiraling storm unleashed with golden-red lightning, destroying all the defenses in micro-order. "Arghh!" The Shade tried to defend and exert control, but something strange happened with the destruction of her barrier. Rin''s Chronace storm and the Shade''s chaotic control of her energies caused all the destroyed energies to go along with Chronace flow in a strange manner as it whirled around her de from end to front. Right when her de stopped and struck the Shade, a terrifying sh of chaotic power fluxed out of her de, its effect even causing Rin''s hands to turn into mush. *Crack!* The scenery around them cracked like ss before the domain vanished, and they arrived back at the gloomy jungle with a raging river going deeper into the mountain''s wall. Rin floated fifty meters away from the Shade that was cut into two as both parts of her body floated side by side. She used her Spirit force to chug a Tier-4 healing potion from her Hunter card as her hands started regenerating. ''Thank you.'' Rin suddenly heard an ethereal voice before she saw the before her Shade turned into motes and vanished. ''Now then¡­.'' Rin used her Spiritual Mystic Eye to full range to check all presence within twenty-five kilometers of her and noted them before sitting on a rock. ''No hunter, but there are plenty of Shades,'' Rin closed her eyes. ''Safe.'' She pointed her finger forward and swiftly moved it for two seconds before golden-red lightning conjured and formed into a long wing-less spiritual dragon of dark-gold scales and red-golden lightning with a faint storm effect moving around her. It floated around Rin circrly while she closed her eyes and entered meditation. Doing meditation could swiftly kick recovery for all energies simultaneously. After all, potions could only recover Mana, but not other energies. On the other hand, Erix was also sitting in meditation to recover his Spirit Force as he spent 90% of it experimenting with using various attacks while visualizing concepts and used those twenty people as his practice dummies. All of them were still alive, but none could move. Their magic potions had already been exhausted, so they could only slowly recover their injuries by meditating. But Erix was feeling fraustration because he identally released a significantly stronger attack and unleashed a powerful unique punch phenomenon from his fist. It took the projectile form due to his Punch Ordanance''s effect, so Erix could also recall its structure and the formation he tried in that attack. However, when he tried to execute it the same way, it didn''t happen. ''The only special thing in that attack was the use of Vigor Force, damn it. I am imitating the same flow it had in the formation, but that phenomenon is still not appearing.'' Erix imitated the exact flow of vigor force and all the rest of the formation, but that punch didn''t appear again. ''Vigor Force has smooth flow in the formations with other energies, easily empowering the skill without causing any form of loss¡­'' ''I am imitating the exact thing¡­'' Erix tried to picture the flow ording to how he felt the formation activating and his skill execution. He watched it for half an hour, though those twenty people still didn''t move despite recovering enough to be able to escape. They just didn''t have the confidence or guts to try. Everyone tried previously to reach their limits but couldn''t escape. The river seemed to turn more raging as the water was moving forward while shing against the mountain wall and sshing towards the forest. Erix turned around to look at the river as he felt something, but when he saw the river''s raging flow, he felt like a bright lightning struck before him, clearing the darkess that was clouding him. ¡­ Meanwhile, Rin was in the same state as Erix. The Dissolution Flow gave her an inspiration that she couldn''t put her finger correctly into. But she knew that herst attack was pure coincidence when she swung her de and the amount of power it fluxed when her de stopped striking her. She felt that she had seen that phenomenon before or at least¡­heard about it, but couldn''t recall it properly. powered-by-MvLeMpYr ''How could it produce such a powerful force the moment my de stopped its motion?'' ''The Chronace flow created that and boosted it, but it happened because the other energies mixed it.'' ''Still, that phenomenon was not the result of Shade''s energy. It happened because of the flow,'' Rin bit her lips, feeling annoyed since she knew it but couldn''t recall it. *Wiss¡­..* The wind blew strong as Rin opened her eyes and deeply breathed. The river raged on while Rin looked in the sky. That was wholly ck except for some sparkling things, which she knew weren''t stars. ''What was that flow¡­'' A gust of wind blew above her. That wind gust appeared like usual when the wind flowed slowly but suddenly increased in speed and power. Her eyes started shining as she remembered the topic of study and also the reason why her attack fluxed such a powerful force. Chapter 225: Turbulent, Beginning of First Mark (4/8) ''Turbulence¡­'' ''Darn, it''s the turbulent flow¡­.no wonder it didn''t work even though I tried to imitate its flow. I could never¡­'' Erix was dazed. But deep in his eyes was a bright light bursting as he got the direction. Erix felt he could somehow use this to get a significant boost in his attacks! On the other hand, Rin thought the exact same thing as she remembered the topic of turbulence force. Rin''s Dissolution Flow was the magic of Lightning and Windbining for ultra micro offense lights with time''s help because time caused their flows to fasten or slow, which affected their structure. This could break down structures and literally dissolve them, hence called Dissolution Flow. Her attack was mixed with the enemy''s broken-down energies, and since her de attack pulled those towards itself, the broken-down energies mixed up in her Chronace flow around the de, turning into a turbulence flow that discharged when her de stopped and struck the enemy. That had caused devastating damage to her enemy and turned her hands into mush despite being protected by her Chronace Storm. Turbulent motion wasmon and everywhere on every single scale out there. From atoms to cosmic-size phenomena like the Sun or-size flows in the universe, turbulence was there even in outer space. It was the first rule of chaos. The main characteristics of turbulence were four: 1. Unpredictable: Erix tried to imitate flow but failed and couldn''t produce that power again because he couldn''t imitate the turbulence flow that was even deeper in his vigor energy. 2. Swirls on many scales: It was simply impossible with his current capabilities to sense these swirls within his energies when his vigor force was let loose during his execution. Erix couldn''t even sense those swirls, so it was impossible to imitate them. 3. Diffusive: a turbulent flow can mix things. When Rin''s Dissolution Flow dissolved the structure of her enemy''s barrier, and it became a chaotic mess, it actually mixed up with her swinging de surrounded by her Dissolution Flow. This mix-up created a turbulent flowing force around her de that discharged into a potent attack upon striking her de. 4. Dissipative: The turbulent flow could gather an unknown amount of energy depending on ''what'' participated in its making and its ''scale'' of size, but it was even more magical when it happened in supernatural energies. This was why Rin''s and Erix''s idental attacks discharged a more powerful force ording to their different conditions when the turbulent flow dissipated. Rin had foreign energies mixed to create a turbulent flow, while Erix''s random use of Vigor force created the turbulent flow for him. Despite being on two different ends of the forest with no way tomunicate, Rin and Erix started to think and experiment on how to apply ''Turbulence'' to their attacks! After all, even though it was impossible to predict and pre-create a flow that would produce a turbulent force, initiating a turbulent flow was easy! Swing a hand in the air, you''ve created a turbulent airflow. Naturally, it was moreplicated to do that on arger scale and in supernatural aspects, but Rin and Erix both saw different ways to apply this. ''I should make some simple broad formations to see if I can generate that force using Chronace flow...'' Rin''s Chronace flow was suitable and made it easier for turbulent force to form¡ªespecially the lightning and wind aspects, the mostmon elements capable of causing turbulence in everyday life. In the realm of magic, Rin felt she could find a way to generate turbulent-flowing force in her attacks to make them more powerful, just like how it happened against the Shade, but more proper. Meanwhile, Erix wanted to use Vigor force to make it happen. ''If I want to generate a turbulent flow of energy using Vigor Force, I''ll need a formation container and modify the formation greatly¡­.'' Erix looked at the raging river. Its water turbulence was massive, but that was because the river was confined and contained on its path. If he caused some big destruction to make the river flow into the forest, its turbulence flow would greatly reduce. ''A confinement is necessary, and the better the confinement and flow I generate within, the more potent my attack will be with Vigor force.'' ''Vigor force¡­container¡­.'' Erix looked at his arms, entering a daze as he was getting ideas. But at that moment, his senses suddenly rang with danger. *Craaaa!* Two dark blue sparkling snakes shot towards him from the river, one biting off his shoulder and the other entering a wormhole that Erix had barely created in time. *BOOM* The snake on his shoulder still exploded instantly, reducing his life Orb by 38% and causing severe injuries. Right after that, the scenery around him changed as he arrived on a ck sea with countless blue wiggly sparks gathering before him, forming into a male humanoid with wings and tworge des instead of hands. only-found-at-MVLeMpYr A Royal-order shade. *Swoosh!* Instantly, a rain of dark blue snakes shot towards Erix from the water. Erix ferociously grinned as he vanished from his spot and teleported as far as he could. The enemy dissolved into blue sparks and dived into water before chasing Erix at thirty times the speed of sound, catching him eventually and throwing attacks. While Erix was running away with his tricks and dodging attacks, he was creating a formation in his arms. His right arm had turned into pitch ck with tiny patterns near his shoulders. But those patterns were increasing in number each second as Erix intended to carve the magic pattern onto his metal arm before saving it. He didn''t want to waste his energies until he was done, so he was just trying to buy time while only using Mana since Mana was expendable and easily recovered as long as one had potions. ''If I can make my entire arm a container of certain formations of any punch skills, I can use vigor force properly to generate a turbulent force in my skill.'' ''Whirling Punch''s formation seems better suited to take advantage of turbulent force, while Sling Shot punch is the exact opposite since I technically use condensed and properminar flows of energies in the formations.'' Usually, that''s how it was. Everyone''s formation was proper and calcted with flows of energy they can scale to release various intensities of attacks. But the turbulent force would never appear in those pim-proper attacks. It had to be an unpredictable and chaotic flow. ''If my punch projectiles can hold turbulent force inside, they will be more powerful¡­'' While Erix dodged and escaped from the enemy, his pitch-ck right arm, which was a Tier-4 metal of darkness element, was almost filled with chaotic lines from his shoulder to wrist. They glowed as he infused Mana into the formation while his palms glowed. But that was not the end, as Erix also circted 200 Vigor force from the shoulder as she pumped throughout the whole formation, making his entire arm faint red. *St* But his arms suddenly exploded before he could release the energy. The formation also broke as those entric lines became disoriented. ''Shit¡­'' Erix quickly chugged two potions, one Mana & one Healing. He sensed threatsing and randomly teleported without any thought. Erix could feel that this Royal-order Shade was weaker than Morgana and could also dodge the attacks, unlike in Morgana''s domain, where he couldn''t avoid them. ''One more try. If I fail, then I''ll have to pound this Shade to death with my usual style.'' The enemy was getting trickier, and the domain was also changing into andscape from the strange water-world, so he had to be fast. Chapter 226: Liliths Plan, Beginning of First Mark (5/8) Five hours had passed since Rin and Erix crossed the Umbral membrane. Both had fought a Royal-order shade each and won. After an hour, Erix flew towards Rin ording to the n and met up with her. "One hour left before the challengers arrive," Rin said as she put away her de Eater. Erix nodded as he took out two round candies from his Hunter card and handed one to Rin. "Let''s see if the effects really are as Lilith told us," Rin popped up the pill along with Erix as strange energy and feeling permeated their entire body, mind, and even deeper. Lilith had told both of them to eat these so-called magic pills after four hours. She had given them to Erix yesterday. The duo had never heard about pills in any store here or seen anyone use them, but they also couldn''t inspect the pills. However,It was supposed to heighten all of their senses, including supernatural ones, and if one broke their limits during the pill''s effects that wouldst for twenty-four hours, they could gradually improve faster and faster. As long as they worked hard during the pill''s effect and made constant progress, their potential would increase and invoke, improving them in the respective areas they were focusing on more and more. This was the power training Lilith had designed for the duo by using two priceless items on them: the Nebulous Bloom Pills. The realm of pills was higher than creating potions and required one to be at level 10 Alchemy to begin creating magic pills. Lilith had gotten them by ordering them from a Cosmoc Faction when she was in the core domain of Kanx Abyss, precisely to use them on talented individuals. Lily had already gotten one and reaped its benefits while she gave the remaining two to Rin and Erix. ¡­ The dark crimson moon in Lilith''s domain showered its lights on ten figures surrounded by wiggly red threads with ck patterns. These ten people were scared to death, but the expected death was noting, causing their minds to get increasingly tense and despairing. Lilith sat on a throne ten meters away while she leisurely trimmed her nails with a tiny makeshift dark red de. All ten Royal-order hunters were at her mercy, but they were not hers to hunt. Lilith''s eyes shed with multiple scenery as the shadow bird eyes she sent with Rin and Erix showed their current situation. ''Good. It''s time to start.'' She deactivated her domain as they arrived at the treehouse. Lilith sat on the couch, manipting the threads to put ten hunters before her. The hunters were confused but still felt hopeless, knowing Lilith wouldn''t spare them. However, the words that Lilith spoke a secondter stirred their souls. "Congrats, I will give you a chance to live," Lilith smiled. "But on one condition." The ten hunters waited with bated breath, their eyes flickering with light for the first time in past hours. "I will start with the weakest of you," Lilith twirled her finger and freed two hunters that were weakest among the ten. "W-what condition?" the man looking in histe twenties with short dark blond hair asked. The other man, who looked a bit older and was a dark elf, eagerly waited. "Cross the umbral membrane and find the two Noble-order hunters." Lilith created a portrait of Rin and Erix using Prana. "T-Then?" Lilith smiled, "Fight with them and kill them. If you win, you may leave." "They¡­ aren''t those t-two your people?" "They are. They will even attack you, so the abyss rule will deactivate," Lilith sharply grinned. "Kill them, and you are free." "But I''ll be observing you, and if you try to escape, you should already know that I''ve nted something in your bodies that will kill you instantly." Both men fearfully nodded, fully aware of the fact. But deep in their eyes were lights filled with hope and ruthlessness. They would kill those two and win, no matter what! ¡­ Fifteen minutes before Lilith freed those two... Erix pointed his right arm at Rin, littered with entric lining formations that glowed. It lit up in a dark, hazy purple aura with a silver hue before the silver hue increased in intensity, coating his arm like a glowing neo-liquid. "Is that the final product?" Rin asked while stasis dark red, blue, and other blinking colorful lights stilled around her. She was giving random forms to her Chronace Storm with chaotic timeps, so the interaction of Chronace Flow with lightning and wind created colorful lights around her that sometimes slowly moved while other times blurred. There were abundant different flows of time around her and in her Chronace Storm. Upon learning to control this, Rin started feeling the essence of time more than ever. She had basically mastered 1st realm of Time. "Let''s sh and see if we seeded," Erix grinned and floated thirty meters away from Rin. Rin floated with a drawing stance, ready to sh her long Katana as a strange criss-cross Chronace flow surrounded its de. Meanwhile. the stasis Chronace Storm around her started moving slowly in a chaotic way as swirls formed around her, and even more swirled within those swirls. Erix grinned when he saw that phenomenon, "Awesome, babe." "Hehe, bring it on. I can''t believe we both were on the same thing and also managed to seed in creating different styles," Rin excitedly said. Erixughed and stretched his right leg forward and left one backward while pulling his arm back at his waist level, standing sideways with his head turned to the left, facing Rin. He was ready to release a straight punch in his unique but stylish-looking stance. "2000 Mana, 100 spirit force," Erix said. "I will use 100 Vigor Force while you can use the same potency of your de energy." "Alright," Rin nodded. The duo distributed their energies after consuming 1000 Mana. Rin''s de glowed, and her Chronace flow slightly reduced in size but condensed more. Rin believed she could initiate turbulence with a flick of her finger from her Chronace Storm in her every de attack. "I am ready," Rin said. On the other hand, Erix had finished what he called a Skill Shooter. His entire right arm had an exotic metal fundamental structure designed specially to release his most powerful punch with a turbulent force that his Vigor Force would randomly generate and boost his skill. "Three," Erix said, a grin stretching on his face. "Two," Rin tightened her grip, the veins all over her body faintly glowing. "One." The Chronace Storm around Rin instantly started bending and following as Rin drew her de and swung it horizontally and vertically at a precise speed, with the vertical sh fully imbuing the chaotic flow around her cross-sh''s four gaps as if binding the shes but contained such power that the space was literally shredding as it traveled. At the same time, Erix''s entire body had turned pitch ck for a second before it flooded with vigor force that chaotically traveled into his arm at once right when he released the punch. The dark purple my and silver-sparkling punch projectile that left his fist carrying full power of his execution looked as if death itself wasing, increasing to five meters in size as the vigor force infused into it chaotically, creating swirls of turbulent forces as the energies mixed and condensed each other while increasing in potency. His punch projectile could be dispersed by its own chaotic structure that was generated due to Virgor force, but both attacks were too fast as they shed within the second after the duo executed them. The cross-sh and punch projectile shed, and time stopped briefly before a chaotic explosion urred. The shockwaves resulting from the sh decimated and destroyed the dark forest within five kilometers and killed a few Noble-order shades within two kilometers. Meanwhile, Erix and Rin were shot backward forcefully several meters despite trying to resist. They were having goosebumps and a rush of thrill as they felt the power of the sh. And a secondter, both of them got a notification. [Congrattions, you have¡­] Chapter 227: Chaos, Etherine Veil, Beginning of First Mark (6/8) [Congrattions, you have awakened the Chaos concept.] [Chaos Concept] _Type: Ethereal-concept. _Realm: Alpha. _Effect: You can actively cause chaos to anything with your thoughts but require Spirit Force to cause it on stronger scales. Chaotic energies have a 50% more potent reactive output. discover-stories-on-NovelBin "Darling, did you get any notification?" Erixughed in response as he appeared behind Rinwith teleport and hugged her, "of course!" Rin grinned and turned around to face him before pecking on his lips. "Let''s quickly learn to apply this concept better and create theories to test them out on ouring challengers," Rin grinned. The duo didn''t waste more time and sat down cross-legged, facing each other while consuming some Mana and turning it into various energies before finding various uses for their new concept. The duo created a chaotic force using their energies and used it to empower their skills. In a sense, they understood the surface essence of chaos with the inspiration from turbulence and managed to awaken the Chaos concept. And with Chaos being a highly versatile concept, the direction they both would have when reaching the 2nd realm in the Chaos concept would be wholly different. "Rin, I''m gonna check out the new metal I got. Hit me with your spirit force if our challengerses." "Alright." Erix closed his eyes, his consciousness entering his Origin region where a mysterious dreamy orb disying a strange scenery was floating above his Metal nexus. That orb was his Metal world. Entering inside, he observed the tiny world that was 1000 kilometers in diameter area and filled with exotic metals that he had learned to create so far.'' He could connect this metal world to some random Metal dimension, and it was connected to a strange one at the moment. Erix''s consciousness observed the center of his Metal world where a circr hole connected to a Metal dimension. It would randomly spew metal elements and form ore veins in his Metal world. ''Interesting¡­this metal ispletely different and attribute-less,'' Erix was surprised. This new dimension was just connected today, and he wanted to add this new metal to his final product. ''Hmm, I got all primary elements mixed up in the new metal, so should I add this attribute-less one into it?'' Erix thought only for a second before he made the decision. Without hesitation, Erix pulled out a chunk of this newpletely white metal and added it into a colorful chunk of metal resting on a huge cauldron. Erix''s Metal Nexus effect activated as he scanned the new metalpletely in a minute, learning to create its structure. It was a Tier-4 metal, and he was used to their structures after scanning over twenty Tier-4 metals so far. After he was done with that part, Erix used his Devorex Metal attribute-concept to devour that Tier-4.5 metal he created from various attributed-metals and mixed it into this new attribute-less metal. His Metal world started shaking and changing. Since everything was made of various metals in this world that Erix had learned, this new metal also caused changes to it. After two minutes of process, Erix was surprised to see a crystal-like light blue metal with a condensed woven internal structure with differentplex microyers. ''Is this my first Tier-5 metal?'' Erix''s eyes shone, and he quickly inspected it. [Etherine Veil] _Rank: Tier-5 _Effects: ¡ª> Defense Structure: A metal with general defense against all magical forces but weak against attacks of pure physical medium. ¡ª> Offense Structure: Attacks released through/with this metal have some pration against magical defenses. ¡ª> Quirks: The metal resonates with magical energies, giving energies channeled through it a 10% passive boost in their powers. Erix read the effects and understood one absolute thing¡ªthis metal was so far best for his skills that would use the Chaos concept. Its defense was also crazily powerful yet very weak. For instance, if he released the Sling Shot punch in projectile form, then this metal would disy high resistance against it, even absorbing the magical energies of the projectile. However, if Erix executed the same Sling Shot punch and physically connected his fist to hit a shield made from this metal, he would easily shatter it! The strength and weakness of this metal was tant and extreme on both sides. ''But if the enemies don''t know its weakness, I can use this metal for a defense skill,'' Erix internally nodded. Erix immediately started scanning the new metal, and it took three minutes total before he was able to reproduce it. Right as he finished, he also got a nudge from Rin''s spirit force. "Our first guests are here." Two powerful auras were rapidly approaching them. Erix opened his eyes before his entire right arm transformed from flesh into the Etherine Veil. Rin was also ready with not one, but actually two katanas! The second one was made from pure mana as it glistened blue-white. "Dual wielding?" Erix raised his eyebrows. Rin grinned, "This Mana de will make it easier for me to create more Chronace Flow and make my attack chaotic directly." "Mhm, that''s a good idea," Erix nodded. He understood what Rin wanted to do. "You seem to have gotten a new metal," Rin looked at Erix''s right arm. "It''s stronger." "Yep." The duo turned to the forest as two presences neared and slowed. Five hundred meters away, the two men saw Rin and Erix with their auras rising in the sky. "They are giving us signal¡­" one of the Royal-order hunters muttered. "We kill them and live," the dark elf gritted his teeth. "Go all out from the start the moment they attack us." They resumed flying and floated fifty meters away from Rin and Erix, just in enough strange to put them into their domain. "Wait a minute, we''ll attack you soon so you can kill us," Erix deviously smiled at the duo before he took out a Mana potion and drank half of it. Rin also did the same. Since both of them consumed 2000 Mana to make preparation for their attacks before the fight, they chugged half a potion again to make it full. Dark elf and the dark blond human male felt humiliation like never before. They could see that these two Noble-order hunters were looking forward instead of feeling fear. ''I am having a bad feeling¡­'' the dark elf thought. "Alright, we are ready," Erix said before he and Rin consumed 2 points of Mana and attacked both Royal-order at once with just a minor hit to deactivate their protections. Right after that, both of them felt an irresistible force enveloping them before the scenery changed. Erix arrived in a world of colorful crystal cubes with a wobbly atmosphere and wavy space, while Rin arrived onnd with various types of swords buried on the ground, facing the dark gold-haired man. *Swoosh!* Instantly, five swords shot toward Rin from different directions, but all of them missed her even though she didn''t move as her Chronace storm started moving. ''What?!'' Dilek was shocked. ''It''s guaranteed hit, but¡­what is that power?'' Rin narrowed her eyes and said, "Stop looking down on me, or you''ll die." *Swoosh!* Dilek felt a chill as Rin pointed her des at him. ''Damn it.'' He didn''t want to look down, but seeing that his opponent was a Noble-order hunter, he just instinctively acted like he was facing an ant. *Swoosh!* Rin wanted to face a few more attacks before releasing hers. Meanwhile, Erix''s chaotic whirling punch struck the Dark Elf squarely as he wasted no time. Severely injured at once, the dark elf felt his consciousness fleeting and his domain shattering as they appeared back outside. ''Woah, that was stronger than I expected,'' Erix was shocked at his own attack because it was only worth 1200 Mana as he reserved some power! The dark elf tried to recover using potions while Erix waited and tinkered with the formation on his arm. ''Damn it, damn it! What the fuck is that power?'' ''Is it a damn Exotic element?'' ''My wounds..'' The dark elf chugged another potion upon seeing his low recovery. ''Death and fire¡­it''s a Super Exotic element.. the third element¡­.space?'' the Dark elf felt bbergasted and then envious like never before. ''His metal affinity is as high as my highest element¡­What the fuck is this Noble-order hunter? Why is he still at such a low level?!'' "You done?" Erix asked after a minute as he finished tinkering. *BOOM* Suddenly, a loud cracking and boom urred nearby as Rin emerged with minor wounds on her hands, but her opponent¡­ The man fell down with his body cut into meshed-up pieces. At that moment, the dark elf felt his stomach churning and his mind nking. Not because his partner died at the hands of a Noble-order hunter. No. But because¡­he realized why the two of them, the weakest of the ten, were freed and given a chance to live. They¡­they were being used as sharpening stones for these two crazy Noble-order hunters! Chapter 228: Beginning of First Mark (7/8) "Hey, do you want to defend or attack?" Erix asked, causing the dark elf to snap out of his despaired daze. "Y-you¡­Let me go, and I''ll do whatever you say." "Alright," Erix nodded with a smile. "You are free to gobating against me for a total of one minute." "Nice idea," Rin chuckled as she flew towards the hunter she killed and picked up his Hunter card. ''He should have a good loot.'' "Alright," the dark elf nodded with resolve as several crystal cubes conjured around him while a bow appeared in his hand. *Swoosh!* The cubes releasedsers toward Erix, whose spirit sense immediately allowed him to react despite his lower stats and created wormholes¡­with a Nihilir Wisp in each of them. Thesers entered inside the wormhole before immediately bing stationary inside the parallel space. Space Limbo! *BOOM!* Meanwhile, Erix had already thrown a punch as his right arm was already ready. The vigor forces turned chaotic as he channeled it throughout his body before gushing towards his arm and exerting his physical strength before throwing the punch imposed by the chaotic concept! *BOOM!* The dark elf''s face turned ashen as his cubes shone and immediately coated his body with thinyered coatings before the dark purple punch projectile whirling chaotically with dark orange and silver energy inside came out of a wormhole behind him and struck him! A groan left his mouth along with blood as theyered defenses covering him shattered except for thest one, but the chaotic impact still passed through it and damaged him. After shooting a couple of kilometers while crashing, he finally stopped and spewed out blood. ''This damn element! Death, me, and Space mixed up is fucking cheating!'' The dark elf''s bloodshot eyes saw Erix two kilometers away, floating and looking at him with a smile before he saw thesers he sent towards Erix breaking down into Space Limbo. ''Chaos¡­haha, it''s awesome,'' Erix spent some Spirit force and caused thesers'' energies to turn chaotic before mixing his own 500 points of Nihilir essence by consuming 500 Mana. An amalgamatic orb formed with dark purple outeryers but colorful, chaotic energies whirling inside, Erix took control after imposing his Chaos concept and containing it within his Nihilir essence! He sent the orb towards the dark elf, who didn''t take any chances and immediately vanished from the spot by exerting his highest physical and magical power as a pair of wings conjured and pped behind him instantly. *Swoosh!* His speed was clearly faster than Erix''s, but Erix was not moving orpeting with him in raw speed. *Swoosh!* "That coating defense was a nice idea to defend against my attacks," Erixughed before he blinked away from his spot, narrowly dodging an array of arrows that shot in his direction, scraping walls of the mountain after missing him as the huge chunks of rocks fell on the river. ''Damn it!'' The dark elf cursed, but he didn''t want to give up. Erix readied his death zone as wormholes littered the sky a kilometer above and started shooting his punches, all with chaos concept applied them using at least 50 Vigor force. ''Let''s properly use him,'' Erix internally thought with excitement, fully intending to use this Royal-order to create a technique he had envisioned. Rin and Erix only had one goal. To create an absolutely powerful technique with their strongest power. A technique capable of one-shotting unsuspecting Royal-order hunters. While Erix was going all out,bating the desperate dark elf, who also showed a tough stance and managed to injure Erix slightly. ''Wow, honey. Your defense has gone up,'' Rin''s eyes shone. ''Haha, yeah. This new metal is awesome.'' One minute passed, and the dark elf automatically stopped, quickly shouting as he raised his arms, "Time up! Time up!" "Let me go, please!" "There''s a catch," Erix chuckled in response. "What?" the dark elf nervously asked. "What valuable things do you have in your hunter card?" Erix asked with a smile. *Crackle!* Rin crackled her dark red lightning, pointing her katana at the man, "If you will speak the truth, we won''t have to confirm it after killing you." "I¡­I have one Tier-6 item, but it''s one-time use," the dark elf knelt and said, "I need this item because it can cure a high level of poisons. Aside from this, I only have seven low-grade Prana stones." "I was doing thisst job to earn some money before returning¡­" The dark elf man shed tears as he smacked his head on the ground. "Please let me go. I will remember this favor." "Give me those Prana stones, and you can leave," Erix said with a grin, "but when you return, go back to the treehouse and tell others that you killed one and managed to get your life." Erix turned his head to the right, looking at Lilith''s shadow eye bird. The bird nodded as Lilith heard him. "Haha, good idea," Rin snickered. "Understood," the dark elf quickly took out Prana stones as they floated towards Erix. After the dark elf left, Rin and Erix didn''t waste any time and started improving themselves. All they wanted was to create just one skill technique, and they only focused on it. Lilith''s pills were helping them a lot. After an hour, Lilith saw that Rin and Erix were ready after they improved again and sent two more Royal-order hunters. She sent them ording to their powers while also giving the duo the tough challenge they sought. Rin and Erix fought against them for several minutes and even injured themselves in the process since fighting inside their domains was tough. Rin fought her battle at a certain distance away from Erix so that his source wouldn''t actively absorb death power from the dead Royal-order she killed. On the other hand, Erix once again spared his enemy afterpletely looting him. He didn''t want to add more death power to his source, especially death power produced by a Royal-order being''s death. The shades were already dead, so they dispersed, but killing a living would produce death power he didn''t want. And after this second battle, both of them finally saw a glimpse of what kind of skill technique they wanted! -official The duo once again entered meditation and started weaving their magic with an intense thirst for power and no blocks to stop them from improving, thanks to the Nabulous Boom Pills! Chapter 229: Beginning of First Mark! (8/8), Echoing Far & Wide! (1) [A/N: Cooking begins] Rin and Erix sat on a tree branch a hundred meter away from the raging river. The destroyed forest in the area was magically recovering. The dark shade trees and nts of various dark colors automatically fixed again with no trace of previous destruction of the battle. They had defeated a total of six Royal order hunters so far in the past five hours. Naturally, they only spent around ten minutes battling while they spent the rest on training and improving. Although the fights were short, they were intense and tough, giving them ideas and refining theirbat. But they mustplete their new skill technique andbat style before fighting the next two Royal-order hunters as they were more powerful, even slightly more powerful than Morgana and Zenia. "Erix, let''s spar for a bit." "Yeah, I was thinking the same." The duo floated with a hundred-meter distance between them. Erix''s both arms were modified into metallic Etherine Veil metal, shining dark purple and faint silver with entrically woven patterns. A faint dark purple aura coated his arms as well. On the other hand, Rin had started dual-wielding. Using de Eater in one hand and a in Mana-de in another. Her newbat style was set in stone with her idea of imposing chaos concept swiftly with her Mana-de and empowering any skill techniques she executes through her de Eater! Since it was a pure Mana-de, Rin could transform it into any element she had, so she could just flow her second de with her skill execution, creating Chronace flow and imposing chaos concept in it before properly and precisely merging with her skills to empower it! But she had yet to master thisbat style and create an ultimate skill for one shot. Erix was not in the same situation, but a simr one as the chaos he produced in his punch using Vigor force was still not giving a powerful enough boost for a one-shot kill. Just like Rin, he had also yet to create an ultimate skill that could bring out the full potential of the Chaos concept. Thus, the duo started sparring, trying various magic applications they learned from various skills and observative understanding from others to refine¡ªnay, to redefine theirbat styles. An hour quickly passed as they fought each other, sat before each other to share various views, and fought again. There was not a moment of waste, and the Pills were aiding them in their endeavor in this path to power. As time passed and minutes turned into another hour, theirbat forms increasingly expanded and became exotic. discover-stories-NovelBin The closer they reached their goals, the more excitement and thrill burned in their eyes. And then, they finished it. They did it. They...redefined theirbat styles and carved out an entirely new battle path for themselves! ¡­ "It costs a lot of Mana, but we can just chug a Mana recovery potion right after entering the forms." "You can convert your Stamina into Mana, so you wouldn''t have much problem in that regard. But I am fine with this as well. Hehe, we created something awesome." "I think we should call it Combat Art forms," Erix asked, his demeanor disying an intense thrill. "What do you say?" "This is crazy¡­from now on, we will create Combat Art forms like this and the their skill....we can call them Skillcrafts!" Rin excitedly grinned. "Skillcraft is perfect name for our new type of skills!" "We should also name our Combat Art forms," Rin nodded. "Hmmm, since I made use of that Celestial Spiral Waves''s formations in mybat form, I''ll name it¡­" Erix trailed off in his murmurs. "Celestial Chaos form!" "I look pretty celestial chaotic in my battle form, so it suits," Erix added with a grin. "Then I''ll name mine Asura Chaos form," Rin grinned, "It also suits with the looks." "Alright, let''s do proper execution of our first skillcrafts and thenpletely master the sustainance of our forms." Rin nodded with an eager smile, "we''ll tell Lilith to send next two after that." Both of them distanced themselves several tens of meters before initiating their newbat style. It was no longer about using skills like others. No. From now onward, they would use thei Combat Art forms before battling! Rin''s whole body shone briefly along with patterns before six strange starlight-liquidy golden des with dark red sparks floated behind her. -1800 Mana. She also charged up her de Eater as it took the form of Katana with a spiraling criss-cross Chronace Flow around its de. -1000 Mana. And then, she spent 1200 Mana to create tiny chaotic chronace storms around the six floating des. ''Focus and control.'' She stayed like that after consuming 4000 Mana and entering her Combat form. On the other hand, Erix''s arms blurred briefly as he consumed 2600 Mana and caused a swift movement of his arms and hands, creating two whirling spheres of Nihilir before him as they floated to his left and right. Erix''s eyes shed dreamy silvery as those 1-meter-sized orbs phased through the material ne and entered Space Limbo, where he could control and maintain them better with his Space matter maniption. Afterward, his arms entrically glowed as he activated the formations and infused Nihilir essence worth 1000 Mana into both of his arms. Total cost 4600 Mana. His arms were glowing vtile as he focused on maintaining control of the formations in his arms and the chaotic spheres. Erix and Rin didn''t move an inch after that, fully focusing and getting used to their respective Combat Arts''s initial forms. After twenty minutes of pure focus and control, observing every aspect of their form and imprinting it in their consciousness, they were finally ready to test the waters. "Ready?" Erix smacked his fists together as they released silverly-purple sparks. "Ready," Rin nodded as she wielded de Eater and a Mana-de while the six chaotic des floated behind her. Both of them chugged a bit from a Mana potion. "One execution, one-sixth consumption ofbat art form," Erix said, setting the rules. "My 100 de energy, your 250 Vigor force, and both 100 Spirit force," Rin replied, consuming 100 de energy as it infused into her de, empowering it. Erix nodded, using 250 Vigor Force. They had roughly checked that Rin''s 100 de energy gave a boost equivalent to the boost given by 250 Vigor Force. Both of them also used Spirit force, empowering their formations of the skill that could only be executed in theirbat art forms. They looked at each other''s eyes with a focus for twoplete seconds before moving simultaneously, each consuming 1000 Mana for the Skillcraft''s release. Erix widely swung both of his hands forward inriat-style, his fists going through the two 1-meter big spheres, all while he exerted his physical strength and stored it for a brief millisecond. His right fist emerged from the right sphere first, instantly producing a punch projectile seething with spiraling chaos swirls, but his left fist emerged exactly 0.01 seconds afterward, instantly producing another punch projectile raging with utterly random flow inside the fist-form projectile. The second punch instantly infused into the first one, making it more chaotic. His Nihilir element was more than capable of maintaining the form with his control. The meter big dark purple-faint silver punch projectile with my violet waves and dark blue exotic whirls chaotically seething inside shot forward. The punch projectile looked utterly devastating yet perfectly shaped. -Combat Art: Celestial Chaos form¡ªCost: 4600 Mana. -First Skillcraft: Resonating Turbulent Punch!¡ªCost: 1000 Mana. This Punch projectile had the power of his Nihilir element as its foundation, boosted by his Passive skills, Vigor Force, Spirit Force, Death affinity''s boosts, Space affinity''s boosts, me affinity''s boost¡­ Offensive application of his Nihilir element¡ªDismantle aspect. Chaos concept''s boost! Punch Concept''s boost! Most importantly, his Metal affinity''s boosts on his Etherine Veil metal arms carved with magic formations and Combat Art weaved all those forces and empowered them into this form of punch! On the other hand, Rin also expended one-sixth of herbat form''s portion. After swinging her de Eater-Katana first at a precise speed horizontally ording to the execution, her left hand holding the Mana-de swung vertically while one of her six chaotic des instantly merged into Mana-de with her absolute control over flow and time around her. Her thick horizontal sh immediately got stuck by her vertical sh before they merged into a spinning cross-sh, the spin maintaining the chaotic phenomenon of her Chronace flow, bing brightly colorful and vtile. -1200 Mana. The sparkling dark-red cross-sh with small dark gold swirls and cross-cross flow around it shot forward, bringing it with the chaotic, colorful sphere around it. -Combat Art: Asura Chaos form¡ªcost: 4000 Mana. -First Skillcraft: Chaotic Cross-sh!¡ªcost: 1200 Mana. This move had the power of her Chronace flow as a perfect foundation that allowed her to properly contain the reactive chaos that would result until the sh. Boosted by her Passive skills, Spirit Force, de Energy, Lightning Affinity''s boosts, Wind Affinity''s boosts, Chronace Affinity''s boosts, Time Affinity''s single boost¡­ -Offensive application of her Chronace Flow: Dissolution flow. -de concept''s boosts! -Chaos concept''s boost! -And her entrically waved split formations with one executing through her body and one on her Mana-de that forged this Chaotic Cross-sh through her Asura Chaosbat form! Finally, there was one most interesting thing. Rin''s application of chaos and Skillcraft was the exact opposite of Erix''s application in his Skillcraft!¡ªsuch was the wonder of the Chaos concept: highly versatile as long as one had power, means, and wits to guide it! *Sworrrrr¡­Boom!* The Resonating Turbulent Punch and Chaotic Cross-sh shed against each other, immediately sting into a pitch-ck explosion before it turned colorful and chaotic, clearly shattering the space due to the reactive output of chaotic energies that resulted from the sh! Both of them also shot backward due to the shockwaves while reeling with excitement deep within! These two attacks! They were the most powerful attacks they''ve executed to date, and they hadn''t even gone all out yet! ... Lilith was also watching them, her eyes shining with amazement and excitement. ''Superbly done, you two!'' Her fists were clenched without her knowing as she felt such a thrill after a long time. Lilith even felt she could improve herbat power significantly from what she observed and learned from the duo! Chapter 230: Echoing Far & Wide! (2) *Swoosh!* In thendscape of dark orange crystal and stormy-ice atmosphere, Erix was in a close and nonstop battle. The enemy was a Beastfolk, but purer as he had a lizard head and dark orange scaled figure with a thick tail and two small horns. Possing a powerful bloodline and in this destructive Frostze domain he conjured, the enemy swept away Erix''s Death Zone with only minor injuries. Erix dodged an array of scorching dark orange bullets while creating an Etherine Veil te for one bullet he knew he wouldn''t be able to dodge before teleporting. *Blink* ''Fuck, close..'' Erix appeared a few kilometers away while his defense te melted and was destroyed as he felt the lingering searing heat and frostbite on his left shoulder. There was a huge gash on his back where his flesh was melting and bubbling, creating a dirty wound. His spinal cord was injured, causing hot yet cold bouts of pain, but he could ignore that. He had to ignore that. Erix was hit by an attack that shaved away 26% of his Life Orb, and this injury was not even healing at all with its debuff. He only had time to drink one potion, and it could only be Mana because he needed to continue fighting and live to defeat his foe. ''It looks like this is it,'' Erix''s expression was somber, just like his enemy, as they both constantly moved, with Erix mainly escaping and dodging. Unlike the other Royal-order hunters he had faced before, he couldn''t afford a moment''s waste or distraction in this battle. The enemy strongest he had faced yet and also thest Royal-order challenger. This battle was dangerous enough to cost his life anytime, so it was time to wrap this up as fast as possible. Erix''s eyes glinted as he teleported a kilometer away from the Lizardman before his body briefly shone with vein-like patterns all over, and his arms blurred, sweeping forward masterfully as two chaotic spheres conjured before him and immediately phased into Space Limbo. Combat Art: Celestial Chaos form! ''Damn it. I have to finish him off¡­'' the Lizardman thought, getting an ominous feeling seeing Erix. ''I only managed to hit him once. Fuck, even Royal-order hunters don''t dodge and do narrow defenses like him.'' ''But his Space powers and superiorbat sense are helping him¡­'' ''I''ll have to trap him. The frontal and even sneaky attacks are useless against him,'' the Lizardman thought as he controlled his domain. Erix ran and escaped from attacks while in his Celestial Chaosbat form as the enemy started constant attacks with his domain''s advantage. Even if he teleported quickly, the attacks would immediately arrive there, ready to strike him, but he was still fast and would narrowly dodge. Several secondster, Erix suddenly felt a frosty fountain bursting onto him from behind, slowing his movement and freezing him. Immediately after that, two giant ice-me dragons conjured. Erix knew he wouldn''t be able to dodge this wide area attack, and it was only a matter of less than a second before both dragon''s devastating condensed beams from their mouths hit him. ''But I am prepared.'' Erix grinned for the first time since the battle started, his eyes visioning his path to victory. ''Paintscape.'' Erix''s eyes shone silverly before a thin wall of space matter pped on Erix, phasing him into Space Limbo right before those beams arrived, and even fixed the space disturbance to prevent the beams from affecting Erix. He created a new use of his Space element to dodge attacks, though he had to be mindful of his Mana. The beams passed by Erix while he teleported from Space Limbo instantly. The orbs were in Space Limbo but moved paralleled alongside him to his left and right. The Lizardman immediately turned around and sensed Erix five hundred meters away, but the only thing he saw was¡­ The Resonating Turbulent Punch! Lizardman''s danger rms rang loudly as his body burst out with blood-red particles that transformed as he consumed his Blood Essence to boost his defense skill. Right before the punch projectile reached him, an entric prism barrier surrounded him. *BOOM!* Erix grinned, his eyes sharp as he teleported to the right of Lizardman before the two chaotic orbs merged into each other, and he swung his fists again. The chaotic energies were vacuumed and infused as his fists produced Punch projectiles due to his Punch Ordnance effect,pacting the chaos within them. Both Punches shot forward while spinning around each other with chaotic energies raging within them and around them! Perfect-formed Resonating Turbulent Punch! *BOOM* ''Arghhh!'' Lizardman''s bloodshot eyes indicated that he was infusing the energy of his defense to strengthen it, but the immediate impact of a full-powered second punch instantly destroyed his barrier. *Crack!* reading-here-on-NovelBin The domain shattered as they returned to the material world. The powerful and destructive impact sted the Lizardman away with severe injuries as he shot through the sky. Erix narrowed his eyes as he teleported at a maximum distance before creating a space wall to stop Lizardman and throwing a Symphony Echo Punch at near point-nk range. The Lizardman was still conscious despite severe injuries and hurriedly executed a defensive skill, but it couldn''t fully form before Erix''s punch struck him! *Booom!* *St!* Blood and gore exploded as the tough andst Royal-order challenger met his demise. *Crackle¡­Boom!* On the other hand, Erix''s eyes reflected bright light and explosion a few kilometers ahead as the domain of Rin''s foe shattered with herrge Chaotic Cross-sh, finishing off her opponent. Her left leg was horribly injured, with minor shockwave injuries around her body. Both of them immediately drank healing potions first as their injuries started recovering. With how they have improved in the four hours after they created their Combat Arts and defeated two Royal-order powerhouses, they had already perfected the one-shot execution sequence. However, the duo still encountered dangerously narrow moments of life & death and suffered injuries for one reason only. They wanted to properly fight thest two Royal-order hunters for situations like ''what if they failed to one-shot?''. They wanted to fight a fair and narrow battle against thest two that would push them to their limits before having to use their trump card. After finishing the potion, Rin looked at Erix, who floated a few kilometers away, showing him a victory gesture with her index and middle finger and a big grin on her face. Erixughed and teleported beside her before hugging her. They hadpleted their challenges, defeating all ten Royal order hunters, and gained massive improvements! If someone told them they would be this powerful and create such means ofbat one day ago, even they wouldn''t believe it! "Congrattions, you two. Simply wonderful." Lilith shed like a shadow before them as she pped with a grin, "You two are officially invincible in this Kanx Abyss. No one can kill you two unless, well, you court your death yourselves." "Then I guess we are not invincible," Rin chuckled. "Because we be more powerful only by courting death and keeping it close." "Can''t deny that," Erixughed. "I am super proud, hahaha. You two exceeded my expectations."" Liith joyfully hugged them tight. "But we are still not done yet," Erix smiled, his eyes still lit up with vigorous mes. "The effect of pillssts 24 hours, and we''ve only spent nine-plus hours so far," Rin grinned. "The new day has already begun, so you two should do your special spiritual art training," Lilith nodded in response, her eyes glinting, "You will have a double boost for one and a half hours. That''s going to be a crazy session¡­." Erix and Rin looked at each other, thrilled! The benefits of Limitless ne + Pills = crazy training mode! "Go and cook something for me," Lilith grinned, "I''ll stay here and guard you. ... "All died? Hahaha..." The Rat kingughed in his underground chamber, his eyes glinting red. "But this is just the beginning. You have to kill more." Suddenly, a man with a duck head and short stature entered the chamber with a respectful expression and bowed, "Sir, the six elite Royal-order dragons have arrived." "They are here? Perfect!" The Rat-king immediately stood up from hisfy couch and gathered the hundreds ofm cards and Hunter cards that littered the table before him. "Lead them here and also call those subordinates of Dark Sterling Valen. They are at Red Yak Inn having fun with snake women, so if they don''t want toe, tell them toe after they are done." Duckman internally scoffed while he nodded outside and bowed. "Understood, master." Chapter 231: Echoing Far & Wide! (3), 3rd Zone of Spada Valley? Rin and Erix made full use of their highly concentrated and enlighten-attentive state for one hour and thirty minutes inside Limitless ne. The double boost had pulled all the stops for them. As long as they focused, learned, worked hard, and kept their mind open and running, they would improve¡­at breakneck speed with no obstructions. They did just that and were making rapid progress in not just one but multiple areas. It was just like how ancient geniuses created forms, maths, scientific foundations, and such¡­Rin and Erix were also on their own path, carving it out. This was inevitable. Rin and Erix had so much potential in them that they could constantly improve significantly as long as they decided to improve while they wrestled for opportunities, resources, and sought knowledge for power. They would eventually face some walls like everyone. No one on the path to power was an exception to this rule, not even those scientists and geniuses, as all of them had faced problems and blocks. But, for our duo, it wouldn''t be anytime soon. ¡­ After an hour and a half, the duo opened their eyes and shone with a profound light while sparkling with brilliance. But they still had hours to spend under the effect of pills, so without wasting any time, the duo went deeper into the Spada Valley with Lilith. "Your second challenge is more dangerous and simple," Lilith said as she flew ahead of the duo. "To reach the border of the 2nd zone and briefly enter the 3rd zone." m|vle mp _yr novel source "We are still in the middle of the 1st zone. There are not many threats here, but when we near the 2nd zone, we''ll face aggressive Umbral monsters that the 3rd zone produces." "In the 2nd zone, evenmon threats there can take a Royal-order hunter''s life if they are not careful, so keep your senses fully cautious and soul sense spread out." Lilith smiled and added, "You will attract monsters by doing that, but all you have is to kill them and survive while progressing ahead." "Erix, some deaths of those Royal-order hunters were unavoidable, so your source got some death power, but you don''t need to worry about that when fighting Umbral monsters. When you kill them, they don''t produce death power, and their energies are absorbed by their origin." "Which is in the 3rd zone," Lilith finished speaking before she took out two talismans and gave them to the duo. "This will only activate when a phenomenon-rted threat to your life appears. I wouldn''t want two of you to sumb because of bad luck," Lilith rolled her eyes. "What about you?" Erix asked. "I''ll go ahead and wait for you two at the end of the 2nd zone," Lilith chuckled, "Good luck." "We''ll be there," Rin grinned. Lilith''s body turned into a wisp, her speed far higher than Rin and Erix''s, as she soon disappeared from their views. Meanwhile, Rin and Erix continued flying at moderate speed for a while before they finally started encountering stronger and more aggressive umbral monsters. A beautiful dark blue lustrous tree with dark colorful leaves would turn out to be a powerful monster with offense equivalent to Royal-order! It had powerful defense and used annoying wide-area skills that reduced its five senses and poisoned them. But the duo could still precisely hit it and destroy the monster by using their spirit sense. When they reached the membrane at the end of the 1st zone, they encountered a powerful beastly monster looking like a rabbit but almost two meters in size with a single horn. It had deadly swiftness, enough to sense and even dodge Erix''s attacks, and had pinpoint sharp offense from its eyes and ws. However, it had weaker defenses, and Rin managed to trap it with her Chronace flow, affecting and disorienting its movements while Erix dealt it a finishing blow. Rin was focusing more on the Time element aspect as she wanted to reach 2nd realm in her Time affinity. Meanwhile, Erix was focusing on the me aspect in his Nihilir and using destructive Nihilir wisps more as he wanted to focus on me affinity and make progress in it. "Let''s see if it''s as notorious as people make it," Erix said, looking at the membrane separating the 2nd and 1st zone of Spada Valley. Rin nodded, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and anticipation of the challenges that awaited them. The duo passed through the thin dimensional curtain and arrived in apletely different ce, but it was still the valley. However, the sky changed. They could see three ck moons in the sky along with the usual dark sky of Kanx Abyss and its celestial astral scenery that was random daily. "Interesting¡­.the flow of time is behaving differently here," Rin muttered, her eyes faintly shining with tiny white-gold sparks. *Roar!* *Krooooo!* Roars, howls, and other strange sounds reverberated, and they were directed straight toward Rin and Erix, who had just entered the 2nd zone! "Let''s go," Erix grinned, his aura ferocious. Rin''s eyes flickered with lightning, her smile wide and devilish. "Race to the end and kill count." "Haha, bring it on." Both of them vanished from their spot with a thunderous boom, going straight towards the monsters that wereing at them. ¡­ Lily stayed at the treehouse to stand guard and watch over the barrier. Erix''s portal was also activated near her couch. It led to the secret deep underground cavern where Maleina, Rein, and Lynia were working on creating potions. "It''s been ten hours since Lady Lilith left¡­" Lily muttered. "They should have reached 3rd zone." "Miss Lily, we''ve finished the ingredients." Lynia emerged from the portal and said, her expression deadpan. Lily turned to the portal and saw Rein emerging after Lynia reported her, followed by Maleina. The trio walked before her. ''That bitch doesn''t seem to be here,'' Rein thought as she didn''t sense any other presence aside from Lily. "Just sit and rx or train in meditation," Lily said nonchntly. "So no more potion creating?" "No. Not for now. Give me the stock you crafted." Maleina transferred 300 potions to Lily from her Hunter card. Suddenly, everyone felt a familiar aura approaching them. Lily smiled and stood up, and just a second after that, Lilith arrived at the treehouse. Lilith walked towards the house with Rin and Erix floating to her sides. Their eyes were open but whirling with ck whirlpools and colorful dark-colored sparks. She vanished and put Rin and Erix on the bed before returning. "How did they handle it?" Lily asked with a weak smile, "I''m sure they are faring better than me." Lilith chuckled, "I''ll not lie, but they are indeed doing better. It''s just that their own thoughts and ambitions highly refine their will and the hard work they do by going above their limit." "But the 3rd zone has changed since thest time we came here, the connected dimension even more," Lilith said after she sat on the couch and leaned, her eyes showing some exhaustion. "Y-You¡­you went into the 3rd zone?!" Rein was rmed. "Why? You never went there?" Lilith yfully smiled. "Isn''t that the forbidden ce of no return?" Maleina asked, her eyebrows creasing. "Even people in the core domain know that even Empyrean powerhouses don''t dare to go there." Chapter 232: Echoing Far & wide! (4), Eve before the Calamity "The rumors are not false," Lilith lightlyughed, "but they are not entirely true. The 3rd zone of Spada Valley is apletely separate system from the Kanx Abyss. It just connected there and warped the fundamental energies and structure of the valley." Lilith leaned back on the sofa and narrowed her eyes, smiling, "Do you know what is there and what is inside of here that can even kill Empyrean-order hunters?" The trio gulped. They wanted to know since no one had ever mentioned or described the scenery one would see after entering the 3rd zone. This knowledge was not present in the general public. "What?" Rein asked, gulping while her eyes showed curiosity. She had heard bad rumors about the 3rd zone, so despite going to the 2nd zone of Spada Valley multiple times, she never dared to cross thest membrane. "Eh, you also didn''t tell me anything about it,dy Lilith," Lily was speechless. "I was pretty messed up after entering there, and my memories are also still affected." "It''s a dimension of dark spirits," Lilith said with a smile, "A pure spiritual dimension with spiritual entropy at its work in the closed system. But since it was a closed system, it connected to the Kanx Abyss after the Time and Evolution became stagnant, and it reached its limit there." "But after attaching here and getting a way to output its energy and continue evolution, that dark spirit dimension started developing again, but¡­there is one thing inside that rules all over it. That thing is the reason why even Empyrean-order hunters die if they go to explore inside." "Huh?" Lynia had an expression as if she couldn''t understand much. Lilith rolled her eyes, "I am not telling you to dumb idiots, so there is no need to listen or react. Go sit at the corner." "I want to know. Please tell me in words I can understand," Rein said with watery eyes. ''Humph, I''ll act shameless if I have it, but I want to know.'' ''I need more knowledge and need to get my shit together¡­'' Rein internally felt vexed. Her freedom was robbed, but she was still alive and didn''t want to lose her life. ''I need to be smart and powerful!'' thought the dumb dragon. "No need," Lilith waved her hand, "If I begin exining in ways you can understand, It will take a lot of time." "Do you think Rin and Erix will benefit from what they saw, experienced, and are experiencing right now?" Lily curiously asked. Discover tales on mvle-mp _y,r. "They will," Lilithughed. "Those two monsters created a newbat system for themselves, so whatever they are experiencing right now will definitely give them something." "I also can''t wait to know and witness what they develop in the future." ¡­ Inside Rat-king''s mansion¡­ "Youngdy Lynia is in their captive, but do you know the precise location?" Belkan, the number 1 subordinate of Dark Sterling Valen. A peak Royal-order powerhouse wielding two advanced elements in the 4th realm and three of five primary elements in the 5th realm. In terms of the number of elements and mastery, he was the same as Dark Sterling Valen himself but a bit lower than Lilith. "I know the precise location," Rat-King smiled. "What about that Lady dragon, Rein?" a draconic man asked with a grunt. "She is there too! Once you free her from her captives, I''m sure she will be willing to bear your children," Rat-Kingughed with slyness oozing in his narrow eyes. "Good. Humph, I''ll forcefully make her bear it even if she doesn''t want to," Dranuk snorted, his scaled nose oozing out mes. "She will surely listen to you, hahaha." Rat-king smiled and pped his hands once before another rat-head man appeared beside him like a shadow. "This is my subordinate. He will lead you to their location," Rat-king widely smiled, "I wish you good luck in your battle." In a few seconds, the hall became empty. Rat-king sat on his prime chair and took out something from his Hunter card before putting it on the table. It was an exquisite square box. He opened it, revealing a dark pink uneven shaped orb that pulsed, beating like a heart. It had tiny glowing red-white strands attached to it and floating mystically. ''My lord¡­your descent is prepared. Let us go and witness it in the making.'' Rat king''s eyes glinted red and faint pink, with a whirling pool spinning deep with them. ¡­ Rin and Erix were still sleeping even after ten hours since Lilith brought them back. However, their eyes were closed, and they were sleeping peacefully. Lilith soon entered the room and gently spread her spirit force towards them, stirring them awake. The duo opened their eyes at the same time, their pupils containing a spiritual light with them. "What was that, Lilith?" Erix got up and asked, his eyes shining. "Yeah, those things¡­what were they?" Rin also threw a question, excitement visible in her eyes. "They are beings of pure spirit," Lilith grinned. "They invaded your consciousness and started affecting it." "But¡­" Lilith inspected the duo, her grin widening, "Try to wield your spirit force." Rin and Erix felt an immediate shock but a pleasant one. Their Spirit stat¡­whoopingly increased by roughly two hundred points! "This¡­" "You resisted those dark spirits with your willpower and defeated them. And if you defeat them, you get spiritual power," Lilith chuckled. "This is not something everyone can do, but I knew you would defeat them and benefit." "But I don''t think we did this on our own¡­" Erix muttered. "You did something, right?" "I did, but it was to protect your soul from the main boss of that ce," Lilith nodded with a smile. "If not, you two would have instantly died." "Anyway, get up and get ready," Lilith waved her hand, showing them a faint ck cloudy screen oozing out spiritual power. The screen showed a few groups of people flying into the Spada Valley. "It''s time to make your marks, my savage cuties," Lilith chuckled. "The enemies areing here; they are your final hurdle and challenge." "Go and get them. I will observe and support only, "Lilith''s eyes glinted as she added, "it''s time to create waves that will spread far and wide." Chapter 233: Echoing Far & Wide! (5), Rat-Kings Lord? "Where are they?!" "That bitch hid them again! What the fuck is going on?!" *Roarr!* A furious, draconic roar rang in the 1st zone of Spada Valley, filled with frustration and anger. *Boooom!* "There!¡­Sterlin Valen''s men were in that direction! Go! Kill those two first!" Dranuk shouted with bloodshot, furious eyes. Two of his subordinates were already dead without him doing anything to stop them. "Don''t use your domain against them, and try to defend yourself with other means!" At the moment, the 1st zone of Spada Valley was a huge stage with the main dancer as Death! Organized by Lilith and yed by Rin and Erix, the peak Royal-order subordinate of Dark Sterling Valen was outright killed by Lilith before she set up the stage for Rin and Erix. The duo roamed the forest to and fro with Erix''s hidden teleportation portals and Lilith''s shadow buff. It was two Noble-order hunters vs nine powerful Royal-order hunters! Over ten had already died here, and more were on the way as Rin and Erix reaped their lives one by one! see more mvle mp|y|r At first, when Rin and Erix unleashed deadly attacks sneakily with Lilith''s supposed, those individuals would quickly use the domain in a life-threatening situation to defend themselves, but that was proving difficult for others to support them. "They are not faster than us, but just swift in their actions! Focus on one to break their synergy. Kill that teleporting bastard!" Jyak shouted, one of the three remaining subordinates of Dark Sterling Valen. However, he suddenly felt his danger bell ringing, feeling space around him giving him creeps. ''Fuck¡­'' *BOOM!* ¡­ In the Fallen city''s center''s underground chambers¡­ Rat-king''s subordinates were watching the mayhem urring in the 1st zone while waiting for the right time. "Jeez, why are those two Noble-order hunters so powerful?" "It doesn''t matter. They are just doing our work." "Only two are left, so let''s go and set up the things." The people roaming around the huge za soon saw a big crystal screen appearing in the sky, disying a scenery of the Spada Valley''s first zone. It was connected to the eyes of other subordinates watching the dance of death enacted by the recent famous bounties. Naturally, people took notice of them and started watching out of curiosity. At first, they were just confused as they were looking at a draconic man floating with intense focus and spread-out senses as if he was being cautious of his surroundings. "Why is he looking scared despite creatingyers of defenses around him?" "It looks like someone is sneakily streaming a battle." Suddenly, everyone stopped talking as they saw a punch projectile mming into his defenses before it created chaotic chain explosions, utterly decimating his barriers before a strange and dreamy cross-sh wrapped by chaotic spirals struck the draconic man. "Ain''t that Mana?" "Yeah, it''s Mana. What the fuck¡­" *BOOM!* Rin''s attack also wasted away the quick defense that the draconic man tried to put up and injured him before Erix appeared behind him and threw both of his punches forward. The people watching finally saw a face, and many were surprised before getting shocked as they witnessed the instant death of a Royal-order hunter just like that. Some early Noble-order hunters with low stats and unawakened Spirit stat couldn''t even see what happened despite watching the screen without blinking. "What the hell! Isn''t that guy the same one whose poster is hanging on Bounty Board?" "I think Rat-king put their bounty, which means that they''ll have to kill the Rat-king to clean their bounty." "That reminded me. I saw a huge group of Noble-order hunters entering Spada Valley to hunt this group." "They are dead, and even more died. At least ten Royal-order hunters also died trying to kill them." "Crazy¡­ Just who the hell are those people?" "We don''t have their names, but damn! How could Noble-order hunters be this powerful?!" be this powerful?!" "I''ve heard of such monsters but never seen them. Their elements are crazy, is all i can say from what I just observed." "In the first ce, one needs superior spiritual talent and spirit stat as a Noble-order hunter to even begin fighting against Royal-order hunters. These two are talented monsters for sure." "Rat-king might meet his end." While the public was enthusiastically talking after watching a spectacle, Rat-king''s subordinates were sneering internally. "It''s time to start. I got the king''s signal." ¡­ Lilith floated 1st zone''s membrane with her senses spread out. Rin and Erix arrived there shortly before quickly chugging a potion. "Hehe, done. Now, only one left," Rin showed a victor gesture with a grin. "That bastard went deeper and hid somewhere," Lilith said with a wry smile. "I was searching here in case he escaped, but since he is not here, he must have gone deeper instead." "Do we go find him?" Erix asked as he cracked his fingers. "Forget it," Lilith shook her head before she turned around, her eyes glinting red. "We are made into a show by a rat. I don''t know why he did all this, so let''s wait to find out," Lilith snapped her finger, creating three floating blood mattresses. "Sit and recover." Rin and Erix sat down before closing their eyes and entered meditation. But it wasn''t long before Rat-King revealed him with a wide smile and a crazed expression. "Thank you very much, Dark Queen Lilith." Lilith crossed her arms, her gaze bing distant. "Ooo, scary~" Rat-Kingughed, his aura unstable, and slight blood dripped from his mouth. Erix''s eyes shot open as he suddenly felt the change in atmosphere, particrly regarding the death aura. Rin also opened her eyes, her brows creasing. "Is he the mastermind?" Erix looked at the Rat-king, feeling an abundance of death power from him and more gathering into him. "Foolish rat," Lilith said as a dark red throne with dark gold and ck patterns emerged before her, "Why are you showing the spectacle of death before me? However, there was a smile on her lips and a thrilled glint deep within her eyes. ''I see¡­.so this is really it, Granny May.'' "I am showing it precisely because I was before you," Rat-king Grinned, his eyes darkening. Bending his waist, he gave a deep bow to Lilith, "Without your group, with you creating conflicts, I wouldn''t have gotten a chance to cause this many deaths here." "My lord is also thanking you from the bottom of his heart," the Rat-king grinned, his entire body and face suddenly cracking with red, ck, and dark pink patterns. ''What''s going on, Lilith?'' Rin quickly asked. ''In three simple words, it''s Sacrifice, Undead Ritual skill, and summoning.'' ''Sounds like a big trouble, but you don''t look worried,'' Erix raised his eyebrows. His eyes were focused on the Rat-king, who was breaking down into colorful liquid pooling around him on the ground. It was bursting with a frightening aura. "Ummm, should we do anything about that?" Rin pointed at the former Rat-king, now something weird. "My spirit force can''t even approach it." "This might be out of our reach," Erix wryly smiled, "What about you, babe?" Lilith chuckled as shadowy wisps conjured around her. They flew towards Erix and Rin, surrounding them. "You two need not stay front-line in this one. Take the shadow ride and float high to watch. If you want to participate, then drop your bombs from the top," Lilith licked her lips. "I''ll keep its attention to myself and kill it, whatever it is." "Lilith," Erix''s expression turned somber. "Are you 100% certain of winning this?" "Were you two always?" Lilith nced at the duo with a wide, devious smile. Rin and Erix were stunned before they couldn''t help butugh. "Alright, let''s do this," Rin grinned and grabbed Erix''s hand, charging him and herself with a crude buff skill she created using her Chronace Flow, as it could increase one''s Agility by 15%. She felt she could expand and improve this skill, but she needed more magical knowledge for it. The shadow wisps around them also entered their bodies, giving them a buff for ten minutes. The [Shadow Drifter] buff could help them hide in any shadows briefly and increase their speed of moving or flying as the shadow coating around them would reduce any kind of untamed and uncontrolled magical atmospheric resistance and allow them to fly freely. After all, the atmosphere in the magical world had various magic particles and phenomena ording tondscapes, which could affect one''s flying speed. "Dark Queen Lilith!" The trio turned to the almost broken down Ratk-king, who only had his cracked face visible on the puddle of a strange liquid that perfectly spread into a circle with entric patterns forming. "Please grant my lord the final sacrifice! Die at his hands, and give him a true revival!" "Go," Lilith said before she started chugging different potions one by one. *Zoom!* Rin and Erix shot upward at full speed while their instincts were warning them of imminent death should they stay near that malevolent thing below. Meanwhile, Lily appeared beside Lilith after a second, "Lady Lilith, I''ve ced the formation poles." "Good. Stay at its center and activate it when I tell you to." "Understood," Lilith nodded, her expression solemn as she looked at the puddle that had turned into a strange magic circle and was glowing. "Do you know what''sing?" "A cmity from some random world that this Rat encountered and brought here," Lilith crossed her arms, her aura rising before five pyramid-like different colored crystals conjured around her. "It''s not his fault. This poor rat was hypnotized and controlled by that entity," Lilith grinned. Her attire also started changing. Those five crystals shot a bunch of nanoser-like phenomena at her, weaving a tight pitch-ckbat dress with an entric flowing structure over her heavenly figure. Her outfit asionally pulsed with faint, different color hues. "Go, you can''t stay here," Lilith said as a powerful soul presence suddenly oozed out from the magic puddle circle. Lily quickly left, but her eyes managed to nce at arge humanoid hand with long, sharp, wild nails emerging from the puddle. She ran at her fastest speed as fear was automatically rising in her, indicating its danger level. ''No chance¡­Except fordy Lilith, we can''t even stay within ten kilometers of it,'' Lily thought, wiping away her sweat. ''What the hell did that rat summon?!'' Chapter 234: Echoing Far & Wide! (6), Agent of Death & Decay Rin and Erix could see everything through a portal Erix created. One portal was two kilometers above Lilith, and the other was ten kilometers high in the sky in front of Rin and Erix. "We might have to go up more, or we''ll be discovered or get attacked," Erix frowned, the hairs on his body standing as he felt goosebumps, feeling the terrible aura up here. "Yeah," Rin agreed, feeling simr to Erix. The duo flew five kilometers up more before continuing to watch through the portal as the strange being fully emerged from that magical puddle circle. "Lilith''s super exotic element is called Meizen, right? It seems we''ll see her full power this time," Rin smiled in anticipation. "Yeah, it''s supposedly birthed from Death, Blood, and Shadow," Erix nodded. The duo focused on the enemy as thatrge hand that emerged moved. It was attached to an evenrger, weirder arm with tiny ring-up ck shards all over it. It was as if those shards would slightly tilt up and breathe in all the death power and other energies in the atmosphere into his arms. *Grraoon* A chilling and jarring groan sted from the puddle, spreading in all directions and shaking the forest within several kilometers. Lilith''s expression was in, and her eyes were glowing. Her hands were blurring at superspeed, creating a bunch of preparations and formations around her because this foe was not something she could take lightly. But this was also a perfect opportunity for her. ''It is their journey, so you decided to end mine early, eh?'' Lilith couldn''t help but feel amused and happy both. But she also knew that this trial wouldn''t be easy, far from it. Lilith chugged a potion and recovered her Prana before filling up the floating crystals around her again. The five crystals that floated around her were pulsing with five different auras. Death element¡ªPrimal category. Shadow element¡ªAdvanced category. Blood element¡ªAdvanced category. Baneze element¡ªAdvanced category. (Death x me) Meizen element¡ªSuper Exotic category. (Blood x Death x Shadow.) Those five crystals of these respective elements were her ''Machines'' that she would use as support to work shaping her attacks, allowing her tobat with versatility. Her weapon of choice was still the same umbre, but it was also woven with an entric formation she created controlling those crystals. With her slick and tight, ever-pulsing ck dress that boosted her parameters and defenses, Lilith was fully ready. This was her full-powered form and her uniquebat style. She could also teach this to Rin and Erix, but that would narrow their vision and confine them to a path that she created. If Lilith had done that, Erix and Rin wouldn''t have developed their powers andbat form as they did. But she nned to teach them her specialty after this since they had developed sufficiently enough to have a broader mind on all things and have elevated consciousness. They even developed their uniquebat styles that have so much potential to explore. And Lilith had learned much from this, which she was going to utilize in this life-and-death battle she encountered after a long while. She needed it, and Granny May granted it. *Graoann!* The strange being''s arms were out as another terrifying and strange groan reverberated and suddenly became 10x worse when its head finally emerged. Its head was like a long egg with its mouth wide open. It was a humanoid face but with long ears, dark blue skin, two ck antennas on its head with red and gold patterns, and sharp, long ck teeth. When its mouth closed, its 15-centimeter-long teeth were still visible because its lips were not different from normal lips. The giant humanoid standing five meters tall fully emerged and stretched his arms. All the trees and ntation started decaying and breaking down before the resulting ck aura entered his body with those tiny shards ring up as if breathing and sucking it. ''What kind of abomination is that?'' Rin watched, feeling goosebumps despite being fifteen kilometers away and just watching from the portal. ''I can''t inspect it,'' Erix clicked his tongue. The duo got visibly worried as they looked at Lilith and the monster that emerged. And then, they heard it speak. Despite not understanding the audible words, they understood what it was saying through the intentions behind those words. "Delicacy, this is a supreme delicacy! hahahahaha!" Rin and Erix saw that the monster uttered that while looking at Lilith. ''He wants to eat Lilith?'' Suddenly, the creature who wasughing with its head high opened its narrowed eyes, his gaze piercing all the way toward Rin and Erix. Lilith''s eyes shed. Meizen crystal and Baneze crystals burst out with countless tiny tendrils before forming five dreadful giant spears. They zoomed towards the creature at once, tearing wind and shaking space. *BOOM!* Amidst the dark redbusting explosions of those five spears that engulfed the creature in one go. However, a powerful shockwave spread from the creature, clearing all debris, dust, and explosions in the aftermath. The ground was destroyed, but the humanoid creature was unscratched, its scaly shards vibrating like jarring bells. "Why such a hurry? It''s not like I can touch anyone in thisnd except for you." Lilith crossed her arms and sat on her throne, "Well then, introduce yourself." "Zoan''e Leiro. A dead warrior from Apenyx Nebon, but now an agent of death and decay." Leiro grinned widely and bowed, "Pleasure to meet you, though¡­I would also like to eat you if you don''t mind." "This ce has strange powers. I can''t touch or affect any other living beings, even those two ants up above¡­ except you," Leiro narrowed his eyes, licking his lips as he looked at Lilith. ''So, it sensed Rin and Erix but didn''t sense Lily yet¡­or he just chose not to mention her?'' Lilith thought, trying to gauge Leiro''s capabilities. "Why are you an exception?" Lei asked with a grin and some curiosity in his eyes. "Who knows?" Lilith shrugged before she spun her umbre, creating a vortex above it while her crystals burst out with energy threads again and weaved into the vortex. "Maybe you will find out after I kill you," Lilith coldly smiled, her eyes focused and ruthless. Meanwhile, she also sent her spiritual thoughts to Rin and Erix. ''Don''t attempt to attack this weird thing. I might not be able to protect you if you attack it and lose the Abyss rule protection.'' *Boom!* The battle started as Lilith unleashed her attacks while Leiro dodged, defended, and ran around, but not counter-attacking. He couldn''t just remain standing and waste his powers on just defense since Lilith''s attacks were not something he could take without cost. ''Juicy! The strange power is not protecting her, and she also has an abundance of existential power. If I want to roam freely after leaving this, I''ll have to kill and eat her.'' Leiro licked his lips andughed as he swiftly dodged another attack while waving his hand to create a thick that blocked a barrage of bullets with spiraling strings around them. Rin and Erix looked at each other, slightly disturbed by Lilith''s words. Those attacks and battles below couldn''t destroy his portal thanks to the Abyss protection rule, allowing them to observe and sense everything. And from Leiro''s words, Erix also realized how dangerous their situation was. No, not for all of them, but only for Lilith and those who attack Leiro and lose the protection. ''Damn it!'' ''What happened?'' Rin was confused by Erix suddenly cursing. Chapter 235: Echoing Far & Wide! (7), Rotten Maw! ''We are trapped here, and Lilith can''t escape een if she wants to,'' Erix''s fists were clenched as he looked at the battle raging below. ''We didn''t have any choice but to fight in the first ce!'' ''Trapped¡­'' Rin didn''t need more from Erix to understand the situation as her face also became a tad more grave. They were in the fallennd, which was a closed region in a way. The city''s part would only go up for one hour a day, and ording to time, it did go up an hour ago and returned. Next, Leiro said that he could only affect Lilith upon seeing that the strange rule power was not affecting her. This means Leiro had already judged the situation beforehand. He was not in a hurry because he knew there was no escape for anyone here for the next twenty-three hours. ''He must have gotten that Rat''s memories as well. The n was perfect, but why¡­us? Why Lilith?'' Erix frowned. ''Is it truly because of Granny May''s random machinations, as Lilith said?'' ''Yeah, but Granny May did say that she doesn''t control everything,'' Rin said, her grip on Erix''s hand tightening, ''Let''s believe in Lilith and try to think of somebo attack with our specialized power.'' ''Yes,'' Erix nodded. ''The Abyss rule is not protecting her anymore because she has broken past some sort of limit. She is an exception, but she also has exceptional powers.'' ''If only we could see their full stats,'' Rin regrettably said. ''They seem equal for now, but stats can be buffed and debuffed easily¡­'' Rin and Erix suddenly saw Leiro turning into a rotten particles and appearing before a beastfolk Rat. Everyone in the city''s za saw Leiro''s creepy face up close, smiling and waving his hand. "Hello, everyone. I am Leiro. Nice to meet you." *Booom!* A powerful spiraling drill shot towards Leiro from behind and exploded instantly. The Rat-man almost pissed his pants, but he was unscathed and protected due to the rule. Rat-king subordinate heard Leiro''sughter in the distance as the battle had already moved somewhere else. ''Phew....'' ¡­ "Let''s do it," Rin nodded at Erix, and Erix also nodded as they started using their Mana to produce their respective super exotic elemental energies. Chronace Flow and Nihilir Essence gathered above them. "You focus on Time, and I''ll focus on Space aspects," Erix said. "The other powers won''t damage him or anything, but with a heavy focus on Time and Space, we should be able to debuff him heavily." "Time to disorient and slow him while Space traps him?...wait we can do more because of our Super Exotic element''s mixed aspects," Rin muttered before her eyes shone. "I have some ideas." "Me too," Erix grinned, "Let''s be quick and see what we can do. That strange dream and spiritual battle we fought also gave them some ideas to use Spirit Force differently." "Same," Rin nodded with a determined expression, "Let''s do this and support Lilith so that she cannd her strongest attack." ¡­ "It looks like I can''t be at leisure anymore," Leiro said as his broken teeth slowly recovered. His face didn''t have a smile anymore. ''Powerful soul, spirit force, and abundance of magic knowledge¡­along with high mastery of her elements,'' Leiro stretched his arms. ''If this is all she has at the level she disyed, It shouldn''t be hard.'' "Are you done?" Lilith asked with a bored expression. "All you did the past ten minutes was running around, blocking, and dodging. Why?" m _vl _em _p _yr only Leiro chuckled and said, "Of course, I wanted to spend more time with you before eating you." "You were assessing my powers and limits," Lilith indifferently smiled. "The stronger and tricker I unleashed my skills, the stronger and faster you became, but with much conservation." "It seems that you actually want to or¡­.need to finish me off fast, so you were assessing me while minimizing your output," Lilith raised her eyebrows. "You also absorbed a lot of energies, even wrestled away death power from the Umbral''s control¡­" "It seems that you are not as free as you make it out to be, eh?" Lilith questioned with a grin, her tone mocking. Leiro''s expression faltered before he entirely put it down and sighed, "I don''t like intelligent prey, especially the likes of you." "It''s fine," Lilith smiled as she waved her hand, "You can''t afford to stomach me in the first ce." Leiro ruthlessly grinned, his strange mouth stretched and ck teeth shining. "You can say that to my stomach." Lilith felt something and vanished from her spot before the position that she was in previously exploded as a strange, corrosive, beastly mouth took a forceful bite. It was a rotten, beastly mouth with misty, Rotten gray-ck rotting energy skin and particles. It had a set of pitch-ck teeth with gray patterns. Lilith felt cold. ''So that is his¡­'' ''Alright, I guess I''ll have to adapt to the style of my savage cuties.'' That strange mouth that mped a bite was powerful. Not, it was really powerful even for Lilith as she judged that the power of that mouth and those teeth would prate her defense. If she got bitten by it even once, it would spread decay all over her body and even her soul. Just like how Rin and Erix fought against those Royal-order hunters, she also had to fight like that and dodge instead of defending because¡­ One hit, and she would die or at least nearly die. ''Troublesome¡­but,'' Lilith''s eyes glinted with maniac light and thrill. The five crystals around her released threads of energy while her dress shone. *mp!* The Rotten Maw appeared behind Lilith again to take a bite, but it only caught her afterimage as Lilith flew up and spread her senses. ''That bastard¡­trying to hide and attack?'' Lilith''s dress shone, and her body protruded vein patterns for a brief movement before she vanished from her spot and appeared right behind Leiro before her wed hands woven by the threads of her crystal shot at Leiro''s head. Leiro only smiled strangely, his hands stretching towards her instead. ''Tsk,'' Lilith had no choice but to cancel her attack as she turned into a stream of shadow before the Rotten Maw behind her took a bite. "Struggle is futile,dy. Just let me bite you and be done with it, hahaha!" Chapter 236: Echoing Far & Wide! (8), Death?!! *Khraaa!!* A dark red flower exploded into countless tiny petals coering Leiro, but half immediately decayed before the rest exploded. *Boom!* Leiro somewhat defended himself but also mped his mouth, causing the Rotting Maw to snap at Lilith''s right side. Her left arm was already gone, unable to be healed, so she couldn''t afford to have her other arm lost. Leiro was about to move after he endured the Sanguinary Petal Explosions, leaving with moderate injuries. "Just die already," Leiroughed and suddenly added two more Rotting Maws as they snapped around Lilith. ''His offense¡­'' Lilith creased her brows as she narrowly escaped again. ''How is he making them appear so fast?'' Suddenly, Leiro looked two kilometers above where Erix''s portal was present and saw his head pop out of it. Erix looked at Lilith and sent his spiritual thought to her, saying, ''Rin and I are almost done. We might be able to disorient and trap him for a brief moment, so you only need an ultra-attack that can kill him.'' ''How long will it take for you?'' ''Ten to fifteen minutes at max, or it could be five minutes too.'' "Do you think those ants will be able to help you? Bwahahahah, what a joke!" Leiroughed, his Rotting Maws appearing behind Lilith again, but this time¡­the front Rotting Maw and left one snapped their mouths, while the third one behind Rin was quicker and immediately sprayed a decaying breath. Lilith escaped, but that unexpected spray before the snapping slightly affected her back, injuring her. Chugging a potion to recover her Prana, Lilith''s eyes red, and her aura burst as she used her domain. A separate space point in the shape of an exquisite dark red flower formed before Lilith and Leiro vanished. Erix saw that and immediately headed back to the top and said to Rin, "Let''s hurry. They are moving to the final stage of the battle." "That bastard is such an asshole," Rin clicked her tongue, "He used the same type of attacks for a while before changing it suddenly and increasing his output." "Lilith knew it, but he is simply more powerful in some areas¡­I can''tprehend his trick of using those strange attacks," Erix sighed and focused on theirbo attack. "Let''s finish this first." A pure Mana orb was between the duo, but inside that orb were Chronace Flow and Nihilir Essence whirling together, controlled by Rin and Erix. Amidst them, thousands of magic nodes flowed both of their energies ording to the desired effect they envisioned and shaped. ''Remove that one. It''s better to make this like a prison.'' ''I''ll add my chronace flow''s split time on your spaceyer.'' ''We haven''t tried that, but time and space mixing will enhance each other if both are under control.'' ''Wow, it''s working! You are right.'' ''This part is done¡­'' ''Yeah, it''s good, I''m also done here.'' ''Wait¡­your space is under your control, and since you allowed my flow there without restrain, I can flow it way better here!'' ''I got another idea¡­.'' ''These Nihilir Essences with less Space aspect but equal aspects of Death and me is making it more bnced with your Chronace Flow.'' ''Yeah¡­.what do we do?'' ''We''ll focus on things that can immobile that bastard, and if our other aspects can contribute to it, then we''ll have to change the shape of ouryers.'' ''Let''s quickly do it. That''s almost ten thousand nodes in all theseyers.'' ''Remove prison-shape, it''s too simple. We''ll go withplicated, but better restrain.'' Rin and Erix were fully absorbed in creating abo skill that could act as a powerful control-type skill. And it was a while since they actually created a proper skill. After all, their mainbat arsenals were not skills but Skill-Techniques¡ªa mixture of movement, physical power, and magic power. But thisbo skill was a usual skill. They would weave its formation beforehand and then unleash it so it can strike and then take its form and effects. Five minutes passed by in the blink of an eye, and the entire area was more peaceful than ever. The people watching in the city''s za could only see the dark red flower ethereal flower that a Rat-king''s subordinate was watching, which was Lilith''s domain point. "When will theye out?" "That Leiro guy must have a domain as well. If he also used his domain inside, I feel like that beauty will die." "What do you mean by ''Leiro guy''? That Leiro is some creepy monster who can talk. I hope it dies." One of the spectators was also Gaorath, the one who wanted Lilith. His face was as dark as ink watching the battle because he clearly knew he was no match for Lilith. He was dreaming if he thought he could get her. ''Will she die or live?'' Suddenly, everyone saw their screen sh before Lilith and Leiro appeared tens of meters apart, both injured. "You are making my work harder and harder and fucking harder!" Leiro shouted, his eyes furious. The shards on his body released a creepy sound. "Don''t force me more than I want to!" Lilith wiped away some blood from her mouth as she grinned, "Is that all you got?" ''Lilith, we are ready to drop our skill, but we''ll need a clear target.'' Erix''s head popped up from the wormhole two kilometers above as he spoke to Lilith. ''I''ll do something so that he can''t move for one second.'' ''One second only,'' Lilith repeated, her fingers moving as the five crystals started releasing threads behind her. Erix''s eyes sharpened, ''One second it is.'' Meanwhile, Leiro''s whole body was glowing as his aura started increasing. "Die!" Leiro shouted, his eyes nefarious and mouth in a wide grin. A huge Rotten Maw manifested above Lilith and snapped, devouring her along with her five crystals. ''Lilith!'' "Noo!" Even people watching at the city''s za were rmed, as many of them eximed. m-vl _e mpY _r exclusive content "No way!" "Isn''t there anyone here who can go there to aid her?!" "We have to kill that monster!" "Why? Do you have any problem with it? It''s not like it can do anything to us. Abyss rule protects us." Leiro grinned and looked up at Rin and Erix, who had just emerged from the portal with an orb. "Come and hit me so I can finish you ants and send you to her." Chapter 237: Echoing Far & Wide! (9), Intense Struggle Rin and Erix looked at the giant Rotten Maw and then at Leiro as he mocked them. "It can''t be¡­" Erix muttered. "She won''t die. Not that easily," Rin gritted her teeth. A watermelon-sized orb was floating between them, which was the skill they had prepared. The orb became slightly unstable as Rin and Erix were stressed at this sudden development, but they quickly snapped awake and resumed control. "She is dead," Leiro sneered," If not, she will die soo-" *Boom!* Suddenly, a giant white flower appeared in the sky before. In the middle of the flower was Lily. Her eyes were white, and her aura was fully exposed before she, the giant Lotus-like flower, released a beam at the Rotten Maw. The giant Rotten Maw exploded before a huge stream of dark red threads whirling ck and dark silver motes flooded Leiro like a river, quickly intecing threads around him and sealing him in severalyers. Lilith''s half-body was entirely decayed, but her aura burned bright, and her palms were stationed forward as she pulled out the handle of her umbre. Rin and Erix knew this was the chance, and Lilith didn''t have much time. Both of them controlled and shot the orb toward Leiro as the threads trapping him decayed while a trembling roar echoed everywhere. Leiro roared, bursting out of the thread-prison cocoon as countless tiny rotten maws ate away Lilith''s trapping threads. But before he could do more, he saw a strange silvery-purple orb with a golden spark arriving before him. ''What the fuck is this now?'' Leiro thought and was about to unleash his decaying breath, but then the orb blinked and vanished. ''This¡­'' Leiro felt his everything slowing down and space bing sticky. A crackling whip-like sound echoed in a chain around him as his limbs were forcefully wrapped into multipleyers of chroance flow and Nihilir strings that produce dark silver threads and stuck to Space Limbo. In front of him was Lilith, holding an empty handle that soon weed a curvy snake-like dagger de. Crystalized dark green material with ck spots inside that pulsed creepily. As soon as he saw that, Leiro knew that he was in a precarious situation. ''What the fuck is this power of time and space?! But I can still exhaust these bindings and break it!'' ''Arghhh!'' Lilith''s energies infused into the dagger while its de swiftly lengthened to two meters long, weaved by the five crystals that released finely woven energy threads. The extender de Lilith created was also empowered by the mysterious dagger. Her soul essence was consumed rapidly, along with her energies to activate the dagger. The internal damage was wreaking havoc inside her, decaying her organs and her recovery skill''s energy that was trying to resist the decay, but she gritted her teeth and maintained control before releasing the dagger. Lily exhausted the rest of the formation''s energy and attacked the tiny rotten maws with beams that were eating away at and decaying Rin''s and Erix''s control-typebo skill''s effects. ''No. No. No!'' The extended pulsing de had the power of all her main five elements, bearing her strongest attack that was even more buffed by the Tier-8 dagger''s de, her trump card. It shot towards Leio, straight at its head. ''Those fucking ants!'' Leiro registered Rin and Erix in his sense''s range. He couldn''t escape because of those two damn ants, and this dagger was going to hit him! He wouldn''t die permanently, but over half of his soul that he summoned here would die! His aura burst, trying to decay the spiraling chronace flow around his limbs contained by space and the whole space around him that was half into the Limbo. "Arghhh!" The dagger arrived, and Leiro knew he wouldn''t be able to dodge, but¡­he could still attack outside of this messed up trap around him! ''I will not let you go! You damn ants!'' Leiro raged, bubbling with anger. Lilith''s consciousness was still active and focused, as she knew not to rx until the enemypletely died, and she confirmed it, especially a strange entity like Leiro. _emp _yr. Her senses captured Leiro''s focus shifting from her and an aura emerging at a particr position. ''No!'' Lilith''s pupils shrank to the extreme, and she exerted her maximum strength and power, turning into a stream and shooting toward Rin and Erix. *mp! Snap!* A force suddenly pushed Rin and Erix before they saw it was Lilith. Everything was happening too fast, from Lilith emerging from the giant Rotten Maw to Rin and Erix hitting Leiro to Leiro deciding to kill Rin and Erix, knowing his attempt to escape from the dagger would be futile, to Lilith sensing his intention and energy and using her all to save Rin and Erix. All of that only took a second. "Lilith!" Erix shouted, quickly taking out healing potions and pouring them on her injured side. "No¡­" Rin clenched her fist, but she also quickly used her Chronace Flow to affect time on Lilith, slowing down her injuries and decaying. Her legs were entirely gone from the knee part in an attempt to save them. "I''m fine," Lilith smiled, but it looked horrible since half of her face was decayed, and the other half had blood and skin cracked. She took out a pill from her hunter card and put it into her mouth. Lily swiftly arrived at them. "Lady Lilith!" When she saw Lilith was fine and recovering, she finally heaved a sigh. "What about the enemy?" Lilith asked as she sat cross-legged and focused, recovering with her eyes closed. ''I exhausted a lot of things, but¡­.'' Lilith''s aura started turning vtile, and a smile started spreading across her face. Erix put his hands on her back and closed his eyes, "Do you need some pure Death power?" "Thank you, and I would also like some of your essences, but let''s return to the cave first, "Lilith took a deep breath and stabilized her aura before standing up with newly regenerated legs. "You''re injuries¡­" Rin bit her lips. They could sense Lilith''s vitality was still low, and the decaying power was still fighting inside her, but it was slowly getting chipped away and removed. Lilith widely grinned and pinched Rin''s and Erix''s cheeks, "Worry not, my savage cuties. How could I let you die like that?" "As for the enemy, he is dead. That dagger de was a one-time-use item. After this use, it would''ve shattered, and Leiro''s residual power must havepletely decayed it." "But we have to retrieve something he left behind," Lilith''s eyes glinted. Chapter 238: Echoing Far & Wide! (10), Aftermath Erix, Rin, Lilith, and Lily stood before the dead Leiro. His head was gone, and the rest of his body was filled with cracks. His skin had turned gray-white, losing all the previous luster, and the shards all over his body broke down and turned into powder. "What do we have to retrieve from him?" Rin curiously asked. "We leveled up five times even though we just used one skill on him." "I didn''t level up because the normality of Mystic Root no longer binds me," Lilith wryly smiled, "But I get benefits in other ways." Lilith''s eyes faintly shone as she looked at Leiro''s intact central chest part. ''His soul is destroyed thanks to the dagger, and his nucleus is also in perfect condition.'' "We have some peeping rats looking here," Lily raised her eyebrows. "I''ll drive them away," Erix said before he snapped his finger, producing several Nihilir wisps and disappeared. "I''ll deal with a few in the other direction," Rin nodded and also vanished with a faint lightning spark. Since those peeping rats were Rat-king''s Noble-order subordinates, Lily and Lilith wouldn''t be able to do anything anyway. A few secondster, the giant crystal screen at the city''s za turned nk. "It looks like the show is over." "I want to go take a look there, but I am scared¡­" "Forget it." "They''ll be famous for sure, hahaha." ¡­ After putting Leiro''s body in her hunter card, Lilith and the rest returned to the Treehouse and then to the hidden cavern two kilometers deep, where they had found the strange eyeball. After half an hour of rest, everyone recovered their energies and exhaustion. This big battle only began after Rin and Erix had a proper rest, so they were not very exhausted. Lilith needed rest as she had suffered most in every area, but she had another n. Rin and Lily sat beside Erix on a couch while Lilith sat across them and put an orb on the small table between them. The orb had strange ck-gray mist and energies whirling inside. It was the nucleus of Leiro''s body. "I will need your help in refining this orb," Lilith said as she hovered her palms above the orb before they released tiny threads that wrapped around the orb. "What do we need to do?" Erix curiously asked. "Focus your spiritual sense and infuse your spirit force into my threads," Lilith said as she closed her eyes. Lily, Erix, and Rin immediately began, focusing and infusing their spirit force into the threads. On the other hand, Rein, Lynia, and Maleina sat in the corner, their hearts heavy. Especially Lynia. The men that her father sent all died. ''He should know that his subordinate died, right?'' Lynia asked Maleina. ''He wille to save me, right?'' Maleina looked at Lynia and couldn''t help but sigh. How could she tell that her father wouldn''te to save her? The battle was recorded ording to the multiple presences she sensed while they watched the battle from the Treehouse. She knew the mirage crystals would spread soon, especially to Dark Sterling Valen, since he lost his subordinates and might evene personally here. But¡­he wouldn''t fight Lilith or their group for Lynia after knowing and seeing Lilith''s power. ''He will save you¡­after all, you are his daughter,'' Maleina said, wishing that she would be proven wrong about Dark Sterling Valen''s personality. But as she looked at Lilith''s back and sensed the aura there, she vaguely felt that Lilith was about to do something that would make her more powerful. She had seen her taking out something from that strange entity''s chest. ''Is she going to breakthrough to Empyrean-order?'' Maleina hopelessly thought. If that happened, Dark Sterling Valen wouldn''t even think about opposing Lilith despite him also being an Empyrean-order powerhouse. Suddenly, Lilith''s aura started surging. Rin, Erix, and Lily also exhausted their spirit force and leaned back on the sofa, feeling tired. "Lady Lilith is going to break through," Lily smiled, resting her head on Erix''s shoulder. Rin also rested as she leaned towards Erix. "You two haven''t used your today''s special training session, right? Go and use it. I''ll stay on guard," Lily smiled. "Alright." Rin and Erix readily used their Spiritual after sitting cross-legged on the floor. After arriving in the Limitless ne, Erix took out a tiny spear, which was a special item from a random Noble-order hunter from the group who blocked them on their way to Spada Valley. "Let''s study this spear this time. We need to diversify our learning area in this Limitless if we have subjects like this," Erix said with a grin, intent on uncovering the formation of this tiny spear. . "It pierced your Nihilir Wisp, right?" Rin looked at the spear floating between them, using her spiritual mystic eye''s power to prate it and look at its foundational structure and other things. Erix was also doing the same. ''Lilith was right. There are two conceptual powers and a light elemental power branded on it,'' Rin said, ''But how did they brand conceptual powers into the formation?'' ''That is what Lilith meant by that this kind of item is not crafted in Kanx Abyss due to no one being able to,'' Erix remembered Lilith''s words. ''This is a temporary stop for most people who arrive here after all,'' Rin wryly chuckled. Everyone''s goal in the five Abyss worlds was to survive, get strong, and leave the Abyss, except for those who wanted to live here for longer for various reasons. But they would also leave eventually, so everyone focused more on getting stronger rather than improving their magic upations. ''Let''s copy this formation to a T first,'' Rin grinned. ''Actually, you might be able to create some items with this formation when you do Magsmithing to create items.'' ''Yep.'' With their focus at the deepest level possible and their brain working hyper, the duo started carving theplicated formation in this Limitless ne with limitless possibilities at their hands. After carving the whole formation in ten minutes of intense, deep focus, the duo started studying it to incorporate this new knowledge into theirbat arsenal. After half an hour, they subtly refined their skill formations in their skill runes before going to different inds toprehend their elements. Erix focused on me, while Rin focused on Time. Chapter 239: Echoing Far & Wide! (11), Hopeless & Fun . When their time was up, the duo opened their eyes outside as their consciousness left Limitless ne and were immediately startled because they felt an overwhelming aura and presence permeating the whole cavern! "This¡­" Lilith''s pristine, beautiful face had an otherworldly enchanting smile, while her long, mystical silver hair with a dark red hue flowed calmly behind her as she floated with her eyes closed. The two slick red horns on her head faintly glowed, making a faint, exquisite ck pattern visible on them. That was not all as mysterious white-gold and dark-red motes surrounded her, forming wisps, waves, and flowing around her. Rin and Erix could only see one thing when they inspected her. _Rank: Empyrean-order. Lily looked on with excitement, her fists clenched. ''Finally...'' Lilith took a breath, vanishing all the phenomena around her. Her dress changed as dark red and ck threads wrapped around her, creating a beautiful silver dress with a gorgeous yet devilish red and ck embroidery design. "Finally¡­" Lilith opened her eyes and saw Lily, Erix, and Rin before her. She couldn''t help but grin. "Congrats," Erix smiled. "What if you faced that Leiro now?" Rin asked, her eyes shining with curiosity. "Tell me you can one-shot him." "I can," Lilith smugly smiled. "Congrattions,dy Lilith," Lily revealed with a heartfelt smile, even getting emotional, "You can finally take revenge and leave." "It''s all thanks to our darling," Lilith lovingly smiled as she arrived before Erix, pushing him onto the couch as she rested her head on his chest, "If not for you, I don''t know how long I would''ve been trapped here." "We can say the same thing," Rin grinned as she hugged Lilith. "If not for you, we wouldn''t reached where we are right now in such a short time frame." "Exactly," Erix smiled and kissed her lips before saying. "You two killed Royal-order hunters, so your death power is back to nearing 20%," Lilith pouted before she nced at Lily and pulled her beside Erix''s left side. "We''ll have fun the whole day and then leave tomorrow," Lilith said, wrapping her arms around Erix as she kissed him again. And then, all four of them disappeared as Erix teleported through the portal and went to the Treehouse. "What do we do?" Rein asked as she looked at the duo. "We''ll get our turn soon since we''ve recovered," Maleina said. "I am not talking about that," Rein speechlessly said. "What''s your n, now?" "No n is effective against them with the way they are," Maleina indifferently said. "All we can do is to get fucked, enjoy it, and live through it until we get a chance." "What happened to her?" Rein raised her eyebrows at Lynia, "Why is she so quiet?" "Eh, whatever. When Erix will drill her, she will moan and scream like usual," Rein shrugged and got up. "I am going to the Treehouse since there are no orders for us to do anything." Lynia tilted her head upward from between her knees and coldly looked at Rein. Reinana saw that after she stood up andughed, "What? Why are you ring at me, bitch? You are here because you are weak, and you are a bitch like me, hahaha." "Your father won''t be able to save you. That Lilith bitc- cough,dy Lilith is way more powerful than what we all thought." Turning around, she walked towards the portal while waving her hand, "Anyway, I''ve lost hope in your father or whatever. If I want freedom, I''ll have to do it my way." Lynia screamed and hurled several orbs of power from her palms, venting her frustration. At the moment, she strangely remembered Erix fucking her and really wanted it as it would make her forget the shitty part of her life. ''Damn it all!'' "Mal, why are we stuck here¡­" Lynia muttered. ''Because you are a bitch,'' Maleina frustratedly thought upon seeing Lynia like that. ''If you had behaved better and didn''t show your colors, this wouldn''t have happened,'' Maleina clenched her fist. ''It''s your fault.'' Maleina had seen the difference in treatment between them and Klelia. They were ves because they opposed the group, while Klelia had freedom because she was not a bitch and didn''t antagonize them from the start. ''It''s a dog-eat-dog world, dumb idiot. Why couldn''t you behave against strong?'' Mina looked at Lynia with hateful eyes. ¡­ Zeina and Morgana had left the Spada Valley to go north to another area for some specific resources and hunt monsters, but when they returned to the city and heard themon topic, they were dumbfounded. The video feed of the battle was also copied and spread in the city as mirage crystals. The trio sat at a table while the other members sat at other tables in a big restaurant. "Wow¡­those two, they only appeared for a bit when they killed those Royal-order hunters, but¡­" Morgana wryly smiled. "I''m afraid they are already more powerful than us." Wolt stared at the projection from the mirage crystal, his face utterly stunned as he muttered, "How¡­how could they improve this fast?" "Theirbat style and skillspletely changed or, more like, upgraded in terms of quality," Zenia said, her serious face breaking into a weak smile. "Monsters." "I so want to visit them one more time," Morgana licked her lips before she elbowed Zenia, who sat right beside her at the table. Zenia''s face flushed. "Tsk," Wolt clicked his tongue and got up before leaving. "Hahaha, he is jealous," Morganaughed. "Stop it," Zenia rolled her eyes. "Why? Do you feel guilty since he liked you?" Morgana chuckled. "No," Zenia shook her head, "But no need to sour his mood." "So, we can still go back to that Treehouse, right?" Morgana grinned. "They should be rxing after so many fights and that big one atst, but he is a monster that doesn''t get tired." Zenia couldn''t help but remember the intensity and pleasure she felt that day from Erix, and her thighs tightened. Morgana stood up after grabbing a meatball stick. "We are leaving tomorrow, and they might leave too when the city goes up, so I am going to have some fun." "Don''t think too much if you want to have fun. We might never meet him again," Morgana left after saying her piece. Chapter 240: Echoing Far & Wide! (12/13), Departure Erix opened his eyes to something warm, tender, and soft. Lilith''s plump breasts entirely covered his face as she slept peacefully. Erix grabbed them, his fingers pressing and hand squeezing them as he put her nipple into his mouth and sucked as he savored them. ''Tsk, I''m still not tired enough to sleep,'' Erix thought. To his other side was Rin, while Lily, Morgana, and Zenia alsoy naked around below. He sucked everyonepletely dry as thediesy in the ocean of bliss while surrounding him. The thick smell of essence was mixed magically and full of vigor as all of them were higher lifeforms on the path to power. But the first one to recover was still Erix, with his crazy imbnce source and limitless stamina pool. "Only an hour passed?" Erix wryly smiled as he got up. The others were awake in a way, but it had only been an hour since they finished this ten-hour session of passionate battles, and they wanted to relish the bliss more. Erix didn''t bother them and left through the window, flying towards the pond before he dived in speedily and swam around for a bit. "Water always makes it fresher, haaah~." Erix had a peaceful smile as he sat at the pond''s edge after creating a metal pool in the pond to make the water reach his knees. The metal he used had intense fire-attribute properties, and he also used his me affinity to heat up the pool, making a sort of hot spring. Erix cock hardened as he suddenly got the urge to have slow sex here, though he ignored this sudden urge and justy peacefully in his makeshift hotspring. A few minutes passed before he felt a presence and a soft pair of breasts pressing on his chest while his stiff throbbing meat rod prated a familiar wet pink space that quickly squeezed his cock with its soft insides and tightly wrapped around it. If it were anyone who still had energy left after Erix''s wild ride of ten hours, It could only be Lilith. "Kiss me," Lilith said with an expression of drunk in love as she nted her lips on his before the duo started kissing each other passionately. But it wasn''t long before someone interrupted them, making both slightly annoyed. "What is it?" Erix asked. Lynianded at the pond''s edge, her face expressionless, "What do I need to do for you to free me?" Lilith and Erix looked at each other before they smiled. ''Ask her¡­.'' Lilith sent her thought to Erix. . Erix turned his head back at Lynia with a grin and asked, "What are you going to do after getting freedom?" Lynia wanted nothing more than to kill them if she got a chance, but she maintained her expression and said, "Nothing. I just want my life back." ''And a goal of killing you all.'' "What do you say?" Erix turned to Lilith. His arms were wrapped around her back, and he squeezed her, pressing her erect nipples and breasts on his chest. Lilith put her head on Erix''s shoulder with her head facing Lyinia. She smiled and said, "You have two options." "And ten minutes of life." "W-what?" Lynia stammered, her heart turning cold. ''Why?'' Erix left the decision to Lilith because she could see through Lynia to her core, so she told him to ask her that question. Lynia didn''t show any hatred or anything on the surface or even in her eyes or bodynguage. However, deep down, she thought differently. Lilith caught that and read her true intentions and thoughts without effort due to her awakened soul power and high spiritual power. That was why powerhouses who had awakened souls could read intentions easily due to their extraordinary perception and senses boosted by the awakened souls. Lynia''s fate was sealed. "What¡­what do you mean?" Lynia asked, fear filling her as she had a premonition. "It means your death," Erix casually said, "I am not interested in letting someone like you live." "You can choose your death in two ways," Lilith smiled. "First option: you can die with his Nihilir wisp, turning into ashes." Lynia trembled. "Second option: you can die with pleasure." Lilith got up while the hot spring''s water reduced slightly, revealing Erix''s stiff meat rod. "Your death is confirmed. That will not change," Erix added. "So, good luck in your next life." "But you can choose how to die right now," Lilith grinned. "You have three seconds. If you don''t make a choice soon, I''ll finish it fast," Erix pointed up his index finger before a dreamy dark purple wisp with ck motes inside with a silver hue formed. Lynia gritted her teeth and walked flew towards Erix, showing them her choice. "Damn you!" Lynia screamed with bloodshot eyes. She sat before Erix, her clothes vanishing as she sat down on Erix''s throbbing cock, prating it into her pussy. She couldn''t help but squeeze it tightly as she felt pleasure, but in her heart was nothing but hatred. "I will kill you!" Lynia hissed as she started moving. "Even If I die in this life, I will find you and grow stronger and kill you in my next life!" Lynia was moving wildly as her eyes rolled upward, ''I will kill all of his women and make him my dog!'' Erix grabbed her waist and stopped her crazy moving hips, "Turn around and move however you want. I don''t want to see you while you are fucking yourself using me." "This is your choice, not mine." Lilith chuckled and sat on Erix''s stomach between Lynia and Erix. "Enjoy yourst moments." Lynia gritted her teeth as she saw Lilith and Erix kissing passionately and instantly felt Erix''s dick hardening. Lynia had torrents of hatred flooding into her, but she had made her decision and knew there was no escape. She turned around while his dick was still in her pussy and started moving, bearing hatred and pleasure both¡­all while wishing for the next life ording to her. ''I will¡­'' Lynia moved wildly, climaxing hard as Erix instantly activated his skill and absorbed her essence for benefit. ''I will not let any of you go when I return!'' ''I will return!'' Ten minutes passed by, and Lynia had climaxed several times already, totally lost in pleasure until her death arrived five minutester. Erix killed her swiftly and cleanly within a second as she died feeling pleasure. "Now, let''s have some real fun," Erix grabbed Lilith''s buttcheeks and sucked her breasts while Lilith started moving slowly and rhythmically, enjoying the love session in a slow mode and peaceful mode. ¡­ After several hours, when it was time for the central city to go up, Erix and the group arrived at the city. Maleina and Rein with them, with Maleina not showing much in regards to Lynia''s death. People in the town were talking about them, and all of them had various reactions, but mostly of awe, when they saw them in the flesh. But¡­this was just the start¡ªjust the first wave. Naturally, Gaorathpletely disappeared. His so-called challenge to get Lilith became a joke for the group. Soon, a circr part of the city was covered in a mystical barrier before it started rising up towards the pitch-ck mystical hole whirling with a low-entropy structure. It was time to go to the next destination in their route. ¡­ When the Fallennd went up, and the group left on Lilith''s airship to the next destination known as Wirchanx tue, the news of what transpired inside also started spreading through other people. Dark Sterling Valen''s Castle hall¡­ "Father, what do we do?" Lynia''s brother stood before his father. His fists were clenched in anger as he shouted, "We can''t let them go!" "Calm down, Urkal," Valen said, his face somber and his mouth covered by his cross-fingered hands as his eyes showed that he was thinking something. "Show me the video again," Valen said. Urkal took out a thumb-sized crystal before infusing mana in it, causing it to project a screen that showed the fight between Lilith and Leiro. Valen saw the whole video again, his face grimmer than before. "What are you thinking, father? Let''s gather our people and hunt them!" "They must have left Fallen Land by now, so we have to find a trail somewhere." "No need," Valen said, his voice stern. "We don''t need to follow them," Valen stood up and added, "We''ll know their location soon, so wait." "B-but¡­Lynia is still with them," Urkal gritted his teeth, his nose ring, "We don''t even know what she is going through." "Go back to your training," Valen said, his voice firm and eyes cold, "When it is time to go, I will tell you." After Urkal left with a raging expression, Valen looked at the top left side of the hall, where an opened window was situated. "I need more manpower and another Empyrean order if I want to kill them. I alone am not enough." ''Lilith¡­I can''t handle her alone, given how she dispatched that thing.'' Valen felt stifling frustration. ''How did she be that powerful?!'' He took a position as if he was pulling a bow towards the window, and a mystical dark silver bow indeed materialized along with a ck arrow with a sparky dark silver border around it. "Ginza Hound, I need your help," Valen muttered as some strange tiny letters materialized on the arrow before he released the magical string, causing the arrow to fly out of the window before it disappeared into the horizon. Meanwhile, Lilith''s airship was twelve hours away from their next destination. Wihanx Finger was the highest ground of Kanx Abyss. It was just fifty square kilometers of stone-likend but rose tens of thousands of kilometers high in the sky. There was a unique way for people to reach the top of this finger from the bottom through hardships, challenges, and, of course...rewards! Some could reach the top faster, and some took time. At the very top was the main juicy reward that everyone wanted, but unfortunately, not many could reach there, and everyone could only get one attempt at Wihanx Finger''s challenge. Chapter 241: Fist & Blade! (13/13) "Who the hell are those two?" "Some Noble-order hunters getting famous, huh?" "It''s been a while since mirage crystals were circted like this." "Cosmic Factions are also interested in this group." "I heard they''ve been at Wihanx Finger half a month and defeated over fifty Royal-order hunters? Is that true?" "Don''t know about that, but we have several mirage crystals with them defeating Royal-order hunters." In half a month, the inner domain knew about Rin and Erix as their feats spread. After all, it was long since such mighty Noble-order hunters appeared. On the other hand, Lilith became unknown as she reached Empyrean-order, rendering her opponents very few and far between. ¡­ Dark Sterling Valen had found their location, but upon some investigation, he held off his assault. "Dad! It''s been twenty days! We can''t even catch up to them at Wihanx Finger since they''ve risen high in the finger, and we can''t find them there anymore." Urkal said with a frown, "You''ve called your forces, so please, let''s go there and take back Lynia." "I will," Valen indifferently said. "I will find and kill them once they leave Wihanx Finger." "But, do you think they will reach the top?" Urkal asked, his fists clenched. "If they reach the top, they''ll be more powerful¡­" Valen''s lips twitched. ''I know that, brat.'' "You don''t need toe with me," Valen said to his son. "Just focus on your training and leave this matter to me." ¡­ Wihanx Finger. This stone tower was exactly 30,000 kilometers tall. If people wanted to reach its top, they had to enter inside the finger at its base and reach the top bypleting 300 individual obstacles. After each obstacle was an exotic resting area of randomndscape. Each resting area had resources, and they would grow or appear randomly, which sparked conflict among hunters. However, the value and rarity of resources depended on the level of resting area. A higher area equals better resources and opportunities. People could go to higher areas bypleting a challenge present in every resting area. But everyone only had one attempt. They would be stuck in that resting area if they failed the challenge. They could go inside Wihanx Finger again but wouldn''t be able to go past the area they failed to cross. Erix, Rin, Lilith, and Lily continuously challenged until they reached the 250th resting area and finally stopped for a break. After that, they progressed slowly and gradually while improving themselves with a certain pace and training schedule with goals. When they finally reached the 299th floor after twenty days, their names had spread more due to the battles they''d fought in the resting areas whileing up here. Invincible Noble-order duo. They were unbeatable in the realm of Noble-order hunters, and they had also proved that average Royal-order hunters were no match for them. During the past 20 days, Erix had several women encounters because it was also one of the main goals. He had been sucking dry Royal-order females that he defeated or anyone he found good because of his fame, strength, and gentlemanly frank charm backed up by his confidence. After all, he didn''tck anything and only had more to satisfy those females, so his progression in bncing his source also went well in the past twenty days as he sessfully reached 32% progress. But it was slowly down the past five days since the other women were failing challenges and couldn''t keep up with them. m-v-l_e-m-p-y-r original In the end, only Lilith, Rin, Lily, and Erix arrived at the 299th floor. But they were not alone in this resting area. There were two men. One had a huge ne of beads around his neck and wore a monk-like outfit, while the other one had long hair, unlike the bald monk, and wore a ck assassin-like outfit. They were meditating at different spots, and both of them were Royal-order hunters. This resting area had chains of various hills with different nt life on each of them, with various effects and elemental affinities in the atmosphere. Erix and others also went deep within and sat in meditation on different hills. Unfortunately, there were only primary and advanced elemental nt-life structures. Erix sat on a me-elemental hill and Rin on the wind-elemental hill. Their journey in this Wihanx Finger had also been fruitful till arriving here as Rin had reached the 2nd realm in Time while she was also making progress towards the 3rd realm in the Wind element. [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Bloodline: Ourous Scion (Legendary-2) _Level: 166 _Rank: Noble-Order _ss: Razing de Dancer _Vitality: [100%/100%] _Stat points: 132 ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 (+300) +180 ]?¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 (+300) + 350 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 936 / Spirit Force: 9291/9291 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 1000 (+300) / Mana: 5000/5000 (+3000) ]?_Talent (1/3): Stormshock Chart Rin''s Magic affinity also upgraded from B to A! It was eventually bound to happen with how much she was progressing alongside Erix in Magic, which finally increased her affinity for Magic to the same level as Erix. On the other hand, Erix had also reached the 2nd realm in the me element while he was progressing towards the Space element''s 3rd realm. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie (32% Bnce) _Rank: Noble-Order _Level: 164 _ss: ¡ª (Death Reaper-X) _Life orb: [100%/100%] _Vigor Force: [1000/1000] _Stats: 128 unassigned. ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 + 400 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 + 80 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 939 / Spirit Force: 9320/9320 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 1000 + 200 / Mana: 5000/5000 ] _Talent (2/3): Vigor Force, Death Bound. Additionally, Erix automatically awakened a talent called Death Bound when he reached 30% of progress in bncing his source. Just like Vigor Force, it was a permanent talent, not taking up the talent slots of Mystic Root''s status blessing. [Death Bound] -Unique Talent: once your Life Orb reaches 0%, the user will enter the Death Bound state. _Effect: In the Death Bound state, you will not die. Instead, your Life Orb will transform into the Death Orb, leaving only a body of dark gold bones. To revert Death Orb into Life Orb, you must absorb a pure source of life and enough blood. He wasn''t expecting this, nor did Lilith know something like this would happen since it was also her first time seeing a case like Erix''s. She could be considered a simr case to Erix, but she was a hybrid of demon and vampire, where both races had multiple mixed factors and powers right from those two bloodlines. Hence, her source became more chaotic, eventually getting her into trouble until Erix came and saved her. Unlike her, Erix had the purer and base-level mutation of life and death. There was no mixture of any other factors. A pure death-filled zombie who was one human long ago, and Erix, who was also a human but had pure life in him as a base-level human without supernatural elements. After he revived as a hybrid zombie, he didn''t know all that and continued to absorb death around him, which resulted in an imbnce source, but it was noticed, and he was on the path to reaching the true base form of his race. Once he bnced his source to 100%, Lilith said that Erix would evolve. After all, he was no longer a simple lifeform but a Noble-order lifeform having various supernatural and magic powers! Erix was close to achieving one more boost of power. Death Reaper! His X-rank ss. He only needed to kill a bit over a thousand monsters, and he would finish thest task he needed to awaken it. Since his source had progressed properly towards bncing, Erix would soon be able to start mass-killing the monsters once the progress reached 40%! During Limitless ne''s sessions over the past twenty days, the duo spent half time progressing in their elements while the other half improving their battle styles while also learning Lilith''sbat style that she taught them and incorporating her knowledge to modify and enhance theirbat arts. Lily had been doing the same thing since she had learned Lilith''sbat art and incorporated it into her own style. But she had improved drastically in the past twenty days after rigorously training with Rin and Erix as she also made a significant breakthrough in herbat style. Even Lilith was not an exception, as she was also improving since there was always more to learn from individuals with talent and potential, with the drive to bloom those traits to full. When four such individuals gathered together, mass progress was about to happen. Rin and Erix were particrly full of surprises regarding that. In the past twenty days, they once again wholly improved themselves a whole notch regarding theirbat arts and skills! After training for a couple of days in this resting area, the group would finally tackle the 300th challenge. If theyplete it, a wonderful surprise awaited them at this highest point of Kanx Abyss. ¡­ Core Domain, Dark Sterling Valen''s castle... An exquisite and extensive Airship floated above the castle while Valen and several other people stood on the vast left-corner terrace at the castle''s top. "Let''s move," Valen said, his face frosty and eyes determined as he flew up on the airship where two powerful auras equal to his were onboard. Valen''s short dark blue hair wasbed and stuck to his head while he wore a formal dark blue robe with shining dark green patterns and tiny crystals. It was a powerful magic outfit. As he and the other eight Royal-order hunters flew up on the ship, Urkal arrived while flying, his face flushed as he shouted. "Father, why can''t Ie with you?! You are going with two more Empyrean-order powerhouses and ten Royal-order hunters!" "I''m sure I can help kill those two Noble-order hunters!" Urkal shouted, his fists clenched! "I am your strongest and most talented son!" "Gahahahaha!" A loudugh echoed from the ship as a middle-aged man with a huge belly and a giant mug in his hand flew out and faced Urkal. "Valen, your son doesn''t seem to know how to measure oneself against others." Urkal saw the man and gulped, ''Giant Belly Mohak. I heard he is as powerful as my father¡­'' "Hey, kid," Mohak said with a narrow grin, "Do you know what those two Noble-order hunters are called these days? Especially in the Inner domain?" "W-What?" "Bwahahaha, one is called Deathly Fist and Fist of the Abyss. People are juggling between them." "And that woman is known as Anarchic de Dancer." Mohakughed,pletely looking down on Urkal, "Go and make people call you by these titles before thinking about challenging them." "It''s aplete joke if you think you can beat them as a noble-order," Mohak said before returning to the ship and shouting, "Start the ship and move towards Inner Domain!" "We''ll end their tale before it gets any bigger!" Chapter 242: Top of the Wihanx Finger Valen and his group, consisting of a total of three Empyrean-order hunters and roughly ten Royal-order hunters, reached Wihanx Finger after a day of traveling. This area had a city surrounding the huge finger since there was also exotic wilderness to the north. Valen and his group built a huge courtyard for themselves not far from the west of the finger and began their wait game. "We''ll confront them once they leave. Until then, start preparation for it. We must not miss them once they exit the finger." ¡­ 2nd day on the 299th resting area¡­ Rin and Erix just finished today''s limitless ne session before the group started dinner for various buffs. "Let''s finish this today," Lilith smiled, "I''m sure we''ll be able to pass the 300th challenge." "Our journey in the abyss is sooning to an end," Lilith added. "How many stops do we have before we reach Core Domain''s Pale Hunger Swamp?" Erix asked. "Two more stops until we reach there, but those two stops are just for tough challenges and to acquire some high rarity life-attribute resources," Lilith said before taking a bite from ayered wrapped bun. "We won''t have to spend much time there." "So, how long roughly before we reach the Pale Hunger Swamp?" Rin asked after taking a spoonful of Tier-5 Bean curry. [Your Strength has been increased by 20% for one hour.] "Roughly twenty days," Lilith said. "Don''t forget to eat that sweet soup. It will increase your wind elemental damage." Rin took the soup. "Erix, take these meatballs." "Finish it fast since we don''t know how long ourst individual challenges willst." Everyone swiftly ate the various dishes Lilith made for the temporary buffs, as they would help them immensely in theiring individual challenges. After eating the dishes, everyone stood before the only door in this resting area. On one side was a hugend of various exotic hills and nt-kingdom, and on the right side was a moderate corridor leading to a huge glowing veiled door. Touching it would give one option whether they wanted to take on the 300th challenge, and the group epted, vanishing from the corridor. All four of them appeared in different pocket dimensions generated by Wihanx Finger before they got five tasks toplete. All of them hadpletely different challenges, with their difficulties adjusted to their stats and levels. But they were unstoppable. Even the 300th challenge was no match for them in the end. The first one toplete was Lilith, as she also witnessed this scene for the first time. The top of the Wihanx finger was a teau of stone and in patches of grass growing between cracks in the stones. However, a wonderful phenomenon was just ten meters above thisnd: a huge sea of clouds and colorful starlight spirits. Lilith looked straight up after feeling starlight showering on her and saw a huge outline forming a pair of hands holding a big gourd that poured down starlight motes on her. They just gathered around her and continuously increased in number as each second passed. A few secondster, Rin and Erix also suddenly appeared. They were injured to various degrees, both internally and externally, but they swiftly healed as two more hands holding gourds manifested in the sky and poured down starlight motes on them. Shortly afterward, Lily also arrived and experienced the same phenomenon. "What''s going on?" Erix asked as he looked at the colorful starlight motes gathering around him and increasing. All four of them were over fifty meters away from each other, but the motes that gathered around them were increasing in the area as their numbers increased. "All I know about the reward of reaching here is that it gives what we need," Lilith said. "It gives what we need?" Rin repeated in a mutter while looking up at the hands and gourds. "Let me think of bncing my source to 100%," Erix grinned. "Maybe my wish will be granted." "Unfortunately, nope," Lilith chuckled. "It gives what we need, but it will be in some form. An item or something." "So, we won''t get any direct development to our foundational qualities," Lily hummed. "Yep. The things we get might be able to affect that, but it depends on what we get," Lilith said while waving her hand at the motes, but they magically passed through her hands. After a few minutes of waiting, Lilith''s gourd stopped first while the colorful starlight motes around her became chaotic and started gathering. The same thing happened with Rin, Erix, and Lily afterward. "It looks like these mysterious motes will take the form of our reward," Lilith said, her eyes sparked with curiosity like the other three. ¡­ On the 299th resting area, the monk and the assassin appeared in the corridor, their faces ashen. They had also epted the challenge after Erix''s group challenged it. However, it was clear that they failed, arriving back to the resting area and ending their journey of Wihanx Finger. "Those four aren''t here¡­maybe that passed?" Hakin, the assassin muttered. "Sigh, let''s see what wecked." "I don''t think they passed," the bald man said as he mmed his pole on the ground before it vanished into his hunter card. His expression was frustrated. Suddenly, their eyes shed, and both of them heard a notification. [You are walking on the path of assassination and swiftness, but youck the resolve to test yourself against those on the same path as you. Your thirst is not strong enough.] [You are walking on the path to harmonize the spirits and elements and believe yourself to be highly talented, but you are a fool. You venture to various ces and meditate to learn wonders, yet youck the confidence to take on the risks for your progress. Youck guts and have a high fear of risky endeavors. You will never reach the top with your current self.] "It looks like Ick thirst¡­sigh, I did take a leisure three months to reach here," the assassin sighed and turned to his recently madepanion, who was climbing the finger at a simr pace as him after reaching 250th floor a month ago. "Nothing," the bald man shook his head while trying to keep his face together. "I am leaving. We''ve been here for half a month straight." "Yeah, let''s see what''s happening outside. Last I heard, members of two Cosmic Factions had a big fight over the appearance of a high-level blessed ind." "Blessed ind?" the bald man was envious. "If only I can get something like that and then return to my world, I''ll be set." "Same¡­If I return with a Blessed Ind, I''ll easily join among the top forces of my world, but¡­" The assassin wryly smiled and shook his head. "It''s Impossible for us. We even failed to reach the top of this finger. I really wanted to see the scenery at the top and see what kind of reward we get." "Whatever, failing here doesn''t mean the end of the world," the bald man said while his fists involuntarily clenched. "Let''s go on a challenging journey with me. We are at simr power levels in different fields, so it''ll work." "Great, I was about to suggest the same thing, haha!" Chapter 243: Mysterious Rewards Lilith''s motes condensed first and took a form soon, transforming into an exquisite football-sized flower with crystal-shining crimson petals and ck patterns that gave off a deadly elegance-vibe from its design. Lilith raised her eyebrows as she inspected the item and nodded, "I don''t particrly need this right now, but if I think about the limits, then what I can get from this meets the condition of me needing something like this." "Looks like some kind of resource filled with unique energy," Rin said. "Yep. This can be used for various things, but I''ll use it to create a SoulArk Weapon. This material is perfect for it, but I can''t make it right now even if I want to," Lilith ruefully smiled and waved her hand, putting this exotic item into her Hunter card. "Yours are shaping up," Lily said as she saw Rin and Erix getting their rewards as the motes condensed, took shape, and finally started transforming. "Let''s hope you get what you need," Lilith grinned. "Erix, if luck is on our side, you''ll get to awaken your ss soon." *Chrirr¡­* While Erix''s reward turned out to be a mysterious box with golden, light-green, and dreamy indigo patterns, Rin''s reward turned out to be a strange-looking white orb with a pair of dark red lightning horns and white-blue with golden motes glowing inside it. Both of them inspected their rewards and were stunned. Erix felt strange upon seeing how his luck would y one more part in this reward. [Mystery Life Treasure Chest] _Effect: A treasure chest filled with various life-attributed resources, but upon opening it, you will randomly get one super rare Life-attributed resource. ''Whatever. I wanted a life-attribute thing to speed up my source bncing, and I got it.'' "What did you get, Rin?" Erix asked as he looked at the mysterious orb with horns. "Take a look, everyone. It''s a weird thing," Rin wryly smiled as she shared its details with others. "What were you thinking of getting?" Erix curiously asked. "Power," Rin answered with a grin. "Well, I don''t need anything else right now, haha." [Raibor Power Slime] -A Bizzare-type Fairy. (Bound to Rin) _Status: Unawakened. _Attributes: Attuned to Rin. _Description: A slime that takes its master''s powers and grows to give various support and can manifest new forms ording to you and your influence. Awaken it by infusing your blood and spirit force into it. "What did you get?" Rin turned to Erix and looked at the mysterious box. "It''s a treasure box that will give me a random life-attribute resource, well, a supposedly super rare one," Erixughed and touched the box. "Let''s see. I do need life power more than anything else right now, so it''s a correct reward." Erix opened the box by pressing on a round center, causing it to turn into motes before revealing a brown seed with dreamy green and golden patterns. [Seed of Radiant Lifebane Tree] -A Bizarre-type resource that can grow in one''s origin region. _Attribute: Life _Status: Seed _Description: Put the seed into your origin region and feed it your various energies to initiate its growth. "Interesting¡­Both of you got things I can''t make heads or tails about," Lilith helplessly smiled, "But from their minuscule information, they are sure to aid you two greatly and longstingly." "Yep, that seems to be the case," Rin grinned. "Lily''s reward is also forming," Lilith turned to Lilith along with Rin and Erix. "The rewards we get from here are supposed to be what we need andst long to aid in our journey," Lilith added. "That''s why the things we got have the potential to grow." "Clearing these 300 challenges in the past twenty days and reaching here is already a big reward, haha," Erix said with augh in response. "We improved a lot." "Yep, can''t deny that," Rin nodded, her gaze on the thing forming before Lily. "Lily''s going to get something big in size, eh?" Lily waited eagerly with excitement in her eyes. Usually, she was silent and reserved, but such moments naturally brought her excitement. Soon, her reward finished forming. It was a statue with the same figure and size as Lily but without any facial features! "Another strange reward," Erix said. "Lily, what is it?" Lily smilingly shared the details of her reward to others as everyone saw its information panel. [Statue of Self-Reflection] -A statue bound to Lily. _Description: Upon infusing your blood and spirit force in it, the statue will activate and turn into your clone with the exact same powers and 75% of your stats. _Level: 1 ( 0/1000 Royal-order hunts) _Perks: ¡ª> The statue will always be in sync with you, keeping the same progress as you. ¡ª> You have one-mind-two bodies control with your clone, but you can also give simplemands to your clone to act on them and split your consciousness to do multi-tasking if you can. ¡ª> If your clone is killed, you can revive it in your origin region by consuming 10% of your total stats. _Note: Please know that this clone''s max growth potential is up to peak Empyrean-order. It will not keep up with your progress after your breakthrough to the next lifeform rank after the Empyrean-order rank. "I don''t even know if I''ll be alive to reach the peak of Empyrean-order," Lily ruefully chuckled. "Of course you will be," Rin rolled her eyes before saying with a grin, "We all will be alive and thriving no matter what hardshipses our way." "That''s the n," Erix heartilyughed. Lilith smiled as she shared the same sentiment. "Alright, you three need to use your rewards right now and activate them. Let''s prepare before leaving since it''s peaceful and energizing in here," she said as she looked at the exotic yet beautiful scenery at the highest point of Kanx Abyss. Lily activated her statue, while Rin also infused her blood and spirit into the bizarre horned slime. On the other hand, Erix sat down cross-legged and focused. The seed physically vanished once he infused spirit force it in and appeared in his origin region. Erix brought the seed to an empty space in his origin region, away from his Magic Flower core, elemental nexuses, skill runes, and other stuff that indicated his powers. ''Let''s see what it does in its initial growth.'' Erix started pouring Mana and spirit force into the seed, causing it to glow and tremble immediately. After a few seconds, the seed sprouted and immediately burst out a powerful and pure life power into his origin region, making Erix thrilled. He immediately guided that oozing life power into his source. Chapter 244: Raibor Power Slime, Radiant Lifebane Tree, Imminent Trouble A root also emerged from below as soon as the seed sprouted and poured out the life power. The root magically created a sparkling rich soil beneath it, existing yet ethereal. The root anchored the seed while it sprouted aplete sapling and finally stopped leaking life power from it. However, a new kind of power was coursing through it as it gradually grew. The sapling grew thirty centimeters tall with several leaves before stopping as Erix also exhausted his Mana and Spirit force. Of course, it could also grow with Mana only, but Spirit Force boosted the speed, making it grow into a sapling right off the bat after consuming his 9.3k Spirit Force. ''Hmmm, I can''t continuously provide Spirit Force, but¡­'' Erix opened his eyes and took out a few crates from his Hunter Card. "Lilith, that seed needs a lot of energy to grow into a tree and give me something solid," Erix said as he opened three crates. They contained an abundance of resources they collected from hunters they killed. Tons of fruits, nts, and such natural resources, elemental stones, Mana stones, potions, Prana stones, and such things. They''ve killed many Royal-order hunters, so their hunter cards weren''t just for show. Noble-order hunters were poor inparison. "Do you want to use all of these resources for that tree? Hmm, that''s a good idea," Lilith nodded. "These resources are not very beneficial to us, so you nned to sell them, but feeding them to your tree would be a better choice indeed." Rin and Lily were focused on their rewards, finding more about them while Erix sat cross-legged with Lilith behind him and the crates of resources beside her. She drained all resources, converting them into their base energy before infusing them into Erix. Erix guided all that energy into the sapling as it started growing again. This was a slow process as Lilith had to do it on one resource at a time, so while Lilith and Erix cultivated the tree, Lily and Rin roamed around the teau and practicedbat. Rin was wielding two weapons. One was her de eater turning into a Katana, and the other was a giant indigo slime with red and golden lightning patterns. Even the fan''s handle had two big eyes where Rin held it. [Raibor Power Slime] -A Bizarre-type fairy. _Attributes: Attuned to Rin. _Evolution Level: 1 ( 0 / 1000 Royal-order hunts) _Abilities: ¡ª>Power Boost: passively increase all of your elemental powers by 10%. ¡ª> You can channel and shape this slime at your will, turning it into any weapon for you to wield. Skills released through this weapon deal 10% more elemental damage. It was just a level 1 for now, so it still had the potential to grow. *Swoosh!* Rin swept her giant battle fan, causing thousands of des to form with her control at once from the gust of wind she created. Right after that, she shed her katana, spinning and flowing the chaotic flow to the des as her chronace flow controlled all those thousands of shes. Lily saw the iing attack, but since it was an area attack and fast, her speed wouldn''t be enough to dodge. Having no other choice, Lily''s fingers released strings of condensed Mist and Ice as they weaved intoyers around her, protecting her from all the des. Elements: ¡ª> Primary: Wind (4th), Water (4th) ¡ª> Advanced: Ice (4th), Mist (5th), wood (2nd) Concepts: Weave (1st), Disperse (2nd), Spectral cian-attribute concept of Ice. Lily had progressed her Wind and Water elements to the 4th realm since she was already in the 5th realm in Mist from the scroll of insight, and that made her speed ofprehending Wind and Water faster. As such, despite Rin''s attack all power, Lily essentially had much more power than Rin and Erix in terms of stats and other things, not including the fact that her skills were highly refined and other passive skills she had developed or gotten. It was normal since Lily had been training for years, unlike Rin and Erix, who had begun their path of power roughly four months ago when the apocalypse descended on Earth. But the appearance of the duo also increased the speed of Lily and Lilith as they began their power progression with them instead of leisurely and hidden like before when Lilith was not well in her foundation and bloodline. The duo practiced against each other and even got injured, but it was normal. After an hour, they took a break and saw that Lilith and Erix were also about to finish. Lilith was close to finishing the resources in thest crates. ''Alright, almost all is done except for the Prana stones. I''m sending Prana inside, but you won''t be able to control it, so let me handle it.'' ''Alright,'' Erix responded. The previous sapling had turned into a four-meter-tall tree with branches and bizarre lush green leaves with golden and blue patterns. But his gaze was stuck on five different spots that grew something weird. Lilith''s consciousness soon arrived in his origin region, bringing with her the Prana energy. ''It''s going to bear fruits soon,'' Lilith grinned upon seeing the tree and those five weird spots. ''My source already bnced to 35%, and that''s a huge boost considering I would have to suck dry a lot of Royal-order females for that,'' Erix wryly smiled. ''Now I just want to eat fruits so I can get more pure life power to reach 40%.'' ''From what I sense, you''ll have easily progressed over 40% after eating the fruits,'' Lilith chuckled. ''How''s the progress of the tree now? It''s bing slow as we reach thepletion.'' ''The tree growthpletion rate is at 89%,'' Erix said. ''I suppose the tree will fully awaken once it hits 100%.'' ''Yep. Let''s see what wonders this tree shows once itpletes,'' Lilith said before absorbing Prana from another stone and pouring it into the tree. After a short while, she finally finished all the resources, making the tree''s progress reach 99%. ''I''ll infuse my own spirit force and Prana, wait.'' Lilith began, pouring her Prana and Spirit force into the tree. The fruits were rapidly maturing as she poured all of her energies, but even after she was finished, the progress stayed at 99%, and the fruits didn''t change much after bing the size of mangoes. ''This is strange¡­'' Erix inspected the tree. ''I think it needs something specific to progress thest one. Inspect it.'' ''Yeah.'' [Radiant Lifebane Tree] _Completion: 99% (Requires a pure death source to finish to 100%.) ''Eh? What the¡­'' Erix was stunned. ''What did you see?'' Erix shared it with Lilith, making her rub her imaginary chin in the origin region. ''The name does have some duality to it despite it being a Life-attributed resource. It''s called Lifebane tree, after all,'' Lilith ruefully chuckled. ''Whatever, let''s give it what it needs.'' ''I''ll slowly infuse death power to it from my source,'' Erix nodded with a cautious tone. ''I don''t want to corrupt this tree or deviate from its original growth identally.'' ¡­ "Fist of the Abyss¡­Anarchic de Dancer?" "What the¡­" The assassin and bald man had arrived on the ground and were stunned to see mirage crystals and people talking about it. "Shit, Kaza¡­I think they''ll reach the top. What do you think?" the assassin said to his bald friend Kaza. "They''ve already reached there, Maxan," Kaza muttered as he looked at the duo killing a Royal-order hunter in a jiffy. "Do you know them? Where did you see themst?" Suddenly, they heard a voice from behind them and turned around to see a man with short dark blue hairbed nicely and wearing a in yet regal robe. "Dark Sterling Valen," Maxan eximed. Kaza didn''t know about him as he hadn''t gone to the core domain yet nor heard about him, but hispanion''s reaction his inspect result told him what he needed to know. "We met them at the 299th resting area. They are probably at the top receiving their unique rewards," Kaza replied. "Thanks," Valen said before he vanished. "Why did he want to know that?" Maxan scratched his head. "What else but for something hostile?" Kaza snorted. "I feel like he wants to kill them or something." "Then why did you tell him about them?" Maxan asked confusedly, "It''s not like we have any enmity with that group." "Yes, but I don''t want to risk getting on this so-called Dark Sterling Valen''s bad side," Kaza shook his head. "Our reaction to the mirage gave us away. If we lied, who knows what he might do?" "Even if he can''t, he must have his subordinates of Royal-order considering he is an Empyrean-order hunter," Kaza added. "I see¡­" Maxam muttered before he weakly smiled. "What the hell¡­" "Well, let''s not get ourselves killed before we begin our journey," Kaza threw away the mirage crystal and said, "We should go without wasting further time here." "Alright!" Chapter 245: Progress, Conflict Looking at the Radiant Lifebane Tree, Erix and Lilith eagerly waited for the fruits to ''calm down.'' The tree has reached 100%pletion, causing it to shine along with its fruits. One by one, fruits detached and dropped on the mystical soil beneath that held the tree. The soil had grown and spread to over a hundred square meters, but its density was only two meters thick. [Radiant Lifebane Tree] _Type: A Bizarre-type nt. (Bound to Erix) _Level: 1 [ Requires 1000 natural resources and 10,000 Prana.] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Fruits: The tree will grow life-attributed fruits with random benefits every month. The higher the tree level, the better the fruits. You can speed up the fruit''s growth by giving it Tier-6 or higher-rank resources. _Passive effect(s): ¡ª> The healing you receive and give from any source is automatically boosted by 10% by the tree. _Note: level up the tree to awaken more effects. ''Interesting effects,'' Lilithmented as she saw Erix sharing the tree''s details with her. ''The fruits¡­random benefits of life-attribute?'' Erix was surprised, ''Well, let''s hope it also gives pure life power to my source for bncing.'' ''Try one,'' Lilith said. All five fruits looked the same, so Erix inspected a random fruit, getting its details. [Life-Burst Fruit] _Type: Healing. _Effect: ¡ª> Eating the fruit will increase healing received by 100% to 200% for thirty seconds. ''Woah, the effect is kinda crazy. If there''s a continuous healing skill used on me when I eat this fruit, I basically won''t for thirty seconds,'' Erix chuckled. ''But it''s useless for now,'' he added with a sigh. ''Give it to me,'' Lilith said, ''If we don''t want the fruit''s effect, we can just refine the fruit to extract its power as we did with the resources and gave it to this tree.'' ''I''ll refine it and give you its potent life energy.'' ''Great, let''s do it quickly,'' Erix grinned. ''I want to progress bncing over 40%, so the death power of those monsters I kill wouldn''t mess with my source.'' Since Erix was more powerful than before and even had Death affinity at level two, once his source bnced to 40%, he would be freely able to kill monsters, and their death power wouldn''t break the bnce anymore since it was already a whole 40% progress. After all, the Life part of his source was bing powerful, so it could finally show its power. Hence, Lilith said that Erix would need to reach 40% before he could start killing monsters in masses again. Without further ado, Lilith started refining this fruit with mystical and abundant life power in it and channeled it to Erix. Erix was guiding it to his source, feeling distinct and clear progression each second. Ten secondster, Lilithpletely extracted the fruit''s life power while Erix''s progress reached 37.2%! It was an increase of whole 2.2%! Erix couldn''t help but get excited, ''Lilith, let''s use the rest of the fruits except that one with instant heal, and I''ll cross over 40%!'' Lilith smiled, ''Alright.'' ''I''ll get my ss soon,'' Erix''s face grinned from ear to ear. Rin and Lily saw grinning with his eyes closed and couldn''t help but smile in reaction. "It looks like that tree proved super beneficial to him." "Yep," Rin heartily chuckled. "I''m sure it''s rted to his source. The tree must have increased his progress enough to make him gleeful like that." "That reminded me. What about your ss skills, Rin?" Lily asked. "I am saving all the attempts," Rin grinned. "Since Erix didn''t have his ss, I don''t want to use my ss''s skill creation attempts." "So you are waiting for him to progress together¡­" "Andpete," Rin smirked, "We progress faster when we have apetition." Rin''s ss had reached a maxed level, but she hadn''t used any skill creation attempts despite almost having a dozen of them. If she did that, she would be out of sync with Erix, and if that happened, Rin was sure they wouldn''t be making progress like they were currently making. "The first thing he''ll do is to awaken his ss, and I also can''t wait for that, haha." "Yep. We''ll be farming a lot to level up in the next spot." The group stayed on the teau for two more hours to have passionate and fun rxation where no one could see or sense them after Lilith and Erix were done. Erix was especially energetic and happy due to the reward he got since it essentially fixed his problem and increased his progress speed. After they were willing to exit, a notification appeared that asked about which floor they wanted to go. "Let''s pick up Rein and Maleina on the way." The group went to the floors where Rein and Maleina were resting and training after failing. Afterward, they went to the ground floor, arriving in a huge circr hall over one kilometer wide in size! The group flew towards the 100-meter-wide exit that was small inparison to this hall. There were thousands of people at various spots and stalls as people had made this floor a sort of market as people would want various items and consumables before going to their respective challenges among 300 floors. "Lilith, we are going to a good farming ce, right?" Erix asked. "Let''s hope it''s abundant with monsters so I can kill a couple thousand in a day and finish the task," Erix added as he rubbed his palms while grinning. "Of course, darling. We are going to the best ce for farming. It''s between the core domain and inner domain," Lilith licked her lips. "I also need to kill some Empyrean-order monsters, so that ce is extremely dangerous. Perfect for us." Just as the group exited from the Wihanx Finger''s hall and Lilith took out her Airship to continue their journey, she frowned. "It seems that someone wants to entertain us," Lilith said as three powerful presences and a bunch of others quickly approached them before the group saw themselves surrounded. "Deathly Fist and Anarchic de Dancer, eh? They do look extraordinary, hahaha!" Mohakughed while his beady eyes looked at Rin and Erix. "Are you talking about us?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Eh? It seems that we got titles without us knowing," Rin was also surprised before she clicked her tongue. She was dissatisfied with her title, but whatever. "It seems that you two don''t know that your battles against other Royal-order hunters were recorded and spread," Mohakughed. "If you were Empyrean-order, I would have liked to fight you." "What are you here for?" Lilith crossed her arms, her eyes narrow. "Your intentions don''t seem to be peaceful." "Where is Lynia?" Valen asked, his face dark and voice cold. His gaze was looking at none other than Maleina. Erix and others quickly understood the situation at that question. They scanned everyone and became cautious internally, revving their internal gears to get intobat. ''I am sensing three Empyrean-order presence, and unfortunately, as powerful as I am, I can''t take on three Empyrean-order at once when one of them is a strange one.'' ''For starter, let me, Rin, and Lily kill those Royal-order,'' Erix said with a grin. ''Alright, show them a nightmare while I go take away these three Empyrean-order dogs. If I don''t want to get caught, even they wouldn''t be able to stop me.'' And thus, it began. "Lynia is dead," Maleina said with a deadpan expression as she looked straight at Valen. " That bitch is dead." Chapter 246: Death Game Dead Chase The atmosphere was crackling with usual lightning and dark clouds high up above. Lilith and others were surrounded by Valen, Mohak, and one more Empyrean-order powerhouse¡­which was a beast. It was a hound, to be exact, but with otherworldly ice-blue fur crackling with red and indigo lightning. Maleina had just finished uttering her sentence when a thundering and tearing lightning crackle, along with a howl, rumbled in the sky. That howl came from the two-meter-tall and three-meter-long beast that floated to Valen''s right. Valen turned the hound and bowed on one knee. Lilith''s eyes narrowed, her aura rising. ''From what I know of Valen, he wouldn''t risk his all for a measly daughter,'' Lilith said to others spiritually. ''But they are here, and he is kneeling before that hound, the most dangerous one of the Empyrean-order out of the three.'' Erix, Rin, and Lily were surprised upon hearing that. "Divine Ginza Hound," Valen solemnly spoke with his head down, "I''ve failed to keep her safe for you." ''What the hell is he talking about?'' Erix was dumbfounded. ''Did he want to give her daughter to a magic dog?'' Rin felt speechless. ''As long as he had some benefit or a fear of his life as stack for it, he would do it,'' Lilith dryly chuckled, ''No wonder he is here with this group.'' ''Also, we''ll be separating for a while,'' Lilith added, her voice containing a ting of unwillingness and anger deep within. *Howl!* ''Kill them!'' That howl had a spiritual power in it such that everyone managed to interpret that howl as filled with killing intent. In an instant, three bright lights shed toward Erix and others while Lilith also vanished. A powerful flux of energies and power shed briefly, chaotically altering the atmosphere, but none below Empyrean-order in the area were affected. Erix and others quickly turned their heads to the north, in the direction of Core Domain, as they saw one faint beam of light disappearing into the horizon, followed by three more lights. "I am annoyed," Erix narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ten peaks Royal-order powerhouses. "Me too," Rin''s eyes turned distant, and her pupils shrank. All of them were at peak or near the peak of Royal-order, which means they were near level 299 and had at least one or two affinities at the 4th realm, so this battle wasn''t going to be easy¡­s. ''I''ll manage to escape and meet you at the end of Saraz Stream. You know where to go.'' Rin''s and Erix''s expressions changed upon hearing Lily, but they werete. *Swoosh!* Lily suddenly burst out with a thick mist that covered a big area around them, weakening everyone''s senses andpletely disabling the presence of everyone within the fog. But Lily escaped, and her aura that exploded attracted the Royal-order powerhouses as they went after her. ''Lily, stop!'' ''Erix,'' Rin turned to Erix, her eyes saying it all. Erix''s eyes shed before they vanished, appearing ten kilometers away at once in the same direction where Lily was flying and getting chased. In just a second, Rin and Erix sensed Lily''s aura and saw her. Ten kilometers were crossed in a matter of two seconds. ''Lily, we''ll kill them, and they won''t even know how they died! Get them to the beginning of Saraz Stream,'' Erix ferociously said before he and Rin teleported again, crossing ten kilometers at once. And then once again before stopping. Below was a lush green in filled with monsters, but they were ten kilometers high up. Without wasting a single second, Rin and Erix executed theirbat arts! Two chaotic orbs with an exotic metallic coating that constantly changed along with chaos whirling inside appeared beside Erix while his fists were covered in gauntlets. The potent Nihilir Essence powered his gauntlets while his body adorned a metallic robe matching his outfit. On the other hand, Rin wielded a Katana and a giant battle fan while six chaotic chronace des conjured and floated around her. Just as they were finished with the preparation, they chugged Mana potions to recover their Mana, and the guests arrived. Erix''s Space Map picked up their auras first as he said, "We''ll only attack one Royal-order hunter at a time to prevent others from attacking us." "Let''s hunt them one by one," Rin said, her eyes glinting with golden-red flicker. Rin and Erix floated a hundred meters apart. Lily saw them and sped up, flying between both of them while she heard Erix''s voice in her head, ''Circle them around after reaching the Saraz Stream so we can catch up quickly and hunt them.'' Lily didn''t have time to respond as she continued at her max speed while the Royal-order hunters followed. Three of them even released futile long-range arrow-shaped skills that Lily dodged. They also saw Rin and Erix in theirbat forms, which caused their expression to be apprehensive. ''If they attack someone, then try to get hit by their attacks, or else those monsters will take us out one by one!'' ''They can''t be as powerful as us, chief. No way!'' ''Motherfucker, do as I say!'' *Swoosh!* The Royal-order hunters didn''t slow their speed as they continued with their senses cautious and onto Rin and Erix. ''Last one,'' Erix said. ''Got it,'' Rin replied. All of this was a game of a second. Nine powerhouses crossed between them while Erix was already in a punching form and released his fist into a wormhole that connected to another one that opened right before the 10th Royal-order powerhouse. The level 299 Royal-order powerhouse was smacked away while feeling horrified of the potent power eating away at his defense and consuming 50% of his Prana Kavach at once! But before he barely used his skill, Rin arrived before him, sweeping her giant battle fan that the Raibor Power slime took the form of and then swung her katana that quickly imbued with all six of her chaotic chroance des! The thousands of des she formed with her Battle Fan''s wind power quickly infused her offensive Dissolution-Flow into chaos form by her chaos concept, increasing energy output by 50%! Chaotic Millennial de Vortex! The time squeezed to an extreme inside the vortex that trapped the Royal-order hunter, who felt even his consciousness bing chaotic as terrifyingly quick and sharp de-shaped particles bearing powers of wind and lightning struck his defenses and even reached him, forcing out his desperation. But before he could proceed to counter-attack while suffering under Rin''s Skillcraft and resisting it, he was greeted by Deathly Fist. Erix had thrown both of his fists this time, going all out as two whirling fists manifested with a sharp crackling sound and chaotic whirls flowing with potent dark purple me and chaotic metal shards mixed in. His whirling punches rotated around each other and crashed into one more defense created in the Royal-order hunter''s desperate attempt that was trapped and shredded by Rin''s Skillcraft. But it was Erix''s current strongest form of Resonant Turbulent Punch¡ª> Resonant Chaotic Twin Fists. Nihilir''s destructive state, Dismantle, was in full form in Skillcraft, and it was influenced by his chaos concept, boosting the energy output by 50%, along with other boosts that boosted the overall power of his finely and potently created Skillcraft! The willpower of Erix and Rin, along with their supremely fine spiritual power imbued in their attacks, nailed the kill as the Royal-order powerhouse couldn''t outdo theirbined offense despite having overall higher parameters than them. It was a matter of pure qualitative difference in every area. "Next," Erix whispered, his heart calm as his eyes shed silver, and both of them vanished. Chapter 247: Death Game Dead Clash ''Damn it, they killed Gura!'' ''What the fuck is wrong with them?'' ''Their spiritual power is no less than ours, and that''s why they can react fast and squeeze their physical strength to the extreme along with their other powers to be that fast.'' ''Kill that Royal-order woman first. We''ll deal with those twoter if they want to attack us.'' The nine Royal-order hunters continued chasing Lily while trying to hit or slow her down, but everyone''s heart suddenly turned cold after a few seconds. ''Those two¡­'' Rin and Erix were ahead once again, chugging Mana potions a few kilometers away from them, and Lily was going in that direction. ''Space element¡­If he teleports like that, we''ll never leave them behind.'' ''Damn it. We can''t let them kill one more of us.'' ''They are attacking at close range and are quick in their executions, so we can''t put ourselves before their attacks to disable the abyss rule.'' ''What do we do then? If one of us with stronger defenses survives against their quick onught until another one of us tries to get hit by their attacks and¡­no, it''s risky. Their attacks are no joke even though they are Noble-order.'' ''Chief, what do we do?'' The enemy group quickly discussed spiritual thoughts and came to a conclusion right as Lily passed between Rin and Erix. Rin turned to Erix one hundred meters away. Erix also nced at her and nodded. They were ready to enact one more kill-onught. However, the nine Royal-order powerhouses suddenly stopped a hundred meters away from them, halting their chase. Lily felt their presence distancing further and stopped. ''It looks like they can''t afford to ignore Rin and Erix.'' Lily returned swiftly and arrived between Rin and Erix, facing the nine Royal-order powerhouses as they floated with somber expressions. "If you want to back out, now is the time," Erix said with a grin. The chaotic orbs floated behind him, whirling with energies and ready to be used at any moment. Both of them had chugged a potion and recovered their Mana to full. "How about you try to attack and kill me?" One of the Royal-order powerhouses floated forward. He wore heavy metal full-body armor and was a two-meter-tall half-human with a demonic race bloodline. He had the highest defense among the group and wanted to try to contain Rin and Erix. Rin and Erix looked at each other while Lily sent them her thought, ''It could be a trap. If you attack, don''t let your attacks hit others, or I can continue to run, and you two can just ignore them.'' ''No.'' ''No need.'' Erix and Rin responded simultaneously with a grin etched on their faces. Erix threw the Chaotic Whirling Punch 2.0 into a wormhole connecting to one that appeared behind the Royal-order hunter that stepped forward, causing him to shoot toward Lily like a bullet. But there was already a triangr crystal defense whirling around the man, which negated all impact and damage of Erix''s punch at the cost of cracks all over it. The other eight Royal-order powerhouses moved towards theirpanion while hurling all of their attacks towards Lily to prevent her from attacking while Rin was already in the motion since she knew Erix was going to attack. Rin''s arms moved along with the new set of Chaotic Chronace des she conjured as they infused into her attack,pleting the Skillcraft that struck the Royal-order powerhouse whose defense was almost destroyed by Erix. Chaotic Millennial de Vortex! The vortex formed with thousands of shes chaotically whirling into her Dissolution Flow, and a cross-sh in its center struck the man who had activated his highest defense the moment Erix''s attack struck him. It sessfully formed before Rin''s attack hit him, keeping him safe. ''Damn it! What the hell is this vortex?! I-'' The man felt everything was chaotic inside, and it was preventing him from functioning normally while the sharp de projectiles everywhere filled with strange, intense, and potent energies shredded his defense. The time inside flowed slow for him, physically affecting him by the chaotic flows around him but not for the others things! ''Damn it!'' The enemy chief''s eyes glinted, and his eyes turned ruthless with resolve as he flew at the fastest speed possible toward Rin''s vortex, intending to get hit by it! Erix was about tounch the strongest attack as usual with Rin to finish off that peak defensive Royal-order powerhouse inside Rin''s vortex, but he suddenly sensed an aura rapidly approaching Rin''s vortex instead. ''No!'' Erix''s eyes glinted dark. He didn''t pause his movement and continued as he swung both of his fists forward as the destructive projectile of Resonant Chaotic Twin Fists formed with the two floating orbspletely infusing their powers into the whirling punches as they shot into a wormhole and struck the enemy Chief. *Booom!* Erix had also used 1000 Spirit force to boost the attack, making the enemy Chief unnerved as he had no choice but to cancel and alter his n. ''Then you first, damned ant!'' Chief braced himself for the impact as fast as he could as the attack struck his defenseyered defensive barrier. When those two punch projectiles whirling around each other struck him, the Chief finally knew why people called Erix Deathly Fist or Fist of the Abyss. ''What the hell are these effects!?'' His defense was eaten away as those deathly dark purple mes dismantled it from micro. At the same time, they still had strange space properties, allowing them to attack the foundational formation of his defense directly. Hence, this offensive form of Nihilir Essence was called Dismantle! It dismantled a magic phenomenon''s formational foundation that had taken form, and this was a specialized effect of a Super Exotic Element. No other element could have this type of offense because it could only birthed from abination of Death, me, and Space. Only Nihilir Essence! "Arghhh!!" The enemy chief was engulfed in dark, hazy purple me sparks that destroyed his armor and entered his body, damaging him and enraging him. "You bastard!" Erix felt a sudden powerful force assaulting him before he felt an irresistible pull. ''Domain, huh?'' Erix grinned. ''Bring it on.'' Erix and Chief disappeared into the Chief''s domain. On the other hand, Rin''s opponent also couldn''t hold on longer in the strange vortex with chaotic time flow and other attacks that Rin was hurling into the vortex and keeping him locked. ''Damn it! How the hell am I not even getting a chance to counter-attack?!'' he thought frustratingly. He was forced to continuously fuel up his defenses to save himself from Rin''s attacks. With no other choice, the defense-oriented hunter was forced to use his domain to break this stalemate, making it a 1v1 fight with Rin. Lily escaped once again while the rest of the Royal-order powerhouses chased her with no other choice. Lily didn''t want to use her domain to kill just one and exhaust her Spirit Force since using a domain consumed a lot of Spirit Force along with other energies. On the other hand, Rin''s opponent didn''t n to fight a death battle against Rin in his domain because he knew he was a bad match-up against her powers despite him having essentially higher stats and power. ''Her reaction time is faster, damn it! I can only stall for a bit to recover and then leave.'' Rin arrived in a lush forest with a hugeke in the middle, but deep within theke were hundreds of dark red glowing beads. "Rise." Rin turned to the voice and saw her opponent turning into a ten-meter-tall giant wrapped in exotic wood and water elemental structures. *Shraaaa!!* From the river came a huge whale-like creature with hundreds of eyes on its head. It issued a strange loud sound before entirely gulping Rin at once. Inside its water-filled mouth, Rin waspletely drowned, but she was still calm. She even had a grin forming on her face. Rin and Erix had one more trick up their sleeve that they created during this journey, thanks to Lilith''s teaching them her style and other knowledge they absorbed. This trick was specifically to counter domains! Erix was also in a domain with exotic, tiny floating inds and nothing on the ground except clouds. Those unique floating inds were entirely crystallized and earthen, and they swiftly took the form of strange golems of various sizes, creating an army of a hundred deadly golems that rushed toward Erix. Some were slim, some had long-range sters in their hands, some were giant, and various other strange ones. "I''ll kill your woman after killing you!" the Chief ruthlessly shouted at Erix as he held a giant mace in his hand that glowed with dark brown sparks. "Keep dreaming and just watch me kill you," Erix spat with a devilish grin as he saw those golems rapidly approaching him and vanish from his spot, teleported ten kilometers away while his gauntlets started shining and altering. Chapter 248: Power Play, Lilys Trick Each domain had a breaking point, which was connected to the point that would ethereally appear outside in the material ne. That ethereal point outside could be used to enter someone''s domain forcefully as well, but once inside, it would be hard to find that point. However, there was one way to cancel someone''s domain forcefully and exit, but it required a powerful and highly perceptive way to use one''s spiritual power. Erix and Rin had sufficient spiritual power and even a high-quality medium of it. Spiritual Mystic Eye! As long as they carefully spread their senses and find the breaking point in their domain, they could attack that point with a condensed and powerful attack, creating an ethereal hole in that breaking point¡ªan exit. Once someone who was forcefully pulled into the domain exists, the owner of the domain wouldn''t be able to pull them again unless they waste energies to activate their domain again, which would be counter-productive if they were short of Spirit Force. ¡­ *Crackk...sh!* Rin cut open the thousand-eyed whale as blood rained all over around before she spread her senses and ran away at her fastest speed like lightning. She also chugged a Mana potion as using her Chaotic Cross-sh inside the whale-monster consumed her Mana. The Royal-order hunter was confused. He thought that Rin would directly attack him to kill him, so he would use his powers on defenses in his domain to wear her down. s, Rin didn''t n that, and the Royal-order soon knew what she was going to do as he sensed the breaking point of his domain getting pressured. ''No way!'' Shng was rmed. ''Howe she found it?!'' Shng flew towards Rin in his giant form while exotic vines with sharp and raging water pressure circting around them shot toward Rin. ''Raibor, adept the defensive chronace flow!'' Rin was instantly covered in a slime barrier that started oozing out Chronace Flow and created fiveyers of whirling flow around it. After all, Raibor Power Slime was the Bizarre-type fairy that adapted, absorbed, and grew on its master''s powers! Once it was bound, it would only have one master for its life. All of the attacks that came her way were significantly slowed down while the chronace flow directed them around her barrier, not shing with them, but using the flow power mix of Wind, Lightning, and Time to alter their course. This consumed less energy than directly defending, and this was only possible with Chronace Flow, which had wind that could mix with time to change flows. Lightning sped up the process while the attribute-concept empowered it and also put the lightning force into the flow, which helped defend and minorly break the attacks, pushing them to go with the flow. It had a separate pool of energy, so Rin wasn''t using her Mana for it. Instead, she was already in the form of executing her strongestpact Skillcraft. Her 2nd Skillcraft: Vorpal Stream de! The de Eater in Katana form was imbued with 1000 Mana worth of Chronace Flow while the magic formation took a whooping 1200 Mana and an additional 1000 de Energy as her Katana suddenly expanded one hundred meters long! It pierced out of her slime barrier seamlessly for a brief moment before it condensed into a normal-sized de again. The de glowed intensely with potent energy while micro-chaotic whirls inside controlled by her chronace flow moved chaotically, yet in a formation. "You will not!" Shng shouted as he saw Rin managing to deflect his attacks and intending to exit his domain. ''I can stop her if I put my defense before the breaking point,'' Shng wanted to keep Rin here as long as possible so that herpanions could catch and kill Lily. If he let Rin escape, he might die against her deadly attacks because, ultimately, no amount of his defense could break her conceptual power of de that he felt applied to him when he was in Rin''s unless he had a counter-defense against her type of power. It was Severam! Shng didn''t know, but he was feeling Severam''s power that could essentially allow Rin to sever anything as long as she shed powerfully enough. But inside this domain, he could even resist Severam''s power with his expertise in a multitude of defenses that were even more prominent in his domain. Even his ss was defense-oriented. As such, he made a move. A stupid move to use against someone like Rin. Rin''s Spiritual Mystic Eye was fully activated and spread, locked onto the breaking point and also Shng as she needed to keep her attention on him. And¡­.she managed to sense the flow of his energy. Rin''s pupils instantly shrank while wrists burst out with blood, almost shattering! However, she kept them stuck with her spirit force and chronace flow using some Mana. Shng defended his breaking point, but Rin canceled that attack. Her arms continued moving along with her hands holding the dark gold Vorpal Stream de that had a condensed andpact energy form with golden and dark red sparks with chaotic whirls in them! Her target was no longer the breaking point but the Royal-order hunter, Shng! The moment she finished swinging her Vorpal Stream de, her wrists detached with blood bursting out, but her detached hands blurred along with the Vorpal Stream de that zoomed towards Shng. Shng was in his domainbat form, and his defense wasn''t something to scoff at. However, he focused his defenses on his domain''s breaking point as an exotic wooden shell with entric weaving patterns appeared before Rin to block her attack. ''I will not die!'' Shng just barely finished this thought and tried to burst out with his power as a wooden lump of defense with sharp flowing water formatted within it barely formed before Rin''s Vorpal Stream de struck him. Even though Rin brutally injured her arms to change the course of her attack, she made sure to aim it at the Royal-order hunter''s head! It struck Shng''s defense, but the Severam instantly activated and severed his entire lump of defense before the Vorpal Stream de chaotically exploded. Rin''s eyes glinted as she exerted her control ording to the formation, causing thousands of des to form within the chaotic explosion that became her second offense. *Crack¡­Shatter!* The sky cracked and shattered before both of them left the domain. However, Shng was no longer alive as his shredded body dispersed along with the aftermath of Rin''s attack. [You have reached¡­] *BOOM!* Rin ignored the level-up notification and turned to the left while chugging a high-grade healing potion to heal and recover her arms. She saw a single dark purple projectile of punch five meters in size condensed and formted with Erix''s various powers striking the Royal-order chief. ''This guy is more powerful,'' Rin narrowed her eyes and also chugged a Mana potion before vanishing like a lightning bolt while her Raibor slime turned into her giant Battle Fan. Erix was injured all over, but his enemy was not any better off despite having a big difference in raw parameters. When he sensed Rin''s presence and her flowing energy, Erix grinned. Since he had reached the 2nd realm in me concept, his offense power of Nihilir Essence had increased a lot, and this single punch projectile was purepact offense. His second Skillcraft: zing Chaos Punch¡ª1500 mana cost. It struck against the Royal-order chief''s own attack, which was a giant hammer-shaped projectile with entric patterns on it, bearing ck frost and earthen powers. s, the qualitative difference caused both attacks to sh almost equally¡­only for a brief time. Erix''s punch exploded and pushed its chaotic energy output with the mind-rattling offense of his Nihilir''s dismantle aspect, swiftly eating and destroying the Chief''s attack. *Shrrrr¡­.* The Royal-order chief who was empowering his attack to win the sh suddenly saw another attacking, but directly at him from the side. Chaotic Millennial de Vortex!¡ª2300 Mana cost! The chief was quickly trapped in the vortex while the numerous des inside and a cross-sh struck him, applying ''Severam'' and shredding his defenses. Erix''s punch that exploded also continued with nothing to block it as its remaining power entered the vortex, causing a loud, chaotic explosion since both of their Skillcraft also shed. There was only one result in the aftermath that Rin and Erix didn''t even stay behind to see. Erix teleported both of them away, flying towards the Saraz Stream. But just as they teleported ten kilometers towards Saraz Stream, they saw Lily flying towards them while smiling. "Eh? What happened?" Erix and Rin were surprised. No one was even chasing her! "Haha," Lily chuckled and said, "They are chasing my clone now, but they don''t know it. I tricked them after creating a misty zone above ake. I hid inside while letting out my clone to fly north." Statue of Self-Reflection! "That¡­" Rin and Erix looked at each other before they burst outughing. "Damn, having a perfect clone like that is super useful, eh?" "Our way to Saraz Stream is also clear now," Lily said with a grin as she gestured a thumbs up towards the duo. "But since the clone only has 75% of your parameters, wouldn''t it get caught soon?" Rin asked. "Do you n to sacrifice it?" "Yep," Lily nodded. "I''ll just revive it again after consuming stats." "That''s good. We can easily get stats by farming monsters, so it''s no problem," Erix nodded, but his eyes showed worry, and his brows creased. "I want to know Lilith''s situation." Rin''s face also turned sour hearing that, "Lilith¡­She will be safe, right?" Lily warmly smiled upon seeing the duo getting worried and put her hands on their heads, "Don''t worry about Lady Lilith. She will be fine, and we will meet up at the end of Saraz Stream as she promised." "We should continue and do what we have to do." Rin and Erix smiled. Lily was right. They were worrying for nothing. "Alright, let''s go," Erix smacked his fists together. "It''s time to ughter the monsters," Rin grinned. "And get my ss." "Yep," Lily nodded. "Let''s focus on our tasks.'' The trio continued flying at moderate speed while passively recovering their energies, especially their Spirit Force and other unique energies. The distance to Saraz Stream: 1543 kilometers. Time: Roughly two to four hours, depending on their speed. Chapter 249: Saraz Stream, Farming Rein and Maleina sat at a table in an inn, contemting. "What do we do?" Rein asked as she turned to Maleina. "Escape while they are getting chased?" "Lilith can find us anytime since she has her tracking and seals on us," Maleina indifferently said. "I''ll wait here for them." Rein slumped her head on the table and sighed. Suddenly, the duo sensed a familiar presence and turned to the inn''s door. "Get up. It''s time to leave," Erix said as he sent two Nihilir Wisps toward them. "Hey, isn''t that Deathly Fist Erix?! His face matches." Suddenly, someone recognized Erix in the inn, though he didn''t pay any heed, and vanished from his spot once those Nihilir Wisps touched Rein and Maleina before teleporting them. The group took two and a half hours to reach Saraz Stream while the Royal-order hunters who went after Lily''s clone already finished their business. They killed her clone, thinking that they killed Lily. A notification wouldn''t sound when you kill someone in the abyss, though it sounded when one level up. However, some of them still felt something weird in their intuition. Yet, they didn''t bother investigating or acting further on this matter. They didn''t want to. They were unnerved. Three people in their group died, including their chief. They didn''t want to bother with those people and invite more deaths even if they were tricked. It was better to let go and finish the task. ¡­ At the extreme north region of the Inner domain was a huge crevice that was five hundred meters wide. Erix, Rin, and Lily stood at the edge of that aperture and looked below. Five hundred meters deep in that crevice was a stream of water going underground, wild and raging. Saraz Stream. This stream was the gateway to the border of the Inner Domain. "I''ve never traveled into this," Rein curiously said. "Looks fun." "There will be monsters inside the water, so our farming will begin immediately," Lily turned to Rin and Erix. "We can have distance between us once we are inside this underground stream, but let''s stay within each other''s sensing range." Rin and Erix nodded. "Since it''s water, there should be a huge amount of monsters inside, like a fish horde, hopefully," Erix grinned. "If I can kill a couple thousand of them during this stream journey, that would be great." "Then let''s dive in," Rin smiled, her eyes flickering with dark red glint before she jumped down without hesitation. Rein and Maleina jumped after that, along with Erix and Lily. The group prated the raging stream before its powerful flow took them with it. The underground stream water is not just normal water but naturally magically enchanted. It also had a conceptual type of power that prevented anyone entering inside from emerging or swimming in reverse to its flow. It would be futile even if an Empyrean-order hunter entered inside and used full power to swim reverse using various magic and whatever. It was like aw that everyone must flow with the stream until it spews out at the domain''s border into the Hallowed Sea that separated the Inner Domain and Core Domain. Rin, Erix, and Lily were going forward inside the stream, letting it dictate their speed and pace. Maleina and Rein were also near them, flowing with the stream''s pace. In the first few minutes, they didn''t see any monsters, but when the size of the stream widened after several kilometers, the monsters started appearing. All of the monsters were aquatic and had some strange connection with the stream because the monsters here were the only ones who could swim freely in the stream. All monsters were Royal-order, none below or above this rank. Erix took out two literal machine-gun-shaped items that he created. He tied them to his shoulder and started shooting with his will while also activating his gauntlets. Rin also changed her Raibor Power Slime and de into various weapons tobo and find more ways to increase and refine her de-forming arts and attacks. Lily also started ''Weaving'' her powers to create extraordinary effects and formations of her powers. She had awakened the ''Weave'' concept and wanted to make more progress in it to reach its 2nd realm. After all, one could only unleash a concept''s true power once it reached 2nd realm. Rin and Erix were also striving in that regard while fighting, intending to unravel their ''Chaos'' concept. Both of them had the same Chaos concept, but once they reached the 2nd realm, it would have a different effect and application for each, depending on their visions, thoughts, and practices. Monsters were arriving often and getting killed in various ways by the trio while they rode to the stream to reach their destination. Erix released a bombardment of punch projectiles that were spinning, trying a new way to increase their powers as they hit the horde of fish monsters that shot beady attacks from their mouths. His attack shed with theirs, destroyed them, proceeded forward, and killed the monsters. Chugging a potion, Erix continued while he heard a level-up notification. Rin was releasing shes upon shes with her Katana and a strange weapon that she had visualized to turn her Raibor Power Slime into it. It was basically fifty-des in cone shape and had a loose attachment to the handle. However, when Rin speedily shook the weapon to and fro while it released Chronace Flow, she could quickly shape thousands of shes from it with her ''de'' concepts. Her shes would transform further with her ''Chaos'' concept, increasing their power more along with Chronace-Flow''s offensive form¡ªDissolution Flow! On the other hand, Lily was creating various shaped projectiles, anything she imagined using the ''Weave'' concept to weave together her energies and attacks into exotic formations, bringing out powerful effects and offense. She mostly used Mist and Ice, rending all the most helpless against her attacks as they usually froze and shattered or entirely demolished at fast speed if she used more Mist aspects in her attacks. Rein approached Erix by slowing her speed and twerked her ass before him, "It is time, master." Erix kicked her ass and said, "Just direct the monsters from you towards me from that direction. If you do it properly, I''ll reward you." "Tsk, fine. But I want five loads!" "¡­" Erix was thinking when Rein would exhaust her use so he could kill her. He didn''t like fucking and giving her pleasure, but she was most important for his source¡­.for now. Chapter 250: Class Awakening: Death Reaper! The stream was long and ended at the sea. After three hours of continuous flowing with the stream and killing monsters, the group shot into the sea filled with monsters. They flew out and saw a massive ind filled with people and buildings. It was an artificial ind made for people who spewed out from Saraz Stream and a resting stop for hunters. The group arrived at the rtively empty shore. It was a beach, but only a few people could be seen here and there. The rest were on the lively ind''s town. "I am close. Just need to kill two hundred and four monsters," Erix said. "I am going to kill them as there are many in the sea." "I''ll apany you," Rin said. "Then I''ll take these two and find a good ce for us to stay until Lady Lilith arrives here," Lily nodded. The group separated as Rin and Erix dived back into the sea to kill monsters while Lily took Rein and Maleina to the ind town. It was bustling with hunters, various shops, and buildings. After entering, Lily bought a magic-enchanted outfit for herself as her previous one was destroyed. Afterward, Lily found a good, unupied small hill to the west of the ind with a bunch of trees and greenery. "Clean the hill and start building with me," Lily said as she consumed her Mana to produce wood elements, creating a bunch of wooden vines and wood parts. ¡­ "Last one," Erix grinned. "Get it," Rin said as she kicked the two-head flying amethyst condor, her attack whirling with chronace flow. Unable to resist Rin''s powerful flow with impact, it shot towards Erix, who punched it to death with one attack. [Congrattions, you have sessfullypleted thest task. ss awakeningmencing.] Erix floated in the air as he was suddenly enveloped in a mystical ck orb, slightly transparent and shining. He was suddenly infused with a strange power that directly went into his origin region, creating a mystical and exquisite dark gold skull with dark green wisps in its eyes. Below the skull formed a pool of ck energy with a faint dark green hue, which caused the strange patterns on the skull to shine. Erix felt a new source of power within him. [You have acquired two active skills and one passive skill of the Death Reaper ss.] [The passive skill, Death Pond, has some sort of synergy with your innate talent, Death Bound.] [Congrattions. Death Pond has evolved into the Dead Sea due to your innate talent.] [Death Reaper] _Rank: X _Level: 1 [ 0 / 1000 Royal-order cores ] _Death Energy: [ 10,000 / 10,000 ] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: Undead Scythe, Dead Doll. ¡ª> Passive skill: Dead Sea. _ss Domain: ¡ª> Death Domain: Undeveloped. _Skill creation attempts: 0 Erix opened his eyes as the strange power surrounding him vanished. "Show skills," Rin said right after seeing Erix open his eyes. "Haha, alright." Erix shared the skills one by one. [Undead Scythe] _Type: Offense. _Cost: 100 - 10,000 Death energy. _Effect: ¡ª>Conjures a giant scythe that directly attacks a target and infuses death for massive damage, depending on the cost. It can apply death to skills as well, essentially killing them and passing through them at the cost of its power. "Undead Scythe, eh? I doubt it would be as powerful as our usual skills," Rin said as she rubbed her chin. "Unless this X rank ss''s skill structure is highly advanced and Death Energy super powerful." "Yeah," Erix nodded. "I''ll have to see how it is." Erix consumed 1000 Death Energy as a three-meter-long scythe appeared in his hand. It was pitch ck. The curved de of the Scythe was also three meters long in length, looking menacing and deathly with dark green glowing patterns. It floated beside Erix and was in his full control. *Craaaa!* "Nice, we got a test subject," Rin chuckled as a flying monster zoomed towards them with its dark blue feathered wings crackling with lightning, and its huge beak opened to eat them. Erix grinned. His eyes glinted as he controlled the Scythe and shot toward the iing monster. The monster''s beak shone while it also gathered its energy to attack the Scythe. Erix manipted it to dodge the energy attack as he didn''t want the Scythe''s power to reduce before it attacked. *Swoosh!* The Scythe struck the monster''s glowing beak and stuck there before something strange happened. The monster cried loudly as its flight course became chaotic, and it fell downward while its body started turning pitch ck. In just two seconds, it entirely turned pitch ck and died. It was a level 248 Royal-order monster! ''What the fuck?'' Erix was startled and excited. ''Such power already? What If I modify and empower it with my other powers to use it better?'' "What the¡­did you boost its powers with your spirit force?" Rin asked with a dumbfounded expression and turned to Erix before she was surprised again. Erix''s body was faintly glowing with a magical ck hue. "I didn''t boost it," Eric shook his head with a wry smile, "Also, it seems that I gotplete death power from that monster, unlike the residuals I''ve gotten previously." "But¡­" Erix snapped his finger and showed his passive skill to Rin. "I no longer need to worry about my source absorbing death power." [Dead Sea] _Type: Utility. _Death Specks: [ 128 ] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Whenever you kill a living being, the Dead Sea will absorb its death powerpletely and turn it into Death Specks. ¡ª> You can use Death Specks to apply Death Rules to your various attacks. _Death Rules: the effect of the rules depends on the Death Specks consumed when using them. ¡ª> Killing Boost: Increase attack power. ¡ª> Death Doom: Apply a Doom mark on the target attacked. If the target dies, you will receive a buff based on the target you killed. _Note: More Death Rules will appear as the ss levels up. "Wow," Rin''s eyes sparkled. "This passive skill is crazy and growable." "Just like your de Eater, but a bit different," Erix nodded with a grin. "I am more interested in Killing Boost. My already powerful attack can be even more potent." "Mhm," Rin nodded. "Let''s farm a bit more?" "There''s one more skill," Erix showed the second active skill. "I didn''t get options, but instead got two active skills and one passive directly." Rin saw the skill''s details, and her jaw dropped in shock. "This is awesome, darling!" [Dead Doll] _Type: Defense. _Cost: 1000 - 10,000 Death Energy. _Effect: ¡ª> After conjuring Dead Doll, it will absorb all the damage dealt to you until it is destroyed¡ªA minimum of 1 second of invincibility is granted even if damage exceeds the doll''s threshold. ¡ª> You can also assign a Dead Doll to your allies. "Babe, it''s time that you evolve your ss," Erix said with augh as he pulled Rin''s waist, pressing her bosom on his chest. "Your ss is already at level 10, and you have ten skill creation attempts. Just evolve it, and then we''ll farm again." Rin smiled and kissed Erix before nodding, "Alright. But I''ll save my skill creation attempts until you also have them. Moreover, it''s better to use those attempts when we are more powerful." "Mhm, you are right. We''ll do it after reaching Royal-Order and returning to Earth." Rin had met the condition of evolving her ss rank from S to SS after the farming they had just done. Without further ado, she agreed to evolve her ss in the notification with her will, causing her body to shine. Erix backed away from her as Rin was wrapped around in a sharp, whirling phenomenon filled with countless tiny des. [Anomaly detected. Due to your aptitude with your ss source, your ss will directly evolve to SSS-rank.] Chapter 251: Razing Blade Serenader, Class Powers "Eh?" Rin was surprised. Her ss source in the origin region started infusing with strange energy from outside. It was getting more power as her de Energy source was reced by a more powerful energy source. The ss source catalyst that looked like x-shaped cross des also started transforming, soon turning into a flower of rusty colorful des. [Congrattions. Your S-ranked ss¡ªRazing de Dancer, has evolved into an SSS-ranked ss¡ªRazing de Serenader] [Razing de Serenader] _ss rank: SSS _Level: 1 [ 0 / 100 Royal-order cores ] _de Ki: [10,000 / 10,000 ] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: de Tune, Ruined de Piece. ¡ª> Passive skills: de Eater. _ss Domain: ¡ª> de Domain: Undeveloped. _Skill Creations chances: 12. "Eh, I got one additional skill. It''s active." "What does it do?" Erix asked. Rin shared the skill. [Ruined de Piece] _Type: Offense. _Cost: 100 - 10,000 _Effect(s): ¡ª> Depending on the de Ki consumed when using this skill, you will get a piece of de that you can infuse into any of your de attacks to grant it a random offense-type buff + 10% to 100% increase in your attack''s power. "Interesting," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Let''s try it. I also want to try my Dead Sea buffs, so we need to farm." "Right." The duo looked around and saw no flying monsters in the vicinity, so they dived into the sea and started hunting them. ¡­ After two hours, the duo finished another session of farming. They were close to getting level 200 as both of them were in 180s levels after killing so many monsters since they entered Saraz Stream and arrived here. Erix looked at his Death Specks and grinned. _Death Specks: [ 14,280 ] "If I use all of them to boost my Skillcraft attack, then I doubt any Royal-order defense can stand against it, even if it''s a full-powered defense." "Mhmm," Rin nodded in agreement. "Also, I''ve made a list of offense-type buffs I get from Ruined de Piece." "I wanted to make a list as well, but the buffs I get are wholly random since they depend on the target, but you have fixed since they get from the skill, right? How many?" "Three," Rin grinned and listed them in the air using Mana and Wind. de Spiral: Pration of the attack +50%. de Mirage: Crate an exact same attack behind the original one at 50% of the original power. Dream de: Makes the attack ethereal and passes through anything for one to two seconds. "If I get Dream de buff, I can choose to make it real from ethereal early," Rin said. "So that''s up to your control, eh? Good," Erix nodded with relief, "If it were an absolute two seconds in an ethereal state, then you would have to time your attack perfectly to make it work." "Also, we''ve done enough for now, so let''s return," Erix stretched his arms, feeling good at the constant fighting they''ve done. Rin chuckled and appeared before like a lightning bolt and grabbed his crotch, "We will do another form of exercise now." "I was thinking exactly the same," Erixughed. He snapped his finger, causing both of them to vanish as they teleported away. ¡­ Lily leisurely sat on a chair outside the two houses while reading some news scrolls she bought from the ind town. Rein and Maleina were back to crafting potions. Suddenly, the three of them sensed two familiar presences appearing inside the two-story houses they had built. "They''re back," Rein said as she stood up, her thighs tightening. "Sit down," Lily nced at her. "I am long recovered and full," Rein smacked her lips. Lily just looked at her expressionlessly, making Rein sit down with a click of her tongue. "Give me Rosewood Dew," Maleina said. "Quick." ¡­ Inside the bedroom, Erix sat on the bed''s edge while Rin was before him, kneeling and sucking his dick. "Fuck it,e here," Erix pulled up Rin grabbing her waist while Rin widened her legs, prompting Erix to put her down precisely on his meat rod as it prated her pussy. He directly gushed out his load into her as Rin moaned, but Erix quickly sealed her lips with his and started kissing her passionately. Erix kept some distance between their chests to use his right hand on her juicy, plump, and tender breasts. Her pink nipples hardened as he massaged her breasts using his right hand and held her back using his left hand. The pimping hot meat rod into her pussy started moving as Erix stood up from the bed, and Rin wrapped her legs around his waist. The duo was still kissing each other passionately, just like how Erix''s stiff and wet cock was kissing her pussy''s end slowly and rhythmically, sending jolts of pleasure into her. "Rin, your breasts became a bit big or what?" Erix said before he started sucking her breast. His hands switched as he started using his left hand to massage her lonely breast, pressing hard and squeezing as her nipples sprayed out milk. "Hehe, they are a bit bigger and better," Rin giggled and started moving her hips to speed up. Her pussy tightly wrapped his cock as the friction and pounding caused both of them pleasure. Rin was feeling more bodily pleasure as Erix sucked her juicy breasts and drank her milk while Erix carelessly shot his loads into her pussy and savored her juicy tits. "Aanh¡­fuck.." Rin moaned and climaxed while absorbing Erix''s loads and turning them into her Blood Essence. Erix switched her left breast after a bit and started sucking it while her wet right breast was groped by hand and massaged intensely, increasing the flood of pleasure. Rin''s insides were loving Erix''s throbbing cock as they tightly squeezed him, increasing Erix''s pleasure as he groaned in euphoria and shot his sixth pimping hot load of semen. "Fuck me harder on the bed," Rin said with watery eyes drunk with pleasure and love. Rin vanished like lightning and appeared on the bed with her butt cheeks raised high and her head tilting back to Erix. "Come on," Rin said while smiling and licking her lips as she twerked her ass. "Doggy style, eh?" Erixughed and appeared behind before prating his dick all the way inside at once with a powerful jolt as Rin''s eyes rolled upward, and she moaned. "Let''s fucking gooooaanhh¡­" Chapter 252: Liliths Counter-Attack Lilith was still getting chased by Valen, Mohak, and the Divine Ginza Hound. Lilith''s main problem was the Divine Ginza Hound because it had the power to break the strongest defense she could create. If it was 1v1, she could easily dispatch that mutt, but with two additional Empyrean-order to tie her down and reduce her efficiency, she wasn''t stupid enough to try 1v3. And naturally, she had a n. Despite trying to erase her trail and speeding ahead of the trio, the Divine Ginza Hound could still chase her as it had some kind of lock-on tracking power. While Valen, Mohak, and Ginza Hound continued at their full speed, they eventually arrived at a certain area''s entry border. Core Domain, Regnir Mountain¡ªone of the biggest mountains in the entire Kanx Abyss. "Awoo!" Ginza Hound howled and abruptly paused, causing Valen and Mohak to stop as well. "What''s the matter?" Valen asked, confused. Mohak turned to Ginza Hound and suddenly realized something. "That bitch¡­.Did she enter Regnir Mountain?" Mohak muttered as he looked at the huge mountain twenty kilometers away. Valen''s expression also drastically changed as he looked at the mountain. Meanwhile, Ginza Hound''s eyes showed utter anger and frustration. "We are three¡­surely, we wouldn''t face that much of a challenge, right?" Valen asked as he looked at Ginza Hound. "Howl!" Ginza Hound shook his head, its mouth lowly growling. "It''s tricky, Valen." Mohak rubbed his chin and continued, "If Regnir Fenrir sensed Ginza, there would be a battle of death between them." Valen also sensed how Ginza Hound reduced its presence to a minimum a few seconds ago, causing him to frown. "You don''t want revenge?" Valen asked as he looked at the dog. "Grrr¡­." Ginza Hound ruthlessly growled at Valen. Mohak internally sneered as he looked at Valen. ''But you don''t want it. You''re here only because of Ginza Hound and your son, not for your daughter.'' Mohak knew Valen''s son was talented, and he wanted him to train and get powerful properly. His daughter and other children were not as talented, and he didn''t care much for them. He even used them to gain alliances and assistance from other forces. Just like how he had promised his daughter to Divine Ginza Hound since Ginza Hound was going to have a humanoid transformation soon thanks to its powerful and legendary bloodline, and it liked his daughter. In return, Valen got Royal-order Ginza Hounds from its n aspanions for his subordinates who were handling his six resource territories in the Core Domain and Inner Domain. s, Lynia died, and here they were, each with their own agenda. "Going to face Regnir Fenrir is out of the question," Mohak said. "I am not confident in beating that woman with just you, Valen." "We should try at least, no?" Valen frowned while thinking. ''I would have to give up something else now that I failed to hold my deal with this dog.'' ''If only it dies here¡­'' A glint passed through deep within Valen''s eyes as he thought. "Nope," Mohak inly refused. ''Bastard, do you think I don''t know what you are thinking?'' "Let''s just return and see if my subordinates captured those three," Mohak said. However, right after he finished speaking, all three of their expressions changed. "Awooooooo!!!" A loud howl echoed from afar before a beam of dark bluish-gray light chased a crimson light, bothing toward the trio. Lilith saw them and grinned ferociously, ''Do you think I will let you go just because you stopped chasing me?'' Twenty kilometers were crossed in a jiffy, and when the Regnir Fenrir that was chasing Lilith sensed Divine Ginza Hound, its eyes intensely glowed. Instantly, its target changed from Lilith to Divine Ginza Hound! "Howl!" Divina Ginza Hound howled ragingly, its eyes also glowing. "Fuck!" Mohak and Valen were dumbfounded and felt cold. They weren''t expecting this development! Lilith ran away from them from the start, and it instinctively made themcent. They didn''t even think that Lilith would counter-attack like this! They were actually hoping for Regnir Fenrir and Lilith to fight since she went there, s¡­ Lilith arrived first in a jiffy and instantly used her domain on Valen! "Damn it!" Mohak cursed as he vanished from his spot to dodge a powerful beam that Regnir Fenrir released toward Ginza Hound. Both beasts started fighting as they traveled kilometers away at breakneck speed while attacking each other. Both of them were hungry for each other and had deep hatred between them, which stemmed from their bloodline and personal conflicts. Moreover, both of them were the biggest boon for each other. If Ginza Hound killed Regnir Fenrir, then it would get a huge power boost and a drastic evolution to its bloodline. The same applied to Regnir Fenrir. Why would it waste its energy on a random person when it could attempt to devour the Divine Ginza Hound once again? Meanwhile, Mohak spread his senses to find Lilith''s domain. ''There!'' Mohawk saw a tiny sphere that had two different hues, indicating that Valen had also activated his domain to resist Lilith''s domain. Mohak swiftly approached the domain point while also expanding his domain to aid Valen. It was not like he wanted to aid Valen, but he simply had no other choice. He had just judged based on his observation of Lilith''s battle against that strange entity and this long chase that¡­If he left Valen alone with Lilith, Valen would die, and his turn would be next. Even if he escaped now, Lilith could still hunt him down. Mohak didn''t want that. However, the moment he entered the domain battle, his eyes widened in shock. The huge world was split into two drastically different sceneries, and the third one also established as Mohak''s domain expanded. However, Lilith''s portion of the domain was still half, while Mohak''s domain was recing Valen''s domain part, which was already full of cracks. Valen himself was all bloodied with his limbs gone. No arms, no legs. ''Only fucking two seconds passed!'' Mohak roared internally at this situation, his eyes turning bloodshot. Looking at Lilith, he saw her in a unique battle form, different from the one he had seen in the mirage crystal when she fought Leiro the Decayer. But at that time, she hadn''t broken through to Empyrean-order yet! "Your turn, fatty." Lilith grinned as a huge nket of dark threads with ck, red, dark gold, and light gray hues conjured andbined, creating a pair of giant ws attached to her hands in a second. *Crack¡­* Valen''s domainpletely shattered a secondter, while Mohak''s mind was nk due to the options he was weighing. Without hesitation, he kneeled in the air and shouted, "Please spare me! I was only here because I owed Valen a favor!" Lilith smiled. "Rejected. You are more useful as a dead lump of fat than a live one." ¡­ After having a quality time with Rin and Lily, Erix sucked dry Rein and Maleina as theyy naked in the room, recovering from the pleasuring stupor. Rin, Lily, and Erix sat in meditation outside in the courtyard. "Can we contact Lilith somehow?" Erix asked as he opened his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I can''t meditate." "Same," Rin sighed and opened her eyes. "I''ll try to contact her," Lily said with a nod. But suddenly, they heard a melodious, sweet voice ringing in the courtyard. "Ara¡­so worried about me?~" Chapter 253: Continous Journey, Lifeform Rank Up Process Lilith returned safe and sound, making everyone sigh with relief, even Lily. Even though she had blind confidence in Lilith in a way, the worry wouldn''t just go away because of that. Erix took her to an empty room in the house and had a loving session for three whole hours since Lilith was not one to go down easy. They truly had a passionate battle in Lilith''s domain for three hours to prevent the house from getting destroyed. ¡­ In the next few days, everyone just farmed monsters in the sea. Lilith had to dive far and deep to find Empyrean-order monsters to kill, but she didn''t necessarily need to kill monsters to level up. She was not a ''normal'' living being influenced and bestowed blessing by Mystic Root. Lilith had broken the limits on her existence and exited from Mystic Root''s influence. Instead, she used it in her way rather than getting bestowed like others. Everyone could and had to do that eventually, but Lilith did it earlier, granting her several benefits and drawbacks. Naturally, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks due to her powers and capabilities, making drawbacks irrelevant due to the gains. However, If Rin, Erix, and Lily followed suit and exited from Mystic Root''s influential blessing, they would get more drawbacks than benefits. This was the reason why Lilith was not teaching them about it. Furthermore, the first requirement to achieve a limit-break on existence was to awaken the soul. During their stay on this ind, Rin, Erix, and Lily mainly focused on farming monsters as they leveled up and fulfilled other conditions. Erix''s ss was X-rank. Hence, he needed more experience, A.K.A Royal-order monsters to hunt, to level up his ss. After staying in this sea abundant with monsters for five days and constantly hunting them, all of them made significant progress. Rin and Erix reached the maximum level in the Noble-order rank, reaching level 200. Erix''s ss also reached level 3, and he gained four skill creation attempts¡ªtwo per level. Rin only got one skill-creation attempt per level, but she had already gotten ten by leveling her previously ranked ss to max and her ss reached level 6. Naturally, they saved all these attempts as they only wanted to use them after entering Royal-order rank. Theirbat prowess was further refined due to constant battling for five days against exotic monsters, giving them ideas and inspiration. After five days, the group left for their next destination¡ªLangriss Woond. However, they had to stop at two ces before reaching Langriss Woond. First stop, Hellion''s Underworld Battlefield. Much like the Spada Valley, this ce was actually connected to an area of Hell. Hell was real, nay. Hells were real, but unlike the myths, they were actually worlds where demons, devils, and such races thrived. It was the same with Heavens as Angels, Devas, Apsaras, and such races thrived in those worlds called Heavens. As those races in such powerful worlds were inherently powerful, they had tendencies to look down on normal races that came after them, but these tendencies were only present in ignorant and lower-inhabitants of Hells and Heavens. Mystic Root would also choose them in its area of influence and pit them against others to create a dog-eat-dog world and push everyone onto the path of power and evolution¡ªas per its origin and purpose of existence in the Grand Primal Cosmos. The Five Abyss Worlds were also its part, and this Hellion''s Underworld Battlefield was part of one of the prominent Hells where arge battle with Royal-order lifeforms as mere foot-soldiers had urred. This ce was also a power-spot and a stop in Granny May''s route. People could enter there despite the risks, and if they managed to kill the Specters of the Past that abyss produced with its power, they could gain rewards based on the specters they killed. The mostmon reward was memories of powers that the owner of those specters wielded in their lives, and sometimes, one could gain items that those specters wielded. The group stayed in this ce for five days as it was a great ce to gain an abundance of knowledge rather than items. The next stop was rtively peaceful, but to acquire that peace, they had to fight for the spots. It was Skyfortress Jungle. In this jungle were magical trees like that fat tree they had encountered in Spada Valley. These magical trees could aid people in meditation and, most importantly, enrich and enable one''s Spirit. In short, as long as one stayed in this jungle, people would get a temporary boost in all fundamentals rted to their Spirit stat! It was only temporary, but it was important for Rin and Erix. Hence, they were here. The group didn''t take long to control one of the best and most enriched trees in the jungle after kicking out another group that was upying them. "Alright, this is it." Lilith sat on the chair, leaned back, and smiled at Rin and Erix. "Sit down cross-legged and stretch out your Spirit Sense." "It''s time," Lily smiled. "Lady Lilith, I''ll go and gather resources with Rein and Maleina." Lilith nodded, "Stay cautious and keep yourm card active." The trio left while Rin and Erix used their Spiritual Mystic Eyes, connecting them to Lilith''s spirit sense as she started guiding them. The duo had level 200, and it was time for them to prepare for rank-up! The Magic Flower in their origin region hadpletely bloomed upon reaching level 200, so it was time to enter the next lifeform rank. Royal-order! To enter the Royal-order rank, one must nurture their Magic Flower, which was the symbol and source of the Noble-order lifeform. Nurting that Magic Flower would cause it to bear a Magic Fruit. Afterward, one had to absorb this fruit and glean insights from it to create Arcane Spirit Pond. Sessfully forming the Arcane Spirit Pond wouldplete the lifeform evolution from the Noble-order to the Royal-order. "Let''s begin. The stronger the spirit power, the faster the nurturement. Focus and start infusing your Spirit force into your Magic Flower," Lilith said. Rin and Erix had also gotten the rank-up quest, and it had simr steps that Lilith had exined to them. "You have to infuse your Spirit force carefully, slowly, and evenly. If you do it recklessly, your Magic Flower will crack, and you''ll have to spend time to repair it." "The faster you two are done nurturing your Magic Flower and making it bear fruit, the faster we will leave this ce and go to our next destination." ''This ce has boosted all aspects of our Spirit, so it wouldn''t take much time,'' Erix observed his and Rin''s progress while also infusing Spirit force into his Magic Flower. '' Yeah. Also, Lilith, how long will it take if we don''t make any mistakes?'' Rin asked. ''One day,'' Lilith answered. ''Our goal is just until you two manage to bear fruit and absorb it. Gaining insights and forming Arcane Spirit Pond will take time, so you''ll do that gradually by meditating daily about it.'' ''Langriss Woond is also where the Elvenmunity lives, so Erix will have to find a sexy and powerful elf with Life-attributed bloodline for him,'' Lilith added with a chuckle. Erix wryly smiled. ''Alright, let''s focus on back on the practice. Finding someone like that is forter.'' ''Don''t be disheartened, babe,'' Rinughed upon hearing his tone. ''I''m sure there will be someone we can click with.'' ''Also, we are talking about Elves! Tsk, they are sure to be beautiful like that Zenia.'' Erix was tempted if he only considered his lust, but his lust was not a singr focus, which was also why he wasn''t enjoying his activities with Rein and Maleina. He just couldn''t be that passionate with them and only did that for his purpose to bnce his source. Chapter 254: Arriving in Langriss Woodlands, Cosmic Factions Making Moves After Rin and Erix managed to nurture their Magic Flower, make it bear fruit within a day, and absorb it, the group didn''t stay longer and immediately resumed their journey. Onward to the Langriss Woonds. It was in the west corner of the Core Domain and a journey of a whole day, even at the full speed of Lilith''s Airship. Although speeding at maximum cost more energy, they were not short of money andmon resources since they hunted a lot of hunters and monsters. They arrived there at the scheduled time despite a small hup in the middle where a group who didn''t know better wanted to loot them. They were rather an infamous group consisting of an Empyrean-order and a gang of Royal-order, operating mainly on their flying ship like pirates to loot transport ships. s, they met their end when they decided to loot the wrong people. ¡­ "So, this is the Langriss Woond, eh? Why are the trees so weird?" Rin asked, looking around with a surprised expression. The airship had entered the Langriss Woond. As its name suggested, it was basically a forest. However, this forest was unique and extraordinarily vibrant with life and vitality. The trees were big and exotic, as none of them were straight. All trunks were weirdly bent, and so were their trunks. Some trees had sakura-like pink leaves, while some had rich green leaves. Some trees were giant and thick but still bent, while some had slim trunks but bent like a snake. The group didn''t see any monsters at first, but after crossing two kilometers, they started appearing. The weakest monsters here were of Royal-order. Even those directly born had stats equivalent to peak Noble-order rank because that was how it worked when bloodline yed a major part. Even on Earth, the new generation of humans born from superhumans in the future would have some sort of advantages and boons like innate talents and bloodlines. "We''ll enter the elven territory after crossing three hundred kilometers into this woond," Lilith informed as she turned to Rin and Erix. "You two should meditate until then and focus on gaining insights to form your Are Spirit Pool." Erix and Rin didn''t waste any time as they entered today''s Limitless ne session and started training. Gaining insights in Limitless ne would be faster! "Lily, we''ll collect natural resources that we encounter on the way. The valuable ones would be protected by monsters, so be careful." "Understood." The group continued inside while the Cosmic Factions in the Core Domain finally took notice of Rin and Erix. Gctic Knights Cosmic Faction. This faction ranked 72nd overall but 3rd rank in the Kanx Abyss. Cosmic Faction only had a top 100 rankings in all of the Grand Primal Cosmos, and all of them started as small guilds somewhere in the long passage of time. Inside a hall, a middle-aged man with shoulder-length ck hair and wearing a knight-styled, slick light armor stood before fifty people. All fifty of them were in Royal-order, level 300. "We have to recruit those two somehow." "Our faction''s spiritual art and specialties can further boost their arsenal of powers. Who will let them know about it?" Hearing the middle-aged man''s words, several people in the group confidently raised their hands. The branch leader was basically telling them to fight those two, defeat them, and convince them to join their faction. Of course, they were confident in beating those two! The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes upon seeing the raised hands and faced behind them. His expression turned sharp as he said, "It seems that not many of you understood what I meant." "None of you can beat them dominantly, so put away those smug faces. If you just barely win against them, it wouldn''t convince them to join our faction." "But¡­." The middle-aged man paused before slyly smiling, "If you manage to beat them dominantly and convince them, I''ll personally reward you with any of the exclusive boons of our faction that you''ve yet to earn." ¡­ Celestial Bell Cosmic Faction. Ranked 59th overall, 1st ranked in the Kanx Abyss. Inside a beautiful white pce, a woman wearing a whiteyered dress with fancy, colorful embroidery in traditional style stood before a group of Royal-order hunters. All of them had just finished watching thest Mirage Crystals disying Rin''s and Erix''sbat in Wihanx Finger. "They should have further improved by now, and we don''t have thetest news or recording of theirbat," thedy said before she sat on an exquisite white chair with a soft couch that materialized behind her. "Meimei and Lania, you two will go and try to be friends with them. The group only has one man, while the rest are women, so it is safe to assume all those women are his and he is theirs," she said with a calm yet elegant smile as her gazended on two beauties who looked in their mid-twenties. Meimei and Lania were visibly startled, and their faces turned red. "Lady Ayame, are you suggesting we be his women? T-That¡­." "We don''t¡­" the other one said, her voice small and nervous. Lady Ayame softly chuckled while shaking her head, "No, but it would be better to send women instead of men if we want to recruit those two." "Your love life is your choice." Both beauties visibly sighed in relief. They didn''t want such a task imposed on them. "Convince those two to join the faction slowly. Join their group somehow and be honest. You two are also one of the most powerful here, but if you fail to impress them, I doubt they will let you join their group." "We will seed," Meimei said with determination before she cutely smiled, "But what about the rewards if we seed?" "Up to five stages of Celestial Tune Spiritual Art and a single attempt in the Celestial Bell Tower." "Whaa..." The other silent Royal-order hunters were visibly surprised and started protesting that they also wanted to have a chance at this task. "Silence! If I am not right, Meimei and Lania are the highest ranked in our faction leaderboard among you all. I didn''t choose them just because they are beauties." Lady Ayame snorted as a sharp pressure oozed out of her, "If Meimei and Lania fail, I''ll give others a chance." "Then we''ll be leaving." Meimei and Lania excitedly left the hall, but they suddenly paused and turned around when they reached the exit door. "Lady Ayame, what''s their current location? Do you have information about that?" Ayame smiled and said, "You have to find that yourself. Use teleport circle to reach Wihanx Finger and start asking around from there." "Ouch¡­" Meimei made a painful expression, feelingzy about this process. "Umm¡­.can we wait for some time? I''m sure we''ll get their news soon, no?" Lania wryly smiled. "What if members of other factions reach them before us?" Ayame rolled her eyes, "Lania, drag her with you and make sure she works." "Come on, Meimei. Stop beingzy," Lania snapped her finger, trapped Meimei in a transparent bubble with a rainbow hue, and flew out of the pce. "Fine, fine, fine! Don''t trap me in this bubble, Lani! It''s embarrassing!" Chapter 255: Langriss Kingdom of Elves Deep within the Langriss Woonds was a big neutral town. It was for hunters of various who went into Langriss Woonds for hunting and resources they needed or wanted for multiple reasons. Lilith''s Airship passed that town as the group didn''t intend to stop there. Their goal was Elven territories, but there was a particr requirement one had to meet to enter there. After an hour of traveling through the woonds and another half an hour to reach the border and entry of Elven territory, Lilith stopped her ship. Before them was a massive wooden gate glowing magically, and not even a few seconds passed before twenty elves arrived from all directions and surrounded them. Three of them were Empyrean-order, and the rest were Royal-order powerhouses! A handsome elf man with long and creamy light blond hair approached the front of the Airship as he faced Lilith. "What is your purpose foring here?" Rin and Erix finally opened their eyes as Lily sent them a message. They had made roughly 20% of progress towards forming their Arcane Spirit Pool. Seeing elves surrounding them and a huge magical wooden gate before them, the duo understood that they''d arrived at their destination. "We are here to use Spiritual Nature Pools and acquire exclusive resources of your territories," Lilith answered with a smile. It was not umon for people to enter the Elven territories to use their unique power spot and acquire resources, but Elves had strict and rightful policies for that. "If you know why you are here, then you should know the conditions," the Empyrean-order elf said with a nod and gestured at the gate. "Pass through the gate and prove yourself." After saying that, all the elves flew behind the gate while two more Empyrean-order elves arrived, bringing a bunch of Royal-order elves and grouped them up behind the gate. Moreover, there were also tall wooden towers at various spots equipped with cannon-like weapons made of exquisite redwood with magical patterns on them. This territory was tightly secured and saturated with the peak power of the Kanx Abyss. No power in the whole of the Kanx Abyss would be able to invade them. Naturally, there were exclusive territories of other races at various ces as well, like dwarves, demons, angels, and such, with all of them tightly secured and saturated with a maximum limit of powers. They preferred their suitable habitat, just like how elves liked these Langriss Woonds, which enriched theirfort, power, and bloodline. Since nobody above the Empyrean-order was allowed to stay in the five Abyss worlds, there was no power struggle for top territories upied by various races. However, there were internal power struggles asionally. ¡­ "Get ready," Lilith said as she snapped her finger and put away her flying ship. "I heard this ce is also called Paradise," Maleina said. "They have a huge entertainment district inside for people to enjoy and have fun." "Yep," Lilith nodded. "They have three gates and three entries into their territories. This is one of them. The other two are to the other sides of their borders, which directly leads into their territories from a bit deeper into the core domain." Lilith turned around to face the gate afterward and said, "We''ll enter one by one. I''ll go first and Reinst. The rest between us." "The gate is somewhat magical, and it''s a test, but we''ll easily pass," Lilith added. "Alright," Erix nodded. Lilith flew towards the gate and passed through it without causing any change in the aura of the gate. Upon seeing that, the Empyrean-order elf that stood ahead of the rest nodded with a smile, "Wee to the Langriss Kingdom of Elves. You can call me Elvis. I am the 3rd guard leader of the kingdom in charge of this gate." Lilith nodded as a greeting before turning around to see Rin flying next and passing the through gate without changing its color. "Do you see those two women behind?" Lilith said as she struck up a conversation with Elvis while looking ahead as Erix flew inside next. Elvis nodded. "What about them?" "They are our ves," Lilith said. "If they have bad intentions regarding you elves, you can kill them." Rin was surprised as she heard that, but it made sense. It was not worth risking their lives. ''Is it about the test you said?'' Rin asked as she floated beside Lilith. ''Yep.'' "Alright," Elvis answered with a nod. "It''s good that you rified beforehand." Erix also arrived soon and stood beside Rin. Upon hearing Elvis''s words, he was confused, but Rin soon filled him up on what Lilith said via spiritual thought. Lily flew inside next and floated with the group. Maleina flew into the gate next and also sessfully passed without causing any changes to the gate''s aura. Afterward, it was Rein''s turn. ''I''ve eaten elves and some elves babies too¡­It will not affect the gate''s silly test, right?'' Rein thought as she had heard about Elf''s test. ''Meh, it won''t,'' Rein flew towards the gate. ''I am also full and hadn''t gotten sucked dry yet, hehe.'' However, the aura around the gate suddenly turned red right as she passed through it. ''Tsk, I knew it,'' Lilith clicked on her tongue as her thoughts went to Rin, Erix, and Lily. ''That magical gate is not just for show, and they are also standing there to kill us, not wee us.'' ''What does it do?'' Rin curiously asked. ''Sense our intentions,'' Lily answered. ''Yep,'' Lilith nodded. ''That magical gate will sense our intentions and subconsciousness to gauge our purpose foring here.'' ''If people with bad intentions regarding them enter that gate, the glow around the wooden gate will immediately turn red, and they will attack us.'' ''If it stays green, then it''s fine. We will be allowed to enter their territories and enjoy the benefits,'' Lilith smiled, ''Of course, by paying for them. Nothing is free inside as well.'' ''Unfortunately for Rein, Her journey with us has ended. I swear she was thinking about eating elves in her subconsciousness,'' Lilith snorted. ''It''s fine. It was time,'' Erix inly said. "Attack!" Elvis shouted with a dark expression as he looked at the red aura of the gate. Rein was shocked, and her gaze immediately went to Lilith. She cursed inwardly before turning around and escaping as a pair of draconian wings unfurled. s, the thirty Royal-order powerhouses that shot towards her with colorful lights and weapons in their hands chased her. "They will handle her," Elvis said, politely smiling at the group. "Please go in and enjoy your stay. I hope you all have a good time within our kingdom." Chapter 256: Resource Shopping, a Hinder and a Catch As the group went a few kilometers deep, they started encountering buildings here and there before they finally saw a huge city situated in a vast meadow with two giant mountains behind it. There was a massive pce at the center, and other various buildings surrounded it. "Wow, it''s bigger than I expected," Erix was surprised. They couldn''t even see the whole of the city from here. "I heard it''s 500 square kilometers in area," Maleinamented. "Yep, that''s big," Rin nodded. "I suppose it also covers areas behind those two mountains and past that river to the east." "Yep. Let''s go," Lilith nodded. "We''ll find a good ce to stay first." ¡­ ording to the n, the group would stay here until Erix bnced his source. Lilith also needed resources for Erix''s bloodline awakening, and they were here for those resources. Thest resource catalyst for his bloodline awakening, Death Root, was in Pale Hunger Swamp. Erix needed his source to be bnced before Lilith attempted to awaken his bloodline, so going there early was no use. After finding an excellent ambient courtyard with an open pavilion and a sizable abode with three rooms, one hall, and one kitchen, the group settled in there. A small river separated their courtyard from entering the main road that was a hundred meters away and a wooden bridge to cross over it. "Great ce," Erix took a deep breath and smiled. The air was fresh and filled with vitality. "Alright, what do we do now?" Rin asked as she eagerly looked at Lilith. "Let''s go to the areas of Spiritual Nature Pools," Lilith grinned. "There will be some elven beauties as well," Lily chuckled, "Erix can use them while giving them his passion ride." "I am ready," Erix grinned. "Those pools are in those mountains, but let''s go through to the city to check things out," Lilith said. The group exited their courtyard and soon arrived in the bustling city. There were various types of shops and elves'' residences area-wise. One big shop specifically sold this territory''s exclusive resources, and Lilith immediately decided to go there. "Let''s finish buying resources Erix needs for his Bloodline awakening first. This shop seems to have all resources avable in the territory." ¡­ On the third floor, Lilith, Rin, Lily, and Malein stood before the big table with items sealed in enchanted ss cases. "I''m sorry, dear customer. We have all seven items on your list, even the rare Decaying Life Lotus, but we don''t have Vibrant Virisal Pearl," said the beautiful elfdy with an apologetic smile. "Vibrant Virisal Pearl is a must," Lilith muttered. "When will you get the next one?" "You seem to know about it, so you surely know that it takes time for that pearl to mature and saturate with its proper growth," the elfdy said before pausing for a second. "Minimum of one month to three months." Hearing that, everyone frowned. *Thak¡­.* Suddenly, everyone heard a brief sound deep within this VIP floor where only they were currently shopping, but they ignored it. "That''s too long," Lilith said as she shook her head. "Tell me a ce where we can personally go and take one or buy from someone who has it." "That¡­" the leftdy awkwardly smiled, "I would love to help you in that regard, but we only know locations we have under our control, and we can''t possibly let you know about it." Lilith nodded. "Understandable. Then tell me someone who has it." "Actually, these pearls are getting collected by a certain individual to be made into a ne for Princess Runia." The staffdy wryly smiled as she continued, "The ne is almostpleted, as he will get thest Vibrant Virisal Pearl soon." "Aside from him, nobody has these pearls in the kingdom because he bought every one of them." Rin clicked her tongue and turned to Lilith, "What do we do then?" "We have no choice but to buy a substitute for that resource, but I''ll have to add another resource to make up for extra properties¡­" Lilith muttered as she calcted the bnce of ingredients. "Cough," the elfdy coughed and attracted everyone''s attention before saying, "There''s a catch, dear customers." "The individual who had bought these pearls is the Nightwind Duke family''s heir, but the problem is Princess Runia doesn''t like him, so she will not ept that gift." "Whatever that happens, you will have a high chance of acquiring a pearl from that ne." "Good." Lilith smiled and said, "When is he going to propose?" "It would be in a few days," the elfdy smiled. "Then shall I pack these resources?" "Yep." "The total cost rounded up is 34,540 Prana Stones of low-quality or 3400 Prana stones of medium-quality." "Also, the general price of Vibrant Virisal Pearl is no more than 9,500 Prana stones of low quality," the elfdy informed with a smile. ''Wow, I didn''t know these resources were this expensive, and we didn''t even get the most expensive one,'' Rin was speechless. ''We''ve barely earned this amount if we consider all the loot from Royal-order hunters.'' ''Yep, they are expensive, but this concluded our shopping. Now, I only need that pearl and Death Root to create a crazy catalyst to awaken Erix''s bloodline,'' Lilith replied with a tinge of excitement. ''Crazy, eh?'' Rin wryly smiled. ''His bloodline will be more powerful than ours due to his unique source, but then we can also evolve our bloodline through his,'' Lilith grinned. "Thank you for the purchase," the elfdy finished the trade with Lilith as she took back her hunter card that touched Lilith''s hunter card. One could also directly transfer something from the storage of one Hunter to another by physically touching it to initiate a trade. "About your malepanion¡­" the elfdy said as she turned around to look at a specific closed door. "It''s fine. We''ll be going first," Lily chuckled. ¡­ Ten minutes after thedies left the shop, Erix exited the room, but one could see an elfdy with sizable melons sleeping in a stupor and a blissful smile on her face. "Sir, they left ten minutes ago," the elfdy said as she saw Erix approaching her. "Mhmm," Erix smiled and nodded before leaving while humming a song. ''If that elf with a life-attributed bloodline had such progress, then someone with a high-quality bloodline will surely have more and faster effect.'' Erix thought as he exited the shop and called Rin using am card. [Rin: We''ve stopped looking around and are already at the left mountain.] [Erix: Alright.] ''I need a more powerful elf with a high-quality bloodline,'' Erix thought as he sensed his source''s progress nearing 50%. But that was only 50%! A considerable time had passed, but his source bncing had only reached 50%, which was not good. However, Lilith said this would be his blessednd for progress, and he was looking forward to it after sucking dry that elfdy in the shop. If not, he would have to stay here for more months, and he didn''t want that. ''I wonder how much Earth has changed?'' Erix wondered as he flew towards the mountain. ''Hope everyone is safe and sound.'' Chapter 257: A Strange Pool and its Vicious Test, The Elf Royal Family Both mountains were huge and wide. The left one was more magical, with magical steam covering many parts of its area. Those steam-covered parts were ces of Spiritual Nature Pools. Naturally, not all pools had the same quality of benefits. The further up the pools on the mountain, the better the quality of benefits they provided. Lilith obviously led everyone to the highest and best quality pools so that everyone could progress faster and better. However, there were more customers, yet the pools were limited. "how long until one of them bes unupied?" Lilith asked the receptionist behind an exquisite wooden desk. The whole ce was immensely filled with spiritual freshness and vitality, while the aesthetic structures, colorful flowers, nts, and furniture boosted the beauty of the ce one more notch. The receptionist weakly smiled and said, "I can see you want to have your turn as soon as possible, but unfortunately, all ten pools are booked for the next month." "What?!" Rin almost wanted to flip the table. Lily also felt speechless. First, they couldn''t buy one of the most important resources, and now they couldn''t get into the pool. "I apologize, dear customers. We have been getting more traffic for the past several months. I''m afraid you can only get one of the lower-level pools for now." "So, even the other decent ones are booked for a long time?" Lily asked. "Yes," the receptionist nodded, but then, as if she remembered something, she smiled and said, "But there''s one pool that''s even better than ours, and it''s unupied." "Anyone can go there as long as they pass a certain dangerous test. The pool there is vicious yet possessing the highest of quality and benefits." "Oh?" Lilith raised her eyebrows, "borate." ¡­ Rin, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina exited from the wooden gates before Rin got Erix''s call and told him their location. Erix soon arrived and said as he looked at the exquisite gate and ambient lights with a pond behind them. "Is this the ce?" "Nope," Rin shook her head. "This ce is upied for a month. Same with other decent spots in the mountain." "What?!" Erix was dumbfounded. He knew they needed to use the pools to gain insights and create their Arcane Spirit Pond faster because the more they progressed in it, the harder it was getting. "It''s fine," Lilith smiled. "We have a better alternative. There''s an exclusive pool in the Royal Pce there, and we are going there." Lilith''s gaze was on the huge pce at the center of the city. "The only catch is that we have to pass a very dangerous test," Rin grinned. "Do you know how dangerous it is?" "How?" Erix''s curiosity was piqued at the mention of ''dangerous.'' "If we fail to pass the test, we''ll literally die." "By the way, I am not going to participate in that test," Maleina said with a helpless smile. "I am not confident, so please don''t force me on that." "We won''t," Erix said before he asked, "So, what''s the deal with it? Tell me." "That Spiritual Nature Pool is alive," Lilith said. "Not literally, but it has a pure spiritual will and doesn''t just let anybody reap its benefits." "Elves of the Royal family''s bloodline are exceptions as they can use the pool, but they also allow anyone to have a try." "The only catch is that¡­the pool has its own will, and if you fail its test, it will eat your consciousness and spirituality, refining it and then boosting the pool itself." Erix was taken aback. So vicious?! "What is the test?" Erix asked. Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We can enter the pool and start reaping its benefits by meditating, but we can''t leave afterward as the pool will immediately start its test." "The test is rted to our consciousness. The general information is that we will enter some kind of illusion to take on its test. If we fail, we will simply die." Erix raised his eyebrows and said, "And if we pass, we can just continue to have leisure time in the pool?" "Yep," Rin nodded. "So, who is up for it?" Erix grinned. "Everyone except me," Maleina said with a weak smile. "Then let''s go," Erix said as he cracked his knuckles while a thrilled grin spread across his face. ¡­ The Royal Pce was truly humongous as it was 800 meters tall and 500 meters wide in size. On a certain upper floor was an open balcony garden, and a beautiful elf youngdy in her early twenties sat at a table eating something akin to a chocte cake when a maid arrived and informed her of bad news. "Princess Runia, we can''t find youngdy Aria." Her mood immediately soured hearing ''Aria.'' "That bitch¡­Why do I have to take care of Dad''s bastard child?!" *Thadak!* The angered beauty flipped the table and turned to the maid elf, who had her head down. ''If you stop harassing and beating her, she won''t run away¡­'' the maid thought, but she didn''t dare to voice out her opinion. "Please check her location with your bloodline resonance," the maid requested in a soft voice. "Damn it..." Princess Runia cursed under her breath and closed her eyes. However, her expression slightly paled after a few seconds as she muttered, "Why can''t I sense her location? It''s the same as a month ago when she disappeared. Fuck¡­" The maid was also startled, but her eyes shed. She knew of a secret ce where the bloodline resource couldn''t reach, but it was a secret between her and Aria. Princess Runia opened her eyes and coldly said, "I can''t find her. Tell my mother about it, and she''ll handle it." "Understood," the maid nodded and turned around. "Wait. From now on, she is your responsibility, and this is my order. You don''t need to attend to my younger sister anymore, so just attend to Aria." "I am not her freaking babysitter," Princess Runia muttered. ''With pleasure,'' the maid thought before she outwardly replied with a polite nod, "Understood. As you wish, Princess Runia." "Also, order some more sweets for me." "Understood." The maid left the garden to the secret ce where Lady Aria had hidden. ''Sigh,'' the maid sighed as she was feeling bad for Aria, but she was powerless to change Aria''s situation. ''This pce is like a prison for her, yet the King ignores her plight and just wants to focus on his ascension. Sigh...'' Suddenly, she got a call from a maid under her informing her that there was a group who wanted to challenge the Royal Spiritual Nature Pool to reap its benefits. Chapter 258: Ponds Will, Aria (1) ''A group wants to challenge that pond?!'' Jenina was stunned upon hearing that from her maid subordinate. In the first ce, the elf royal family''s ancestors had their bloodline refined and improved because of that pool, which was also why they could reap its benefits without going through the test. As the vice-head maid of the pce, Jenina had maids under her, and she had put one of them on the lookout for that pool. Why? Because Aria would usually hide there and converse with the pool''s will. She got peace there, so whenever people hurt her, she would go there and meditate before returning to the training sses that her father had set for her to get strong. The bloodline resonance also wouldn''t be able to find her if she was there because of that ancient Spiritual Nature pond''s influence. ''I have to get her out of there. Those people are going to die anyway,'' Jenina thought as she quickly descended from the 100th floor of the pce. The pool was five hundred meters deep under the pce''s ground floor, so it took a bit of time before she arrived there. The doors leading into the pond''s chamber were locked with formations, and a middle-aged elf man of Empyrean-order was locking the formations as Erix and others had just entered inside. Aria could bypass these formations with the help of the pond''s will and exit anytime, but nobody knew that aside from Jenina and Aria. Seeing Jenina arriving, the middle-aged elf man was surprised, "What are you doing here?" ''I waste¡­'' "Youngdy Aria was missing again, so I thought I was searching the underground chambers." "She is not here," the middle-aged elf man grunted and waved his hand, "Find her somewhere else." "Understood," Jenina nodded and left without arguments because she knew that this middle-aged man was also in the Queen''s faction. Almost all of the pce, aside from servants, was in the Elf Queen''s faction because the current king was not from this royal lineage. He was an outsider elf but had passed the pool''s test as being the only one to pass in the past one hundred years and married into this royal family. However, he had a daughter with an outsider elf woman, and that was Aria. The Queen didn''t like her, and as a rightful heir of this royal family, she had more sway in the royal pce. The king somehow kept Aria here because she had nowhere else to go as her mother had passed away, and Aria had also received injuries that affected her mind. On top of that, Aria was born with low talent and a weak bloodline. The king wanted her to get stronger and be Empyrean-order here, but he ignored the harassment she was facing in the process and was focused on his ascension to leave the Abyss and enter a powerful world where elves were dominant. The Queen''s pressure was also high, and he could only leave Aria on her own. Now twenty years old, Aria was in the peak Noble order rank and was focusing on reaching the Royal order rank. However, no one knew that Aria had been receiving boons from the ancient spiritual nature pond, not even Aria. The ancient spiritual nature pond was fond of her because Aria''s spirituality was the purest it had ever seen, and it liked her nature. ¡­ "So this is that magical pond that can kill us?" "It seems deep." The underground cavern was exquisite and ambient. There were strange yet aesthetic assortments of glowing crystals at various ces, along with small nts and flowers that illuminated the huge cavern. In the center was a pond sized two hundred square meters. It''s mystical water that shone a light green and light blue hue with glowing spiritual fish inside. Those fish were colorful but didn''t have flesh as they were purely spiritual, yet oozing out a strange sort of vitality. No one was allowed to change anything in this cavern, not even the royal-order. It was fully under the control of the ancient spiritual nature pond''s will. "This is¡­a kind of domain?" Lilith muttered as her eyes flickered with surprise after she had scanned the whole ce. "Domain?" Rin, Erix, Lily, and Maleina were surprised. "This pond''s will is a real deal," Lilith grinned and took out the small wooden case sealed inside her dark red, faintly glowing threads. "What are you nning?" Erix asked upon seeing Lilith taking out the wooden case containing that strange and powerful eyeball. "This pond''s will is far more powerful than I initially thought. I could-" Lilith abruptly paused. She suddenly felt something before everyone saw the pond faintly glowing. It oozed out faint golden motes before turning into slime with a pair of big spiritual eyes and a cartoony mouth. "If you are here for the test and reap my benefits, then get inside. Know that you will die upon failing." Everyone was surprised to see the pond''s will taking a form and even speaking. "I am not entering. I will just sit somewhere and meditate," Mina said with a nervous smile, "is that okay?" "Yes, but when these people die, I''ll kick you out." "Oi," Erix snorted, "Everyone sure is assuming that we''ll die. Bring up your toughest test, I want to see how you best my will." The slime suddenly appeared before Erix, its spiritual golden eyes glowing. Erix raised his eyebrows but didn''t move and kept his eyes looking into the slime''s eyes. The slime also looked at others afterward before returning to the center of the pool and nodded, "You all seem promising. Let''s see how you fare." "Just enter the pond and start meditating. You''ll easily float even without doing anything, so don''t worry about that." After saying that, the slime dispersed into motes and vanished. Lilith put away the wooden case containing the eyeball for now as she confirmed what she wanted to confirm. ''Let''s pass the test first.'' Chapter 259: Amus Difficult Test, Aria (2) Everyone wore casual swimsuits made from Lilith''s threads after removing their magic outfits and entering the pool. "The two-piece bikinis are looking nice," Erixughed. Lily had a gray bikini with dark red patterns, Lilith had a ck one with red patterns, and Rin had a dark red one with blue designs. They swam at the center of the pond, but the feeling they got was mystical. It was like the air was carrying them and not the water, but the wetness they felt shattered that reality illusion. "Sofortable," Rin closed her eyes as shey on her back while floating on the water. The others were also the same as they floatedfortably and closed their eyes. "Let''s begin," Erix said, and everyone entered meditation as they absorbed the spiritual power of the pond to boost their consciousness. Rin and Erix started deriving insights to form their Arcane Spirit Pool. Lily startedprehending a primary element that she had been aiming for the past ten days. Light! ''Once I pass the test, I''ll use the remaining insight scroll for an Exotic element,'' she thought with eagerness and resumed her focus. Meanwhile, Lilith focused on making progress in her Super Exotic Element, Meizen¡ªthebination of Death, Blood, and Shadow. Maleina watched them for a bit before she also sat cross-legged a few meters away from the pool''s edge and entered meditation. But nobody knew that deep within the pond was a tiny cave page, and in that small cave sat a beautiful girl with long light blue hair and purple eyes. There was a magical glowing book beside her where the slime sat with peacefully closed eyes while Aria was meditating. ''Let''s see if this bunch is worthy of my boon.'' ''I don''t want another case like that bastard.'' The book below it faintly shone before Erix, Rin, Lilith, and Lily felt something briefly and found themselves arriving in different, mysterious dreamscapes. Aria opened her eyes as her mystical purple pupils faintly shone, and a cute smile appeared as she grabbed the slime and put it on her ample bosom covered by a long-sleeved white dress of linen-type material with a leather-like brown border. "We have some guests taking the test of the pond like those who arrived a year ago," the slime said upon seeing Aria opening her eyes. "Waaaa¡­they will die or pass?" Aria curiously asked as her pupils faintly shone. "I don''t know." Aria was surprised. "You don''t know? I thought you could know beforehand." Amu shook its slimy head and separated from her bosom before floating before her. "This bunch is better and has potential, so I can''t know like before." "The previous two who arrived were not that impressive, so I knew they would fail." "Oh¡­.I want to see," Aria said with shining eyes. "Is there anyone like my father?" The slime puffed its cheeks. "Stop talking about your father. He doesn''t care for you." "Nuu¡­" Aria pouted. "Father is just busy, and I am a strong girl, so I don''t want to trouble him." Aria grabbed Amu and pulled it towards her face before rubbing it on her cheeks. "Hehe, I can just y with you and stay here. But I want to see the test for now¡­Is there anyone like my father?" Aria asked while grinning. "There''s one man, and others are his women. We will see how he fares in the test." ''Humph, his test is more difficult because he is a guy, and I don''t want to make someone like Aria''s father pass the test again,'' Amu thought with a snort. ''That wussy can''t even care for his daughter because of some silly pressure and his ascension. Worthless, useless trash!'' ''Only those with unbreakable and unbendable will with straight character will pass the test!'' "Okie, let''s go!" Aria said with excitement. "I will have to leave soon because my training will start, but I will leave after watching this." She was excited because this was a chance for her to see something new. The only good ce for her was this pond, but she couldn''t stay here forever. The pce was boring and hurtful for her, so whenever she got a chance, she would escape. ''Aria¡­'' Amu could clearly sense Aria''s feelings. She was bound to the pce. Her father had set training sses for her, and Aria, being her daddy''s daughter, didn''t want to disappoint him and work hard. ''You will soon be free. I will make it happen.'' "Close your eyes and meditate. We''ll drift into his dreamscape and observe." "Okie," Aria quickly closed her eyes and cleared her mind. The mystical book shone again before Aria saw her consciousnessing into the mysterious dreamscape world. "What is this test, Amu?" Aria curiously asked as she appeared above a farm where a ten-year-old young man was farming. He was none other than Erix! Everything moved very quickly as if time was speeding up, but this was the nature of the test and set up by Amu since it was the world it created. "I''ve wiped his memories but kept the real instincts and personality that he had developed. It''s gonna be painful and confusing for him in the test, but this is a must." "The test is about him facing various troubles at first with no one supporting him except one," Amu said as the slime nced at Aria. "But that someone is not impressive and a nobody, but that person was the one who will push him to strive higher....up until this part will be ording to his real memories that I read but with different settings for this test." "Can I see his real memories?" "Yes, butter. Let me continue first." Amu continued his narrative of the test. "Erix will suddenly gain power and also face more troubles that he eventually will have to ovee." "He will gain fame as he ovees troubles, and the tide of this world will separate him from the only person who cared about him when he was at his lowest." "Waa¡­then?" Aria eagerly asked, her beautiful purple eyes filled with curiosity. "He will gain many people who will care for him on his journey because of his power and fame. He will be a king and powerful ruler, but then¡­there will be a cmity!" "The cmity is specifically on that person who cared about him long ago." "Nuu¡­.Then what will happen?" "That''s up to him," Amu said as a glint passed through its golden eyes. "His decision and the capability he disys is the main crux of his test." "He will have to make a choice and fight for that choice. If he fails, he will die." "Here and real both." Aria nodded as she looked at Erix and saw the passage of time moving fast. "Only he and his mother are living?" "Yes, but she is going to die soon." Indeed. She died. "Where is his father?" Aria pouted. "This is based on his real memories, and he didn''t have a father in his life. He left them. It''s the same in here but with a bit of twist." "Oh...it''s sad. But he is strong-headed, hehe. Those nasty vigers can''t do anything." Amu nodded, "Yes, but his troubles are only going to increase." ''It would be a bummer if he dies before reaching the final stage of my test.'' Chapter 260: Chaos In Elf Kingdom (1) Lilith, Rin, and Lily had straightforward tests. They had to fight brutal battles that challenged their wills and pushed them to their limits. If their will weakened and even a faint thought of giving up urred in the dreamscape, they would fail. That was how most of the people failed. This test was not a gamble with death to acquire a fortune. No. This test was there was for people to pass with absolute conviction and capabilities that would borne out of their choices and resolve. If they harbored a doubt of failure, that doubt would result in the truth. But Erix and others never harbored any doubts of losing or considered themselves weaker when it came to their resolve and will. The test continued as it wasn''t going to be over any time soon. Even if they weren''t doing anything, their spiritual power was passively increasing while they floated in the pool and exerted their will in the test to pass. Aria and Amu just observed Erix and his journey as time passed. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. One day soon passed by while only a few maids tried to find Aria. The news never reached the king because they knew Aria would return on her own like usual, and other family members didn''t care about her. ¡­ "Yey!! He killed those evil demons!" Aria was getting excited as she watched Erix''s journey. "Amu, I want to watch more, but I have to go now," Aria pouted. "Eh? It''s fine. The test will finish in fifteen years more, which means one more day here," Amu nonchntly said. "Your father is busy anyway, so he wouldn''t know skipped some training." "Hehe, okie. Then I will watch more. I want to see him kill all those bad people in his father''s kingdom who were plotting against him." "And I also want to see the end. He will save that girl when the cmity falls on her, right? I wonder what is the cmity..." "Heh," Amu scoffed, "That''s up to him and how he develops now that he is gaining fame and fortune, and soon, going be a king." "Wuu¡­I hope he saves her at any cost because no cost should be unaffordable when ites to her. She gave away her everything for him without telling him¡­I am going to cry if he don''t save her." "He will die if he doesn''t manage to save her," Amu coldly said. "Anyway, you observe here while I go and check the other three. Their test should be finishing soon." ¡­ Maleina had meditated a lot and was taking a break to craft some potions after taking out the alchemy table, cauldron, and other things. ''It''s been thirty-five hours.'' Maleina looked at the pond after she finished brewing a liquid with mana recovery and a slight magic empowerment effect. Suddenly, a mystical ripple spread in the atmosphere as Lilith opened her eyes followed by Rin. Their consciousness settled in, and their fluxed spiritually spread, startling Maleina. "You passed!" she eximed. "Why? Were you hoping we would not pass?" Lilith chuckled. "Ah yeah. If we die here, you can be free." "No," Maleina said in a clear-cut manner, her expression solemn. "I don''t care about getting free anymore. I was also a subordinate under Lynia by her father''s order, and my position in your party is no different." "Except that¡­" Maleina paused for a bit before she added, "I get to feel pleasure regrly." "Stay a good maid like you are, and you will live a good life," Rin said while checking her status. "We don''t mind raising your status since you are useful and helpful." "It seems that my spirit stat increased by roughly fifty passively while we were taking the test," Rin was pleasantly surprised. "But this is just the start," Lilith chuckled. "We can continue to benefit from the pool until it no longer benefits us." Amu appeared in its usual slime form before them, getting their attention. "You can indeed stay in the pool until it no longer benefits, but your friend here is in a pinch." Amu floated above Lily. "Something deep in her mind will fail her, but it was my fault since I gave her the test without reading her memories," Amu said, it''s voice honest and apologetic. Lilith raised her eyebrows, a hint of shock in her eyes. "Did you manage to read my memories too?" "Of course," Amu carefreely answered before continuing. "This Lily girl''s past is very tragic. Although her willpower is strong because of her past and she should pass the test, some obstacles I added in the test would prevent her." Rin and Lilith frowned. "We don''t want her to die if she is worthy of this pool''s benefit, and she is," Rin sharply said with narrowed eyes. "Don''t overestimate yourself." "I know," Amu nodded, not getting offended at Rin''s remark because she had proved to be worthy enough. "I changed the test a bit and will mend the slightly broken parts of her soul that were not fixed yet. She will roughly take the same time as this guy if both pass the test." Lilith''s eyes flickered, and she smiled, "Thank you very much for that." After saying that, Lilith asked, "Does Erix also have a modified test?" "Yes. I give different tests to men and women," Amu nodded. "He has a rtively harder test for my satisfaction and requirement due to a certain reason." Rin swam behind Erix''s head and caressed it while grinning, "he will not fail, no matter what." ¡­ Almost half a day passed before Erix and Lily were nearing the end of their test. Aria was filled with nervousness, tension, and various emotions while watching Erix at his final phase. "Do you want to meet with him and others before leaving?" Amu asked. "Yes!" Aria eagerly nodded while following Erix on his journey. Her hands were clenched, and her expression varied as she watched. "The cmity ising¡­" Amu was amused looking at Aria but also happy that Aria was having fun in a way. On the other hand, Princess Runia had a romantic visitor. "Princess Runia. Mr. Hamsimp wants to visit you." In her private garden filled with empowering flowers and nts that aided in training, Princess Runia was meditating when her maid arrived and informed her. Chapter 261: Chaos In Elf Kingdom (2) "Send him in." Soon, a handsome man looking in his mid-twenties with short dark blond hair entered the garden with an exquisite wooden case in his hand. Princess Runia turned to face him, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed, "What do you want?" Hamsimp smiled and knelt on one leg before raising his hand holding the wooden case. "Princess Runia, I have crafted this ne with all my heart only for you," Hamsimp opened the case and revealed an exquisite ne with sixteen tiny pearls and a dreamypis blue crystal. "Please ept my proposal and marry me. I promise to make you happy and stand by your shoulder at all the times of my life." "Hamsimp," Princess Runia said as she looked at the ne, visibly impressed at its beauty and magical effects. "How much you spent on this?" "It''s nothing, dear princess," Hamsimp smiled. "For you, I can bring anything avable in the world." "Is that so?" Princess Runia smiled. "But¡­you should know I have a major requirement if I want to marry someone." "Tell me! I willplete it right away!" Hamsimp said with conviction and resolve! "Enter the ancient spiritual nature pond and pass its test," Princess Runia smiled. "My husband must not be any less than my father, so I will only marry someone who can pass the pond and join him in his journey." Hamsimp''s expression paled. "I am not going to stay here anyway, so if you can pass the test, I will readily marry you." "B-but..nobody has passed the test after your father passed," Hamsimp stuttered. "I¡­" "Leave then," Princess Runia nonchntly waved her hand and turned around before sitting back on her mattress. "Don''t waste my time and find someone suitable for you because I am not that someone." Hamsimp''s face turned ashen. "Will you not consider it, Princess Runia? Among our generations, I am the best aside from your brother." "Who said that I must choose someone from our kingdom? As long as someone can pass that test and he is handsome, I will marry him because my future with him would be strong." Princess Runia indifferently said without turning back. "I don''t want to marry someone weak. You can leave now, Hamsimp. Please give that ne to someone else or sell it. I''m sure you used up a considerable fortune of your family to create it." "Bu-" "Leave. If you want to talk to me again, pass the test." Hamsimp stood up as he tightly held the wooden case. ''Damn it!'' Hamsimp looked at Princess Runia''s figure and had a great urge to just hug her tightly and even squeeze her melon-sized breasts. He wanted her for his entire life, s¡­ ''That pond is vicious¡­I¡­'' Shaking his head, Hamsimp turned around and left feeling dejected and libido-broken. Shortly after he left, the maid hurried back into the garden with shock written all over her face. "Princess Runia! That group that challenged the pond¡­T-They, they passed the test!" "What?!" Princess Runia appeared before the maid like a gust of wind and grabbed her shoulders. "Is that truly true?!" After nearly a hundred years! Of course, their pond was not that famous until just recently, and many people didn''t even want to attempt the test due to its viciousness. However, it was still a huge shock to the entire pce, and soon that shock would spread to the entire kingdom. "The entire pce is abuzz and wants to see the group, even the Queen. After all, thest one to pass was only the king," the maid said while nodding. "They indeed passed, and the ancient will was even impressed when it announced it." "It looks like I should go and take a dip in the pond while also meeting them," Princess Runia smiled. "Go and prepare a sumptuous meal. I''ll eat it with them." "The prince also wanted to meet, but the ancient will rejected him on behalf of the group." "Why?" Princess Runia frowned. "They don''t want any men there because the group is all women and one man." "Oh¡­" Princess Runia understood and grinned, "Then it''s fine. They wouldn''t reject me." The pond cavern was something that the royal family had no control over. It was entirely governed by the pond''s will, so even they couldn''t do anything if it decided something. "Prepare the feast as fast as possible. I want to meet them quickly." ¡­ "Wuu¡­.what do I do?" Aria asked with her face flushed and her heart beating fast. "I can''t meet them while they are doing that¡­" Aria was deep under the pond, but she could see Erix having sex with Rin and others in a crazy way. With blurring speed and using their elemental powers, Erix was having fun with all of them one by one, switching among the trio as moans and passionate groans reverberated in the cavern. Maleina was asionally subjected to his raging cock to make her climax and absorb her essence using his space powers. She leaned at a makeshift Earth wall she created, naked and twitching with her legs wide as Erix''s cock would asionally enter her out of nowhere from space and pound her. "Forget it. I will meet themter," Aria wryly smiled. "Amu, you can send me out directly for now. I''ll return to the pce first." "Fine. They''ll be here for several days anyway," Amu nodded. "Use the method I taught you," Amu said. Aria did as told as her body started faintly glowing and turning faint. Amu''s slimy mouth smiled, and a hand materialized from its body and patted Aria''s head, "Who said you are not talented? You are supremely talented, Aria." "You are the only one who can entirely turn spiritual, even your physical body, and remain undetected anywhere." "But don''t tell anyone, okay?" "Mhm, but you taught me and gave me that power," Aria smilingly nodded and hugged Amu. ''Because you had the affinity with it and deserved it.'' "This is our secret. Hehe, thank you as always, Amu. See youter." The mysterious book also turned into motes and entered Aria before she disappeared in the form of a faint magical golden-blue stream that nobody could sense, not even Lilith. Aria quietly returned to the pce back into her room, but she was excited and eager to meet Erix and others who passed the test. Chapter 262: Chaos In Elf Kingdom (3), Triggered Princess Runia (1) "What? Why?!" Princess Runia stood outside the formation-locked door leading to the pond cavern with a startled expression. "They are busy doing carnal activity, soe back after two or three hours unless you want to join, they said." Her face turned red, and she stomped her feet before leaving. But she returned exactly after two hours and stood before the entrance with her arms crossed. "Open it." The formation briefly glowed before it unlocked, and she entered the passage. After walking twenty meters, she arrived at the cavern and saw four people in the pond. Lilith, Rin, and Lily were floating in the water and meditating in their bikinis, while Erix¡­ Her face turned slightly red as she saw Erix also floating on his back, but his meat rod was standing still while he meditated with closed eyes. ''What''s with his strange aura?'' Runia was startled. ''A hybrid?'' Runia''s presence naturally made them attentive as they opened their eyes and turned their heads towards her. Seeing that, Runia''s expression turned cool and collected as she walked toward them, and her outfit changed into that of a bikini as well. Entering the pond while feeling their gaze on her, she said with a smile, "Pleasure to meet you. I am Runia. The eldest princess of the kingdom." "Nah, you haven''t had pleasure of meeting us yet," Erixughed. "Peak Royal-order, eh?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "If you are the princess here, then you should be powerful. Let''s have a spar after a day." "Good idea," Erix grinned. "I want to see our progress after a day since we progressing faster initially." Runia was dumbfounded. "Spar?" "You two are in Noble-order hunter, yet you want to spar with me?" Runia pointed her index herself, her expression weird. Lilith chuckled and said, "Don''t worry. They won''t beat you to a pulp like others." Lily wryly smiled while Maleina slightly shook her head hearing that and kept her focus on brewing the potions. "You two must be joking," Runia couldn''t help butugh as her breasts jiggled in response. "Actually¡­I want to spar right now," Erix said as he got up and walked on the water towards Runia while his body was covered by a ck robe with dark red patterns. *nk* "I need to spend some energy," Erix grinned. ''Erix. She has a life-attributed bloodline of legendary quality like mine and is also a virgin, so she had her vital essence highly refined. If you can suck her dry, you''ll have a significant progress,'' Lilith said. ''Nice,'' Erix internally chuckled. ''I need this or I''ll be stuck her months.'' Runia frowned as she saw Erix towering over her and also got up as she stood on the pond''s surface. "If you are joking, it''s a bad joke. I am a peak Royal-order powerhouse. My stats are double than yours not to mention my heritage of this kingdom and refined arsenal of skills." "It''s fine. I won''t die, so go all out," Erix carefreely smiled. "Come on. You should have a training ground or something like that in this huge pce, right?" Amu suddenly materialized between them and said, "If you want to spar, I have a perfect ce." "Oh?" Erix was surprised before he grinned, "Bring us there." Suddenly, Lilith felt a strange soul and Prana whirling around the Slime before both Erix and Runia vanished. "I''ve sent them to my hyper-dimension." "Well, I''ll go next then," Rin said before she closed her eyes and went back to meditate. ¡­ Inside a strange fantasy world with floating inds and boundless ocean, Erix and Runia appeared on a random ind filled with exotic greenery and nts. It was a roughly t ind with huge meadows of nt kingdom. "Let''s start," Erix''s lips curved into a sharp smile as his aura exploded, and he entered hisbat form. Celestial Chaos form! Two chaotic orbs of his Nihilir elements chaotically whirling with Vigor force appeared beside him while a pair of gauntlets with ck metal and purple patterns manifested in his hands. Runia wanted to say something, but when she saw Erix in hisbat form and his powerful auraing from his battle form, her brain roughly told her of his power. ''What?!'' ''This power¡­'' "Super Exotic Element¡­" Runia was dazed. "Don''t waste my time and begin," Erix narrowed his eyes and directly punched forward, as the orbs sent a vertical chaotic vortex into his fist that materialized into two punch projectiles. Whirling Chaos Punch! Runia snapped out of her thoughts and quickly arranged a hasty defense, but those two punch projectiles vanished and suddenly appeared behind her! Even without wormholes! Erix had made progress in his Space affinity and was close to reaching 3rd realm in it! With his current mastery, he could have a certain range of space under his control, akin to a domain, and teleport instantly. This field range was only five hundred meters, but it was still powerful support! *BOOM!* Runia''s defense met with Erix''s offense. She was confident that it wouldn''t break but her expression shattered along with her barrier as those two punches red and exploded, eating her defense as they broke down swiftly before the powerful shockwaves struck her and injured her Prana Kavach! "Impossible!" Runia screamed with disbelief as she felt Nihilir dismantle effect as those dark purple my sparks ate away at her Prana Kavach. "Come on, fire up already." Erix''s whisper brushed her ears as she suddenly felt his presence behind her. Without hesitation, Runia was covered in an exquisite battle dress while she swung her hand that materialized a slim and sharp long sword. However, Erix''s hand moved to block it while his gauntlet instantly transformed, and he grabbed the de. *Crrrrr* The gauntlet made a cracking sound as it cracked but fully absorbed the shing and impact of the sword due unique properties of the Tier-5.5 metal, Fregin Steel. "Go all out," Erix''s right fist in the Sling-Shot gauntlet quietly touched her belly as it fluxed with potent power geared to pure offense. Runia felt a chill as she looked at Erix''s brilliant eyes and cool voice before she felt an impact, shooting several kilometers away while a torrent of pain assaulted her. ''He is Noble-order¡­'' ''Noble-order¡­'' Runia quickly stabilized as her bloodline''s power kicked in. "You¡­" Runia looked at Erix as she put her hand on her belly where her Prana Kavach was broken along with her outfit and healed the minor injuries. "What?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Go all out, or don''t waste time." Runia''s eyes shook, glinting with strange light and thrill. "You are so powerful¡­" The atmosphere around her changed as an avatar of a mystical deer with exquisite giant reindeer horns appeared behind her. "Yeah, that''s what I want," Erix grinned. "Use your domain and go all out." A bow appeared in Runia''s hand instead of a sword before Erix saw the scenery changing around him along with a rain of colorful arrows, all having dark green hues shooting at him in a second. Thebat began as Erix was forced to go all out and expand his senses to the maximum. His grin widened, and he started enjoying the battle despite injuries slowly umting. But even more than him, Runia was feeling an outburst she never experienced before as Erix was managing to hit her and keep her on her toes! ''I want him.'' Her eyes glowed, and her heart beat faster as she looked at Erix while battling him. ''I want you!'' s...sometimes, fate really have some strange things in store, even more so against people who were determined to build their own fate. Chapter 263: Crazed, Triggered Princess Runia (2) "Alright, you are powerful, haha." *Boom!* Erix''s leg got obliterated, but his volley of punch projectiles destroyed the rest of her arrows while another one struck her, causing her to spit out blood. "You are crazy," Runia grinned as she wiped the blood and healed herself quickly. Erix shrugged and said, "I''ll take it as apliment. And we are done for now. You win." "Shouldn''t we call it a tie?" "Since I didn''t win, you win," Erix grinned, "but you''ll lose before I leave this kingdom." "How do we leave? I need to heal myself," Erix looked around, but suddenly felt a gentle energy enveloping him and healing all of his wounds. Surprised, he looked ahead but saw Runia appearing before him and nting her lips on his. "Hey," Erix was taken aback as he grabbed her shoulder and slightly pushed her back. His leg also recovered as those magical green motes healed everything, but his attention was on Runia. However, Runia wrapped her arms around his neck again and started kissing passionately. ''Whatever, I guess I can suck her dry now.'' Erix grabbed her buttocks and squeezed them as he actively made her aroused with his touch and kisses. "Don''t me me since you started this first," Erix said with a devilish smile before his right hand grabbed her juicy breast and groped hard. "Aanh¡­" Runia''s face turned red, but the heart beat faster and faster as she liked it. ''He is worthy of me¡­I want him.'' ''You are mine.'' Her clothes vanished actively as her beautiful and shapely figure with plump and tender bust was revealed before Erix. Erix cracked a grin as his clothes also vanished and put his finger into her pussy while Runia nted her lips on his lips again. Her pussy was getting wet fast and he could feel her heart racing as she stuck him. Pulling up her left leg, Erix directly prated his dick into her without warning, causing her mouth to open wide as she issued a loud scream as Erix''s cock hit her womb. ''That thing I saw is inside me now¡­.'' Runia felt a shudder filled with pleasure she never felt before, and her body started turning weak. "How does it feel?" Erixughed while stationed his throbbing hot meat rod into her pussy that was squeezing him tight and contracting while pulsing. She was a royal-order powerhouse, so breaking her hymen was nothing, and she felt no pain at all. "Crazy¡­" Runia''s watery eyes. "It''s strange, but¡­.good..." Runia''s hips automatically moved slowly for just two seconds before she quivered and climaxed. It was the fact that it was Erix''s meat rod inside, and she wanted him that gave her this pleasure. Erix hastily absorbed her precious vital essence and immediately felt its potent effect on its source. ''Holy...!'' "Today, you''ll get to be crazier than ever," Erixughed as suddenly grabbed both of her legs and slightly pulled her up before beginning to pound her. With her arms wrapped around his neck, Runia started moaning as the sudden torrents of euphoria spread into her body and mind. Her eyes rolled upward as Erix''s meat rod was squeezed tight by her pussy while it pounded and hit her deepest past, sending jolts of pleasure. Her breasts jiggled, and Erix put one of them into his mouth while grabbing and squeezing it during the moderate pounding. He sucked it hard and grabbed her buttcheeks with his other hand, making Runia continuously moan and issue strange sounds due to the insane pleasure she was feeling. She climaxed shortly again, but Erix didn''t pour any load yet. He felt It would be too much for her to experience his crazy stream of pimping hot semen. After sucking her breasts and pulling out her inverted nipples, Runia climaxed once again as she quivered crazily. "I¡­fwawa.." Uttering strange words with her half-opened eyes, she quivered while experiencing Erix''s pounding. But then he finally poured his load after a few minutes her voice cracked, and she loudly moaned¡­ ''Damn, I already made 2% of progress,'' Erix was excited! He soon teleported below beside a tree. "W-what¡­don''t stop, not yet," Runia murmured as she still reeled with euphoria whirling in her. Erix squeezed her nipples and sucked her breasts as he pounded her while pushing her back against the tree trunk for a while, making her climax one more time in a few seconds. "Turn around," Erix pped her buttcheeks and turned her around as Runia put her palms on the trunk. After rubbing his meat rod on her clit and dripping pussy for a bit, he prated inside again and started pounding faster than before. The lewd flesh-hitting flesh sound reverberated amidst Runia''s crazy moans. "Aanhh¡­more¡­pour more load inside¡­please.." "Aaanhh¡­" "Handle the pounding first, you are squirting uncontrobly, hahaha," Erixughed as he suddenly grabbed her melons and pulled her close. Squeezing her melon-sized tender breast in his entire palm with his right hand and wrapping his left hand around her waist, Erix''s speed turned blurry as he started pounding with even more speed. Runia''s mouth couldn''t remain shut as her tongue rolled out and her eyes went upwards as constant jolts of pleasure made her crazy, sending her to cloud nine of euphoria. She climaxed, squirted, and screamed as her mind was filled with nothing but crazy ecstasy and bliss. Erix was making progress as he pounded Runia in various ways in the next hour. ''Let it out!'' Erix shot his stream of pimping hot white semen inside, making Runia''s pussy crazy as her fluids gushed out along with her scream. ''59% already¡­but she already climaxed a lot in this hour,'' Erix was feeling the effect of her vital essence slowly waning after each of her climaxes. After thirty minutes more, Runia''s consciousness couldn''t hold on any longer as she lost it, bingpletely dry as well. Runia was Royal-order, so he fucked her crazily without needing to hold back, and thest spot where he pounded her was near a small hill that he identally destroyed. "It''s over I guess¡­" Erix pulled his dick out while Runia fell on the ground, her physical body still reacting to the currents of pleasure as she twitched despite being unconscious. "It looks like you are done." Amu suddenly appeared as the slime looked at Runia and sneered, "It''s going to be fun when she wakes up." "Eh? Why?" Erix was surprised at Amu''s tone as if something bad was going to happen. "Hehe, you''ll know when the timees. I''ll send her to her room, so you go and continue training." Chapter 264: The Nasty Plot of Mother & Daughter, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (4) "Eh? Where did she go? I also wanted to have a spar." Rin asked as she saw only Erix returning. "She got crazy after we fought, and I sucked her dry," Erixughed. "I progressed to nearly sixty percent! Her vital essence was potent, haha." "If I can suck her dry every day while we are here, I should be able to bnce my source quickly." "That''s great," Rin nodded with a chuckle. "The faster you finish with that, the sooner we''ll be able to return." Suddenly, Amu appeared amidst them and snickered in a childish, sharp voice. "You don''t know that stupid bitch yet," Amu said. "She became obsessed with you, and that''s going to bring you trouble." Lilith raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean?" The others were also startled hearing that. "I don''t know what she will do because I can''t predict the future, but I know something will happen," Amu said as it dived into the water and then surfaced on it. "That aside, I am going to kick all of you out after seventeen hours." Everyone frowned. "Why? Didn''t you say we can stay here for many days until we exhaust this pool''s benefits on us to a minimum?" Lily furrowed her brows. "Yes. It is to let you get more benefit from the pond," Amu nodded. "If you continue to stay in the pond and get influence, you''ll exhaust it quicker as time goes by." "But if you take a break of five to ten hours every day and return, you''ll progress faster in whatever you try to do during meditation here." "Interesting," Lilith smiled. "Then we''ll take up on that offer." "Mhm," Amu nodded. "Then continue in meditation for the next seventeen hours. The royal pce will arrange your stay since you all have passed my test and have high regard in their eyes." ¡­ On the other hand, Aria woke up after seven hours and went to her training under a middle-aged elfdy of Empyrean-order that the King had appointed. "Aria, you are progressing faster and faster recently. This is a pleasant surprise." "Hehe, thank you, Teacher Yinesa," Aria said with a jolly grin. "I am going to be more powerful so father won''t worry about me when I leave." "What do you want to do after leaving?" Yinesa asked with a smile. "I will join a party!" Aria said with shining eyes. "I have to work hard, so they ept me in their party. It''s going to be so much fun with them." "Eh?" Yinesa was startled. "What party? So you secretly went outside and met some people, eh?" Aria giggled and shook her head, "It''s a secret." "What''s going on here?" Suddenly, a beautiful elf woman with a wooden tiara on her head arrived at the training ground and frowned as she looked at Aria and Yinesa. "Queen," Yinesa hastily bowed along with Aria. "Aria,e with me," the Queen indifferently said before she turned around and started walking towards the exit. Aria bit her lips in unwillingness, but she followed her nheless. ''What does she want from Aria?'' Yinesa was confused. ¡­ "Your father and I have decided something for you," Queen Elina said as she sat at a table with Aria in a garden. "What?" Aria nervously asked. She could feel bad intentions oozing out of Elina, and given her special physique and powers, she could read people''s intentions and mind in a way. "When your father opens the ascension portal, some guests wille and visit us to wee your father into their ranks." "One of them is a talented elf young man, and his bloodline is also a Legendary-grade, so you will marry him and have a good life." "What?!" Aria stood with a panicked expression as she shook her head repeatedly. "No¡­" *p!* Elina waved her hand as a palm formed and stuck on Aria''s cheek, pping it hard. "What No?! I wanted my daughter to marry him, but you are getting that chance because of your father!" Elina said, her expression cold. "It''s for your sake, so stop being selfish!" Aria''s eyes turned watery as tears streamed down her cheeks. Not because of the painful p, but because of her words. "F-Father will listen to me," Aria weakly said while sobbing. "I never asked for anything before, so h-" "You got everything even if you didn''t ask for it," Elina coldly snorted. "Your father practically begged for this, so you better be obedient!" After saying that, Elina disappeared like a wind, leaving Aria alone in the garden, crying and heartbroken. She just had made a wish to join Erix''s group after watching his journey in the test. She liked him and felt that he was like her father, but two ovepping images were separating now. ''Father cares for me, so he will listen to me¡­'' ''Erix cared for her and fought the whole cmity at the cost of sacrificing everything he built¡­father also told me he would do anything for me.'' ''He will listen to me¡­'' Aria wiped her tears and calmed down before she closed her eyes and used bloodline resonance to find her father''s location. ''Father will listen to me.'' On the other hand, Princess Runia was sleeping naked in her bedroom, squirming and grinning while dreaming. She woke after five hours before she woke up feeling good like never before. The first thing that came to her mind was none other than Erix''s image. She was surprised as she looked around but figured out that the ancient will must have teleported her here. However, her thoughts soon went to the main thing in her mind. "I want him," Runia''s eyes glinted as her finger touched her pussy, still able to recall the sensation that she had experienced. "But those women¡­" Runia muttered and got off her bed as her body was covered in a casual royal off-shoulder dress and left her room. ¡­ "What?!"Elina was dumbfounded as she heard Runia''s words. "Yes. I''ve decided to marry someone. But before that, I want to kill his women." "What the hell are you talking about?" Elina rubbed her forehead and sat down at the table in her grand room. Runia sat on a chair across her as she grinned, "There''s a man worthy of me in that who came to take the test." "I want him." "But I don''t want those parcels with him," Runia snorted. "He should be all mine, so think about a way to kill them." "Your standards are high and he convinced you?" Elina doubtfully asked. "Is he really that impressive?" "Yes! My life will be perfect with him! Once his women dies somehow with your plot, I''ll alone be his wife." "My plot?" Elina wryly smiled. "I don''t doubt you, but you are crazy sometimes, so I want to check if he is really that impressive to make you like this." "He is," Runia grinned. "Both in bed and outside of bed." "What?! Y-You, you slept with him?" Elina was shocked. "He challenged me to spar despite being a Noble-order, and I couldn''t defeat him," Runiaughed. "Then I just couldn''t help¡­" Elina rubbed her temples, "What do I do with you¡­" "Humph, what''s wrong with that? I had already decided to marry him after that spar, and then I couldn''t hold back. He did crazy to me¡­I want to do it again, so I am going, hehe." "You go and plot something to kill his other women." "Wait, stop!" Elina stopped her daughter and made her sit back down at the table. "What?" Runi clicked her tongue. "There''s some other news," Elina calmly said. "Aria will be married off to a prince from a kingdom from our world." "Your father will open a portal upon his ascension after a month, and they''ll arrive here at that time." "What does that have anything to do with me?" Runia snorted. "I don''t care if that bitch dies or lives. What I want is Erix." "Initially, I wanted you to marry that prince, but your father wanted Aria to have that opportunity, so he even fought with me," Elina coldly said. "He cheated with other women before me and made that girl Aria, and I''m sure he will roll around with other women after ascending from Abyss." Runia raised her eyebrows, "Mom, what the hell are you thinking?" "I am thinking of killing two birds with one stone," Elina said with a sharp smile. "Ancient will told me that the group will exit the pool daily for a set amount of time. They''ll leave soon¡­after roughly seven hours, so don''t go there and let the meditate." "Then?" Runia asked as she felt her mother had cooked something. Elina leaned back on her chair and snapped her finger as a mirage stone appeared. "I''ve prepared a courtyard on the 70th floor for them, so after they return, call Erix to a room on the 85th floor." "Since you said he is so impressive, I''ll assess him, and also have some fun with him," Elina grinned as the mirage crystal. "And record it in this crystal." "While we are entangled with him, I''ll have my force kill his women, but we have to make sure that they are killed outside and also prepare so that he can also have his revenge." "Without revenge, he won''t be that open to you." "You¡­" Runia pouted and then snorted, "Fine, but only one time! I''ll also leave with him for an adventure, or I feel like you''ll ask for him daily." Elina rolled her eyes. "Idiot. Anyway, we have seven hours to think about how to execute all of this." "We''ll have to give his women some incentive to leave the pce for some purpose after they leave the pond cavern so my subordinates can finish off his women." "One of them is Empyrean-order, two are Royal-order hunters, and one is a Noble-order bitch," Runia grinned. "It won''t be that hard if we send our full force after that." Suddenly, Runia thought of something and immediately added, "Wasn''t there a Bloomlight Event? Since we can control its opening at least, we can just start the event early and let those women go there." "The rewards of that event are tempting, so I''m sure they''ll go there." "You''ll have to make sure Erix stays behind," Elina said. "Heh, I''ll just say that my mother also wants his taste," Runai slyly smiled. "I''m sure he will find us more tempting than the event. It''s a fundamental thing for men." Elina was speechless, "Well¡­that''s actually a good ideaing from you. The event is perfect bait and so are we..." "Humph, why are you making it sound like I am an idiot?" Runia smacked her lips before she grinned. "I am your daughter, after all" Like mother, like daughter¡ªthis rang loud in this case indeed...in a bad way. "Alright, let''s start preparing. I''ll have to inform my subordinates, and we should also hire some hunters for this to make sure they die." ... On the other hand, Aria arrived in her father''s training chamber and saw a portal there leading to a dimension where her father was training. Chapter 265: Shattered Heart, Strong Aria Aria didn''t go into the portal, but sat on a chair and waited for her father to finish whatever he was doing in that pocket dimension. Her mind was nk, and she just sat dazedly. In the blink of an eye, six hours passed by. Aria was still sitting dazedly, waiting for her father. Thankfully, her wait was finally over after another hour as her father finally emerged from the portal. King Leim. He was lean-muscled like Erix and was 6''4 feet tall with shoulder-length light blond hair. Upon seeing Aria, he was surprised and smiled, "What brings you here, my doll?" Aria finally snapped out of her daze hearing his voice. Upon looking at her father, Aria''s eyes zed. "Father¡­I don''t want to marry. I want to live my life based on my decisions. Please cancel this arrangement." Aria''s eyes looked straight into Leim''s eyes and wanted to see his immediate reaction to her decision. Leim immediately frowned hearing her, "It''s for your own good, Aria. You will live happily." Aria bit her lips and said, "But I don''t want to marry him, whoever he is. I-I have decided what I want to do." Her eyes were already disappointed deep within, but she still said, "I am not weak. I am getting stronger faster, and I can protect myself." Leim clenched his fists and then released again before he sighed. "Aria, I even fought with Queen so you can have this life. You will live like a true princess." Aria''s eyes instantly turned distant. The father she admired and adored was fading away. ''Why is no one listening to me?'' ''I am alive¡­I can think, I can make my choices.'' ''Why even you are not listening to me?'' Her eyes involuntarily dropped tears while her face remained t, yet showed immense pain in her eyes. "Aria," Leim approached her and patted her head. "You will not understand now, but once youe with me and marry that prince in that other world, you will understand." ''No.'' Aria already knew what kind of life she would live if she married a prince. Her father was already in a lower position than those in that world, so her life wouldn''t have the freedom she wished for. But she knew what to do now. "Mhmm¡­" Aria got up and said as she wiped her tears and smiled, "Thank you, father." ''Thank you for everything until now, but I will live my life in my way.'' ''I am not stupid or weak.'' "I will go back now." "Alright," Leim smiled. "Don''t worry. You will have a way better life after you marry that prince." ¡­ While Aria was on her way to the lower floors and arrived at the underground passage to enter the pond cavern, she suddenly felt Runia''s presence. Aria didn''t want to talk with anyone, so she was in her ethereal spirit form, undetected by one if she wished to, and arrived at the door where Runia was standing. Just as she was about to enter, she suddenly saw Erix and others exiting from the door, surprising her. Her eyes lit up seeing the group she wanted she wanted to join, especially Erix. When she saw his journey in the test, she longed to have someone like him by her side. ''He will do anything for those he cares¡­'' Aria thought her father would do anything for her and listen to her, like how Erix did in his test for his loved one. But that didn''t happen. Her father didn''t listen to her even though it was the first time she asked for something. It was just her own life. "Wee," Runia said with a smile as she weed the group as they exited from the passage. "Your courtyard is ready on the 70th floor. A feast is also ready, so let''s go there and eat." Aria watched them walking towards her since she was standing on the path to exit the underground hall''s big door. However, no one could detect her. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, and she positioned herself a bit left on the path. Erix and others followed Runia, but in the same line as Erix stood Aria. Aria grabbed her dress with both hands as her spirit and soul slightly surged within her. She saw Erix nearing, and soon he passed through her body, but she could feel his unawakened soul, his mood, and such subtle things, making her heart flutter as she felt Erix. It was only for a second, but her mood improved. ''I will join this group and be someone he cares for like others,'' Aria thought with determination. ''I''ll have to work hard for that.'' "Silly girl," Amu appeared before her and sat on her head. "It seems that something happened." "Amu!" Aria grabbed Amu and hugged the cute slime tightly. "I got bad news, but I will drive away the bad things!" However, Amu didn''t need to know what happened to Aria as the slime''s expression soon became livid. "That damn father of yours and that bitch!" Amu read Aria''s memories and found out what transpired when she was in the pce. "Alright, I''ve decided. I have fucking decided!" Amu angrily said. "I am revoking my blessing from this pce, from this family!" "Damn them all!" "Calm down," Aria smiled and patted the slime, feeling happy to see Amu getting angry on her behalf. "No, this is not the time to calm down," Amu said in a cold voice. "It is time to n things and teach those bunch of garbage a lesson!" "Ok, ok, but I also want your help in one thing," Aria said with a grin. "I know. You want to join that group, right? I''ve already told them about you." "Whaaa!" Aria''s face flushed, and she became nervous. "What did you say!?" "I''m joking," Amuughed. "Start with a spar when you meet them and show them what you got to join the group." "But before that, you have to get strong and get a final piece from me. Come in." "It''s time for you to awaken your soul and bloodline both." "We both are done with this trash ce, so we''ll leave with Erix and his group," Amu said with a wide smile. "Yes!" Aria''s eyes glittered with excitement. "I also want to leave. I really really don''t want to stay in the pce with others anymore." ''Of course. You are alone despite being surrounded by them,'' Amu thought coldly. ''We''ll leave, but not before razing this pce into rubble!'' ''I can''t do it myself, but Erix and others should be able to if I aid them.'' "Come, let''s begin." Chapter 266: Precaution, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (5) The courtyard was nice and peaceful with a pond, a patch of a grassy area at one spot, and a soft magical soil before the area where the two big abodes were built. Rin, Erix, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina sat at a big dining table outside the abodes that Runia had prepared, and soon food dishes arrived one by one. ''Amu already warned us about her and also gave you those eyes, so let''s see if this bitch is up to something,'' Rin said to Erix spiritually. ''Yeah,'' Erix nodded, his eyes cautious, and kept half of his focus on Runia to see through her intentions with Amu''s temporary buff. [Soul Spirit Eyes]: See through intentions and perceive thoughts of a target. The problem was that Erix could only use it on Runia, or rather, those who had yet to awaken their souls. If he targeted someone with an awakened soul, they would be able to resist and detect Erix spying on them. As such, he only nned to use it on Runia. This buff would onlyst for ten hours, and Amu gave it to Erix because Amu knew Runia would be up to something. Much like Granny May, Amu was also a special existence but of course, far weaker than Granny May. Amu was a naturally born special existent here, but it also had special rules applied to it such that it couldn''t directly hurt anyone. It was born from something, and that something had a purpose, so its power could only work for that purpose or things rted to it. Amu didn''t know what Runia would do except that she would do something, so this buff was a precaution for the group. "Let''s eat. The food will give you various buffs and energize you fully in every way," Runia said with a grin. Everyone started eating as the food arrived. Runia started a conversation about their previous adventures for a bit before she decided to start the main topic and the plot. "Since you''ve left the pond after training, why don''t you participate in an event?" "You can also solidify whatever gains you''ve made and improve by participating in the event andpeting with others," Runia said with a smile. "What event?" Erix asked, his eyes faintly lighting deep within as he used the Soul Spirit Eyes on her. "It''s called Bloomlight event and a specialty of this region." Erix could immediately feel nefariousness oozing from Runia, but her thoughts were about what she spoke, not telling anything else. ''Damn, so she is really cooking something.'' "In this event, everyone can participate as there are three categories. When you register for the event, you will be put into one of the three categories ording to your lifeform rank." "So, it''s that type of event," Lilith nodded. "I''ve heard of this Bloodlight event, but don''t know about it in detail." "But I know that it''s not a natural event," Lilith added with a smile. "As far as I know, it''s activated by a certain item won in a natural event." "Yes," Runia nodded with a smile. "The one who has this item is the Sunlum Duke family, and they will start the event after two hours." Erix''s lips twitched. The evilness was oozing from Runia, and it was directed toward none other than the four women at the table. ''This bitch¡­'' But Erix knew it wouldn''t be wise to do anything or show anything. Knowing that she had bad intentions against them was enough for now. ''She doesn''t have such intentions towards me¡­wait, don''t tell me,'' Erix thought of something, and it made sense since Runia was only showing her nefariousness towards Rin and the other women, not him. ''Damn! This piece of shit wants to kill them for me!'' Erix had seen the crazed light in her eyes after their sparing finished, but Runia made a quick move, and he got busy pounding her to suck her dry, so he didn''t pay attention. Even if he thought about it, he couldn''t have imagined she would directly n to do something like this. "Good idea, then we''ll participate in the event," Erix said with a chuckle while he also ryed what he discovered so far to others. Rin, Lilith, and Lily were internally dumbfounded, but since Erix already told them to keep their face and emotions in check, they didn''t show anything outside. "They will, but not you," Runia said with a mischievous smile while she connected her spirit sense to Erix and sent her thoughts to him. However, Erix was already stunned before he got her full message because his Soul Spirit Eyes buff was activated, and he read her thoughts before she ryed them to him. ''Holy shit¡­girls, you will be shocked at hearing this,'' Erix gulped and chugged down a wine ss at once. Runia chuckled upon seeing his reaction. ''What?'' Rin and others were surprised at Erix''s words that rang in their mind and seeing his expression outside. ''This mother-daughter wants to get fucked by me¡­.and even record it so they can show it to the Kingter.'' ''What the fuck?'' Rin was dumbfounded. ''Oh my...'' Lily almost choked on her food. ''Eh? That''s actually super good,'' Lilith chuckled. ''Her mother is Empyrean-order with a more powerful and leveled bloodline than Runia, so if you suck her dry as well, you''ll progress significantly.'' ''I got her full thoughts and intentions now. This mother-daughter wants to kill all of you during the event while I fuck them in their bedroom.'' ''They are courting death,'' Rin cursed as her eyes turned cold. ''We''ll have to counter-n, but we can''t do anything to them until we extract benefits from the ancient pond,'' Lily coldly said. ''However, let''s make sure that these two bitches die before we leave.'' ''It seems this is also one of Granny May''s challenges and boon,'' Lilith chuckled. The group internally nned what to do while eating and also talked outside as Erix said, "So, I am not going to participate,dies. I have some work to do elsewhere." "Yeah, sure," Rin rolled her eyes and internally snickered. ''Erix, copy that mirage crystal''s content in another one after you fuck them. We''ll spread it after leaving.'' ''Good idea. Although it will be unfortunate this duo won''t be alive to see people watching them,'' Lily internally snorted. ''Actually, we can do something about that,'' Lilith said. ''Given my unlocked potential thanks to Erix and the chain reaction of benefits that followed it, I''m sure to progress significantly with this pond''s help.'' ''I''ll be powerful enough truly contend against the peak Empyrean-order of this Abyss, so even if that Queen is near the peak, as I suspect, I''ll cripple her source of power to devolve and reduce her to Noble-order rank.'' ''Great. All of this is unexpected, but we are benefiting, especially I am," Erixughed, ''Let''s fucking do it.'' Everyone was eating and internally discussing their next steps while talking with Runia with smiles as she informed them about the Bloomlight Event''s rules and rewards. ''We''ll go and register, but won''t participate in the event when the timees with some excuse and return. Since they nned to kill us, they''ll be through, and we don''t need to take needless risks,'' Lilith said. ''Heh, let them cook ns to kill us,'' Rin sneered. ''As long as Amu provides this buff daily when we go out of the pond, we''ll see through them.'' Chapter 267: Meeting Aria, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (6) After everyone finished eating dinner, Erix said, "I am going meet with Queen. You all can go and participate in the event." ''Knock their brains out with your dick,'' Rin snickered. ''That''s the n. I''ll probably progress to 70% because we are talking about Empyrean-order with a life-attributed bloodline here,'' Erixughed. "The event willst for a day, so see you allter," Runia said with a smile. Everyone internally rolled their eyes. As if they couldn''t understand the joy behind her smile and words. ¡­ While thedies left the pce, Erix soon arrived on the 85th floor, in a luxurious room. Elina sat at a table and soon saw Erix entering the room after Runia. ''Alright, he is handsome, at least.'' Erix eyed the Queen and internally nodded as he also assessed her figure. ''Bomb.'' Her milkers were juicy and big, her figure was perfect and curvy. She had long wavy golden hair, and her face was beautiful, which he would enjoy twistingter while pounding her. "Pleasure to meet you, Queen Elina," Erix said with a smile, albeit it looked a bit devilish. The duo sat at the table as Elina smiled and said, "Not bad. You are more than meets the eye, especially after seeing you in person." ''A strange source, no bloodline yet, but powerful and whiff of indomitable aura¡­'' "Mom, Erix. You talk with him for a bit. I am going to bring some things," Runia grinned. Erix had targeted her with the buff''s ability, so he could still read her thoughts. ''Incense? It looks like she wants to get uber high as well¡­Heh, good for me.'' Erix had lower resistance against physical body ailments, but his mind''s structure and capability were a bit unique due to his Hybrid Zombie race as he had higher resistance and faster recovery against mental effects, so he was going to enjoy and execute the n. ¡­ Amu suddenly appeared before Lilith, Rin, Lily, and Maleina as they arrived on the 1st floor. "You are going out? I want you to bring someone with you," Amu said, the slime''s expression somber. "She is the only person I consider important in this pile of trash pce." "Eh? Who?" Rin raised her eyebrows. She was curious as to what this ancient will consider important. "Her name is Aria, she is waiting at the pce gate entrance." After saying that, Amu disappeared. ''The rest is on you as you wanted.'' The group continued their way to leave the pce and saw a girl standing there with her index fingers rubbing against each other. When Aria saw the group, her eyes shined. On the other hand, Lilith was surprised. ''This girl¡­'' ''Something feels off¡­'' "You are Aria?" Rin asked and smiled. "You''re a cutie, eh?" "H-" "Aria?!" Just as Aria was about to speak, everyone heard a shout and turned their heads up as they saw Runia descending. "What are you doing here?" Runia frowned. ''Why does this bitch have this attitude towards her?'' Maleina was surprised. Lilith, Rin, and Maleina were also doubtful. "Sister, I am going to participate in the event with them," Aria said with a smile. "Don''t call me sister," Runia snorted. "I already told you that many times." "Sorry," Runia''s face slightly fell, but she still tried to smile. ''This Aria strangely feels more powerful, at least, that''s the feeling I am getting, so why is she taking shit from this bitch if they are sisters?'' Rin internally clicked her tongue. She didn''t feel good about that. Her opinion of Runia was already lowest after all, so someone with good vibe like Aria was sure to be at the opposite spectrum of Runia. Suddenly, all of them also heard Amu''s voice in their heads. ''I also have a request to all of you, please.'' The group was instantly surprised to hear Amu''s pleading tone. ''Due to Aria''s past and her upbringing, she is very used to suffering from others because that''s all she had ever faced.'' ''Her father whom she thought loved her, also turned into a shithead in front of her, so her only support is me, but her shining light is you all as she dreams her new life''s journey with your group.'' ''Her mentality might be a bit skewed, but her positives far outsses her negatives. I won''t say more, so you are free to make your judgment. Just let her into your party and see for yourself.'' On the other hand, Runia snorted and said to Aria, "Don''t annoy the guests if you are going with them, that''s all." ''Scram already,'' Rin internally rolled her eyes. Runia flew away, and Aria''s expression also made a full turn as her eyes brightened, and she said to the group with a smile, "Hello, I am Aria." "Why did you call her your sister?" Rin asked. "She¡­we share the same father, but not mothers." "Have we ever met before?" Lilith curiously asked. "Ah, no," Aria shook her head, but her cheeks quickly turned a bit pink as she added, "But I''ve seen all of you." "Actually¡­when you entered that pond, I was already there hiding below in a small cave deep in the pond." Aria''s smile bloomed, "Amu is my only friend here, so whenever I am upset, I go there and meditate." "Wait, so you were there the entire time?" Lily was stunned. "Yes!. Hehe, I watched all of your tests, and also fully watched Erix''s entire test!" "He is so¡­I-I can''t put words correctly," Aria''s cheeks turned red and her eyes had sparks. "But I really want to join your party." Clenching her fists, Aria determinedly said, "If you have a test to join your party, then I am willing to take it and pass!" "Haha¡­" Rin chuckled and grabbed Aria''s cheeks and then grabbed her hands. "You''re a cutie, so you already pass. Come, let''s have some fun in the city. You should know some ces, right?" "Good idea," Lilith smiled. "We have to spend some time somewhere since we aren''t going to participate in the event." On the other hand, Aria was startled, "Ah, you will not participate?" Rin snickered. "Nah. Come, let''s leave first. We''ll tell you whyter." As they left, the group once again heard Amu''s voice. ''She doesn''t know much about outside because she wasn''t allowed to go out much by her father with the excuse of protecting her.'' ''Also, it''s fine even if you test her prowess. She is sure to shock you all, hehe. Don''t judge her capability based on her jolly personality.'' ''She is lively despite all the suffering because she thought her father was by her side and loved her, but that also went to naught today as her trash father broke her heartpletely, but she is still not depressed because she has a new ray of light in her life, which is your group.'' ''She is best, get it? Best!! Humph.'' The group was speechless at Amu, but they understood that Amu had taken a great liking to Aria, hence its thoughts. While the group talked with Aria as they left, they saw her getting more and more excited about their adventures. They also couldn''t help but like this jolly bubble that was Aria. "So, the event registration and entrance is on that small floating ind, eh? It wasn''t before there," Lily raised her eyebrow as she saw the floating ind five kilometers away behind the mountain. "Yes, that''s the event avenue," Aria nodded. "Aria, that event is also a setup by that bitch princes and queen for their n." Chapter 268: True Intentions, Hyper Amu, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (7) "They are bad people, so I won''t be surprised if they n something bad," Aria sighed. "I don''t know why they hate me even though I have always been obedient and neverined about anything." "Sometimes, people just don''t like other people because of preconceived notions," Lilith remarked. "Your father had an affair and got you into the pce. This is enough for them to hate you no matter how you behave." Aria could painfully understand that as she bit her lips and nodded. ''Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one more thing.'' The group once again heard Amu''s voice, but this time¡­the content shocked them enough to make them collectively stop walking. ''I want to destroy this Elf kingdom''s royal family and this pce. Their rise started because of I, but only they will be solely responsible for their downfall.'' ''I can''t do it personally, so I''ll need your help,'' Amu''s chilling thoughts continued. ''I want to raze this pce down and erase this Bloodline that I''ve helped build.'' "Eh? What happened?" Aria turned back to see their shocked face, confused. "What is Amu talking? I hope it''s not about me." "Yeah," Rin dryly chuckled. "That slime wants to destroy this pce through us." "Existences like Amu have different thought processes," Lilith wryly smiled, "In Amu''s case, I feel like it can take a great liking to people and can go to any lengths, but can also intact extreme measures without considering the lives of bystanders or other people." "This pce will go down though," Rin casually said. "I want it to happen." "I don''t want those maids and my teacher to die, so I will save them beforehand," Aria said with determination. "I can save them with my power!" "What about your father?" Lily asked. "He¡­" Aria became slightly distressed, and her heart twisted with pain. She had understood true intentions of her father using her innate spiritual power when she went to talk to him, and the main reason why he wanted her to marry off to that prince. "I don''t want him to die because of me, that''s all," Aria said after taking a breath. ''This girl is way mature in her thinking in a certain way,'' Lilith was surprised. ''Her conscious is solid despite not showing or being wholly aware of it.'' ''All I know is that I wee her in our group,'' Rin grinned. ''If shees likes Erix, that''s even better. I haven''t fought her, but I am getting tingles just from her presence when I try to inspect her.'' ''She is damn powerful, I am sure.'' ''Hehe, she is of course,'' Amu''s voice once again rang out of nowhere. ''But in a different way. She still needs to refine herbat ability because she doesn''t have much experience regarding that.'' ''But she knows the importance of having power, and her thirst for it deep down is no less than yours except that she will priotize her emotions and care in some circumstances.'' "Amu," Aria suddenly said with a pout. "I don''t know what you are talking about, but pleasee out already. You made me powerful, so I can always sense it when you talk with others." The cute slime with big golden eyes popped out amidst the group with a grin. "We are only done halfway. The final part of awakening is left, but we''ll do it after you enjoy some time outside with them." "Was he talking about me?" Aria asked as she eyed the girls. "Eh, yeah," Rin chuckled with a nod. "I told you not to talk about me," Aria''s cheeks turned red and puffed. "It''s fine. Amu was just praising you," Lilith smiled. "If you were an idol, Amu would be your number one fan," Rinughed. "What''s an idol?" Aria curiously asked. "Eh¡­I''ll tell you about itter," Rin wryly smiled. "For now, let''s go and register. The people who want to kill us should be there, so let''s talk spiritually." Everyone nodded while Aria was confused and shocked, ''They want to kill you?!'' The group flew towards the floating ind while Rin told Aria the mother-daugther''s n. ''B-But why? Why do they want to kill you?'' ''For Erix,'' Rin sneered. ''Your bitchy sister wants to marry Erix, but she wants to keep him for herself, so she decided to kill us.'' Aria was shocked. ''Erixneeds vital essence of elves since they have a life-attributed bloodline and contain the purest power of life to bnce his source, so we came here for that,'' Lilith said. ''Didn''t you see your sistering in when you were in the pond?'' ''I left after Erix finished his test, and he¡­'' Aria blushed. ''I wanted to meet you there, but you all started making love, so I quietly left. I have a special power to turn my entire existence spiritually and remain undetected, so you didn''t notice me.'' ''Sorry¡­I-'' Rin and others couldn''t help but burst outughing. ''That must have been awkward for you,'' Lilith blinked at Aria and smiled. ''Were you turned on?'' ''Turned on?'' Aria confusedly replied. Rin chuckled and exined, ''She means did you feel like doing it after watching?'' ''Aahh,'' Aria blushed hard. ''I-I never thought about it before, but...'' ''If I can be someone like you whom Erix cares for greatly as I saw in his test, then¡­'' Aria''s heart fluttered, and her eyes remiscisced of what she saw. ''He was so attractive, valiant, and loving, especially at the end of the test,'' Aria continued with sparkling eyes. ''I want to work hard and be at the receiving end of his care like you. It must feel sooo blissful, right?'' ''Hehe, I feel strange and good inside me whenever I think about it.'' Lilith and others couldn''t help but smile but heard Amu''s voice in a somber tone. ''This is just between us, so listen. Aria''s father betrayed her feelings, and if not for her meeting me and you all, she would have killed herself today.'' ''She felt she was getting care and love from her father, but her father is a scum, and she had found his true nature today since she decided to know the true thoughts of her father.'' ''She found that her father simply wanted to use her for his benefit in the other world after leaving Abyss after a month. He would join a kingdom, and be father-inw of that kingdom''s prince, hence gaining support and much more.'' ''No matter how lively and jolly Aria looks, she is standing on a twisted thin line right now. She is craving love and care, and she will do anything for that, anything, even if it means giving away her life for that minuscule moment.'' ''So, Erix better love Aria as he does to you and make her happy because, in her eyes, Erix is the ideal figure that she wants to love and get loved from as she had seen his whole journey in his test,'' Amu severely said, ''Don''t worry, she will make him fall for her. I can assure you that since I know Erix''s personality to the core after putting him through that test.'' ''It''s just a matter of some events urring and interacting, which I think are going happen a lot during the next few days as those two bitches try to plot against you.'' ''But they have screw loose, especially that Runia. You all better be careful all the time.'' Chapter 269: Mission Complete, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (8) "Aaaanhh! More¡­harder!" "Fuck¡­" Runia was already wasted after just half an hour of pounding as Erix sucked her dry. Beside her, Elina was on her fours with Erix grabbing her hair from behind and thrusting his cock crazily. The mirage crystal recording everything was right at the front through a pair of artificial eyes from a painting, so Elina''s crazy expression while getting pounded with her tongue out and her big milkers jiggling was recording fully in ultra high definition. Erix suddenly yanked her shoulders up and wrapped his crossed arms around her bust before grabbing her breasts and squeezing them with his full power as he continued pounding, making her climax shortly. ''This bitch can hold back, alright,'' Erix thought as he absorbed her absorbed her vital essence, feeling good as his source was progressing steadily towards the bnce. "Mghff...S-Shoot yours inside again!" "Shut up," Erix suddenly pped her pussy with full power, right on her clitoris before he thrust hard and poured his load inside, making Elina''s eyes roll upward as she intensely quivered with waves of pleasure flooding her. There was no use for Elina to absorb his semen, so it dripped out as her pussy contracted and expanded while she breathed in euphoria. Everything was getting recorded in the mirage crystal, and when she thought about how she would show it to her husband, she got even more aroused. "Fuck me more¡­We are not done yet." ''I am also not done until I suck you dry,'' Erix sneered and turned her around before looking at her perverted face and pping her cheek. "You- Aaanhhhh! Y-Yess!" Elina was slightly stunned amidst the rolling pleasure, but before she could speak for his p, Erix started pounding her intensely again while burying his face on her breasts and sucking hard. "Aaanhh..fuck...." He was just pping her out of annoyance and roughly fucking her as he wished. There was no need to show love to these two women who wanted to kill his darlings. Erix wanted to fuck her brains out and make her drop like Runia, so he had to work hard on his techniques and pound her crazily. He wouldn''t be able get the opportunity to copy that mirage crystal''s content unless he fucked her mindless. Not holding back on his loads, he also poured a lot inside to make Elina crazy and finally managed to suck herpletely dry after whole three hours. ''Damn¡­'' Erix was speechless. Elina was twitching and dripping with his cum with her eyes closed and guard down. But he still decided to make her go bonkers onest time as he pounded her hard again while ruthlessly sucking her breasts and increasing her pleasure. No matter how much he exerted his power, he couldn''t leave a scratch on her body, so he didn''t need to hold back at all. Finally, after pouring a huge load inside her, Erix got up and stretched his arms while Elina''s breastsctated and her body trembled, shockwaves of pleasure still hitting her since Erix used Mana to seal her pink cave after pouring his load and Elina wanted just that. On the other hand, Erix looked at the pair of eyes on a painting. Those eyes were artificial and spiritually enchanted as they had recorded everything into a Mirage crystal. Erix found it with Spiritual Mystic Eye and then looked back at Elina who was quivering asionally with her eyes closed. Runia had fallen asleep, so she wasn''t a threat. Elina was still half-conscious, so Erix said, "I''m going back to training now." "Mmmm¡­" Elina replied, wanting to swim in the sea of pleasure and nothing else at the moment. ''That bastard doesn''t have time, so I could have fun with him for a while...Aah, so fucking good.'' Erix grinned and took out an empty mirage crystal from his hunter card before teleporting it beside the one behind the painting, letting his mirage crystal touch it to begin the process. An empty mirage crystal would only need to touch the one that was activated and had a recording inside to copy its content. It was over in a few seconds, so Erix leisurely put on his robe and left the room after taking back his mirage crystal. ''Time to meet up with mydies,'' Erix grinned and called Rin using hism card after leaving the pce. ''Haha, I can''t believe I progressed to 72%. Awesome!'' The call soon connected and Rin''s voice entered his ears. [Rin: We are three hundred kilometers west of the pce, watching a drama threat of some sort. It''s kinda entertaining,e.] [Erix: Alright. I also superb progress, haha. I''ll be there soon.] [Rin: Also, there''s someone you have to meet. She is theplete opposite of that Runia bitch, and you''re gonna love this cutie, haha.] ¡­ The one thing in Abyss was that there was no inherent andmon discrimination against each other in Abyss. Majority of people didn''t have time for useless things when they had to work hard to survive and get powerful. As such, someone''s character was solely judged based on their actions, personality, and first impression. That was also the reason there was no shortage of parties that consisted of people of diverse races. Of course, trust was hard toe by initially for strangers. Majority of the parties acted withmon interest and set rules, unless those parties were from guilds like Zenia and Morgana''s party. Three hundred kilometers away from the pce was another city. Although it was still within the kingdom''s capital border, that part had an entrance into this territory from the core domain and it was ruled by Guilds rather than the Elven family. Rin and the otherdies were inside a big dome spanning a hundred meters in radius. There were approximately ten thousandfortable couches in the dome, with one thousand of them being private VIP boxes. All of them were watching an action movie of sorts with a diverse cast of humans, beastfolks, elves, dwarves, and even demons. Of course, the movie was just the beginning because there was another event after the movie, and it was the main reason for Lilith to bring everyone here. When Rin finished talking with Erix, Lilith said, "It looks like Erix is done with his work." "Yeah. Missionpleted sessfully," Rin grinned as she showed a victory gesture. "He really did it¡­" Aria softly giggled. "Runia and Queen Elina are so bad, I think they deserve it if you spread this." "Aria, do you want to kill them yourself?" Lily asked with a cold smile. "I''m sure they''ve shown intention of killing you many times, and you must have sensed it, right?" "They did¡­" Aria bit her lips and nodded. "My father always protected me, but I feel sad after finding out why he wanted me to live here and groom me¡­" "I don''t care about them anymore." Shaking her head, Aria quickly smiled and changed her mood, "I don''t want to get bound by bad things. Hehe, I want to meet Erix soon. I am excited." "He''ll be here soon," Rin chuckled. "Mhm," Aria eagerly nodded, with a bit of nervousness. Suddenly, Maleina entered the VIP box after finishing her task. "Lady Lilith, there are indeed some of the things you need in the uing auction. It will start half an hour after the movie." Chapter 270: Happy Aria, Chaos In Elf Kingdom (9) Erix arrived at the location after twenty minutes and called Rin to get entry inside. "Who were you talking about?" Erix curiously asked as he and Rin entered the dome and walked toward their VIP box. "Her name is Aria. She was under the pond the whole time when were there, haha. But even Lilith couldn''t sense her presence. She got some special powers." "Moreover, she watched your entire test from start to finish¡­" Rin told Erix about Aria, making him raise his eyebrows at first, then surprise, then shock, and then he had a severe and a bitplex expression when the duo arrived at the VIP box, and Rin finished telling Erix about her father''s n. As they entered, Erix saw the only unfamiliar head with beautiful light blue hair, attracting his attention. Aria swiftly turned around as her sparkling purple eyes met Erix''s eyes. Erix had a strange sense of deja vu that he couldn''t exin, but he ignored it and smiled at Aria. Aria''s cheeks were slightly flushed, but she smiled brightly and said, "I finally got to meet you, Erix." Erix could sense tumultuous waves in Aria spiritually, making him feel how much impact he had on her. "Me too," Erix grinned and walked towards before patting her head, "You''re a real cutie Rin said, haha. Why do I feel like I''ve met you before?" "I should feel that more," Aria giggled, eyes filled with excitement. "I watched your whole journey in test. It was so so¡­exciting and and¡­I don''t know, I juzt-" Aria stuttered and almost bit her tongue, making her cheeks turn red as she shut her mouth. Everyone couldn''t help but burst outughing. However, her eyes showed mirth as she was already feeling happy to be with everyone here. Erix sat beside her on the couch, while Rin sat on the other side of Aria as he talked with her and others. The mood in the room became more jolly as Aria talked more and more as she felt happy. Amu was also super happy and hyper upon seeing Aria truly lively like these with people she liked to be with. She never had such a group to talk to in the pce. Some maids cared for her, but they were maids and were at work most of the time, while Aria was also in training with no partners. "C-Can I lean here, Erix¡­" Aria suddenly said as she leaned her head on Erix''s shoulder, her heart beating fast. "There''s no need to ask, haha." Erix felt pity and also liked her, so he didn''t feel any aversion towards Aria at all. Of course, she hadn''t moved his primal heart yet because it wasn''t something that could move through pity only. But Erix felt like spoiling Aria given her nature despite her past. "Thank you!" Aria became excited from nervous upon hearing Erix''s answer and held his arm before leaning her head. "This movie is kinda good. There are many possibilities in the climax," Rin said while eating tiny dumplings and her focus on the movie. "I haven''t watched the movie from the start, but I already know the plot since it''s here," Erix wryly smiled. "I think they will go with a happy ending and let those two brothers win." "Mhmm," Aria happily nodded. "Happy endings are good." "I also think they will show a happy ending for multiple purposes and benefits," Rin said as she finished thest dumpling in the box. "If it can raise morale and give encouragement to hunters, they will choose to do it," Lilith chuckled. "You see they''ve put many subtle advertisements of some items of real big brands of Core domain." Lily scoffed and said, "Yeah, if they lose after working so hard, and can''t take revenge after getting those so-called legendary items, those famous shops'' business will go down instead." "Erix!" Aria turned her head towards Erix who also looked at her in response. "We will spar after the movie, okie? I am also strong!" Aria said with a grin. "I worked hard daily, and Amu also helped me." "You might even lose, brat," Amu chimed in with a sneer. "Come on, Amu," Rin burst outughing, "Don''t call brat and such words. I can''t hold backughing when you say that with your cute child-like voice." "Humph," Amu snorted. "I could change my voice, but I am keeping it natural." "Of course, we will spar," Erix grinned and tickled Aria''s soft tummy, "I can sense you have some hidden powers." Aria giggled at the tickles. "Okie, if I win, then will you reward me?" Aria said with hopeful eyes. Amused, Erix smiled and said, "Alright, what reward do you want?" "I''ll tell you if I win," Aria grinned, her determined eyes sparkling as she remembered the crucial moment in the test. "Alright. I promise a reward as long as you win, but I will not hold back." "Of course!" Aria said with resolve and serious expression as she nodded. "I can bear pain, so don''t worry about hurting me." ¡­ After the movie was finished, the group went out to get fresh air. "I can send you two to my domain for the spar," Amu said with a grin. "Aria, be sure to win even if you have to use your advantages." "What advantages?" Rin curiously asked. "Her soul," Lilith faintly smiled as she understood why she felt strange at first. "Yep! Mwaahaha," Amuughed. "Aria is very talented in spiritual and soul path due to an ident when she was a year old and also because of how it was refined through her past." "Oh?" Erix was surprised and curious but also more eager to fight. "Amu, send us in," Aria said with sparkling eyes. "I want to show Erix and others everything I got! Let them watch our fight, okie?" "Of course, leave it to me." "Let''s return to our VIP room then. It''s also booked for the uing auction," Lily said. "Yep, and let''s bring some food along," Lilith nodded. "This auction is going to be a big one, the current biggest one happening in the Kanx Abyss." "The branch leaders of Cosmic Factions will also be here, and all major powers of the Core Domain." "That sounds big, eh?" Erix and Rin were surprised. "I only heard about them, but don''t know anything," Aria pouted. "I really really want to go on adventure and live freely with you all." Erix smiled and patted her head, "You will, Aria. We''re gonna have a lot of fun and adventures filled with exciting troubles and boons." "Yep. That''s right, Aria." Rin then yfully chuckled and said, "let''s go and get some food specialty of this ce. Hehe, they got dishes more tasty than Lilith''s cooking." "Of course," Lilith jokingly rolled her eyes. "There are Mystic Chefs of very high levels here selling their specialties. In this regard, I am indeed weaker." The group grabbed the food from the luxurious food district near the huge dome building before entering the VIP box. Meanwhile, the members of various Cosmic Factions that went to search for Rin and Erix to recruit arrived in the Elven territory while following their trails and talks among other hunters. "Damn, we really made a kind of circle searching for them." "What can we do? The mirage crystals didn''t spread much into Elven territory here." "I saw those Gctic Knight bastards snooping around with mirage crystals. They are also searching for those two." "Let''s go, Meimei. We have to hurry and get their location from Royal Pce." Meimei clicked her tongue, "I can''t believe they also dared to enter that pond and even passed the test." "That''s all the more reason to recruit them," Lania said, her brown tail moving eagerly behind her. "If we recruit them, then Lady Ayame will likely put them in our group." "If they are from another world, then there''s high chance our faction''s branch is there. We can pass higher levels of Faction Towers and difficult field missions with them." "Yea, yea, let''s go. I can''tin about getting strong members, haha." s, everyone searching for them was bound to get disappointed, and some may get more than that¡­like a punch and a de. Meanwhile, the other cosmic faction members had also found about Rin and Erix passing the test. After all, this feat had spread into the kingdom and had shocked everyone. With the entry of more people in the territory with them, the mirage crystals that recorded their battles also started spreading. General people still didn''t know the group that passed the test looked like, so those mirage crystals quickly increased in number by copying and spread further. Chapter 271: Arias Wonderful Powers, Her Wish "This¡­" Rin and others were watching the battle between Aria and Erix through a screen created by Amu, but they were dumbfounded at Aria''s fighting style and powers! In the sub-dimension, Erix was indeed not holding back at all, throwing punches and quick attacks using his everything. However, Aria was surrounded by cuteness that was destructive and powerful! "Go!" Aria grinned as several hundred magical colorful life-like birds shot towards Erix! There was also a big turtle above her and a faint turtle-shell-like transparent barrier around her. ''This power¡­.what is this,'' Erix was also dumbfounded as he destroyed the iing birds with his punches while also sending a powerful Twin-Whirling Punch towards Aria from right behind her. It stuck her defense, breaking herpletely, but Aria flung herself far away while preparing another one and leaving scratch-free from the attacks. Sometimes his attacks were entirely nullified! ''Her spirit power is off the charts, so it makes sense for her defend against my attacks¡­but what is with the way she''s molding it?! That''s not normal¡­'' Aria could produce life-like ''beings'' using her Mana and spirit power, each possessing various powers with their capabilities and potency heightened due to her spirit power and¡­soul power! But not anyone could do what she was doing, not even Lilith despite her having more Spirit power and soul power than Aria in terms of raw stats. "Amu," Lilith turned to Amu from the battle, her expression showing shock. "Is that what I think it is?" "Hehe, of course! I told you Aria has a great affinity with spirit and soul with her past circumstances and ident," Amu proudly grinned. "Did you think she was powerful just because I helped her?" "What is that power, Lilith?" Rin asked with intense curiosity in her eyes. "That''s an element? But it''s strange¡­" "Animus," Lily muttered and turned to Amu, "is that correct?" "Bwahwahahaha! YES!" "It''s the least straightforward, but the most profound one out of the four Principle Elements," Lilith said, filling Rin''s curiosity. "Animus element." "Animus¡­" Rin muttered, her eyes shining. "This element looks crazily cool and versatile." "It can allow you to create and mold animated souls," Amu said with a smirk. "But you can do so much more with them when youbine the Animus element with other elements because it matches with and supports everything." "Mhmm," Lilith nodded. "When you have Animus element, only your imagination is your limit and well, your other powers." "Erix can''t win," Lilith added with a wry smile. "But I don''t think he will lose given Aria''s inexperience in fighting." "Hehe, no need to feel down," Amu giggled. "After all, it was I who trained and helped Aria. It can''t be helped since Erix has yet to awaken his soul." "But Aria has also unlocked her potential and I will mold her Bloodline next, so I hope that you all with help each other and also make Aria stronger in the area she iscking." "Yeah, she needs to be sharper, but for now, her overwhelming number of those Animated Spirits are not letting Erix''s attacks touch her." "Erix''s direct offense is more powerful than mine, so my attacks might bypass her attacks, but it still won''t be able to crack that turtle spirit''s powers," Rin wryly smiled. "The battle is still on," Lilith smiled. "Look at his face, he is having fun and also improving." "His attack can break her defense and hurt her if he utilizes his Chaos concept properly," Amu said. "But he is still exploring this concept, and has yet to enter its 2nd realm." "Same," Rin nodded. "We have different applications of the Chaos concept in our fighting styles. Once we are done forming our Arcane Spirit Pool, we will focus on that." "Aria has five primal elements, so why doesn''t she create Advanced elements?" Lily confusedly asked. "She will from now on," Amu said. "I let her focus on Animus and her primal elements for a long time because I knew she had the potential to awaken it andy a solid foundation for her." "Those Animated Spirits are made from Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light. She has been focusing on them for years and reached level 3 affinity in all of them. Of course, Animus element took most of her time and then also on other things I was teaching her." Amu grinned. "All so she can be powerful and stand on her own anywhere!" Everyone couldn''t help but nod. Aria was indeed smooth at handling her powers, although she hadn''t had any solid knack for directbat and tricks yet. Erix was managing to even break her defense more often, while her attacks couldn''t do much to Erix. ''I want to win¡­'' Aria bit her lips. She wanted that reward from Erix! ''I need to create that one I had in mind recently¡­'' Aria''s mind created an image of a dragon. Aria''s cute but powerful animated spirits increased in number, but they all fully focused on defense while a mysterious book appeared before Aria and opened. Either destroying Erix''s punches by self-destructing or sweeping defense. "Hehe, she is using it!" Amu giggled upon seeing Aria taking out the book. "What''s that book?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "It''s me," Amu smirked. "Not directly, but a medium. I''ve decided to be Aria''s familiar and made her my Master. But she doesn''t know that yet, hahaha." "That''s also one of the reasons why her powers are enough to nullify Erix''s powerful offense of Nihilir despite it possessing very destructive powers," Amu said. "Erix''s hadn''t even brought out Nihilir''s 1% of potential yet, so that''s given." "Once he reaches 3rd realm of Space, it will be more destructive," Lilith smiled. "Space is more of a support initial, but bes more powerful from 3rd realm and onward. Matching up with Death and me, it''s going to be pure destruction if he wants to." "Not even Animus can beat that unless Aria makes her Super Exotic Element to enhance herbat prowess and boost it further with Animus." "Meanwhile, I am hitting a bit of a bottleneck on Time element," Rin clicked her tongue and sighed. "I''ll have to fully focus on it to catch up with Erix." "You need a catalyst to further your progress like Erix has," Lily thoughtfully said as she turned to Lilith, "We can get something like that from Core-domain, right?" "Yes. We''ll have to get you that before you leave," Lilith nodded at Rin. "Erix''s source and circumstances give him insight into Death, and the item the mysteriousdy gave him helped him get insights into Space, but you don''t have such a catalyst." "You got affinities with Wind, Lightning, and Time, but Time is mysterious. It''s simr to Animus but in a different direction because Time surprisingly bents exotically whenbined with other elements." "The Insight scroll gave you the correctbination because I think Wind and Lightningbined with Time can bring wonders I can''t imagine," Lilith smiled. "You can say that your Chronace is a fully all-rounder super exotic element." "Mhm, now I really want a catalyst to aid in my progress," Rin said while grinning as she observed the battle that wasing to an end. "That dragon is so powerful. Is that her trump card?" "Seems like it, but she couldn''t explore the full possibility on that dragon''s structure. It can''t do anything to Erix," Lilith wryly smiled. "Actually, Rin, I might have something like that to help you with your Time element." The cute slime adopted a thoughtful expression with its big eyes, attracting everyone''s attention from the battle. "I''ve lived for so long, so I had some strange guests before the elves settled here. I also had an opportunity, which was why I was able to born." "Really?" Rin''s eyes sparkled. "Yes. I''ll have to check my stash for that when we return." "Also, the battle is over," Amu pouted. "Erix didn''t lose exactly, so it''s a tie." However, Amu was soon surprised as Erix smiled at Aria and said, "Alright, you win. I count the hits, and you''ve made more hits than me." "Also, it''s my policy that I won''t consider myself a winner if it''s a tie." Aria''s slightly downcast expression immediately brightened! "R-Really? Then I can ask for something?" Erixughed and teleported before her as he couldn''t help but gently pat this cute yet strongss, "Of course. Go ahead." "Then, I want to¡­" Aria remembered at the end of the test Erix hugged that girl so tightly and for so long. Despite just watching them, she could feel warmth and love flowing into her. She wanted to experience that herself! Aria rubbed her fingers, and her heart beat faster. "I-I want you to hug me tightly as you hugged her in your test at the end¡­tight and long." "Please¡­" Without wasting a single breath, Erix wrapped his arms behind her, his right arm at her waist and his left hand pushing her back as he hugged her ever so tightly and lovingly, making Aria drop tears as she also hugged him and closed her eyes in peace and warmth that she longed. Chapter 272: Auction Begins, Lord of Destruction and Compassion After several minutes of staying in the hug, Erix noticed that Aria had actually fallen asleep! He carried her like a princess and said, "Amu, get us out." The duo appeared back in the VIP room. "She is sleeping peacefully," Rin grinned, happy for Aria. "Let''s not disturb her." Amu wrapped her in a bubble of spirit energy to prevent any sound from disturbing her. "The auction will start in five minutes andst for at least three hours or more, "Lilith said as she leaned back on the couch, Rin and Erix sitting beside her since Aria was sleeping on one. "We have to buy some things for us, and we might even see some surprising items,"Lily smiled. Maleina said, "You might even have to fight for items, both financially and physically. It happens often in big auctions." "Some owners of items also want specific requirements for their buyers," Malein added. Rin and Erix were more and more interested in the auction. Five minutester, the big magical screen in their VIP room lit up, disying a luxurious and aesthetic tform made of wood and stones covered by a curtain. The curtain soon dispersed into motes before rising in the sky and exploding into colorful and exotic sts akin to fire-crackers while a melodious and attractive voice rang in the dome and VIP rooms. A beautiful and hot red-haired woman wearing a tight dress showing her curves appeared on the tform along with an old man with a long white beard and wearing a white robe. "Dear hunters, my most warm wee to each of you foring to this auction. I am Selene, today''s host to entertain and bait you all into buying items," Selene winked with a lovely and attractive smile. "She has a concept, Charm maybe," Lilith chuckled. "Charming indeed," Erixughed. "But not as my darlings here." On the screen, the old man spoke next. "We will be anchoring the auction today," the old man caressed his beard and smiled, "And I am confident to announce that this auction will be the biggest one in the past ten years." "We have surprises on the wait, so let''s start without wasting any more time," Selene said with a smile. "Old man Lambo, bring up the first item." ... While the auction began here, the members of Cosmic Faction who went to find Rin and Erix in the Pce faced one more headache. "They left, but no one knows where?" "We couldn''t meet any important people here, tsk," Meimei clicked her tongue. "Some said that they went to participate in that ongoing event." "Let''s just wait in the city. They will eventually return." The members of other cosmic factions also decided to wait in the city for them to return because the group that passed the pond''s test had yet to use it for full benefits. Meanwhile, half an hourter in the auction, Selene announced with a wide grin, "The next item is unique and our first special item of the auction." "Old man," Selene turned to old man Lambo and nodded. Old man Lambo went behind the stage and shortly returned with something covered, 1 meter tall, as it floated a few centimeters off the ground. Old man Lambo waved his hand to create a threeyered barrier around the statue, using both his Soul power and Prana. "That much cautious?" Lilith was surprised. "It seems that this will indeed be a special item." "Behold everyone," Selene smiled before she snapped her finger, causing the clothes covering the mysterious item to turn into tiny particles and revealing...a statue. The statue''s owner seemed like a man with a naturally chiseled figure and long wild ck hair wearing a loincloth in a strange yet majestic pose. Both palms were open on the left side with index fingers and thumbs touching each other. The left leg was also raised to the left and bent at the knee. The statue was adorned with carved jewelry, increasing its majesty yet producing a somber feeling in the beholder. Its forehead had a vertical third eye, and despite being a statue, it oozed out profoundness to anyone looking at it. Lilith''s eyes instantly shone upon seeing the statue as she said, "This is mystical." "I might have seen something like this back on Earth," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Me too¡­It looks like a god''s statue," Rin nodded. "Behold this majestic yet beautiful piece of art depicting the mysterious Lord of Destruction and Compassion." "You might be wondering about the contradicting title, but it is what it is folks," Selene grinned and said, "This statue was found in an ancient ruin by a team of the Gnosis Orion cosmic faction during their adventure into a portal that appeared a year ago." "It was protected by a myriad of beasts as if they were utterly crazed and sought to destroy anything they saw." The statue became more visible and close up on the VIP room''s screens. "That''s a profound statue indeed," Amu nodded. "Even I can''t understand it despite my soul and spiritual power, and it''s making me feel overwhelmed when I peer inside." Meanwhile, the old man continued. "ording to our research, this statue is depicting a dance pose. The mysterious thing is that sometimes, you will see the statue''s third eyes closing, sometimes opening." Indeed, Rin, Erix, and also others saw such illusions from the screen. "If anyone wants insight into this profound statue, then feel free to join the bidding and buy it." Selene immediately followed after the old man finished speaking, "Before beginning the bidding, I would like to warn the dear guests that no one had been fortunate enough to remain sane after using their spirit sense to inspect the statue once they cross ten seconds, including even Empyrean-order hunters." A wave of gasps spread in the dome after Selene finished speaking. "The starting bid is 10 High-quality Prana stones, but there is also a buyout," Selene showed a mysterious smile and continued, "Anyone can pay 1 high-quality Prana stone and take the owner''s test." "The test is simple. Just use your spirit sense and observe the statue for ten seconds. People who tried have gone insane after a few seconds to several seconds so far with no one seeding, but if you do not go insane after ten seconds, the statue is yours." However, the next thing that Selene said caused most people''s hearts to turn cold and make their feet heavy. "The insane here means you will be possessed by destructive impulses and we will have no choice but to kill you the moment you show indication of releasing attacks." Those who wanted to stand up glued their ass back into their seats after hearing this. "This is a matter of life and death," Selene sharply smiled. "I am ready to see a few corpses at the beginning of the auction, so think while the bidding is ongoing." *Silence* For a few seconds, there was utter silence before Selene smiled and said, "Everyone may start bidding¡­now!" "20 high-quality Prana stones!" "40 high-quality Prana stones!" "45 high-quality Prana stones and 10 High-quality Primal Elemental stones!" Rin rubbed her palms, her eyes shining, "I want to take the test¡­" "Me too," Erix grinned. "You two¡­" Maleina was speechless. "Let''s discuss a bit about it before deciding," Lilith said with a thoughtful expression. "I believe the statue will be useful, and since buying it is not in our n, we can try the test." "I feel like this statue needs a special requirement," Lily rubbed her chin. "I don''t think I possess that requirement, so I don''t want to try." "Amu, can you tell us what you have found so far from the statue?" Lilith turned to Amu. "Just tell us your feelings about it." The cute slime''s big eyes squinted and faintly glowed as it tried peering into the statue. A few secondster, Amu muttered, "Love, Death, Rage, Dance, and Destruction...this¡­" Amu looked at the group with a somber expression and said, "The host lied about the discovery of the statue." "No team of any cosmic faction found it, but someone from that faction indeed brought it here from outside to sell it while making a story about it." Suddenly, everyone heard a loud voice from the normal open couches in the dome. "I shall try to take the test!" The first daring one emerged from the crowd, however, it remained to be seen if he would end up the first guinea pig for the crowd or the owner of the statue. Chapter 273: The Mysterious Statue The man arrived on the tform, looking solemn yet confident. He was a Royal-order hunter, a Dark Elf. When everyone saw him, many people in the dome recognized him. "Isn''t that Nix mebard? I heard he climbed the Wihanx Finger''s top a year ago." "He might seed." Many people formed their opinions without the knowledge of the statue. After all, everyone was seeing it for the first time. Selene weed Nix and smiled, "I truly wish you good luck and all the best." "I''ll remove the barriers and put them again around you and the statue," the old man Lambo said, "Ready?" "Go ahead," Nix nodded, his gaze sharp and eyes glinting with Prana as he looked straight at the statue. Old man Lambo removed the barriers and immediately put them around the statue and Nix again. This way, if Nix bes insane and starts attacking, it would hit the barrier, nullifying the Abyss Rule against old man Lambo, a peak Empyrean-order powerhouse. "You can start anytime," old man Lambo nodded. Nix took a deep breath and directed his spirit sense into the statue. "What gives him the confidence?" Rin confusedly asked. "Maybe his understanding of a certain concept?" Erix thoughtfully said. "He has a concept gearing towards offense," Amu said. "So upon learning that the statue gives destructive impulses, he thought he might be able to survive ten seconds." "But he is strong," Amu added as five seconds passed. Everyone was glued to the screen and the moment the sixth second passed by, Nix''s aura became dark and vtile and Prana surged from him as he roared like a mindless beast. *BOOM!* A powerful ck me of orb sted within the barrier, giving a heads up to old man Lambo as he sighed. "Wait! Please!" Someone shouted from the audience and rushed toward the tform, "Don''t kill him please!" It was a demoness with two blue horns and light blue skin. "Lady, It''s not like I will like killing a defenseless person who is not my enemy," Old man Lambo helplessly smiled. Nix was trapped in the barrier, attacking everywhere while shouting with red eyes, but he was trapped in an Empyrean-order''s barrier with Abyss Rule nullified since he first attacked. There was no way could break it and get out. "Who are you to him, miss?" Selene asked, her voice filled with pity. "I-I am his partern, his wife, Tiarath." "Tiarath, this statue is dangerous and the effect it brings upon others is irreversible," Selene sighed. "He will never get out of this state." "As we speak, his consciousness is entirely destroyed already," old man Lambo said. "The only thing that exists in his soul is destructive impulses." "We had a few more people who turned destructive, but no matter how much we tried, it wasn''t possible to recover them by any means at our disposal," old man Lambo sighed. "No¡­" Tiarath''s lips trembled and she fell to her knees with a thud. Her face streamed with tears as she repeatedly shook her head. "My fault¡­It''s¡­" "What do you mean?" Selene asked, surprised. "I-I told him that he could do it¡­It''s my fault, my fault," Tiarath broke down. Rin and others watching didn''t feel good, especially Rin and Erix. "Now I wished he would have seeded," Erix softly sighed. "Mhm," Rin nodded and rested her head on Erix''s shoulder before grabbing his arm. "We will go together." "Mhm," Erix nodded. "You two still want to go?!" Maleina was speechless. "I want to stop you two now, but¡­" Lily weakly smiled. "I know the final decision will be yours and you''ve made up your mind." This was also why Lilith didn''t say anything. However, something magical happened right when old man Lambo was about to swiftly kill Nix. The statue''s third eye faintly shone for a very brief moment and Nix quieted down all of a sudden, standing still for a second and then falling on his back. Selene and old man Lambo were utterly shocked as their expression drastically changed. "This¡­.This is unexpected," Old man Lambo murmured. He removed his barriers and checked Nix''s condition before another wave of shock washed over him. Selene also checked his status and was dumbfounded. "How? His consciousness and soul actually recovered! This hasn''t happened to any of the 37 people who tried the statue before this!" The entire dome erupted in talk and discussion. Many people even became hopeful and were thinking about trying it. "Wait, did he pass or not?!" Someone suddenly shouted loudly using energy to spread the voice amidst the discussion. Old man Lambo shook his head in response and said, "If one seeded, the statue will supposedly vanish. Nix was somehow spared from the destructive impulses, which had never happened before." "Indeed," Selene nodded. "Take him back. He is fully drained of his soul energy and his consciousness is down. It will take him a few days to recover." "Mhmm," Tiarath nodded as her tears increased, but they were of dness. She picked up Nix and immediately flew away towards the exit. "I want to try!" "Me too!" A few voices roses and some even emerged from VIP boxes. Lilith chuckled, "So many eager fools. Let''s watch them first." "Alright," Erix shrugged. "But I somehow feel like Rin and I will seed." "Hehe, me too," Rin grinned. On the other hand, Selene took turn firste first serve approach. "Everyone, please calm. The one who spoke first will take the first." Immediately, a muscr bald man with ck beastly tattoos on his body flew towards the tform and stood before the statue. "I have a condition," the bald man said with a grin. "If I fall into destructive impulses, I also want some time to recover like Nix." The bald man was actually an Empyrean-order hunter at level 421! Unlike the Supra-order to Royal-order where people could evolve after every hundred levels and meeting requirements, the Empyrean-order spanned longer. Level 301 to level 500! "Alright, we''ll add a new rule," old man Lambo caressed his beard while smiling. "Once someone turns insane, we''ll give full one minute to recover." "We have tested this statue and we can say for certainty that what happened with Nix was an anomaly and a first-time urrence," Celene wryly smiled, "Everyone, please don''t get your hopes high yet." "You may begin," Old man Lambo smiled and removed his barriers before covering the bald man within it along with the statue. This time, he put fiveyers of barriers. However, after just three seconds of starting the test, the bald man became insane, shouting and unleashing beastly roars and projectiles of various exotic beasts'' maws that attacked the barrier and the statue. Naturally, the statue remained entirely unscratched despite the powerful attacks. Everyone was waiting with bated breath as time passed. Selene shook her head after half a minute passed. Two women and one man arrived on the tform and shouted, trying various ways to recover the bald man. However, one minute was slowly creeping to an end. "Jeez, don''t tell me Bald Beast will die today?" "A pity. He had reached Empyrean-order and could leave Abyss after breaking through eventually." "It''s part of his journey, haha. It''s not like all Empynrean-order survives. Didn''t you hear the death of that Dark Sterling Valen?" "What?! He died?" "Yeah, he was a rising Empyrean-order, but was unfortunately killed near Regnir Mountain." "That wolf must have killed him¡­" People erupted in discussion as the minute came to an end along with Bald Beast''s fate. Old man Lambo''s eyes glinted with dark yellow before a mystical dark yellow square with ck patterns trapped Bald Beast and immediately shrank into palm-size. Many felt a chill crawling down their spine upon seeing that. "This old man is as ruthless and swift as ever," Lilith bemusedly said with a wry smile. "I can''t wait to kill him when the timees." "Eh, do you know him?" Rin, Erix, and others were surprised. "Executioner Lambo. He is in my hit list of revenge, ranked 4th." Chapter 274: Inheritance? Auction Ends (1/2) "Well, if he is on your hit list, you''ll need more time to kill him and the rest on your list," Erix wryly smiled. "Yep, but it won''t be that long," Lilith cheekily grinned. "All thanks to you. Let''s get you to manifest your Bloodline, and then Rin and I can also evolve our Bloodline through you." "Pff, many already backed down," Rin chuckled upon seeing many returning to their seats after Bald Beast was killed. "Anyone else wants to try?" Celene asked with a smile since the firste first serve didn''t apply as many backed down. Naturally, some still wanted to try and were confident. The next one was a Royal-order. He turned insane within two seconds. After that, three more came, and all of them couldn''t recover after one minute of turning insane and were ultimately killed by Executioner Lambo. "You two still want to try?" Amu asked, eyeing Rin and Erix from the side. Rin and Erix smiled as they stood up and left the room. "Lady Lilith¡­" Lily was confident but worried at the same time. Lilith shook her head, "Let them go. This is their path." "Yes. A certain way of living is a must, and these two have it. It increases your soul''s potential a lot," Amu nodded. "They had decided and are fully aware of the dire consequences," Lilith said. "If they die, it only means their journey was until that moment." "But they won''t die," Lilith added with conviction, her voice firm as she believed in Rin and Erix. Behind the stage, a middle-aged man sat on the floor cross-legged. He had long ck hair and a long wild ck beard. ''This is thest chance. I''ll have to go to another Abyss if no one here seeds in resonating with the statue.'' The old man was watching the tform, and he was the one who brought the statue here. "Two more? Let''s see," the old man looked at Rin and Erix arriving from behind the tform. After arriving before the statue, Erix said, "We''ll look at it together." "Noble-order?!" "Are they nuts?" "I feel like I saw them somewhere¡­" "They must have a death wish, haha. That''s why they came here together." Rin and Erix could hear taunts, exmations, and sneers, but they remained unperturbed. "Get ready," old man Lambo nodded and removed his barriers before covering Rin and Erix along with the statue. "They might kill each other, so you won''t have to make a move, old man." "Haha, true." ''Ready, Rin?'' Erix asked and grabbed her hand. ''Yep,'' Rin smiled. ''Amu''s words gave us a good hint.'' Erix chuckled. ''Indeed. Let''s start.'' Both of them used their Spiritual Mystic Eye and peered into the statue. At first, only darkness greeted them, but then a pair of wrathful eyes manifested. Filled with immense pain and only seeking destruction. In just a second, Rin and Erix felt so much pressure that they were utterly helpless to move their limbs or think of anything else. Those pair of eyes overwhelmed their consciousness. But they started seeing more. They saw a silhouette of a man with someone in his arms. Anguish, pain, and despair flooded before rage took over. The scenery changed as they saw a massive scene of destruction on a cosmic scale, but in a mysterious dimension that didn''t look like universe withs and stars but exotic elemental structures of all kinds. The silhouette danced, each step bringing out wrath and unleashing outside as utter destruction unfolded. Rin and Erix remained in the same position and saw everything, feeling everything. The old man behind the tform watched them, but soon his eyes disyed shock. Selene and old man Lambo were surprised to see a different reaction on Rin and Erix''s faces from others who spiritually peered into the statue before them. Most of them were entirely nk once they peered into it and would suddenly snap out, taken over by destructive impulse. However, Rin and Erix¡­their eyes dropped tears while their faces remained nk. The statue faintly shone, finally shocking the rest as ten seconds passed! "This¡­" Old man Lambo and Selene also turned shocked from surprised. Selene nced behind the tform and sent her thoughts to the middle-aged man. ''Does this indicate that they passed, sir?'' The old man snapped out of his thought, joy within his eyes as he swiftly nodded and replied, ''Indeed. They sessfully resonated with the statue. It is theirs now.'' ''Whether they follow up having it in the future is up to you.'' "It seems we can move to the next item now," Selene smiled and announced, but the entire dome was still silent. Even more silent after the announcement. But this silence onlysted for a few seconds before an uproar erupted. Rin and Erix were still in the trans as the statue continued shining. After half a minute, the statue mysteriously turned into white motes with a purple hue and vanished. However, Rin and Erix gained an additional thing. A mark. An Eye. However, nobody could see this mark. Both Rin and Erix had a closed vertical eye on their forehead as a mark after the statue turned into the motes. Both of them opened their eyes, and their grips holding each other''s hands tightened. [Congrattions. You have been marked as one of the candidates for the 9th dimension''s Paradox Path Inheritance that will begin after four hundred and thirty-seven years.] [Please survive and get strong enough until then.] When they got this notification, both of them wryly smiled and put it away at the back of their mind. However, what they gained was not only the notification. "Let''s return," Erix vanished from the spot and teleported directly into their VIP room, shocking everyone. "I remember now! Those two are Fist of Abyss and Anarchic de Dancer!" Uproar ensued again as people in the dome discussed, but they soon quieted down as Selene''s voice suppressed theirs and spread. "Everyone! Let''s present you all with the next item. It''s a Weapon Seed with a spirit, specifically attributed towards Ice and having a source of an attribute-concept of ice!" Meanwhile, Rin and Erix were sharing the details of the statue and what they found with others. "I can''t sense anything in your forehead," Amu said with squinting eyes. "Eh, but we felt it," Erix rubbed his forehead. "Forget, it will appearter when the timees I guess," Rin chuckled. "Yep, we gained something else, a more concrete benefit too," Erix grinned. Waving his hand, Erix and Rin shared a particr detail in the party as everyone saw a window panel. Chapter 275: Auction Ends (2/2), Answer To Cosmic Factions, New Plan? [Mark of Paradox ] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Aspect - Resonate: when you are in the presence of those you resonate with your heart and care for and vice-versa, you will gain a situational buff. ¡ª> Aspect - Dissociate: when you are not in the presence of those you resonate with, you will apply a situational debuff that will affect you and anyone you want to target in your sight. _Bonds: ¡ª> Erix, Rin, Lilith, Lily, Aria. Both of them had gotten the same mark and effects. "Actually, we have a buff activated right now, haha." Rin showed the buff to others, making everyone surprised again. "Yep. I have the same buff," Erix nodded. [Leisure Roll Buff] _Effect: Increase your Spirit by 100 and be less susceptible to negativity. "This means that you''ll constantly have a buff activated ording to the situation," Lily smiled. "This is great." "Tsk, it looks like you two don''t care much about me," Amu''s childish voice rang, clearly discontent. "Eh, that''s not true at all, but more like you are not caring about us," Rin rolled her eyes. "If you did, you would have appeared in that list." Amu was stunned at first and then realized something as the cute slime nodded with its big eyes showing seriousness. "You are right¡­I only care about Aria and no one else, but I can change that since you all care about Aria." "We''ll see that, haha," Erixughed. "Lady Lilith, the next item is one of the items you got me to check," Maleina said as she looked at a tablet. The people in the VIP room had an advantage. Each VIP room had a tablet that would show the next item in advance. "Good. We need it for the bloodline that Rin and I will evolve through Erix," Lilith smiled. "It''s a rare natural resource that doesn''t grow anywhere in the Abyss and could only be acquired from a certain attached dimension or event reward." "Oh? What''s the name?" Rin asked as she turned to Maleina. "Umbresia Blood Dew." ¡­ The auction spanned approximately three and a half hours, during which Lilith sessfully acquired the items she had targeted. Aria enjoyed a deep and restful sleep, and remained undisturbed, still in slumber. Amu said that it was Aria''s first peaceful sleep after a long time, so putting herfortably in Lilith''s Airship''s bed, the group made their way back to the Elf Kingdom''s capital. The airship stopped at the pce before everyone got out, and Lilith put away the Airship. Afterward, Erix directly teleports everyone at the pce entrance. Although it was possible to teleport within the pce, he couldn''t teleport directly inside from outside due to a magic formation. "Let''s get back to training in the pond," Erix grinned. "We might get a buff that can help us progress faster with the new power we got." ¡­ Inside one of the famous Inn Hotels a few kilometers away from the Pce¡­ Lania entered the room with good news. She had talked with a pce guard and told him to inform her when the group that passed the test returned. Since Erix and others became famous in the kingdom for passing the test, and also due to the recently spread Mirage crystal, they arrived on people''s radar. "They arrived, Meimei." Meimei sprung up from her meditative state and said, "Let''s go before those buffoons reach them." Both girls immediately went to the pce with the request to them. Just as they were waiting in the guest hall of the pce, a woman and man looking in theirte twenties also arrived, and their mood sourced upon seeing each other. Afterward, two more men arrived, and the hall became more silent than usual. Erix arrived in the hall by interrupting his training because it was a bit important. When everyone saw Erix, all of them recognized him and stood up. "Fist of the Ab-" "I know why you are all here," Erix interrupted the man from the Gtic Knight cosmic faction and started speaking. "Unfortunately, we won''t be joining any of your cosmic factions," Erix faintly smiled and said, "We have already decided which cosmic faction to join to return to our world after reaching Royal-order." Everyone was stunned. "Which one?" Meimei asked. However, the name Erix uttered dumbfounded everyone. "Unbound Star cosmic faction." They couldn''t speak for a couple of seconds before Meimei burst outughing, "You can''t be serious, right?" "That''s the factually lowest-rank cosmic faction," a random man from Trinity Apex cosmic said while shaking his head, "Your choice is unwise." Erixughed and said, "I am not here to listen to your opinions on our choice."I''m just here to inform you so you all can stop wasting your time." "Thanks foring here, but you can leave now. This is our decision." Erix smiled and directly vanished from the spot. Everyone showed envy the moment he vanished using teleport. "Tsk, what a waste of talent and affinities." "Yeah, he would have risen and gotten more rewards with faster progress in any of our cosmic factions, but he wants to join that dead cosmic faction." "Whatever, it''s not like we can force him," Lania said. "Yeah, let''s return and inform Lady Ayame of this decision," Meimei rolled her eyes. "It was really a waste of time." ¡­ "What?! Those women¡­" Elina muttered something and nodded at the head maid, "You can return." "Damn it. Why didn''t they participate in the event?!" Elina got up and left her room before going to the room where Runia was still sleeping. "Uhh, I was having a good dream..." Runia opened her eyes and stretched her arms. Elina snapped her finger and covered Runia in a dress before saying, "Those women are still alive, all of them. None of them participated in the event." "What?!" Runia''s eyes widened. "What the hell, why? All of them were eager to participate when I told them about it!" "I don''t know, but it''s your job to find that out." "But don''t go right now. We don''t want to make them suspicious of anything, so let them finish the training." "Tsk, fine. They said they will emerge from the pond daily for five to ten hours anyway," Runia got off the bed in a foul mood. "Whatever the case, we still have to make a new n to kill them." "Mother, think of something," Runia pouted and sat at the table before taking out am card and informing her maid to bring food. Elina sat across her and rubbed her temples, "That event was a good chance, sigh. What n to make now¡­" Chapter 276: Beginning, Oppression and Depression While the group was in the middle of training in the pond, Aria woke up after four hours with a freshened expression and happy mood. She was near the pond on a bed and saw that everyone was meditating, so she didn''t disturb them and quietly entered the pond to join them. ''Amu, let''s get started.'' Amu popped up out of nowhere and plopped on Aria''s head before Aria vanished, sending her to its sub-dimension. ''This process will also cause pain, so bear with it. Once we are done, your bloodline will bepletely reforged and evolve.'' ''And that will also mark the downfall of the Selifa Virelia Bloodline of this royal family.'' ''Mhm,'' Aria replied, her voice filled with conviction. She had enough, and her priorities have changed. Her focus and feelings were distributed to her family because of her father, but not anymore. She acquired a new goal, a new life, and people who care about her just like she began to care about them. It was no longer her one-side struggle in the quagmire. Aria attained her freedom and spirit of living, so nothing could stop her from growing. Her life had finally begun moving forward in no less than the most thrilling journey of unknown paths into the vast cosmos. ¡­ Time passed as minutes soon turned into hours. Exactly seventeen hourster, in the noon of the new day, Amu subtly woke them up. It was time for them to leave. Rin and Erix were only a step away from manifesting their Arcane Spirit Pool, but they also needed a break due to constant highly focused meditation on one task. Aside from the Limitless ne session, in which they focused on learning the 2nd technique of the Battlecraft Art Rune and their respective elements with Rin on Time and Erix on Space, they spent the entire time of pond meditation to gain insights for Arcane Spirit Pool. Some people could take months and even over a year to manifest their Arcane Spirit Pool. Compared to them, Rin and Erix were killing it. Naturally, it was also thanks to the power spots they''ve used like this pond and those trees along with them having a more refined Spiritual power and sense thanks to Spiritual Mystic Eye. However, to constantly meditate and remain focused for a longer duration was more challenging for most. Entering deep focus would drain them faster and would also make them want to have rxation and fun. People who resisted this inner urge and spent more time to progress would naturally progress faster. "Aria will be busy for two days as I am reforging and evolving her bloodline. As for you all, return after six hours and continue training." "You can extract the pond''s benefit for the next five at the same efficiency, so progress faster and stronger," Amu said, the slime''s face and eyes serious. "I need your help to destroy this pce, but you can''t help if you are not stronger." "We''ll sessfully form our Arcane Spirit Pool tomorrow," Erix grinned, thrilled to find his power level tomorrow. "Yep, so we will be Royal-order rank tomorrow, haha. I wonder how strong we''ll be," Rin was also excited. "One thing is for sure, I''ll be no match for you two," Lily wryly smiled. "I''ll have to up my game and need to get an Exotic Element to keep up with you two." "How''s your progress on that end?" Lilith asked. "Yeah, Lily. You said you would your remaining insight scroll for it, right?" Erix asked. Rin and Erix were curious about it since Lily had used the insight scroll right as they returned from the auction and entered the pond. "Yes, I was about to use it when we returned, but I thought I should spend one more day to decide which three of my elements I should choose when I use the scroll," Lily wryly smiled as she waved her hand showed her elemental and concept progress to others. ¡ª> Primary: Wind (4th), Water (4th) ¡ª> Advanced: Ice (4th), Mist (5th), wood (2nd) Concepts: Weave (1st), Disperse (2nd). "Why don''t you try abination of all three Advanced elements," Erix said. "We have a master of wood here too," Rin grinned as she looked at Amu. "Right?" "Wood is abination of Water and Earth, but also requires understanding subtleties of life. Wood is a gateway to Life element," Amu nodded. "Almost all who have an affinity with wood eventually acquire Life element if they work hard for it." "Lily," Lilith smiled and said, "Go for Ice, Mist, and Life. It''s going to be a Super Exotic Element that way." "Yep. We all have a Super Exotic Element, so you should also have one," Erix said with a thumbs up and a grin. "You can do it." "Alright, I''ll use it after we return from the break," Lily merrily grinned. "I can''t wait now, haha. Let''s quickly spend the break time." As the group left the pond cavern after Amu gave the buff to Erix, Rin said, "Erix, that bitch and her mother must be cooking something for sure since their n failed." "Yeah. I am going there to suck them dry and find their next n," Erix grinned. ¡­ Runia and Elina were waiting for them toe out, so when Erix contacted them, they called him to the same floor as yesterday. At the table, Erix sat across Elina while Runia was under the table, sucking his cock. Internally, Erix rolled his eyes as he knew their tactics by reading Runia''s mind with Amu''s blessing buff. ''They haven''t thought of anything, yet wants to...pff.'' Elina asked about his progress first and then asked as if she remembered something, "I heard your women didn''t go to the event. Did something happen?" "If you need any help, don''t hesitate to tell us," Elina said with a smile as she licked her lips and turned into wind flow before materializing on Erix''sp. Her loose robe slid downward before her plump F-cup breast popped before Erix''s face. Erix grabbed them and dug his fingers into the soft meat before he started sucking hard and ying with her erect pink nipples. "Mother!" Runia emerged from under the table with a pout since she sat on Erix''sp. However, Erix didn''t wait and immediately inserted his dick into Elina''s pussy, making her moan as she actively started moving her hips while Erix ravaged her breasts. ''Let''s finish this quicker. I don''t want to use as much time as previously to suck these bitches dry,'' Erix thought and took out his trump card as he transformed his dick into a partial metallic of a Tier-5 metal, Heacrint Ore. It could be cold and hot ording to his control, and since he made it partial metal with active energy, it retained its hardness while bing flexible. Elina''s eyes widened as she moaned at the sudden change in the sensation of friction that increased her pleasure. ''Let''s finish this quick.'' ¡­ Three hourster, Erix exited the room while Elina and Runiay naked, drunk in pleasure and euphoria. He used his trump card which he would usually use for Rin and others for maximum enjoyment, but he needed to use it to save time. But there was a good thing in today''s session. ''These idiots haven''t thought of another n yet, haha. That''s good.'' Erix quickly left the pce and joined Rin and others at one of the mountains for rxation. They''ve decided to eat at a famous restaurant today and enjoy some entertainment from professional singers and dancers. Meanwhile, one particr group didn''t sit well with Erix''s decision after they ryed it to their branch leader. "There''s going be an exclusive cosmic faction event after two months. Aside from the cosmic factions present in this abyss, ours is second fromst." The Gctic Knight cosmic faction branch leader''s voice rang through them card in a room as their four members sat around it. "They must not survive till then." The voice turned exceedingly cold. "Given their progression, especially after they passed that darn test, they will leave all of you in the dust." "Those two will be able to carry their faction''s name and rise in the leaderboard, and I don''t wantst ranked position." "I''ve already coborated with another faction to rise in the top five after two months, but if those two enter that event bearing Unbound Star''s name, they will mess up everything." "We will kill them, leader!" A slim man with short dark blue coldly uttered. "Leave them to us." "Addler, you are the group leader and rank 2nd in our faction. You are powerful, and I know you believe that." "But hammer this one thing in mind, you dunce." Everyone''s heart shook as their leader''s harsh and cold words echoed. "Those two will have no equal in this abyss once they extract benefit from the pond and enter Royal-order. I don''t know their potential nor their scale of progress after that, but.." As if taking a breath or collecting a thought, the voice paused for a second before proceeding with conviction, "But one thing I am sure of is that all of you will be nothing more than fodders to hunt for them once they enter the cosmic Faction Event after two months." Every single one''s face turned ashen. "Our faction is ranked secondst because all of you are weaker than others. Don''t be fucking arrogant and think hard. Work hard and focus." "You four can''t kill them." "Borrow and hire other powers. Do whatever you can, and make a thorough n. Start fucking working, and don''t sleep until you''ve arranged the darn n to kill them" *Beep!* The voice cut off after that, echoing a hollow yet impactful beep sound in the room. The dark blue-haired man''s face had the most particr expression. It was in white and utterly indifferent, while the others were ashen, some downright discouraged. However, bubbling with whirling rage within were his two indifferent eyes. Calm yet raging. "Get up," he said. "We have no time to rest." Chapter 277: Thank You for Courting Death, Patron Point "Haha, wonderful dance!" At one of the higher spots in the mountain, groups of people sat at different tables while enjoying the dance performed by six girls with white wings andbat dress. Their dance was powerful, and their music was epic with multiple instruments sounding from the back, disying a tale of their battles through their dance and invoking mes of battle and determination within the people watching. The previous dance and music was cheerful and jolly, but this one was entirely a new thing by a new group. Erix, Rin, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina sat at a table as well, eating top-quality food and drinking exotic wine. "Thedies there are beautiful, haha. How about show us a dance?" Erix and the group had worn a mask on their faces, and it was not umon as many people didn''t want their faces to be seen in public. Rin and Erix had their face spread a lot due to mirage crystals, so they didn''t want to be disturbed while enjoying their break. However, that voice calling them beautiful obviously couldn''t see their face. The eager tone with a hint of lust in that voice immediately made Erix and others frown. Shooting a nce in the voice''s direction, everyone saw a man looking in histe twenties with long light green hair sitting with a bunch of beastfolk girls while a woman and a man d in full-body armor stood behind him. "Come on, I''m sure you all know a move or two," the man said, unhinged. With augh, he raised his wine ss and said after licking his lips, "If not here, then you can dance privately for me." "Sir, please don''t create unneces-" The manager was a peak Royal-order and quickly arrived there. Seeing the aura of two Empyrean-order hunters standing behind him, the manager knew this was a young master-type asshole who hadn''t learned his lesson yet. Lilith raised her eyebrows, her voice spiritually entering the group''s head, ''New to Abyss or naturally born here in a big organization ormunity? Looks like a human with a mixed bloodline of some beastfolk since he has vertical pupil eyes.'' ''How do we fry him?'' Rin asked, straight to the point. ''Let me have a talk,'' Erix vanished from his spot, exchanging his ce with a beastfolk girl looking in herte teens. Erix appeared across the man who spoke while that beastfolk girl appeared in his seat. The two Empyrean-order guards only nced at Erix and kept their eyes on him. "I also want some entertainment, but before that, how about you apologize sincerely for your error?" Erix said, a grin spreading on his face while his eyes were covered due to the half-mask. "If you don''t want to fix your error, I''ll debug you myself." "Hahahaha, you want me to apologize? Stop dreaming.: "I am Leoron, and nobody knows me here since I, unfortunately, died in my world," the man said as he raised his ss while openly groping the beastfolk girl with goat ears and horns that was on hisp. Her expression was nk, and it was obvious that she was a ve due to the ve mark. "As you can see, my father told two subordinates to die to apany me in the Abyss," Leoron grinned. "I n to have full fun before returning once I reach Empyrean-order, and you want me to apogloize? Hahaha." "Oh wait, you are just a Noble-order ant, hahaha" Leoron tilted his head, showing his cheek towards Erix, "Come, attack me if you dare." "Pff¡­" Rin almost spat the wine she just sipped upon hearing that and burst outughing. Leoron frowned hearing herughter that clearly hinted great contempt at him. "You bi-" However, before he could finish speaking, a mysterious cut appeared on his throat, glinting with dark hazy purple and silver sparks. Immediately after that, his arms and legs detached as the space around their joints was devoured by Nihilir. The dark hazy purple me with silver sparks immediately and instantly incinerated his limbs, not even leaving any ash. "Stop at once!" The man shouted and pointed his sword at Lilith, "If not, we will kill this woman!" The dark pink-haired woman also pointed an arrow at Lilith. They knew they could only hurt Lilith, who was an Empyrean-order like them, so they only targeted her. Meanwhile, Leoron was suffering hell. His throat had a gnash maintained, preventing him from healing and uttering any sound while Erix sealed him in space, making an utterly pathetic sight of him as he stuck in the air with no limbs. Due to Erix''s Nihilir''s power, recovery was impossible, and he couldn''t drink a high-tier potion. One of his subordinates could help him, but seeing that he wouldn''t die, they didn''t bother giving him a potion and let him suffer pain. "That power¡­." The people at other tables felt familiar with the Nihilir since they had seen it in Mirage Crystals! "Deathly Fist!" "Fist of the Abyss." "So that group¡­" Lilith had conserved her aura, but she strangely smiled at the duo who pointed their legendary weapons at her and vanished from the spot along with them. A domain point appeared in her previous position. "Apologize," Erix said with a smile. "If you do that, I''ll give you a swift death." "And you all," Erix looked at trembling beastfolk girls and their ve marks before turning to Lily. "Leave it to me," Lily smiled and weaved her mist element to create small knives before destroying their ve cors. The one sitting at their table also gained her freedom. "You are free to leave and start your new life," Erix said to the girls before turning to Leoron. ''Let me go!'' Leoron''s anguished wail resounded as he spiritually shouted into Erix''s mind. "Apologize sincerely and beg me to spare you," Erix smiled. "Then I''ll spare you a quick death." ''You don''t know what you are doing!'' Leoron''s rageful red eyes red at Erix, but he only got more pain in return¡­ so much that his eyes started bleeding due to physical and magical exertions to move, but couldn''t move at all. Erix went all out to trap Leoron into a body space prison, gluing his body to the space and empowering it with his powerful spirit force, so no matter what Leoron tried, he couldn''t break free. Since Spirit stat had no limit, Rin and Erix both had surpassed 1k points in their Spirit stat, with Rin reaching 1147 and Erix reaching 1179. ''Why is he so powerful despite being Noble-order!'' Along with rage and pain, Leoron''s envy also increased. Leoron made that remark against thosedies because he was envious of the only man at the table of those beautiful women. He had ves, but the other guy had top-ss beauties, and they were all his willingly. However, there wasn''t a hint of regret in his eyes. ''Let me go, you trash!'' "You may be a very big shot in your world. Well, your father, not you," Erix chuckled. "Unfortunately, the trash here is you who don''t know how to live." "Since you don''t know how to live, there is only one thing waiting for you." However, Leoron creepily grinned his response, ''My death will start the countdown of doom that will hunt you and everyone you care about.'' ''As I¡­Hahahahaha, I will live even if I die here! You don''t know my father and grandfa-'' However, Leoron suddenly saw a mystical third eye appearing on Erix''s forehead. Even Erix didn''t know it appeared, and only Leoron could see it. An archaic and ancient voice resounded in his mind at that moment, stunning his mind and strangely giving him despair. ''Corrupted and unworthy soul, you shall acquire demise of the absolute, path to¡­.'' "Is that so?" Erix raised his eyebrows, his eyes cold while a sharp smile spread on his face, "I love dooms. I hope the one that will hunt us after I kill you is somewhat challenging." *Thud¡­* "Not bad. We have a new weapon for Rin and some interesting items," Lilith appeared back on her seat while those two Empyrean-order fell with a thud beside Leoron. Completely drenched into dark red blood, yet their bodies were husks--Deader than death. "It seems that they are fairly big in the world they came from," Lilith chuckled. "At least they have powerful figures out of Mystic Root''s influence, and we got some good resources from those two." Erixughed and snapped his finger, causing two Nihilir Wisps to form. "Thank you for courting death," Erix said before sending those Nihilir Wisps into Leoron''s eyes. His spiritual screams tried to enter Erix''s mind, but he blocked the receiving from Leoron as he wasn''t interested. Leoron''s face burned and his entire body burned brightly with Nihilir before it all vanished, including everything he wore¡­except for the hunter card that Erix specifically saved. "I guess this one should also have some good items then." Meanhile, Leoron''s soul left Abyss, and his death immediately notified his powerful fathe due to the Bloodline connection and soulmp indication. Myrokam, the ruler''s castle. It was a two-thousand-kilometer giant castle, and the was also highly advanced in technology driven by both magic and science. The moment Leoron died, a roar echoed in the castle while several flyings ships entering outer space from the castle shook due to the shockwaves that spread high up. "Father, your grandson died! My son! Grab his soul wisp before it goes into the Cycle!" A giant pair of eyes manifested above the castle before it peered into the path to Grand Primal Cosmos''s Cycle and found Leoron''s soul. An ethereal and mystical hand stretched forward, intending to grab the soul. However, the hand suddenly stopped a meter away from the soul, preventing it from proceeding further. ''Who?!'' Instantly after asking that, the mystical pair of eyes heard a voice forcefully prating into his consciousness. But that voice infused primal fear in him, his eyes showing terror. ''Corrupted and unworthy soul, you shall acquire demise of absolute, path to eternal darkness, and contribute to the worthy.'' ''This is myw. This is my absolute. My will is everything to my fair judgment. No one shall bend it. No one can break it.'' The monotone and archaic voice finished before Leoron''s soul wisp turned ck and vanished. ¡­ [You have gained 1 Patron point.] Erix suddenly heard a notification as he sat back at his table. "Eh?" Seeing Erix''s surprised face and voice, Rin asked, "What happened?" "I got something like 1 Patron point," Erix confusedly said, "Is it rted to that statue?" Suddenly, he saw a panel popping up in his mind. [Patron Realm] _Leaderboard Rank: Unranked. --> Yet to enter any challenge. _Patron point: 1 _Patron shop. ¡ª> [ Open - Close ] "What the hell is this?" Erix was dumbfounded. Erix shared the panel details, but even Lilith didn''t know anything about that. "It seems that we''ll have to ask Granny May about this," Lilith rubbed his chin. "We''ll visit her after we leave this kingdom." Chapter 278: Loot, Breakthrough! The group returned to the pond cavern once their six hours of break finished. "Let''s check the loot first," Erix took out Leoron''s hunter card and took out everything on the table beside the pond. "Roughly five hundred high-grade Prana stones. Nice." "Are those skill scrolls?" Rin looked at the scrolls and inspected them. "Some are Tier-4, and some are Tier-5. Not bad, we can learn their formations to improve and create new skills." "You two will break through into Royal-order during this session, so you can finally upgrade your skills'' power and fundamentals to a whole new level," Lilith said and waved her hand. She also took out all contents from the hunter cards of those two Empyrean-order powerhouses. "We have an insight scroll here. They probably bought it or got it. It''s rare, but they are sold at sky-high prices if someone doesn''t want to use them after acquiring them as rewards." "There are pill bottles of healing and Prana recovery pills, tons of resources, and items." "These one-time use items will be useful in some emergency when we go to Pale Hunger Swamp to acquire Death Roots." Lilith informed them about the resources, but one particr thing stood out, and she got onto it atst. "Thisst one," Lilith picked up the palm-sized stone tablet. "It''s a nk gate." "They must have bought it as well, but generally, you can use this nk gate to enter the coordinates of any location in Grand Primal Cosmos and open a gate leading to that location." Erix rubbed his chin and said, "But you can''t use it in the Abyss, right? To leave the Abyss, one must reach the personal requirement of power or breakthrough past Empyrean-order." "Yep, but there''s a catch," Lilith wryly smiled. "You can use this gate after going into any one of the dimensions attached to this Abyss and leave sessfully." "There''s another catch in this is that you must be like me, break out of the influence of Mystic Root," Lilith continued, "Those two broke past it, but that idiot didn''t show potential for that yet, so they couldn''t use it to leave." "Too bad he had to provoke us," Lily snorted. "He courted his own death when he could just leave sooner orter." "Haha, let''s forget about that trash. Anyway, take these resources, Lilith. Rin and I will break through to Royal-order, and then we''ll select new items and new passive skills," Erix grinned. They could finally get Tier-4 and Tier-5 passive skills after entering the Royal-order lifeform rank. "Yeah, I can''t wait to enter the new lifeform rank," Rin chuckled and got up. The duo dived into the pond and immediately floated in meditation in their swimsuits and entered deep focus. While Lily also entered the pond to resume her training, Lilith put some things into her hunter card, but she gave resources and other things around the table and on the table to Maleina. "Maleina, sell these things at stores and get either medium or high-grade Prana stones in exchange." "Alright," Maleina nodded and put everything into her hunter card before leaving. Lilith also went into the pond to resume her training. Meanwhile, Amu was still tending to Aria to reforge and evolve her bloodline. It would still take over a day to finish the process. ¡­ "Get information about every member of that group whose faces we have. There should be a weak link or their enemies somewhere. This will need extensive research and search." "Spend money, put others to work, or do anything, but find more details about them," Addler said to ten members Gctic Knight cosmic faction standing before him. "What about you, Addy?" a girl with long silver hair asked. "I am going to meet them again," Addler said with narrowed eyes. "But not to recruit them." "What''s your n, leader?" "I am going to take on that pond''s challenge," Addler''s expression was stoic and indifferent, but his eyes had resolved. "You can''t be serious!" "Wh-what the hell, leader. That¡­" Everyone was dumbfounded. The six new members who arrived to aid them in killing Rin and Erix weren''t expecting Addler to go to such lengths. Did the branch leader chew them out that hard with his words? "I''ve decided it, so save your breath and my time," Addler indifferently said. "I''m going to the pce tomorrow while I''ll go to Life Thunder Peak today to refine my physique. You all focus on your tasks." "..." "Don''t die, leader." Addler didn''t respond and flew out of the hotel room. ¡­ Roughly ten hourster, Rin and Erix opened their eyes, fluxing with them were strands of power, of Prana. Their aura became slightly chaotic and stronger as a mysterious force infused into their bodies out of nowhere, entering their origin region. Their Arcane Spirit Ponds were sessfully formed in their respective origin regions. Immediately following that, this mysterious force entered into their Arcane Spirit Ponds as all of its patterns lit up. Prana started feeling the pond while a notification rang in their heads. [Congrattions. You have sessfully ascended to Royal-order rank.] [The reward will be based on yourtent potential.] [Measuring, counting¡­] [Congrattions, you have reached the highest grade of reward due to having S-ranktent potential.] [Your Magic Affinity has reached S-rank] Both of them got simr notifications and thest one finally rang, which also fluxed them with magic power. [S-ranktent potential reward is +500 Magic, + 5000 Prana Capacity.] Their Arcane Spirit Pond immediately expanded and the mysterious patterns on its surface became more prominent. Rin and Erix looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear upon seeing each other''s status. ''Erix, our magic affinity also reached S-rank! I can already feel the ease at which the Prana is dancing at my will,'' Rin''s eyes were bursting forth with excitement. ''Yeah, we can finally go deep into creating our skills, some truly shy and powerful ones,'' Erix grinned, feeling the same thrill as Rin. But then came another notification that surprised them. [You must leave Abyss within the next three months or you will be directly kicked out.] ''We''ll leave before that, haha. Anyway, Rin,'' Erix grabbed her hand and said, ''Let''s finish our today''s Limitless ne session. We still have seven hours to practice before leaving for another break.'' ''We''ll be able to perfectly execute the 2nd release of Four Release of Destruction in this session.'' ''Yep, let''s do it! We''ll also incorporate its power and style into our 2nd series of Skillcrafts, haha. It''s gonna be fun.'' The duo''s consciousness soon arrived in the Limitless ne as they activated the Spiritual Art. Naturally, another surprise and a visitor awaited them there. Chapter 279: Tenebrias Visit, 2nd Release of Destruction "Congrattions." Tenebria''s hazy and faint avatar appeared with her unclear face showing a smile after Rin and Erix arrived in the Limitless ne. "You can visit the Unbound Star cosmic faction anytime now. I''ll be waiting there," Tenebria said before a hexagonal medallion appeared before Rin and Erix. "What''s this?" Erix raised his eyebrows as he sensed a particr power within it. "Strange. I can''t inspect it," Rin was surprised. "It''s a special ticket back to your world," Tenebria chuckled. "Just save it for now and use it in the future by infusing Prana in it if yound in some crazy dimension or anywhere else to open a portal to your world." "It sounds expensive that way," Erix grabbed it and saw an entric brown and dark silver pattern on the hexagonal medallion. "It is, but it''s not for me. Anyway, the reason I visited is not just for this." Tenebria''s expression turned somber. "There will be apetition among members of cosmic factions after four months." "What?" Rin smacked her lips. "We don''t want to stay here for four months more." "Yeah," Erix nodded, his brows furrowed. "Worry not," Tenebria smiled. "You don''t need to stay in the Abyss to participate. You can return to your world when you are done with your business here." "Initially, this was not how it was supposed to happen, and thepetition was going to start in two months, but due to something happening in the background by a big power, the form of thispetition will change massively." "The branch leaders of cosmic factions here don''t know that yet, but they''ll know soon. Anyway, make sure to visit the Unbound Star cosmic faction and get yourself registered so you can get the next levels of Way of Unfettered spiritual art." "I''ll not waste more of your time here," Tenebria smiled. "All the best." Tenebria''s avatar vanished. Rin and Erix put those things at the back of their mind and started practicing the 2nd release of destruction. 2nd release of destruction: Harrowing Spirit Crush. "Let''s do this. The formationyers to execute Hollow Crush felt crazy, but now..." Rin grinned. "Erix, we might be able topletely master Hollow Crush in this session." Erix dazedly nodded as insights and understanding of Hollow Crush were constantly increasing as he observed it. His hands twitched, and he couldn''t help but try an execution. "I''m going to try it," Erix stretched both of his arms forward, his palms open. Only using Prana to execute, this more potent and purer form of energy coursed through his body and danced on his thoughts with ease, thanks to his S-rank magic affinity. His arms showed entric patterns all over, but more prominent on his palms. Rin observed, her eyes shining. A secondter, Erix pped his palms together. His thumb raised and fingers mped as he pped. The formations executed, energy transformed through them and released outward from the tiny space between his thumb and index finger, straight from the center of the palm. *Roar!* Harrowing Spirit Crush. This 2nd release was different for both Rin and Erix because it would take form ording to their consciousness. The roar that echoed belonged to a ferocious animal with ruthless eyes and sharp fangs. A tiger, but only its head manifested. That head manifested from the energy released through the gap after Erix pped, bearing inside it a potent crushing power as its mouth wide opened and released a beam at the ind below ording to his control. *BOOM!* "Close¡­" Erix muttered as he saw the small ind''s part where the beam hit getting crushed to its atoms. "That was still iplete, but best so far," Rin grinned. "Let''s perfect it." The most challenging part was learning and arranging theplete formation, but since their Magic affinity reached S-rank, and they got an overall boost and new horizon of power unlocking after reaching Royal-order lifeform rank, the duo started making rapid progress in terms of learning the move. After half an hour, Rin executed her Harrowing Spirit Crush, unleashing a wingless dragon as it roared and released a beam, causing massive crushing damage of pure destruction while the dragon shrank and vanished. Erix also seeded, manifesting a giant white tiger as it roared and caused pure crushing destruction before the tiger avatar vanished after doing its job. Essentially, this Harrowing Spirit Crush required one to arrange formations such that upon execution, its energy would bepacted in a form to release destruction. Rin''s Harrowing Spirit form was a dragon, while Erix''s Harrowing Spirit form was a tiger. "If these four Release of Destruction are supposed to execute together for an ultimate attack, how will¡­" Rin was excited. "I want to learn the next two Releases as soon as possible." Erixughed and nodded, "Me too. Let''s do it. We should be able to learn the next two as well." "Yeah, we''ll use thest twenty minutes for progressing in my Time and your Space affinities," Rin nodded with a grin. "Until then, let''s tackle the Four Release of Destruction." ¡­ Inside the guest hall of the Pce¡­ "How long will I need to wait?" Addler asked, his brows creased. The maid shook her head, "That is not up to us. The ancient pond has the will and it rejects people from entering ording to that group''s wish." "Even the Elf Queen and King can''t force themselves inside unless they get permission." "But," the maid paused for a second before continuing, "that group leaves for several hours daily. When they leave, you can try to go there and ask for permission to go inside." "For now, you can''t because you won''t get the permission." "Can you tell me how long until they leave? Just a rough estimate is fine." "Umm, I am not sure," the maid shook her head. "If you want to go out for some work, just give me yourm card information. I''ll inform you once they leave." "Alright." ¡­ Erix and Rin left Limitless ne after they spent 1 hour and 30 minutes inside. They managed to master the 2nd release and almost perfected the 3rd release''s execution. The progress regarding Rin''s Time and Erix''s Space was slow, but it was expected. How could it be easy toprehend and progress in elements that fast? Especially the principle elements like Time and Space. After exiting Limitless ne, Rin and Erix continued absorbing the pond''s benefits as their Spirit stat gradually increased and dived back into the deep focus meditation toprehend their elements. Chapter 280: Scary Belrugian Vitalis, Witch "It''s break time!" Amu popped up and announced as everyone except for Lily opened their eyes. "Amu, Lily will take a few days since she used Insight Scroll," Lilith said with a smile. "If you can, help her absorb the pond''s benefits while she is in this enlightenment state." "Alright," Amu nodded. "How''s the progress going with Aria?" Erix asked. "She will finish after twenty hours, and I''ll have you take the break a bit earlier when she wakes up, okay?" The slime''s golden eyes showed a sharp, cold, and ruthless sheen. "We have to n some things in the next break." "Alright." As the group left the pond cavern, Erix said, "Those two bitches will have nned something. If not, then I''ll have to lead them." Rin raised an eyebrow. "You mean, give them an idea and lure them to make a move on us?" "That can work," Lilith grinned. "But you have to passively give them the hint at the opportunity when they ask something about our schedule or something like that." Erix shrugged. "Well then, I hope they have a n ready. I''ll go and check it out. What''s our today''s n during the break?" "We''re going to buy passive skills and armor-sets. Since you two reached Royal-order, it''s time to revamp and empower yourselves." "How long will it take you today?" Rin asked. "I''ll be going as fast as I can," Erix grinned. "Two hours max, but I''ll try to finish sucking them dry before that." ¡­ Almost two hours passed by before Erix left the room after draining the mother-daughter duo. Immediately after leaving, he contacted Rin. [Erix: Did you sense someone tailing you or anything like that?] [Rin: Yes. They acted fast, but Lilith was faster. What did you find?] [Erix: Just like how a kid throws a tantrum, Runia is simr. She wants to kill you all as fast as possible. They will make a move on you tomorrow. in and simple attempt of assassinations.] [Rin: Hahaha. And you are making them more thirsty by screwing them crazily. Anyway, how''s your progress?] [Erix: 81.6%. Sigh, close yet far.] Lilith joined in the call. [Lilith: For now,e behind the mountains, ny kilometers straight ahead at another chain of mountains past the forest. There''s an interesting thing I found that can help you progress in bncing.] ¡­ Erix soon met up with Rin and Lilith on one of the mountains in the mountain range. They entered a cave entrance leading into the mountain and saw a magical nt oozing out powerful life-power. However, Erix was surprised to find a bunch of corpses around it, approximately fifty. Not a single shriveled corpse even had bones in their rotten skin husks. "Don''t tell me that nt with green palm-like petals and that flower is responsible for this?" Erix questioned while using his Spiritual Mystic Eye to scan everything. "Yep, that nt with a strange flower and petals is responsible for these deaths, " Rin nodded. "This cave is under its control," Lilith said with a smile. "Its entrance wasn''t even open or rather, existed. But, it opened when we arrived here after dangling a carrot for me to sense." Erix''s eyes flickered, "So it lures people inside and ''absorbs'' thempletely?" Rin turned to look at the entrance they emerged from and chuckled, "Well, the exit is gone." "I found it and knew something was wrong, so we didn''t enter right away," Lilith smiled. "That nt is special, and its potency depends on its environment and targets it absorbs." "Belrugian Vitalis is its name." *Shrrr¡­..* The nt with hand-like leaves and a strange dark green lotus-like flower with light green patterns faintly shook and produced an eerie sound. Lilith''s eyes glowed before she created a barrier around them. "It can affect us now with its power, but we are safe in this barrier." "Howe something like this grew here?" Erix curiously asked. "It doesn''t seem like a coincidence," Lilith shook her head. "The condition to grow this is quite harsh and hard. I think someone put its source and seed here, using the mountain''s core as its base and sacrifices to initiate its growth." "And we are going to steal it," Rin grinned. "It''s not fully matured yet, but it doesn''t matter to us," Lilith chuckled. "It targeted us, so we''ll target it." "Alright, so how do we deal with it?" Erix rubbed his palms, eager. This nt was not a monster, so they couldn''t just shoot a skill and kill it. It would defeat the purpose of acquiring it. "Here''s how we''ll do it," Lilith''s hands blurred as she made rapid movements and created three blobs of white orbs, wobbly and sparkling. "Belrugian Vitalis is a special demonic nt. It has a unique soul gained through sacrifices by whoever nted it, and its attacks target our physical body and soul. Its singr purpose is to lure targets, absorb them, and grow as per its instinctive and natural evolution process." "Since you two don''t have awakened souls, its power will suppress you, essentially locking away 50% of your stats," Lilith''s eyes narrowed, "This also includes Spirit stat. It means that you will be helpless against its attacks, and it will suck away your vitality quickly. Royal-order hunters are its main snacks." Rin and Erix felt a chill upon hearing the demonic nt''s working. What kind of terror was this? "Damn," Erix smacked his lips before he dryly smiled, "So ignorant hunters will bepletely be helpless against it and turn into its prey." "Vicious," Rin nodded with a chuckle, "Well, Erix can teleport, so we''d be fine anyway." "If one immediately runs away, then yes, "Lilith said as she prepared the white blobs, refining them. "But it would be toote for those without awakened souls and knowledge as their souls would get suppressed, and they would fail to break out of the strengthened mountain''s wall with their suppressed power." "Not even Royal-order hunters would break out with suppressed stats and strengthened wall, not to mention that its main forte is absorbing the target''s vitality through any means." Lilith sent two of three white blobs floating toward Rin and Erix, covering them in a faint white coating. "But with this coating, it won''t be able to suppress your power source via your soul." "The rest is easy," Lilith ferociously smiled. "We will destroy its roots by attacking into the ground while defending against its attack, but...do not hit the nt''s flower even by mistake." Lilith emphasized, "If you do, it will release all of its power, making the nt useless for Erix to absorb even if we acquire it." "On my signal, locate its roots with your Spiritual Mystic Eye and sendbat and small attacks to its roots. We have to cut off its connection to the mountain''s core first to reduce its attack power." Lilith counted to three before Rin and Erix released makeshift attacks as Lilith removed her barrier. Rin released a sharp, small, and quick de sh while Erix released a punch projectile. Both entered a wormhole that Erix created, which connected directly to its roots. Lilith''s eyes glinted as a barrier of dark red threads surrounded the nt above the ground, sealing it. ''Tricky shit,'' Lilith clicked her tongue as she could feel the flower absorbing her vitality through her attack. But she couldn''t just destroy it even if she could do it. "Good job," Lilith smiled as she felt the nt''s connection severing from the mountain''s core with Rin''s and Erix''s attacks. Right after that, Lilith conjured a ck thread around the nt''s stem and swiftly cut it off. "Done." However, Rin and Erix were dumbfounded and quite shocked to see Lilith''s vitality getting drained by 7% in just that brief second. Erix''s eyes twitched. "What a little shit! It absorbs your vitality from any fucking connection?" "Seriously..." Rin clicked her tongue, speechless. "Well, the one who grew this is going to be furious since we''ve just reaped all the hard work," Lilith grinned. "Let''s go elsewhere first. Erix, this might really give you some significant progress and something more." The trio flew to somewhere discreet, in the middle of a jungle at a riverbank before stopping. "Erix, it''s best to absorb its power directly because it already refined its life power into very pure essence after absorbing others," Lilith said as the nt floated between her and Erix. "However, you''ll have to be careful while absorbing its power. Don''t hold back on consuming your spirit force alongside your Prana when you extract it. Rin, you will support Erix and give him more Spirit force during this." After saying that, Lilith removed the seal around the nt. "Let''s begin." ... Into the forbidden zone near the Pale Hunger Swamp, an olddy in a mysterious abode screamed, sharp and creepy. This happened right after Lilith uprooted and contained Belrugian Vitalis. "My...my son..." the olddy with a fat belly and long dark silver curly hair trembled after screaming. "You killed my son..." "Who killed my son?" "Die." "Curse, curse, curse." "Die." The old witch''s chaotic and obsessed eyes glowed before she left her abode and flew straight towards the Elven territory, Langriss Elf Kingdom. Chapter 281: Sudden Catastrophe (1/2) "Phew, done." Erix finally rxed after thirty minutes of constant focus on extracting the life essence of Belrugian Vitalis. Rin removed her hands from Erix''s back before locking her arms around his neck. "What''s the progress now?" she asked. Lilith sat across Erix, smiling, "I expect a good number because this one had quite a lot of pure life power." "Haha, it''s indeed a good number," Erixughed and widely grinned as he revealed, "I''ve reached 89%!" And right at that moment, a notification rang in their heads. Not just them, but every single person in Langriss Woond heard the voice. [Emergency event. Abyss rule 3rd enacted. Imminent catastrophe by a rule-breaker has been started.] [Langriss Woond has been locked down. No one can leave or enter until the catastrophe is prevented.] "What the...." Erix, Rin, and Lilith were dumbfounded. But two more notifications rang. The most important ones. [Side Task: Kill the Mad Witch.] ¡ª> Reward: Phillosopher''s stone. [Main Task: Destroy the Terror Nexus activated by Mad Witch.] ¡ª> Note: failure to destroy the Terror Nexus will result in the extermination of all living beings within Langriss Woond. ¡ª>Reward: Wishfill''s stone. Rin and Erix didn''t know what those rewards could do, but Lilith''s heart was shaking. "The rewards are crazy, but that also means that these two tasks are equally catastrophic," Lilith uttered with a somber expression. Suddenly, her expression changed, and she created a barrier around her. *nk¡­* A vial suddenly fell on Lilith''s barrier, exploded, and created a hole. "Curse, curse, curse." "Killed. Cursed. Killed." ''Rin, Erix. Quickly go and find the Terror Nexus! I can already feel the area changing. Monsters and ntlife are forcefully evolving into corruption, and everything will soon turn chaotic.'' Lilith''s countless threads appeared that turned into hundreds of spears glinting with her pure offense aspect of Meizen element, bearing its power Death, Blood, and Shadow in a unique andbined way. Those spears vanished from their spots and emerged from the tiny shadows around the Witch, piercing and exploding her into bits. ''Go. This witch will not die that easily!'' Indeed, the old witch with a long shaggy nose recovered entirely from a tiny ck shard with a green dot. "Curse. Curse. Die." Lilith felt the atmosphere around her turning rotten, and her eyes glowed in response, immediately using her Domain to trap the Witch inside to kill her with full power. Meanwhile, Rin and Erix were unharmed since they were lower-rank, and the Witch''s attacks couldn''t affect them. "Terror Nexus," Erix muttered as he looked around, his eyes shining with a silver sheen. *Roarr!!* *Screee!!* Rin saw that their surroundings were rapidly changing. Everything was turning darker, including mountains and nt life. Suddenly, a giant tree thirty meters away from Erix released several dark purple vines with yellow dots. *Crackle!* Rin moved swiftly, cutting off all vines and protecting Erix as he continued to observe using his Space Mapping to locate the Terror Nexus. *Roar!* A thirty-meter giant Empyrean-order frog jumped from a hugeke behind the mountain range. Rin turned around and looked up as the frog jumped higher than the mountain''s height. ''Empyrean-order? Phew.'' The frog was constantly changing as if some invisible power was affecting it. It opened its mouth and rolled out its five-meter-thick tongue towards Rin and Erix on a mountain peak. *BOOM!* The duo remained unharmed as the frog''s tongue and its powers passed through them. Erix released two wisps amidst the destruction of the mountain peak and vanished with Rin. Both of them appeared ten kilometers high above in the sky. "Did you find it?" Rin asked. "Not yet," Erix shook his head. "Let''s go. We''ll have to be quick." Both of them vanished again as Erix teleported to another spot and started Space Mapping. However, the trees, nts, and monsters in the area were evolving strangely and continued to target Erix and Rin, relentlessly attacking them. "You focus on finding it. I''ll protect us both." *Crackle!* Rin entered herbat form, but Erix frowned. "Rin, don''t waste spirit energy. I am out of it, and you only have half remaining." "We''ll need half an hour to recover, so save yours in case of emergency." "Yep. I''ll only use Prana and my de Qi." Rin focused and nullified the iing energy attacks from monsters, flowing them within her Chronace Field and turning them chaotic before taking the chaotic energies under her control. She used it in her attacks to kill the monsters and corrupted nt life while Erix was soon done scanning the area and underground. "It''s not here. Let''s go." ¡­ Meanwhile, the Langriss Kingdom was in panic mode because all the monsters and nt life in the city were also corrupted and gained singr sentience to cause terror and destruction by Terror Nexus. One of the two giant mountains, the one with Spiritual Nature Pools shook powerfully. It cracked all over before strangely rising as tens of thousands of people on it panicked and quickly ran away while defending and killing the nt life that attacked them. *Hrrrrrrr* The mountain rose and turned into a giant as a pair of dark green eyes glowed on its peak that started resembling a head. Two arms also emerged from its mountainous structure before two legs sted out from the bottom. People scrambled and scattered as chaos ensued. Everyone used their powers to defend themselves from the mass destruction ensuing and fought against the corrupted monsters birthed from flora and fauna by the Terror Nexus. The most terrible thing was the mountain that turned into a monster. If it released even a single attack, half the entire city would be destroyed, resulting in many deaths. But a hero prevented that from happening. Amu materialized right before the giant mountain''s head and looked at its eyes. "Sit down!" A burst of mystical spiritual power released, entering the terror soul that manifested in the mountain. The mountain giant roared, its eyes dimmed while flickering before it started topact back into the mountain. ''This terror nexus¡­'' Amu frowned its slimy face, feeling the flow of this power that was affecting everything except for people. ''Someone nted this long ago, and now it''s activated¡­'' ''Where is it?!'' Amu started searching for Terror Nexus as well. The Pce, Elf Queen, King, and other powerhouses also emerged and started fighting against the Empynrea-order level threats that entered the city. Nothing was safe because even a pot of flowers could be turned into a terrifying monster. "What the hell is going on?!" "King, more Empyrean-order monsters areing here. Quickly lend us a hand." Elina turned to her daughter and said, "We''ll focus on defending here. Activate the pce formation and barrier." "What about that Terror Nexus?" Runia frowned. "Unless it''s destroyed, we are not safe." "Your father will take care of it. People with powerful ocr and detection powers have started searching for it." ¡­ But Erix was a step ahead. Since it was somewhere in the Langriss Woond and it was entirely locked by the Abyss to prevent Terror Nexus from affecting further areas, Erix soon found it using his Space Mapping. Teleporting 17 kilometers deep below the ground, Rin and Erix arrived in a huge empty underground cavern with a ckke. In the middle of theke was a dark violet crystal with yellow and dark green spots, looking exceedingly eerie as it constantly pulsed with glow. Chapter 282: Sudden Catastrophe (2/2), Reward Without hesitation, Erix and Rin released their attacks towards it. Sling Shot Punches and Frenzied de Storm. The punch projectiles and shes entered into a wormhole before directly striking the Terror Nexus, creating minor cracks. But those cracks recovered in a second. ''What the fuck?'' Erix and Rin frowned. Just then, humanoid monsters shot out from theke straight towards the duo. These monsters were insectoid-like heads and various limbs with some having blunt hammer-like arms, some having scythes, and such. All of them were at peak Royal-order in terms of stats and had a strange attribute to their power given by Terror Nexus. ''We''ll need one big attack to destroy it. It got cracks even from her normal skill attacks, so if I go all out, I can reduce its durability to 0 at once,'' Erix informed while killing the iing monsters with his punches. ''Leave these monsters to me! Destroy that nexus,'' Rin said, her eyes flickering with starlight motes as her Chronace Field expanded further. Slowing down iing attacks while speeding up her own attacks, Rin handled the iing group of monsters, ying them and defending Erix. ''Harrowing Spirit Crush...if I incorporate the specialty of this 2nd release in my attack, I should be able to 100% destroy this nexus,'' Erix thought while performing his move. His body glowed, transformed metallic. Strange patterns and nodes appeared all over his body as Erix intended to use his entire body as a medium to enact formations for a makeshift skill. A makeshift skillbined with Harrowing Spirit Crush and his other most powerful move, the Skillcraft: Resonant Chaotic Twin Fists. Erix didn''t intend to use a perfect new move as he had no time to create and perfect it. All he did was to enhance his already perfected Resonant Chaotic Twin Fists with the crushing power formation of Harrowing Spirit Crush. As if sensing Erix''s intention, the monsters didn''t care about Rin and focused on Erix. Rin''s eyes turned red as she was going all out already, her figure and arms blurring as she exerted her physical and magic capabilities to the maximum to protect Erix. ''Three seconds.'' Erix''s voice rang in her head, and Rin continued destroying the onught of monsters and their attacks around Erix. Suddenly, a particr monster emerged at the very back, its hands resembling a rifle, but with a barrel that was five meters long. It glowed darkly, with purple and yellow spots. Aimed at Erix. Within a second, it released the shot. Tearing through everything, even some monsters on the way, it immediately entered Rin''s Chronace Field while traveling towards Erix. Rin shook as she sensed it, exerted her force to slow it down while also appearing before it and spinning as she went all out to release shes to destroy it. Her shes could eventually destroy it due to her ''Severam'' power¡­s¡­ The strange bullet barely slowed down and ate some shes, which didn''t have much impact. It tore forward, piercing into Rin''s constant Chronace defense barrier, but proceeded ahead while getting its power consumed by her defense. On the other hand, Erix was also ready as he shot his fists forward, unleashing a tractor beam of sorts that carried dark hazy purple punch projectiles with space motes keeping them in the beam while infusing inside to make the attacks more vtile as they travelled. They traveled fast while the beam vanished from Erix''s hands, getting carried with the two punches as they crashed into the Terror Nexus. *Boom!* And then, he felt a weight falling on his back with a painful grunt ringing in his mind. All the monsters vanished, but Erix''s eyes widened in shock, fear filling his eyes. ''Rin.'' "Rin!" Erix swiftly turned around and held her, but his heart jumped at his throat upon seeing a hole in her chest. [You havepleted the main quest.] [Congrattions. You have gotten the Wishfill''s stone.] A magical white stone with beautiful golden and blue curvy patterns appeared before Erix. ''Wishfill¡­.'' Erix immediately inspected the stone before a burst of joy appeared in his eyes. He grabbed it and used it, crushing it into motes before Rin''s departing soul wisp returned while the huge hole in her chest to stomach recovered in a second. Rin''s eyes opened as she took a sudden breath. "What the hell¡­" Rin cursed dazedly before she saw Erix''s face above her. She immediately hugged him tightly. "Damn it. I almost thought I died!" Erix squeezed her hard in his hug and didn''t say anything at first. "You silly¡­" A hoarse voice finally left his mouth as the lump in his throat subsided. "You scared the shit out of me," Erix pushed her shoulder to look at her with a grin and kissed her. A secondter, both of them vanished as Erix teleported them above the surface. "Hey!" Amu saw the duo appearing after it arrived here to locate Terror Nexus. "You two destroyed it? Good, good." Rin''sm card rang before any one of them could respond as she got a signal from her hunter card and took it out. "It''s Lilith." [Lilith: Where are you?] ¡­ After the trio gathered together, they went back to the pce and entered the pond cavern with Amu. "I think it happened because of Belrugian Vitalis," Lilith wryly smiled as she rxed in the pond. There was an injury on her arm, and it was taking its sweet time to heal. "And also, this was like the event that gave fortune and cmity of this ce ording to Granny May''s route." "Things happened and turned crazy so fast," Erix dryly chuckled. "Rin died and revived with that Wishfill stone." "One single mistake and it could ruin us," Rin smacked her lips. "It is worth it because we survived and got the reward," Lilith smiled and took out the Philosopher''s stone. It was ck but had colorful glowing dots at its center. "This stone can turn into anything. Any material of our imagination, as long as we philosophically put it into words ording to what we want." Chapter 283: Daydreaming, Eyeballs Sinister Plot "We''ll save Philosopher''s Stone for now. We might have to use it to acquire something, but we have everything we need for now." "Yeah," Erix nodded. "Let''s dive back into the training then. We couldn''t buy skills, but that can wait after the city and people recover." ¡­ It only took one day for everything to return to normal. They rebuilt destroyed buildings, shops, houses, and everything quickly using various magic and manpower avable. After all, nobody was weak here. The greatest disaster was that mountain. It could cause major destruction, but Amu stopped it before anything happened. The next day, Erix went to suck dry Elina and Runia again while Rin, Lilith, Aria, and Maleina faced assassination as expected. But since they knew it, they had an escape n and sessfully got away while also killing a few of them. Aria was particrly powerful with her new Bloodline and newfound powers as Amupletely became her familiar--a contracted spirit of sorts--at the cost of losing a portion of its power in the process of cutting off the bindings that bound it to thisnd and pond that birthed it. After the assassination attempt, Erix also acted naturally and asked help from Elina and Runia about the attack on Rin and others. Those two foxies reassured him with smiles while cursing internally. After Erix left, Elina sat at the table with Runia and said, "Why was Aria with them?" "No idea, but it doesn''t matter," Runia snorted. "It''s fine if she dies with them." They had no idea about Aria''s newfound powers. Not yet. Taking a sip from a juice ss, Runia said in a foul mood, "The important thing is to make our next move." "They will stay here for a few days at most. Damn it! I want him! Mother, we have to kill those bitches!" Elina nodded, her expression thoughtful. "We can only try assassination as they go out tomorrow again." "That Lily is not leaving the pond, but we can kill herter." ¡­ Dream. Elina and Runia were daydreaming daily. They would dream in pleasure when Erix roughs them up and then dream about killing Rin and others. Their next assassination attempt also failed. On the other hand, Erix finally broke through to 3rd realm of Space affinity, giving him a major boost in power. The 3rd realm of Space, the Delta realm, was known as Space Weaver. This level of mastery allowed him to condense and shape space matter and weave it in a moreplicated manner. In simple terms with an example, Erix couldn''t create a ''physical'' space de or object before and couldn''t severe space, but upon reaching the 3rd realm in Space element mastery, he could achieve that. Naturally, he could do much more when incorporating new applications of Space in his skills, which increased his lethality, defense, and utility in an all-around way. The next target was making the Nihilir element reach the 2nd realm. He had long met the requirement to proceed in it but wanted to get his Space affinity to the 3rd realm for the big boost. ''Once we are done with our stay here, Rin and I can use the skill creation attempts of our sses and create more powerful skills,'' Erix thought as he recalled the powerful andplex formations of Tier-4 and Tier-5 skills. One needed Prana for Tier-4 and higher-ranked skills because Prana had advanced applications of magic that Mana didn''t have. After all, Prana was not just energy, but something that was truly magical because, in basic, it was a fundamentalbination of Mana and Spirit, giving it a wider range of utilities. Thus, moreplex and unconfined formations birth more powerful and exotic skills. Erix wanted to dive into creating skills, but it was better to focus onprehending powers with Pond giving increased speed ofprehension and increasing their Spirit power. ''Nihilir element''s 2nd realm¡­What will I get and create once I understand and reach its 2nd realm?'' Erix''s excitement shifted to this. He cleared his mind and focused on Nihilir. The requirement of breaking through the following realms in Exotic and Super Exotic Elements was rather unique. For Erix, he had to reach the 2nd realm in Death, me, and Space elements before he could attempt to reach the 2nd realm of Nihilir. He met that goal many days ago, but he put Space as his priority because it was simply too useful and all-rounder supportive. At the moment, the progress of his elements was as disyed below. -> Fire element¡ª2nd realm¡ªSigma¡ªzing Composer. -> Metal element¡ª4th realm¡ªZeno¡ªMetal Lord. -> Death element¡ª2nd realm¡ªSigma¡ªDeath Wraith. -> Space element¡ª3rd realm¡ªDelta¡ªSpace Weaver. Breaking through to the 3rd realm of Space also increased his Spirit stat by 50. While Erix resumed his training, Lily was still in her enlightenment state from using Insight Scroll. Rin was in deep meditation with tiny motes around her that looked like clocks, drowned in understanding the essence of the Time element. There was an object around her neck¡ªA ne of some rusty-looking dark silver metal with a tiny pocket watch attached. Amu gave her this item from its stash as it contained the essence of Time and had abilities of Time-attribute. On the other hand, Lilith, Aria, and Amu were in a discussion at a table a few meters away from the pond. "This eyeball¡­" Amu''s eyes glinted. Lilith and Aria sat across each other at the table while Amu faced the wooden case with the strange eyeball sealed inside, inspecting it deeply. "It belongs to a Reverend-order powerhouse, but since it''s weakened and broken, the Abyss didn''t expel it when it arrived here," Amu frowned. "A part of his soul is in this eyeball with some strange knowledge." "I think it was trying to revive," Amu looked at Lilith, expression somber. "It can affect Erix and others subtly, Lilith. We should destroy it." "Be my guest," Lilith weakly smiled. "I couldn''t do anything except for sealing it with my current level soul and spirit." "I will help," Aria said, her eyes showing a faint golden-white six-pointed starry pattern. "Your progress in Spirit and Soul is shocking," Lilith chuckled. "Aria, teach us about the next level of Spiritter. We''ll need it." "Hehe, okay," Aria cheerfully smiled. "She can teach you all, but don''t hope to achieve all six transformations like her," Amu proudly said, "She has it because of me and her affinity, but what you all awaken depends on you." "I know, I know," Lilith yfully rolled her eyes. "Back to the main topic, how do we handle this eyeball?" "Mhm," Amu nodded and opened its mouth before spitting a spiritual energy blob on the wooden case. "Let''s extract its power and refine it." "But I also need a hand." Amu produced a pair of tiny hands that wrapped around the wooden case while the energy blob seeped inside and covered the eyeball. "Support me with your Soul energy." Aria and Lilith nodded as they started channeling their soul energy into Amu. In contrast, Amu started working to extract soul power from the Eyeball and refine it into a pure soul essence that could empower one''s soul. But after a minute, Amu''s expression suddenly changed and stopped the process. ''This is terrible¡­'' "Did something happen?" Aria curiously asked. "What a sneaky asshole¡­" Amu muttered and turned around to look at Erix, Rin, and Lily who were deeply focused on the pond. "Did Erix and otherse into this Eyeball''s contact?" Amu asked Lilith. Lilith frowned as she got an ominous feeling, "They did¡­ Why?" "This thing has nted something into Rin, Erix, and Lily¡­into their unawakened, budding soul wisps," Amu''s expression was severe. "This Eyeball is waiting to get killed." "The moment it dies, whatever conditional power trigged by its death will activate, and it will possess one of their souls, most likely Erix''s soul since it will be more suitable." Lilith''s expression paled while her eyes raged with anger. She was angry with herself. "Don''t fault yourself. Your soul and spirit senses are not powerful enough to sense this eyeball''s trickery." Lilith bit her lips as she looked at Rin, Lily, and Erix. "Erix is in more danger, right?" "Sigh, I don''t like this," Lilith looked at the wooden case, feeling frustrated and angry. "What to do now?" Aria asked, her eyes showing intense worry and panic, "Amu, you have to help." Chapter 284: Maleinas Decision, Progress "Until Lily, Erix, and Rin awaken their souls, we can''t kill this Eyeball. Let''s continue the extraction and weaken it to a minimum," Amu resumed its work. "I won''t kill it, but I can render itpletely sealed and unable to recover further." Inside the wooden case, the eyeball knew its chances were going away. The sentience residing inside struggled, but Amu didn''t let anything happen. ''No other choice. I have to bet on the slightly nurtured seed. Erix, was it? Awaken your soul fast, kiddo. I don''t want to wait any longer.'' ¡­ After an hour, Amu was finished while Lilith and Aria were exhausted. "This will increase Soul stat by roughly three thousand points," Amu crackled while grinning as a palm-sized pristine white-gold crystal floated above. "That much is going to bring adverse effects," Lilith said, but her eyes showed a clear desire for it. "Umu," Amu nodded. "Absorbing this much pure Soul essence will mess you up. I''ll divide it into six smaller soul essence crystals." Maleina heard that and paused her potion brewing, slightly stunned. "Six?" ''Rin, Erix, Lilith, Lily, Aria¡­and me too?'' "Well, since you are in the group now, we can''t have you remain weak," Amu snorted. "If only you took my test, your soul would have awakened by now." "Anyway, Lilith," Amu turned to Lilith. "You will get the highest portion since your awakened soul can absorb more. Rin, Erix, and Lily won''t be able to absorb much in their newly awakened soul, so I''ll adjust the amount ording to that." "Aria can also absorb a simr amount as you, but her progress in soul will be naturally faster as her new life starts with untapped potential, so I''ll adjust her portion ording to that." In a few seconds, Amu created six different crystals of varying size from the big one. "Awesome," Lilith chuckled and patted Amu''s head. "You made our work easier." "Girl," Amu rolled its eyes but internally felt giddy. "Alright, I''ll store them for now," Amu said as those soul crystals vanished. "You two go back to training now." Lilith and Aria were also tired, so they went into the pool and started meditation. Maleina looked at the pond and bit her lips as her eyes showed multiple emotions. ''Should I¡­'' "Go in." Amu suddenly popped before Maleina''s face. Maleina looked at Amu from the pond, hesitant evident in her eyes, "Really?" "Believe in yourself and the vision you want for your future," Amu grinned. "Go." ''I am not treated like shit, but like a servant. I was like that before under Dark Sterling Valen, but this party is better.'' ''Even as a maid, I can''t remain too behind,'' Maleina packed up the alchemy tools and stood up. Maleina''s eyes slowly turned determined, and she resolved with a nod. "Alright." After taking a deep breath, she floated towards the pond and slowly entered inside after changing her clothes into a two-piece ck bikini, showing a deep cleavage of her F-cup bust. Soon, her consciousness drifted into Amu''s test. Lilith opened an eye and smiled. ''Be sure to pass, big maid.'' Maleina had the qualities of a maid, and her presence was useful in the group, so Lilith felt it would be a shame if she failed the test and died. ''Amu, don''t go too hard on her if you can.'' ''Of course. She is a good maid for our group, hehe. It''s up to me who I pass and fail in the end,'' Amu yfully snickered. ''I won''t kill her.'' ''Instead, I''ll try to increase her potential during the test. If she can encounter some drastic things in the test and improve in her specialties and even awaken her soul, it will be the best.'' ''But she shecked resolve, her potential would lower instead.'' ''Mhmm, it''s up to her,'' Lilith nodded. ''Also, I am close to losing the benefits of the pond. I won''t have much benefits after several hours.'' ''That''s expected since you''re already powerful. Aria is also the same as she had long lost benefits from the pond,'' Amu said. ''How long until Erix, Rin, and Lily lose the benefits?'' ''Forty-eight to sixty hours, including a three-hour break for the next two days.'' ''After that, you all must fulfill the promise, okay?'' Lilith chuckled. ''Of course. We will destroy the pce and do some more damage before leaving.'' Amu had already made a n yesterday and told them about it. ¡­ After fourteen hours, Rin''s aura suddenly changed, and a strange power appeared on her, seemingly coating her. Her figure started to mysteriously change age-wise, from fundamentals and her origin. She turned into a young thirteen-year-old teen for a second and then turned into a mature beauty looking in her forties before returning to normal. Rin had reached the 2nd realm in Time¡ªTemporal Scribe¡ªbefore the group entered the Elf kingdom. After that, she was having a hard time progressing. It was slow. Meanwhile, Erix was progressing steadily in the Space element. Erix had a fundamental catalyst that Tenebria gave him¡ªthe Babin Maw Hook, which put him on the path to Space since Tenebria sensed Space affinity from Erix. However, Rin didn''t awaken the initial essence of Time to put her on the path of understanding the Time element. But she had an affinity or rather potential for it too, as proven by the Insight Scroll and her progress. Still, the wall she hit was hard until she also got a catalyst¡ªthe pocket watch that Amu gave her. It served as a sort of guidance that sped up her progress and finally allowed her to trailze it, reaching the 3rd realm in Time. At the moment, she was experiencing a phenomenon birthed from reaching Delta-realm in the Time element¡ªTemporal Storm. ''I can influence many more things, and in unique ways¡­'' Rin was shocked and pleasantly surprised as she discovered and applied the newfound applications of the Time element. ''These possibilities¡­'' Rin''s eyes shone as a grin spread across her face. ''Good. I should now focus on getting my Chronace element to 2nd realm.'' However, Amu''s voice rang in her head before she could enter meditation again. ''It''s break time!'' Lily remained in her state while the rest opened their eyes. "Eh? Maleina passed the test?" Erix was surprised upon seeing her. Malelina also remained closed-eyed as Amu didn''t bother her like Lily. "Yes. She needed a push, and I gave it," Amu nodded. "Anyway, she doesn''t need to take a break because I''m helping her absorb the benefits faster like Lily since I am bored. I''ll make sure she finishes along with you three, so we can enact the n and depart together." "That works," Rin chuckled and turned to Erix, "Alright, you go fast and suck them dry. We''ll be waiting at some rxing and fun spot somewhere." "Yess," Aria giggled and said, "Don''t worry about those assassination attempts. I''ve learned my newfound powers, and Rin also taught me about many things andbat tricks, so we''ll be safe." "I''ll beat all of them!" Amu was d that Aria was more confident and happy with newpanions. Seeing her improving each day was a joy. "Yeah, Aria is monstrously strong now," Rin wryly smiled. Aria proudly smiled, showing a cute victory gesture at Erix. "Haha, that''s for sure. But we''ll catch up to you, cutie pie," Erix grinned and winked at Aria before flying up. "Alright, I''m going now. See you all soon." Chapter 285: Shopping, Coincidence "Stop holding back." *Pat¡­.* "Mhfff¡­Haaah¡­" Erix pushed aside Elina who was above him, and got up. After cleaning himself, he left the room and met up with Rin, Lilith, and Aria one hundred kilometers away at a deep gorge with a raging river below. There were other people there, but not alive. "They sent eleven people this time?" Erix was startled upon seeing the number of dead bodies. "One Empyrean-order for me," Lilith rolled her eyes. "As if that could be enough, especially after I just got a direct boost in my soul." "Haha, I doubt they will send more hunters anymore," Rin chuckled. "It''s not like they got a factory that can produce Empyrean-order hunters." "But they didn''t hold back on Royal-order hunters," Aria pursed her lips, softly sighing. "They so badly want to kill us." "And too bad they can''t," Lilith smiled. "Alright, let''s go. Our break time is small, so let''s finish the shopping. I also got a message from that staffdy. It seems that the guy who brought those pearls is going to sell them back." "So the only thing left is to leave and get a Death Root?" Erix grinned. "Great." "Come, let''s directly teleport to the city, haha. I can easily do that now," Erix snapped his finger, marking Lilith, Rin, and Aria before they vanished and directly appeared at the city''s silver square za. "I can mark a location and directly teleport there. I don''t know the limit of the range, but as you can see, 100 kilometers is easy." "But it costs more Prana for longer distance as usual. This teleportation cost me 1000 Prana," Erix added. "If you can properly utilize this application of space and turn it into a bonafide skill, it would cost less Prana and have more effectiveness," Lilith smiled. "Yep. I''ll create er when we start focusing on creating skills." ¡­ First, everyone went to a prominent skill store and bought passive skills. Rin, Erix, and Aria bought five Tier-5 passive skills each, overhauling their previous set. Although they still bought the passive skills that granted them raw stats as they wanted, the Tier-4 and Tier-5 passive skills were also inherently different. Each of the Tier-5 passive skills that gave raw stats also gave a passive effect rted to ''stats'' due to Prana and advanced magic. One of them was Strength Mass. This passive skill increased Erix''s Strength stat by 300, along with the effect of giving more condensed mass to his muscles. Having more condensed mass meant he could consume more stamina and exert higher power from his Strength stat. The increase in physical power was rted to his exertion and extra stamina consumption. All Tier-5 passive skills giving raw stats had those types of passive effects ording to each Stat. After buying the skills, Lilith decided something new with Erix''s Metal Nexus. Having reached the 4th realm due to that sudden epiphany and enlightenment state, Erix had a good amount of stock of exotic Metals. So, instead of buying armor sets directly, Lilith decided to custom-make armor sets using Erix''s unique Metals as one of the main materials. They went to buy materials and then to a famous Magsmith association to put their custom armor set orders. Erix had exotic materials of most types of attributes, so the core material would give specialized effects suitable to them. For Rin, it would be Lightning and Wind. Aria was getting more proficient in Wood, Water, and Earth, so Erix gave Aebark Lum Metal, which had attributes of those three elements. Lilith didn''t need armor but a new umbre of her choice, so after putting in their custom armor-set orders, the group went to another craft association specialized in crafting weapons. There, Rin, Aria, and Erix also made a custom order for weapons. Erix even had a Metal with Death attribute due to his affinity, which he could use to affect his Metal Nexus and cause it to produce a Death-attributed metal in his Metal World. He produced a few of such, but only two above Tier-5. There weren''t any Space-attributed metals at Tier-5, but Erix had put some work into that too and hoped the next metal to produce would be a Tier-5 space-attributed metal. After they were done with custom orders, the group finally went to the Ingredient store. When they went upstairs, they heard someone haggling with the manager about the price. "There are no more stocks in the market for these pearls because I bought them all. It will take a few months to get more, and their price has also increased, so buy with that increase I added or forget about it." "Sir, you are asking for too much. A 30% increase is the same as the current max market price. We can''t buy it at that rate." The staffdy said and soon saw Erix and others arriving before smiling, "Wee back. I am just in the middle of buying back those pearls." "So, this gentleman is the one who wanted to gift that ne to Runia?" Erix raised his eyebrows and soon saw the man turning his head to look at them. "Yes." the manager nodded with a polite smile and turned to Hamsimp, "If you want the current market price, then you can sell one to them directly, but our shop will only take up to 20% increase from you, Mr. Hamsimp." "Wait, what did you say?" Rin picked her ears. "Hamsimp? His name is Hamsimp?" "Yes." Rin and Erix couldn''t hold back theirughter. Erix walked towards him and patted his shoulder while holding back hisughter, but a smile was still present on his face as he said, "Forget about Runia. She is not good for health." "You two are pretty famous," Hamsimp grunted and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Rin and Erix, "I''ve forgotten about Runia. If you want these pearls, I''ll sell them to you at the current market price." "I only want one," Erix said andughed. "Also, how about you take a better name?" "What''s wrong with my name?" Hamsimp frowned. "Eh, nothing wrong, but Hamson sounds better. What do you say?" Erix grinned. "That does sound better, and I also wanted to change my name after leaving," Hamsimp muttered. Shaking his head, he wryly said, "Whatever. Give me the money and take the pearl." After saying that, he turned to the manager, "Here, the rest of the pearls. Let''s go with your deal, but give me a bonus ording to you." "Good decision, sir." After buying the Vibrant Virisal Pearl, the group left. "Why did that name make youugh?" Aria curiously asked. "Is it rted to another term in your world like sugar mommy?" Lilith asked with a chuckle. "The word is Simp. As for its meaning, that guy was a live example of it," Rin said. "He was trying too hard to get her attention and affection, despite knowing deep down she would reject him." "Oh¡­" Lilith and Aria understood. Meanwhile, Hamsimp returned to the mansion and returned the money to his elder brother. "I am leaving. I probably won''t ever return here because I want to start a new life. I''ll also leave Abyss on my own." "What? Are you serious?!" "I am serious. And one more thing. My name will be Hamson from now on. Tell father and mother about this because I don''t want to say farewell to them." "Uh, it''s fine. I want to see how long it takes them to notice that you''re gone." "Fuck you. I am leaving." "Have a good journey, brother." Chapter 286: Chaos In Elf Kingdom, Destruction & Departure One more day passed safely in the pond, and then another day passed before Lily finally opened her eyes, bringing with her a newfound power upon her waking up from the enlightenment state. A Super Exotic Element¡ª Ice x Mist x Life ¡ª Liviort element! The potential of any Super Exotic Element involving Life element was as expandable as it waspactable involving the Death element. The Liviort element''s base form was Liviort Sparks, bearing life-like tiny wispy spirits of ghastly white Mist and icy blue eyes. They floated around Lily, their singrities hiding exoticbinations and potential of the Liviort element that Lily would soon explore, learn, and wield. Amu also finished Maleina''s training as she awakened her soul yesterday, and already being Royal-order halfway to the peak, Amu also got her to absorb the pool''s benefits, granting her a total of 400 points of boost in Spirit stat. On the other hand, Rin and Erix had the highest benefits from the pond as they got boosts in their Spirit stat and also progressed more in their elements. They fully focused on their Super Exotic elements for the past two days, sessfully reaching the 2nd realm in them from the 1st. They were raring to begin their skill-creation training session by beginning their new adventure and going to the Pale Hunger Swamp but before that¡­ It was time to finish some business and cause the necessary chaos for their inner peace¡­right? Inside the pond cavern¡­ "Some random baboon wanted to take the test, but whatever," Amu snorted. "I am starting. Can you hear me, Aria?" Aria was at the Servant quarters in the pce where maids and other workers had their rooms for living. She stood at the central hall and spread her spirit sense, sending her thoughts and calling everyone. ''I am ready, Amu.'' ''Alright,'' Amu replied before nodding at Erix. Erix vanished from the cavern and appeared beside Aria since he had marked her with his Space Mark. He gave her a thumb-sized silver cube with mystical white-blue patterns that he was preparing in the pond cavern. "Here," Erix smiled and handed it to her. "Infuse your Prana, and it will activate. You know when to do." "Mhm," Aria nodded, her eyes resolved. Erix looked at her cute yet determined expression andughed. Grabbing her waist and pulling her, he nted his lips on hers with a tight hug for a few seconds, kissing her intensely. "Let''s finish this and start your new journey," Erix grinned before he vanished, leaving Aria red-faced and heart-raced while also feeling all dippy and blissful. "Youngdy Aria, is there any special matter?" "Why did you call us all here?" Aria snapped out of her daze and coughed before she looked at everyone with a somber expression, "Everyone, please call other maids and servants that are not present here. This pce will be destroyed soon, within the next ten seconds." Everyone was shocked. "Hurry up. Nine seconds left." ¡­ Inside the pond cavern, Amu vanished while the pond started bubbling. "You three, I know you''ve gained significant power-up, but don''t be reckless and hit someone you can''t handle while you are causing wreckage," Lilith said with a serious expression. "Just focus on those attacking you and ignore Empyrean-order hunters." "Roger," Erix and Rin cheekily grinned with a salute. "You also better not bete, sugar mommy," Rin added with augh before turning to Lily. "Let''s start." "Mhm," Lily smiled with a nod, using her new element right off the bad along with her ''Weave'' concept as she weaved a fine battle dress for her with wings. Rin also entered herbat form before both of them left through the pond''s entrance. "Let''s start," Lilith walked towards Erix as he grabbed her waist and side-hugged her before vanishing from the pond cavern and arriving on top of the pce, floating high up. "Ten seconds up," Erix muttered before his eyes shed, and he looked at the hill park ten kilometers from the pce, creating a five-meter diameter portal there. Right as he created the portal, the maids and servers from the pce emerged from it speedily as they floated in the air, still confused. But as they saw the pce from afar, their eyes widened. *Trrr¡­.* A strange sound spread, signaling Lilith as Amu began to remove its foundation and shake up things from below the pce shook along with the whole city as an Earthquake started spreading. Lilith''s eyes shed as she raised her right arm and conjured an orb. That orb instantly became thirty meters in radius, gigantic and potent while attracting the attention of powerhouses. But Lilith didn''t hesitate as her eyes glinted. The giant dark red orb with sharp ck patterns condensed into a palm-sized one before Lilith released it. *Dhrrrrrr¡­.* The pce shook terribly as the surrounding ground crackled, and people panicked. The tiny orb that Lilith released turned into a strange dark cloud that formed above the pce, covering it, and started unleashing constant sharp drills as if they were threaded together, but in the form of drills. Their utterly devastating power pierced through the barrier that activated in an emergency, but Amu readily sucked the barrier''s power from its formation''s source¡­which was none other than Amu itself! The Ancient Spiritual Nature Pond! Although Amu detached away from thend, its spiritual owner was still the cute golden slime! The pce started breaking as the deathly rain broke its structure, piercing and decaying everything while the Earthquake and Amu destroyed the pce''s foundation from the bottom. "Be careful," Erix kissed Lilith after pulling her into his embrace, his voice slightly severe. Lilith smiled after the kiss and flicked Erix''s forehead. "Let''s meet up at the decided location. I''ll be waiting, unharmed and¡­thirsty." Erix grinned and gently bit her lips before saying, "I''ll quench that thirst." After saying that, Erix vanished from his spot and joined up with Rin and Lily who were wreaking havoc inside. "She is the one! Kill her!" "Why did you do this?!" Four Empyrean-order powerhouses, all elves, emerged and rushed towards Lilith. "No hard feelings," Lilith shrugged. "Just do your job like I''ve done mine." After saying that, a pair of demonic ck wings with dark red runic patterns unfurled from her back and glowed, releasing ethereal darkness akin to a shadow, but those shadows bearing dark red patterns of Death and Blood, affecting all enemies and causing their faces to change. However, Lilith suddenly escaped after debuffing them and marking them instead of attacking them. This baffled the powerhouses, but they understood the reason next second as they sensed two presences approaching. "Who was she?!" King Leim shouted while waving his hand at Lilith''s dark cloud. Elina gritted her teeth and hissed, "That bitch, she is in the group that passed the test recently." ''How?! What the fuck is going on?!'' Elina thought furiously. ''Did he find out that we were behind the assassination?'' ''Was that why he lied to us saying they would leave tomorrow?'' "Mother, Father! We need more reinforcement!" Runia arrived while panicking and injured. "Rin, Lily, and A-Aria are destroying everything from within!" "What do you mean?!" Leim shouted and grabbed Runia''s shoulder, shaking her, "Why would they do all this?! Why is Aria with them?!" "Let''s stop them first," Elina said as she put her hand on Leim''s shoulder. "Quick, Leim." "Damn it!" Leim angrily shouted as he saw the devastation in the previous majestic pce and dashed inside. Inside, Erix also joined them as he had a job to get everyone out after finishing the destruction. They floated in the middle floors amidst the destruction as the whole pce was breaking down and falling. "Let''s leave a gift to your father before we leave, okay?" Erix said as he held Aria''s hand. "Aria!" The man of the topic arrived King Leim tracked his daughter''s familiar aura and saw her with three strangers. "What is this nonsense, Aria?" Leim asked, his expression dark. "Wait, y-you¡­" However, Leim was soon shocked to feel Aria''s bloodlinepletely different from before and sensed her potent soul and spiritual presence. "The great father is here," Rin''s mocking voice rang as she and others finally saw Aria''s selfish father. "Too busy with everything that you know nothing about your daughter, except for just giving her orders." "Take a look at her onest time," Erix said with an icy smile, pulling Aria gently towards him by wrapping his hand around her shoulder. "She will live her way and inplete freedom from now on." Leim''s fists clenched as he uttered between his teeth, "What did you do to her?" Suddenly, the golden slime popped before Leim''s face a meter away with angry eyes. "Shut up, you piece of garbage! They did nothing! You did!" "Erix, hand him over the gift," Amu turned to Erix and looked at Aria with a firm nod. "Father. I know you took care of me out of love when I was small¡­.at least, I hope that was the case," Aria said with a bright, happy smile. "But I am leaving with Erix and others to live a life I decided for myself." "Bye." Erix threw a mirage crystal at Leim while a devilish smile spread on his face, "Enjoy." Leim grabbed the mirage crystal with veins popping all over his head. But he was powerless to stop these Royal-order hunters as an Empyrean order. In the next second, Erix snapped his finger, taking Rin, Lily, Aria, and Amu with him as they vanished. On the other hand, a cold light shed in Leim''s eyes before he put away the mirage crystal and called Elina, who was chasing Lilith with the other Empyrean-order hunters. Since these Empyrean-order hunters and Leim couldn''t touch Erix and others, their only target remained Lilith. Chapter 287: End of the Langriss Elf Kingdom, Patron Realm (1/2) Addler looked at the destroyed pce and the powerhouses of the southern border, who quickly arrived to secure the pce while the king and queen were absent. "Addler, I''ve informed the branch leader about this situation." Addler nodded, "Find and follow their trail. Once we know their next location, we''ll have more reinforcement to deal with them." However, his friend revealed a hesitant expression for a second before he said, "Addler. Branch leader''s orders...he canceled this operation, telling us to forget about those two." "The regionalpetition has ceased all over the cosmos. A new one will start after four months but on the scale of star systems rather than on individual worlds." Addler was stunned, and right after that, a feeling and an emotion oozed out of him involuntarily. Completely out of his control, it oozed out from his subconsciousness and instincts. Relief. His shoulders slightly lowered as he felt relief from deep within. "Mhm, let''s return," Addler nodded with a in expression. His friendughed and said, "It was a fool''s errand to go after them anyway, haha." "They even destroyed this pce and caused such havoc. Fucking hell. Anyway, it''s better to focus on improving ourselves somewhere else than chasing our deaths." ¡­ Lilith was using her tricks to make her trail confusing and escape from the enemies. But she also killed one of them while getting chased. She was powerful, but it wouldn''t be wise to fight when King Leim and Elina were also chasing her. Lilith would only face the deadly trouble if she wanted to. It was in her control as they wouldn''t be able to catch her if she decided to escape earnestly. She also left mocking spiritual bubbles in herst trails until shepletely removed her presence and aura at a certain point and gave multiple options for directions if they wanted to continue chasing a fool''s errend. "Return!" Leim shouted with a dark face. "We can''t chase her blindly now! Damn fools, nobody could even mark her!" "I-I did, but she removed it.Our physical stats were lowered because she put some kind of debuff on us, of Blood and Death element that weakened us." "My lord, she was a formidable hunter despite her level suggesting that she just recently entered the Empyrean-order." "She can''t be nameless with that power. We will find her and her group." "Aria is with them," Elina said with a frown, "Can you try to locate her using Bloodline resonance?" "I can''t!" Leim grunted and flew back. The others quickly followed him as they turned into beams, speeding back to the kingdom. "What do you mean? Bloodline resonance should work for you because she has your bloodline." "Not anymore. Her bloodline ispletely different now." Leim''s slightly shaking voice rang, "It''s that ancient will. The royal family no longer has its blessing. It went away with Aria." "W-what?!" Elina''s face turned pale white, while the other subordinate elves were shocked beyond belief. "My lord, that can''t be true, right?!" "It''s true. But we can''t wallow in that loss. Speed up and rebuild the pce." "The guests will stille after twenty-two days and¡­" Leim turned to Elina, his voice back to being firm. "Tell Runia that she will marry a prince from Enernia." Elina''s ce expression turned normal as she digested the situation, and then a mocking expression formed on her face at Leim''s words. "Heh since Aria is gone, you want your other daughter for your n?" Just as this time, the group returned to the pce. However, Elina''s face shrank and turned ugly as abruptly paused while Leim''s expression was hard to describe. He was bewildered, angry, twisted, and many others as his reply to Elina''sst words stuck in his throat. The city was lively. Projections from mirage crystals were expanded, some big, some small. Some disyed Elina on her fours getting pounded from behind, while some disyed Runia''s legs wrapping around a man''s waist while she hanged backward, her face clear and her tongue out. The erotic voices and the life-like HD scenes disying the duo numbered over a hundred. Runia was shaking and trembling as she shrunk to the corner of the broken pce. Angry and nk both. The voice that entered her head right before Erix escaped with others haunted her. ''He yed us from the beginning¡­'' At that moment, a sudden regret stemmed from her, making her feel that she shouldn''t have targeted Rin and others. However, that regret soon transformed into fury with a sense of defeat as Erix''sst words rang in her head. ''We''ve decided to let you live because you are utterly worthless. If you feel hatred and want revenge, thene at us anytime.'' ''I will finish your story.'' Runia''s head was only filled with his voice, but...her nk mind soon turned into a mush. A dark green metal spike pierced out from her head as Erix suddenly appeared beside her. While her consciousness was still active, Erix sent his thoughts. ''Actually, you are a stupid lunatic, so I''ll end your story right here.'' ''But, good luck with your next one.'' Erix killed Runia, but surprisingly got +1 Patron point while also giving him a gist of why he got it. But putting it in the back of his mind, Erix quickly teleported away since he sensed powerful auras outside the pce along a st and a familiar voice in a high pitch-scream. ''It seems Elina and Leim started fighting because of the mirage crystal''s content,'' Erix internallyughed. ''Better if both pieces of trash can take each other out.'' ¡­ Erix flew back in the direction of Core Domain''s first big city, Lopalize City. Rin, Lily, Amu, Aria, and Maleina were already on the way while Lilith was alsoing to this city, but on a longer and different route since she escaped in the opposite direction to distract the enemies away from the group. Erix was flying at full speed, coating himself in space matter and cutting distances quickly while shrinking space from a faraway point to his current location. ''This feels weird, but I am fast,'' Erix thought because he was moving through Space Limbo in parallel to the material ne, so he wasn''t feeling any atmosphere or air resistance of the material ne of this Abyss. Suddenly, he heard a notification. [Your partner has also debuted. Bondpleted. +1 Patron point.] [+7 Patron point.] On the other hand, Rin and others just slew a gang in an Airship that blocked them on the way. Each kill gave her a Patron point, surprising her and giving her necessary information. ''Erix killed that trash, and he got a Patron point. I didn''t kill anyone yet while we were there, so mine didn''t start until now.'' [Patron Realm] _Candidates: Rin & Erix. _Leaderboard Rank: Unranked. ¡ª> Yet to enter any challenge. _Patron points: 11 _Patron shop. ¡ª> [ Open - Close ] Erix''s panel also turned the same. ''So that statue really required two people,'' Erix grinned. They guessed it after seeing the Statue sparing Nix and contributing that incident to the bond between him and his wife. Amu''s words also pushed them in this direction, which was why they decided to face the statue together. ''It seemed that whoever brought that statue knew about it but wanted other people to figure it out,'' Erix wryly shook his head. After ten minutes, Erix caught up with Rin and others. "Is it over?" Aria asked. "Yep." Rin chuckled and tickled Aria''s belly while flying her behind, "You can now forget about them forever." Aria softlyughed at the tickles and replied, "Hehe, yes. I only have us in mind and the eagerness of whatever we''ll do next." "We''ll wait for Lady Lilith in the city and then meet Granny May to get information about that Patron Realm thing," Lily said. Erix and Rin had also confirmed the Patron Realm panel. Rin had the same number of points as him. "It seems that we both get points even if one of us earns it," Rin said. "Open the shop, please. I want to see what they sell with these bizarre points," Aria curiously said with shining eyes. "Yeah, let''s see what it got for us," Erix grinned and focused on the - open - with his thought. [Requires 1 Patron point from each to open the level 1 shop.] Both of them agreed as their patron points were reduced by 1. In the next second, a different panel appeared, disying a shop with five sections, but the things this shop put up for sale were utterly bizarre! Chapter 288: Patron Realm (2/2), Unexpected Encounter with a Sissy Cat [Patron Shop] ->1. Talent Bless Sigil ¡ª 100,000 Patron points. ->2. Slice & Dice te ¡ª 60,000 Patron points. ->3. Opaque Mystery Rune ¡ª 300,000 Patron points. ->4. Divine Surgent Veil ¡ª 180,000 Patron points. ->5. Pandora''s Box ¡ª 10 Patron points (0/5 monthly limit.) ->Special One-time Buy ¡ª Boon Tree Awakening ¡ª 1000 Patron points. _Note: The four sections of the shop will refresh every time you open it by spending a Patron point from each. "Great. We can''t buy anything for now," Erix wryly smiled. "One thing we know is that we get points if we kill people, but not just any I think," Rin said with narrowed eyes. "We need some enemies to check." "We''ll get plenty of viins in the city if want," Lily said with a chuckle. Aria tilted her head. "So, we will find bad guys and provoke them?" "Haha, you understood the assignment," Erix ruffled her head after pulling her to him while they continued flying. "I am smart," Aria pouted before she smiled. Aria was not naive since long ago but was only bound due to her father. She understood all types of intentions and couldprehend situations. As she had broken free, her immensely powerful spirit and soul would only develop her better and refinedly. ¡­ The group arrived at Lopalize city after an hour while recovering their energies by traveling at a moderate pace and killing some monsters on the way to leisurely do some modification to their skills. Lilith also joined them shortly, and everyone followed her to visit Granny May''s avatar in this city. In an unpopted area of the city, the group entered a dark alley before encountering a board and entering an old bookstore. Seeing Granny May again, Rin and Erix still felt the same as before. Granny May nodded at them with a faintly hanging gentle smile. "Unexpected yet expected developments. But not enough," Granny May lightly chuckled. "Raise more waves after you return. I''ll be watching." "As for your query," Granny May lightly tapped her can on the ground before twelve blurry and mysterious symbols appeared. "Patron Realm. Usually, people get ess to this realmte, but sometimes, the Patron Houses send some mediums and leave it to fickleness to find some suitable candidates for their games." Rin and Erix felt Granny May looking at their foreheads as she continued. "Just like you two who got it via a medium, and if you got it that way, you must have gotten an ability of sort." "Yeah, we got it," Rin shared the [Mark of Paradox] with Granny May, who raised her eyebrows after seeing it. "It seems you two are candidates of a rather tough inheritance of a high dimension''s house." Granny May waved her hand and erased the detailed panel before saying, "Anyway, here''s what you need to know. Once you umte more Patron points, you''ll also get challenges." "If you participate in challenges, you''ll get more Patron points and other things that will be useful directly and indirectly." "I see. But for now, is there only one way to gather Patron points?" Erix asked, "Killing?" Granny May chuckled and said, "Be careful regarding that. You may get Patron points by killing, but they will also deduct if you go astray from your progressing path." "I can''t say more regarding this because it is up to you to figure out. I just hope you two won''t make a mistake past a certain threshold," Granny May warned with a smile, having a hint of seriousness. "I think I understand," Erix smiled. "Mhm," Rin nodded with a firm and earnest expression. "We won''t go astray, will not bend for certain things, but still keep a broader mind before taking any decision." "Good. I hope you can follow up on your understanding." Granny smiled, "Sometimes, people still act in a way that defies their own understanding, and that is your core. You must have it under control and be in harmony for your way." "This applies to everyone," Granny May looked at others before focusing on Aria. "You will attract a pot of fickleness like these two if you follow them. Handle it well." "I will," Aria merrily smiled, "As long as I am with them." "Go, your time is up." Granny May nodded at Lilith with a gentle smile. "Quietly and carefully finish your work to spread your wings out of this Abyss. It''s time." "Mhm," Lilith grinned. "Wait for us. We''ll meet you, sooner thanter." "Let''s go, everyone. Granny May needs to rest now." Lilith cheerfully turned around and walked towards the exit while spinning her umbre. Just like before, Lilith''s mood was jolly after meeting Granny May. The group left and arrived at the lively part of the city. However, Erix''s eyes suddenlynded on a familiar figure. Erix blinked, silver shed. He disappeared and arrived right behind a beastfolk male who was talking with another beastfolk man while holding a beastfolk lioness girl. Seeing Erix, the beastfolk tiger man frowned, "Who are you? Do you know this guy, Gaorath?" Erix tapped the beastfolk man''s shoulder and chuckled, "Hey, big cat." Gaorth felt a tremor hearing the voice. He very much still remembered this voice that challenged him, and heughed at it. But then, he ran away from the challenge in fear. Turning around, Gaorath looked at Erix''s smiling face and soon saw Lilith and others arriving behind him. "I guess, you ran with your majestic tail between your legs," Rin said before bursting intoughter. "Hey, big cat. Your mane is not looking good right now." "Finish your business first, Gaorath. I''m going." The tiger beastfolk man scurried away while the girl separated from Gaorath and said, "I-I have nothing to do with him." Gaorath gulped, his furry face bing sweaty. "Come on, let''s start our promised challenge," Erixughed. "Use your domain on me. I don''t have mine yet." "N-No," Gaorath stammered and took a step back as he forced a smile. "It''s okay. It''s my loss." "If you kneel down and beg for me to spare you, I''ll let you off the hook," Erix smiled as he put his hand on Gaorath''s shoulder again. "Hurry up, or I''ll identally attack," Rin snorted as a wave of sharp waves akin to invisible des assaulted Gaorath. Gaorath''s stomach rumbled, and a low growl released from his mouth. With an ugly and defeated expression, his knees weakened before they bent and mmed on the ground. "I should have known better. Please forgive me for my rudeness. I was blind." "Good. Now get up and use your domain on me," Erix''s sharp voice rang. "If you manage to reduce my vitality by a single percentage, I''ll spare you." The surrounding people passing by the za noticed, but nobody cared about the scuffles--only asional nces and a strong feeling of not getting their nose into someone else''s business as they continued moving. Gaorath was forced to use his domain on Erix as both of them disappeared. Right after that, a group of five beastfolks arrived, all lions-men. One of them was an Empyrean-order, and the rest were Royal-order hunters. "Where''s Gaorath?" "Who are you?" The five men faced Lilith and others before their leader saw the domain point and narrowed his eyes. "He is challenging someone." Afterward, his eyes scanned Lilith and others. ''They outnumber us.'' "So many people and buildings," Aria muttered as her focus was mostly on this exotic city made from various colorful crystals, wood, and high-rise unique buildings. Lilith released her aura and unleashed her soul pressure, causing the Empyrean-order hunter''s face to change as it became somber and apprehensive. "If you want to keep your life, you better forget about this sissy cat. His lifespan is going to end soon." Chapter 289: Finished Business, Wreaking Preferred Evil [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Royal-Order _Level: 200 _ss: Death Reaper-X _Life orb: [100%/100%] _Vigor Force: [1000/1000] _Stats: 200 unassigned. ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 + 1150 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 + 150 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 1439/ Spirit Force: 14,390/14,290 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-S / Magic power: 1500 + 200 / Prana: 10,000/10,000 ] _Talent (2/3): Vigor Force, Death Bound. \\_________________Origin Skills_________________/ - [Active skills (1/5)] ¡ª> Wrathful Roar (Tier-3 active skill). - [Passive skills (5/5)] ¡ª> Energy Wheel (Tier-5 passive skill). Prana Recovery by 200%. ¡ª> Power Heart (Tier-5 passive skill): +350 Strength. ¡ª> Strength Surge (Tier-3 passive skill): +350 Strength. ¡ª> Hyper Core (Tier-5 passive skill): +150 Agility, + 150 Strength. ¡ª> Strength Mass (Tier-5 passive skill): +300 Strength. "Roar!" Gaorath roared, unleashing dark orange orbs of mes and, but Erix once again easily escaped, a leisurel expression on his face. *Boom!* And then a st rang below Gaorath''s feet, exploding out of space and turning his legs into mush as he issued another painful roar. ''J-just one hit¡­'' Gaorath gritted his teeth, using his me-based domain with an abundance of me in beastly shapes as they chased Erix. But Erix remained untouchable. With one hand wave, he could forcefully alter the iing attacks. With another wave of his hand, he could send his attacks right near Gaorath, sting him with skill technique punches of Nihilir energy and injuring him further. No matter what Gaorath did, he was utterly helpless against Erix, and he still had all stats higher than Erix except for one. Spirit. "Arghh!" Gaorath roared, his eyes red and glowing as his body shone with entric patterns. A secondter, condensed me body parts conjured over his body, covering him into a seemingly dark orange metallic-looking suit that pulsed. "Not bad," Erixughed and finally entered hisbat form mode, consuming 5000 Prana at once as two mystical nano-metal orbs with chaotic energies mixed with Vigor force whirled inside. But there was one more energy mixed within along with Nihilir and Vigor Force, making it more chaotic for a more potent reactive output. Death Energy from his ss''s source! After entering Celestial Chaos Form and materializing a pair of slick dark purple gauntlets with silver paterns, his punches shed against Gaorath''s w projectile attacks. The Punch concept''s boost + Chaos Concept''s boost + the refined skill techniques + boost from various energies giving higher potent output with Chaos concept obliterated Gaorath''s skill + and other minor factors regarding execution. Gaorath also had a concept, but his skill and the quality of his elemental energies were not as powerful. Despite Gaorath having 2.3k Magic Power and Erix having 1.5k Magic Power, Gaorath still lost the sh as the Nihilir Whirling Punches obliterated Gaorath''s projectiles while Sling Shot punches gave him beatings. Another reason was the difference in Spirit power. Erix had 1.45k Spirit power, while Gaorath just had 1k. The boost that Erix''s attack got was higher, and he had more Spirit energy to spare. "Argh!" The battle continued, but every passing second lowered Gaorath''s chances of victory as he started feeling that he indeed wouldn''t be able to reduce even 1 percent of Erix''s vitality. Despite using his Bloodline powers and consuming his Blood essence, Gaorath failed to hit Erix even once. "Time''s up. You got nothing to show me anymore." Erix''s aura turned a tad darker before a shadowy ck scythe materialized before him, while Gaorath floated a hundred meters away, injured all over and unable to recover due to Nihilir''stest effect of Control-type aspect. -Control: Rend. Rend: Injured with Nihilir will render any type of recovery to the injured part null, dead. This also includes body parts severed by Nihilir. Without a specialized skill having Life-attribute and some other powers, it would be impossible to remove Rend debuff. Gaorath''s ss didn''t have any potent recovery skills, and he also didn''t have a higher-tier potion to deal with it. Tier-5 potions he had didn''t work, and he didn''t have anything above that. Despair already flooded his eyes when he heard Erix''s words. "Please spare, I-I won''t show you my face ever again." Erix smiled and grabbed the Undead Scythe that cost 3000 Death energy. [Undead Scythe] _Type: Offense. _Cost: 100 - 10,000 Death energy. _Effect: ¡ª> Conjures a giant scythe that directly attacks a target and infuses death for massive damage, depending on the cost. It can apply death to skills as well, essentially killing them and passing through them at the cost of its power. "You can work hard for not showing your face in your next life," Erix shed the Scythe vertically downward after infusing Spirit energy in it to boost its power. The sharp point of the Scythe entered space and came out before Gaorath''s chest, piercing in the middle. The scythe started turning faint while pure Death flooded Gaorath, turning him ck as he screamed. He tried to grab the Scythe, but his hands failed to touch them as they slummed down. The sky and space cracked as his domain broke, and both appeared outside. Gaorath''s body failed to hold up as he fell, and the Scythe vanished afterpouring its power into Gaorath, sealing his fate. [You have gained 2.1 Patron points.] Erix was surprised at getting more Patron points than usual, but he put away for now upon additional guests before him who looked like the same racial tribe of Beastfolks as Gaorath and raised his eyebrows. "Are you here for revenge?" Erix asked while waving his hand to produce a gust of wind physically, scattering Gaorath as he had turned entirely ck and deader than dead. His body broke into motes and scattered away while Erix received Death Specs. [Dead Sea] _Type: Utility. _Death Specks: [ 814 ] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Whenever you kill a living being, the Dead Sea will absorb its death powerpletely and turn it into Death Specks. ¡ª> You can use Death Specks to apply Death Rules to your various attacks. _Death Rules: the effect of the rules depends on the Death Specks consumed when using them. ¡ª> Killing Boost: Increase attack power. ¡ª> Death Doom: Apply a Doom mark on the target attacked. If the target dies, you will receive a buff based on the target you killed. _Note: More Death Rules will appear as the ss levels up. "I don''t think they are foolish enough to take up on that," Lilith said, her eyes and lips smiling. "Right?" The lion-man with Empyrean-order power base looked ashen for a second before he said with a suppressed voice, defeat evident in his tone. "We have nothing to do with Gaorath. Sorry to disturb you." "Let''s go." After they left, the group continued moving into the city''s lively part and arrived at the huge market. Markets were the biggest and most important areas of most cities in the Abyss. "We''ll find plenty of garbage to burn here," Lilith said as she walked ahead of the group, leading them. "The first is the underground ve house. It''s handled by the strongest guild of this city." After all, they needed to find some pieces of trash, provoke them, and kill them. After an hour.... They obliterated the entire market and freed all ves. Each kill of the hunter there granted them 1 or more Patron points. Only a few hunters along with the leader were left, but their courage was leaving their bodies as the group approached them in the huge underground hall. However, Rin and Erix were surprised to see a familiar figure from Earth standing among them at the back, looking like a servant. Chapter 290: Unexpected Encounter, Finishing Matters "Rin, am I seeing things or are you seeing the same thing?" Erix muttered, but he was pretty saw of the face. Rin smiled in response. It was a cold and ruthless smile. "It''s him." The enemy leader with dark blue curly hair and a lean figure looked at them and then turned around to look at the young man who was his recently acquired pupil. "We can talk first, right?" the enemy leader asked as he looked at Lilith. His only enemy and threat was Lilith. His seven subordinates also dreaded battling Erix, Rin, Lily, and Aria after seeing what they caused and the people they killed. ''Leader Kolos, please do something about this. We don''t want to fight them.'' ''It''s hopeless. I don''t know about you battling that Empyrean-order, but we can''t win against those Royal-order hunters.'' ''All four of them are superior to us.'' The two most important subordinates of Kolos were already dead on the surface in the market, and they saw their battles. At first, they thought the secret underground area would remain undiscovered, but Erix found them, and here they were, scaring the wits and courage out of Kolos'' subordinates. None of them wanted to fight. "You want to talk for your life?" Aria asked, anger evident in her eyes. She was angry at the scenes of torture she saw. Aria wanted to kill them and nothing else. "I can give you this guy," Kolos said as he pointed at the trembling young man behind him. "It seems that you know him." "M-Master¡­" Kolos turned around and saw that the nk expression on his pupil''s face was now filled with dread. Naturally, it didn''t matter to him. Kolos turned back to Erix and the group before saying, "I can also give you my wealth and other things I have as long as you let us ago." "Of course, this brat is also yours to deal with." "Pff¡­how do we even attack him? He is at Noble-order rank," Rin chuckled. "And he is an insignificant trash, not worthy of our time." "Hey, trash," Erix smiled at the young man, who was the same as his age, and said, "Did you think we didn''t know you survived that day?" "We knew, but just didn''t care enough to return and finish you off." Lilith waved her hand, creating a huge barrier and sealing all exists. "No talks. You are more useful dead than alive." Amu crackled with a childishugh, "That''s right. ept a painless death or a painful death. There''s no third option." ¡­ After a while, the huge underground hall was littered with craters and destruction. "What''s your n, little shit?" Erix asked as he walked toward the young man. "How did you end up dying?" "I-I¡­" Rin suddenly waved her hand, shing her de Eater towards him, causing the young man to put up his arms in panic as a frightened scream left his mouth. Naturally, the katana passed through him, but a stench filled the air while wetness filled the young''s pants. "Jeez, you can''t be serious," Erix was speechless and waved his hand, driving away the faint smell. "K-Kanel betrayed me while we were on the 2nd floor of the tower¡­I-I died because of him." The young man was none other than Felix, the one who made a contract with the devil to live. But since he died inside the tower one month ago, he got a 2nd chance at life. ''Kanel betrayed him? that bastard is also alive?'' Rin was dumbfounded. ''Haha, we''ll kil him again if he appears before us then,'' Erix grinned. "Who is he?" Aria curiously asked. "Your enemy from your main world?" "Eh, you can indeed say he is an enemy," Rin chuckled. "But he is a trash. One of the many who don''t want to use their brains without a conscious properly, so they end up making bad decisions." "My ssmate," Erixughed. "Hey, I have an offer for you." "W-what?" Felix asked, still scared despite knowing that he wouldn''t get hurt unless he attacked first. "You know that we can''t kill you, right?" Erix smiled. Felix trembled and knelt down. "Please¡­I beg you, I will be your servant or anything, J-Just take me with you. I beg you¡­" Felix''s voice cracked, and his eyes flooded. "I-I want to return¡­" Felix started sobbing. "Jeez, why are you so spineless?" Amu couldn''t help but giggle, "I can sense his thoughts and situation. He is very scared of you two, from the inside, but also strangely feels close to you, so he is behaving like this. What a stupid nutjob." Felix only knew Rin and Erix in this Abyss. Although they were enemies, he wanted to forget his past with them and wanted them to take him in their group. Taking revenge for himself or his father didn''t even cross his mind. The only thing he wanted was survival and return. "Yeah, he only thinks with his small nuts," Erixughed and put his hand over Felix''s head, grabbing it within his palms, not exerting force as he didn''t want his hand to pass through Felix due to Abyss Rule. Felix trembled as he looked up at Erix. "I have an offer for you," Erix smiled. "I have a special power that can give you a new life." "W-What?" Felix wiped his tears, his eyes confused. "It''s as you heard," Erix chuckled. "I have a way to give you a new life, somewhere randomly. Don''t you want it?" "I-I want¡­" Felix quickly nodded as hope filled his eyes. He trusted Erix''s words without a beat. In his mind, he believed that Erix and Rin had no reason to lie to him¡ªan ant that they spared despite knowing he was alive. ''Erix, what are you cooking?'' Rin asked. ''Haha, just wait and keep your expression as if whatever I say makes sense.'' Thedies understood. "I''ll go and check if there''s some stash here. Aria, do you want toe?" Lily said. "Yep. It''s treasure hunting time," Aria grinned. Lilith sat down on a chair while Maleina stood nearby, watching Rin and Erix face this scared young man who genuinely looked stupid before the duo. "I want to start a new life," Felix said pleading, "Please¡­I will beg and ask for forgiveness as many times as you want." "No need for all that," Erixughed. "We don''t have time for such useless things." "Instead, if you want this opportunity, start speaking about the situation on Earth." "What happened to Heavenly Melody and Unfettered Fate guilds?" Felix started speaking about everything without hesitation that he knew before he died and arrived here. "It seems that everything is good," Erix sighed a relief. "It was good a month ago at least," Rin slowly nodded, thinking. "It''s good to know, but let''s hurry. Things are heating up there." "They will," Lilith smiled. "The Mystic Root is influencing your so things will develop fast. As natives, you must be part of that." "Erix, I told you everything I knew," Felix said as he smacked his head on the floor. "Please, use your power or whatever to start my new life. Our ties will be severed forever¡­I-I am really sorry, teacher Rin." "I was stupid." "Please¡­" Erix rolled his eyes, "Don''t cry again, what the fuck." "Get up." Felix stood up as he wiped his tears. "Attack me," Erix said. "W-what?" "Attack me," Erix said again, with a smile. "If you don''t attack me, how can I use my power on you, idiot." "Ahh, y-yes." Felix attacked Erix with a serious punch in the stomach that didn''t do anything, but it nullified the the Abyss Rule. "Bye," Erix threw the punch, sting Felix out of existence. Chapter 291: Lovely Aria, Loving Aria (1) After looting the underground chambers, the group left the city promptly. They also confirmed a few things about Patron points. Some gave higher patron points and some lower, with the minimum being 1 patron point. Also, it seemed that the principle of getting patron points worked on a moral standing. If they killed ''evil'' people, they would get patron points. While the group was on their way to Pale Hunger Swamp in Lilith''s airship, they began discussing this Patron point system. "So, This ''Evil'' seemed to depend on what Rin and Erix view as Evil, right?" Lily asked after taking a sip from the juice ss. "I don''t think so," Rin shook her head. "Granny May said that the points might be deducted based on our actions, so that means that we can''t do something that is considered Evil or kill someone innocent ording to some kind of standards." "Yeah, that makes sense, and we don''t seem to have any other choice but to find out passively," Erix wryly smiled. "We''ll just live and move ording to our conscious." "Yep, just live your way," Lilith smiled and asked. "Also, we''ll get the final ingredient soon, but how''s your progress, Erix?" "Thanks to that Belrugian Flower and two more days'' worth of vital essence from Runia and Elina after that, I am standing at 92%," Erix grinned. "Very close." "I-I can also help you, you know?" Aria hesitantly said, her turning red and her cheeks pink. Erix gently smiled at her and said, "I know, but are you truly ready?" Amu snorted and said, "If she wants it, she is ready! But only her decision is final." "Amu!" Aria''s face flushed red. "I know, and I love Erix and everyone here. I-I want to give him my body and soul both¡­" "Aw~" Rin patted Aria beside her while smiling. "You are our cute angel here, haha." "But I am Elf¡­" Aria pouted jokingly andughed before looking earnestly at Erix with bright and clear eyes. "Erix, I want my future with you and everyone here," Aria said with a clear voice and earnest expression. "I''ve already made everyone, and you mine in my heart, so¡­make me yourspletely too." Rin, Lily, and Lilith smiled while Amu was ring at Erix, the slime''s face seemingly saying [You better ept her, boy]. However, Erix''s heart raced automatically because this girl was strong, had charm, and capability to stand beside him. He also wanted to make her his from the depth of his being! "And¡­" Aria softly giggled, feeling giddy, "It will be so nice if youplete your progress with me." Right after she finished speaking, Erix''s eyes gleamed silver as he and Aria vanished from the living room of the Airship. "Lily, let''s hunt some monsters while we are moving," Rin stood while grinning. "Erix and Aria surely will take more time, haha." Lily said with a chuckle, "Yep. Lady Lilith, what n do you have?" "Maleina is crafting potion in that room, so I am going there to speed up and add a new potion in the pool that we''ll need for Pale Hunger Swamp''s adventure." ¡­ After teleporting in the room, Erix immediately held Aria in his embrace while kissing her passionately. After a couple of minutes with his lips and tongue ying with hers, Erix pulled her further in, his eyes looking straight into her purple eyes. "Aria." "Mhm?" Aria raised her chin, her lips wet and glistened. "I want you. In exchange, I''m yours as much as I am to Rin, Lily, and Lilith." Erix''s heated eyes prated hers as he kissed her one more and said, "My everything wants your everything." "I love you." Aria felt bubbling hot inside as her heart raced like never before and some profound feeling rose within her. With a steamy face and zy eyes, Aria nodded while showing her widest smile, "I love you too¡­ever since your test when I saw you doing everything and discarding everything else for her." "I''m happy that I am in the same position as that girl," Aria wrapped her arms around Erix''s neck and kissed him. She learned it faster after experiencing Erix kissing her. "Eh, something is hitting me¡­" Aria looked below and saw Erix''s bulging crotch. Erixughed and removed all of his clothes with a thought, putting them into his hunter card. "It''s greeting you because you awakened it," Erix grinned. "I know where it wants to go, hehe. I''ve seen it," Aria giggled and also removed all of her clothes, showing her pristine wless figure with big yet soft melons and clean crotch with sealed pink lips below. Erix put Aria on the bed before he spread her legs and rubbed his cock on her pussy. "Nghh¡­." Aria trembled as she felt current from arousal. Erix leaned forward without entering inside and slept beside her before kissing her. His hands grabbed her rippling breasts, firm in their ce, but bearing tender flesh. "I am feeling more and more strange inside there¡­" Aria said as she paused the kissing, her heating face just an inch away from Erix. "Leave it to me," Erix chuckled and sat before her crotch. Aria''s arms crossed below her breasts, her eyes filled with anticipation. "Are you going to enter?" "Not yet," Erix grinned and leaned his head forward at her crotch before licking her pussy for a bit before finding the hole and prating his tongue inside. "Aanh....T-That¡­" Aria''s breasts quivered as she suddenly trembled at the sudden invasion of Erix''s tongue. Amidst slurp-like and smooching sounds, Aria''s moans increased as Erix crazily aroused her with his tongue. Not even a minute passed before Aria cried out abruptly and shook. "E-Erix¡­Something ising out¡­I-I can''t¡­" Aria couldn''t hold back anymore and squirted hard as Erix pulled back. His face became wet as Aria sprayed out while quivering. "That wasn''t even the start, babe." Erixughed and spread her legs before softly pping his dick on her pussy a few times before leaning forward and entering the tip inside. Aria felt another current as she was experiencing all of this for the first time. "It''s filling¡­" Aria murmured as she felt the pleasure produced by the contact. Erix leaned his head forward and put her left breast into his mouth while grabbing them with his hands. He sucked hard and intensely, making Aria feel more and more tingles of pleasure, and also erected her inverted nipples as they stood stiff yet soft, with light pink tender flesh. "Yummy," Erix smiled at Aria as he rested his head on her breast and said, "I am entering now¡­" "Mhmm," Aria nodded with fully flushed red, but eagerly waiting. Erix pushed his hip forward slowly as her extremely tight vagina expanded while his tip prated forward, broke her hymen, and reached her depth. Aria didn''t feel any pain as her superior lifeform body and bloodline healed the minor break instantly. All Aria felt was getting filled up by a warm object that gave her spiritual fulfillment. Erix''s closed his eyes as he leaned forward and kissed her before pulling up his waist for a second and pushing gently. "How did it feel?" Erix asked with a grin after one pull and push. "More¡­" Aria spoke with flushed cheeks¡­"It felt soooo good¡­In my body and mind both." Erix grabbed her breasts and jiggled them before he started sucking with gusto and gradually moved his hips. Aria moaned while her hands roamed on Erix''s head as he sucked her breast and yed with her nipples which gave her more and more waves of pleasure. "¡­Aaanhh¡­I-I didn''t know they were feeling this much de-delightful when you do this to them¡­" Erix joyfullyughed, "This is just your entry and beginning." "Get ready to experience much more than this, cutie pie. I''ll make sure you feel the highest height of pleasure and bliss with me." Chapter 292: Lovely Aria, Loving Aria (2/2) "Aaanhh!" Aria climaxed with a loud moan, gushing forth with her vital essence that Erix swiftly absorbed and then also poured his load inside, making Aria crazy with pleasure. "Ready for the next round?" Erix grinned as he pulled up Aria while heid down, making her sit on him. His throbbing and stiff meat rod was raring to move as Aria''s soft insides tightly wrapped around it. "Erix¡­" Aria slumped on his chest and kissed him as she couldn''t help but move her hips, making Erix''s dick hit her deepest part and feeling jolts of pleasure gushing forth. Erixughed and grabbed her plump buttcheeks before starting to move his hips in rhythm with Aria''s movement, increasing the impact on pleasure. "Aaanhh¡­.it feels so good¡­" "Why does it feel so good¡­" Aria mumbled whileying her head on Erix. Erix slid his hands forward and grabbed her plump breasts, his fingers pinching her nipples as she quivered amidst the moderate poundings. While the flesh-hitting flesh sound amidst the cute moans sounded, Aria soon climaxed once again and quivered intensely with euphoria on top of Erix. Erix stopped and put aside her silky blue hair aside before pulling her forward and kissing her. "More?" Erix asked with a grin. "Mhmm," Aria nodded, her waters watery and half-dreamy, lost in pleasure and bliss. "Put your arms around my neck," Erix said after he got up. Aria did as told and twitched slightly during the movement as Erix''s pimping hot cock was still residing in her. Erix got off the bed, and Aria automatically put her legs around his waist while involuntarily moving her hips subtly, causing friction in her pussy and feeling pleasure. "Haha, naughty Aria," Erixughed and grabbed her plump buttocks before he started moving his hips. Her breasts popped upward and reached his face, so Erix helped himself and put one in his mouth, sucking with gusto while moving his hips amidst Aria''s lewd but cute moans of pleasure. "More¡­Fast¡­" "Erix, g-go fast like you do with others¡­" Erix grinned and gradually increased his speed, but after a minute, Aria released her orgasm with a scream, her eyes rolling upward in bliss. Erix also poured his load inside, letting Aria experience the hotpot of euphoria, her mind already in the ninth heaven of pleasure as her body involuntarily trembled. Erix absorbed her vital essence while he used his special skill to turn his semen into energy to buff Aria''s stats, and if not stats, it would invigorate her. "Your vital essence is crazy, haha," Erixughed and kissed her as she squeezed her into his hug. Erix already progressed to 94%, and Aria had barely climaxed just four times! Aria grinned, feeling blissful tingles all over her body and mind due to the connection she was sharing. "Erix, let''s do it until I can''t, okie?" "You bet!" "Aaaaanhhhh!" Erix''s thrust his cock strongly, hitting Aria''s deepest wall as her tongue rolled out and her pussy contracted at the intense jolt of pleasure and arousal. Grabbing her breasts, Erix buried his mouth him them and started sucking while moving his hips at a fast speed, thrusting five times a second. Aria couldn''t even hold for several seconds this time as she climaxed with a scream her arms wrapping Erix tightly and her face on his head. However, Erix didn''t stop! He swiftly absorbed her vital essence and continued moving, making Aria feel crazy doses of euphoria at the quick thrusts while ying with her juicy and plump breasts, increasing her pleasure by a fold. "Aarrh¡­" Erix groaned in pleasure, powerfully thrusting inside as he also couldn''t hold back any longer from the increasing pleasure and poured his load inside. Aria''s grip around his neck weakened as she fell backward, but Erix made sure her legs stuck around his waist using Prana. Looking below, Erix saw Aria''s dripping pussy while his cock tightly rested inside. "You won''t be able to hold any longer, so let''s get on the bed," Erix grinned as he walked towards the bed while massaging her breasts. "Erix, you really like my breasts, eh?" Aria tilted her head slightly forward to look up at Erix. "Hahaha, they are lovely and most tender despite being big," Erixughed, shaking her breasts as they rippled as if thick water within them. "Then y with them," Aria grinned. "They are yours." Erix smiled, his eyes delightful yet lovingly lustful for Aria. He grabbed her waist after standing on the bed and said, "Loosen your legs." Aria did that, but she didn''t fall because she was connected to Erix with a stiff meat rod inside her, and he also grabbed her waist. "It''s time to do it from behind," Erix grinned, and his hands blurred, spinning Aria around before hey on the bed. Grabbing her plump buttcheeks afterward, Erix started moving his hips at a breakneck speed, causing the bed to shake intensely along with Aria as she moaned crazily. After making her climax again, Erixy on her back and kissed her neck while his hands slid under, grabbing her tender melons with wide palms. Suddenly, he thought of something and said, "Aria, there''s something I haven''t tried with others yet because I only discovered I could it after reaching Royal-order." "W-what?" Aria said, the crazy pleasure still whirling in her body and mind as she asionally twitched. "Whatever it is, I-I want it if it''s from you." Erixpletely wrapped his hands around her bust and squeezed her tightly, thrusting his cock at her deepest in the pussy before saying with augh, "Get ready." Aria was wondering what he would, but then she suddenly felt a new kind of pleasure deriving, causing her eyes to roll upward as a muffled moan left her mouth. "T-That¡­" Erix wasn''t even moving, but his meat rod was still giving crazy pleasure to Aria because¡­Erix''s cock was vibrating! "Hahaha," Erixughed and got up, also pulling up Aria before hugging her tender body. "After bing Royal-order, I realized that I can control my body in a micro way¡­I can control certain parts and structures to move them individually, hahaha." Aria gasped and looked up at Erix while she felt his meat rod vibrating inside. "Erix¡­what will happen if you move while it''s vibrating?" "I-I will go crazy¡­" Aria murmured. "And I too," Erix grinned and spread her legs before making her sit on his thighs while his dick raged inside her pussy. "Let''s go crazy." "Ah!" Chapter 293: Source Balanced! Talent Evolution [The talent, Death Bound, has evolved into Undeath Living.] The moment Erix reached 100% progress toward bncing his source, he heard the notification but ignored it as he was focused on another matter at hand. After a total of three hours with Aria in the room, Erix emerged from the room while Ariay on the bed with a peaceful smile, sleepingfortably. ''Undeath Life?'' Erix sat at the table in the central room of the ship and opened the details of this talent, although he could clearly feel the changes in his body. They were massive. He was also suddenly feeling a major boost to his physical power. [Undeath Living] _Unique Talent: Your unique source gives you two states of living, Undeath Living. _Life Heart: Your physical structure is boosted in this state, granting you 50% bonus Strength. Once the Life Heart reaches 0, you will not die. Instead, your Life Heart will turn into the Death Heart. _Death Heart: You will lose flesh and blood, but your Magic stat will get a 50% boost. Once your Death Heart reaches 0, you will die, but if you can absorb enough blood and life-attribute resources, your Death Heart can transform into the Life Heart. ''What the fuck?'' Erix was dumbfounded. No wonder he was feeling more powerful suddenly! ''Wait, one more thing¡­'' Erix also felt some changes in another one of his power sources and quickly checked it. [Vigor Force] _Description: A talent manifested and catalyzed from your pool of potential unlimited stamina and hybrid source. _Effect: Your stamina can turn into Vigor Force, an evolved energy form of Stamina. Vigor Force empowers physical exertions and skills 30% higher than stamina. You can store up to 1000 Vigor Force for now. [Vigor Force can be upgraded. Do you wish to proceed?] Although surprised once again, Erix positively responded with a grin. ''Of course.'' [Vigor Force has evolved into Vigor Core.] Erix felt a strange thump deep within his body and his origin region. [Vigor Core] _Unique Talent: Your unique source allows you to wield life in death, resulting in forming the Vigor Core. _Description: A talent manifested and catalyzed from your pool of potential unlimited stamina and hybrid source. _Effect: Your stamina can turn into Vigor Force at the conversion rate of 1:1. Vigor Force empowers physical exertions and skills 30% higher than stamina. You can store up to 10,000 Vigor Force. ''Cool. No more limitations on this talent,'' Erix smiled. "Erix?" Lilith emerged from the room, but she soon paused and raised her eyebrows, her eyes shining. "Your source¡­" Erixughed and said, "Yep! I am all fixed now and stronger than ever." "Great!" Lilith appeared before Erix in an instant, sitting on hisp while facing him with a wide grin. "We''ll also reach the Pale Hunger Swamp in five minutes." "I''m gonna be sad that we''ll have to separate soon," Lilith pouted. Erix smiled and kissed her before saying, "Then finish your work fast ande to my world as soon as possible." "I will," Lilith grinned. "I''m sure your world is progressing fast now because of Mystic Root''s major influence there as a target. You''ll have to make a solid ce for your group by beating others." Erix grinned with a ferocious light in his eyes. "I am sure there will be many obstacles, but it wouldn''t be fun without them." *Roar!!* "Well, we have one right now, so let''s solve it," Lilith chuckled. The duo vanished as Erix teleported on the ship''s deck. Rin and Lily faced a giant creature, defending themselves and the airship against its massive area and powerful attack that was in the form of a constant ripping beam. "A dragon?" Erix raised his eyebrows. It was a giant dragon with dark blue scales and ck patterns. Sharp talons on its four legs, powerfully broad wings bearing ck ws at its corners, and a thick spiked dark blue tail with ck spikes on the scales. Amu was resting on a chair while watching the battle and drinking juice from its makeshift slime straw. "Can I get some of that dragon blood?" [Eihar Darkburn Dragon] _Level: 276 _Rank: Royal-Order. _Bloodline: Eihar Darkburn _Vitality: [92%/100%] _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 5940 ¡ª> Agility: 4420 ¡ª> Health: 5504 ¡ª> Stamina: 5290 "Good thing its bloodline is not evolved yet, or it would have way higher stats," Lilith chuckled. Erix grinned and flew up, arriving behind Rin and Lily. "How are you faring, my fairdies?" Rinughed, pearly and excited. "This dragon is tough, but that''s good. I have a good surprise for you, Erix." "Yes, she has, but stop this constant attack, Erix. We can''t move for now," Lily wryly smiled. "It also put a Darkness-element debuff on us." The attack was devastating, but it was held off by Rin''s Chronace Field while she constantly attacked to chip it away along with Lily. Erix charged his body, consuming Vigor Force, Spirit energy, and Death Energy in his Sling Shot Punch as a powerful projectile released that cost 2000 Prana of Nihlir energy. The deathly purple punch projectile empowered by Punch and Chaos concepts shot into a wormhole and hit the dragon''s head. *BOOM* The dragon''s Vitality was reduced by 26% at once, shocking Lily and Rin. "Hahaha, my source achieved bnce and turned proper, so I got a couple of big boosts." Rin clicked her tongue and grinned, "Crazy, but I won''t fall behind, darling." The dragon''s attack stopped, so Rin and Lily also unleashed their attacks. Rin released her Unlimited de shes which were perfectly refined and formatted with the rest of her power. As Rin spun, several thousands of shes bombarded the dragon, each applying a ''Severum'' effect on it and causing chaotic explosions that shredded away its barrier and defense that the dragon put up after Erix''s punch attack. s, Rin''s attack ultimately cut off its wing and also gave it severe injuries. Erix was dumbfounded, "You incorporated this skill into yourbat form''s Skillcraft?" "I just managed to do it an hour ago when Lily and I were practicing," Rin grinned, showing a V gesture with her fingers. "Awesome, right?" "Bloody awesome!" Erixughed. *Creeeee!!* Suddenly, they heard a painful screech and saw Lily covering the entire dragon in pristine dark blue icy Popsicle before it shattered into several pieces. Dead. [You have killed Eihar Darkburn Dragon. +48 Strength, +38 Agility, +42 Health.] [You have killed¡­] [You have reached level 201. You have gained 10 stat points.] [You have reached level 201. You¡­] All three of them got the level-up notification, with Lily reaching level 203 while Rin and Erix reaching 201. Chapter 294: Collection Complete, Trouble Brewing on the other Side "Collect its organs, Lily," Lilith arrived and said as she waved her hand and released threads that picked up the broken pieces of the dragon before they fell further. Lily collected everything in a few seconds. "It looks like that''s the region that houses the Pale Hunger Swamp," Rin said as she looked in the direction where the sky was turning darker and thend was all covered in a greenish-ck fog. "Yep. That''s ourst hunting ground, but things have been progressing out of expectations, so let''s find the Death Root, farm monsters to get you more stats, and then we can leave." ¡­ The group returned to the flying ship and continued towards the Pale Hunger Swamp. Since Rin and Erix reached Royal-order, they could once again get stats after killing monsters. The fundamental ceiling of the Royal-order lifeform''s stats was 5000 in each, though it was possible to reach 10k or higher with passive skills and bloodline like Lilith. However, the stats couldn''t justify one''s prowess because of factors like having exotic powerful skills, high-tiered items, and higher mastery in Elements and Concepts that were the main source of power catalysts for their skills. The custom-made armor and weapons that everyone got also gave a major boost to the group. After arriving at the destination, the group leisurely stayed in this dark region of Pale Hunger Swamp while searching for Death Root and killing monsters. The Pale Hunger Swamp was a huge swamp spanning fifty kilometers in diameter. Its depths were connected to a strange dimension that funneled and forced evolved monsters. Death Root was an exotic resource that grew inside the Pale Hunger Swamp. After searching extensively for one whole day, Lilith found two of them, striking it rich. Rin, Erix, and Lily only focused on hunting monsters and oveing Dreadlings¡ªthe special kind of monsters residing in Pale Hunger Swamp. Although they had brushed with deaths many times, with Erix even ''dying'' as he went into reckless mode knowing he wouldn''t die if his Life Heart reached 0. He wanted to try his Death Heart mode, so he went all out recklessly and had a lot of fun at the cost of pain that he didn''t mind. But it was time to return after spending three days there. "I''ll have to cook up the Death Root and ingredients before I can give them to you," Lilith said to Erix. "You two also need to register in your preferred Cosmic Faction to return, so let''s go. It''s time. We''ll finish all the matters in the core region of the Core Domain." ... Earth, Phoenix City, Labyrinth Tower''s base floor¡­ Rin''s father, Kenshin, and her mother, Sameira, faced a rather unpleasant group from the neighboring city''s No. 1 Guild. "Old man. I know you are a martial artist and powerful. You sport a mouring 7th ranked spot in the world leaderboard, and your wife here is just behind you on that." "But¡­you two can''t protect everyone. If you know what''s best for you and your people, don''t protect that Unfettered Fate''s guild master. She killed my brother, and I will not rest until I show her hell." Kenshin felt rage bubbling within him, but he still spoke in a calm tone facing the dark blond-haired middle-aged man. "If you think threats will work, then think again," Kenshin released his breath to calm himself, his face icy. "You may have support from that Vampire n and have an army of a thousand under you, but we are not afraid of wars." Sameira stood beside Kenshin, her voice equally chilly, "I don''t know about others, but you will die at my hands. Your trash brother was a rotten scum, and I am d he died. Now scram. If fighting was allowed in Sanctuary Areas, you would''ve been dead here." "Mordar King is my name!" the man stood up with a furious expression. "And you will hear it every day from now on!" "Let''s go!" The man left with his entourage of seven people, five of them were at the peak of Noble-order rank, level 200, while Mordar King and another one were in the Royal-order. "Kenshin, what''s the n?" Sameira asked after the enemies left. "Cutting ties with Unfettered Fate Guild and Isabe is out of the question, so we can only fight." Kenshin said with a thoughtful expression. "From his threats, it felt like he would put people around the Tower and try to kill members of Unfettered Guild by following them, so we have to be prepared for that." "Be is negotiating with an Elf n that appeared in the Star-Drop forest. She is two hundred kilometers away, but if those bastards find her, she''ll be in trouble," Sameira frowned. "They won''t be able to do anything on such short notice, especially since Isabe recently powered up after entering Royal-order." Kenshin added, "It''s time that we also proceed ahead with that proposal from the Terrapin Beastfolk n. If we can get their aid, we can actively attack them instead of staying passive." "The atrocities of people are increasing everywhere," Sameira clenched her fists. "It looks like we have no choice but to step up harder to maintain order." "Otherwise, those rotten beasts in human skin will only grow more and more evil. Drunk in power in this chaotic world, those scums will continue to be rampant." "Sameira¡­" Kenshin wryly smiled. "This is harder than it sounds, and you know that. For now, let''s focus on solidifying our position here. Who knows what is going on in other parts of this world?" "Yeah, I am getting riled up," Sameira sighed. "But we can''t let them live. We must destroy this growing guild and this bafoon who calls himself Mordar King." "Bafoon he is, but the powers he has and under him are higher than ours overall," Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "We''ll have to act cautiously and prudently because we don''t know what those nutjobs will do with nothing to bind them." "Tell our Elite group to kill anyone who spots their members. Meanwhile, we have to visit the Terrapin n. Let''s go." Chapter 295: Joining the Faction, Blessed Island The group arrived in the central region of Core Domain after seven hours of full-speed travel in the Airship. The central region had branches of Cosmic Factions, and all other big guilds and organizations. Lilith had enemies there, but her enemies didn''t know she had returned for revenge. "We''ll first book a private cottage at one of the resorts on Paradise Mountains. That''s where people with money stay during their business days here." "Afterward, we''ll visit your infamous cosmic faction, Unbound Star," Lilith smiled. Everyone was on the deck as they listened to Lilith informing them about the most important region of the Kanx Abyss while traveling at moderate speed to look at the various areas in the region. After ten minutes, the Airship arrived at Paradise Mountains. The whole mountain range was like a nket of mountains filled with exotic wooden, crystal, and metal structures, each mountain having its unique aesthetic designs on structures. Some had ambient atmosphere and biome, some were gritty and gloomy, while some had hellish inferno biome-rted structures. Each mountain essentially had a mountain town, but for all for business, entertainment, and mainly temporary residency exotic natures due to myriad Races in the Abyss. "The best one is that Heavenly Cloud Town. We''ll stay at a resort''s private cottage there." The Heavenly Cloud town had aesthetic exotic wooden structures and a beneficial environment for one to practice and meditate for improvement at various facilities. This town was in the range of five top-tier towns among the other thirty Mountain Towns. After arriving there and booking a cottage, Lilith took the group to the Unbound Star cosmic faction. Each cosmic faction was in a private territory with a different form of outer-structure. For example, The Gctic Knight cosmic faction had a pce, while the Unbound Star cosmic faction had a big mansion. However, each cosmic faction had advanced teleport formations and a gateway to their hub territory where members of the rest of the cosmic faction''s branches interacted. When Erix and others arrived at the Unbound Star''s mansion, it was full of peaceful noise¡ªbirds chirping and wind rustling. But nothing other than that. "Wow, this is really as dead as everyone said," Erixughed. "Let''s knock on that gate. We might see someone," Rin wryly smiled as the group soon arrived before the mansion''s outer gate. Rin was about to knock on the metal gate before it suddenly opened and weed everyone into the outer garden of the mansion. "Wee," Tenebria''s avatar smiled as she stood there, her long exquisite ck hair flowing, and her outfit was the usual ckyered dress with dark blue and dark orange embroidery design, sleek and faintly shining. "There are a few people inside, but they are also just avatars. Be at east with your usual self here. Come." The group followed Tenebria inside, and entered the mansion, which turned out to be bigger than what it seemed from outside. The space was expanded within, making Erix raise an eyebrow as he could feel and see the structure due to his 3rd realm Space affinity. "Let''s register you first," Tenebria said and turned to the group after arriving before a central desk in the first hall. She turned to Aria and others before smiling, "If any of you are interested, I''ll make you members too. The more the merrier for us." "I want to join!" Aria said as she raised her hand while grinning. "Yes. We will also join," Lilith smiled. "It''s better to stay under one faction, and I believe we can make do with your infamous Spiritual Art." Tenebria wryly smiled and nodded, "I am d to hear that." "Erix, Rin. Put your thumbs on it, drop your blood, and a bit of your spirit energy." Tenebria guided them to register on a stone te. After they were done, a strange mark appeared on their wrists. "Focus on the mark, and it will give you your status regarding the cosmic faction." [Erix] _Faction Credits: 100 _Member Rank: Newbie. ¡ª> Newbie: ess to D-rank field missions. _Leaderboard(s) rank: ¡ª ¡ª> Faction: ¡ª ¡ª> Cosmos: ¡ª "You can raise your member rank for better and more perks by spending Faction Credits. To earn faction credits, you canplete field missions." "These missions are all helpful to members and the internal market to keep up thepetition, resource economy, and most importantly," Tenebria smiled. "To squash the expanding dangers at various parts of the cosmos and progressing worlds." "But you will have to break out of Mystic Root''s influence to enter the true world of cosmic faction and Grand Primal Cosmos." Everyone listened a bit more as Tenebria exined the role and benefits of Cosmic Factions. "Lastly, we have a shop chamber and exclusive facilities where you can spend your faction points, but you need to increase your rank from Newbie to Journeyman to unlock facilities." "Earn 10,000 faction points doing field missions and spend them to get that rank, but you don''t need to be in a hurry for that." Tenebria then registered others as members of the faction as well. "Is this faction really this empty?" Rin asked as she looked around in the hall, but found no one since the past twenty minutes here. "Well, we do have members, and you''ll see them when you enter the pocket dimension of our faction, our hub, but the number is still the lowest among other cosmic factions." Erix nodded and asked, "What about the 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered?" "That''s something you will get once you reach Empyrean-order," Tenebria smiled. "For now, you should focus on solidifying your foundations and skills." "You two have a slightly imbnced progress because of your fast progression in various areas," Tenebria rubbed her chin. "There''s a solid eventing in five days, with the reward being a Blessed Ind." "You two have a chance to win this simple event with a great reward. If you return to your world with a Blessed Ind, you''ll have a solid base for your guild." "Blessed Ind?" Aria''s eyes curiously shone. "It sounds good." Tenebria smiled, "Well, your current prowess is not enough to win this event, so spend the next five days refining your skills and advancing their formations to evolve the skills to Tier-5." "Yeah, we have to do that," Rin grinned. "Don''t forget to use your ss skill creation attempts. Using them will save you time because these attempts happen in a mysterious private realm created by Mystic Root individually." Tenebria sharply smiled. "Five days. Give it your all and improve yourbat prowess if you want that Blessed Ind." ¡­ The group returned to the resort cottage afterward. "Let''s quickly use our Limitless ne session since the day is going to end in two hours," Erix wryly smiled. Time passed quickly, and they hadn''t entered the Limitless ne on their way here, so time was tight. "Lily and Aria can use the Virtual Training facility here to create skills. Come, I''ll join you and help," Lilith smiled. "I also need to improve myself." "We''ll join you once we finish our session," Erix nodded. "What do I do?" Maleina asked. "You should also join us in the training," Lilith thoughtfully said. "It wouldn''t help if you are weak after all. Come." ¡­ Rin and Erix sat in meditation, entering Limitless ne while the others used the Virtual Training Facility present in this highest-tier cottage. "Erix, where do we start?" Rin asked as she and Erix floated in the sky, overlooking the vast expanse of oceans and inds. "Hmm, let''s start by perfecting that 3rd release of Destruction and end the session finishing mastering 4th release," Erix said. "And then we will incorporate this Four Release of Destruction technique into our own Combat forms?" Rin smiled. "Great." "Mhmm, we''ve seen examples of how broad and entric Tier-5 skills can be, so let''s upgrade our skills to that level." The duo started training and practicing regarding this unique skill-set called Four Release of Destruction, a Battlecraft Art Rune that Erix got from Howling Tombs. First Release: Celestial Spiral Wave. Second Release: Harrowing Spirit Crush. Third Release: ck Point Serenade. Fourth Release: Ruined Arcane Lance. It was said that executing these four releases in sequence would release a unique destructive attack in the 4th release. The sequences could be changed to disy four different final destructive attacks. Although Rin and Erix were not interested in that, they still wanted to see how it all worked and learn about it to use it in their own way. The duo had enough power sources like Elements, Concepts, and other things like Talent, ss''s source, but as they ascended to Royal-order, they had to improve their skills. Using Tier-3 equivalent skills would be less impactful in high-tierbat of Royal-order, which they would experience in the uing event. The cosmic faction members and other talented and powerful individuals would also participate in this event due to the juicy reward¡ªa Blessed Ind. A Blessed Ind was something that could be upgraded, shaped, and evolved at massive consumption of resources, but the benefits it gave were immense as well. It could be a powerful base for a guild, capable of traveling since it was a floating ind. It could also house different biomes and regions, tailoring it for different powers. Adding sources and upgrading the ind would also allow to grow natural resources, making elemental zones, and much more at higher levels. However, each Blessed Ind had something called Blessed Core. This core was the most important thing on a Blessed Ind. Once destroyed, it would make everything on the ind cease to function, including its various benefits, and break down the ind within an hour. But the aid it provided was nothing to scoff at, which was why everyone, including top forces,peted for events that rewarded a Blessed Ind. Chapter 296: Virtual Field, Five Days (1/2) The next five days would turn out to be very quiet and uberly efficient for everyone. Their full focus was on creating skills and increasing theirbat prowess. Unless anyone exhausted enough to require sleep, the practice would go on. The Virtual Field was a mini-dimension for people to practice with a Rule power. Rule powers were higher forms of powers that couldn''t be negated normally. In a progressive sense, a Rule Power was a branched form of a Concept power at a higher level, but not anyone couldprehend and derive it unless one explored the next level of one''s Spirit power and Soul power. Generally, only Reverend-order or higher could create a Rule power. The Rule power in Heavenly Cloud Town''s Virtual Field was [Hyper Recovery Rule], which meant that all people inside would get their injuries recovered at 1000% of their original factors, be it healing skills, or natural self-healing factors rted to Bloodlines or sses. It was a perfect ce for unrestrained sparring sessions and¡­ heaven for Rin and Erix, who were utterly absorbed and focused on creating skills. They also wanted to manifest and awaken their Domains, but five days were too short for that, so they didn''t focus on that. Erix reached level 3 in his ss due to farming monsters in Pale Hunger Swamp for five days, each level up gave him 4 skill creation attempts since he directly got X rank ss. [Death Reaper] _Rank: X _Level: 4 [ 117 / 8000 Royal-order cores. ] _Death Energy: [ 14,000 / 14,000 ] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: Undead Scythe, Dead Doll. ¡ª> Passive skill: Dead Sea. _ss Domain: ¡ª> Death Domain: Undeveloped. _Skill creation chances: 16 On the other hand, Rin had more skill-creation attempts than Erix since her ss was lower-ranked and easier to level up. [Razing de Serenader] _ss rank: SSS _Level: 9 [ 18 / 5000 Royal-order cores ] _de Ki: [10,000 / 10,000 ] _ss Tree: ¡ª> Active skills: de Tune, Ruined de Piece. ¡ª> Passive skills: de Eater. _ss Domain: ¡ª> de Domain: Undeveloped. _Skill Creations chances: 28. The skill creation chances were tons, but it was unwise to use all of them at once, in one sitting. Moreover, one couldn''t have unlimited ss skills since a ss source was a boon given to people under the influence of Mystic Root and had limited slots in the ss''s Skill Tree. This boon was exclusive to worlds Mystic Root suddenly and brutally pushed into the evolution and path to power. This was also why people had to kill living beings to gather Mystic Essence at first and then also kill other lifeforms ording to ''tasks'' to awaken their ss. So, not everyone in Grand Primal Cosmic had a ss because it wasn''t required for developed worlds that had essed Grand Primal Cosmos, unlike Earthlings, who hadn''t even exploreds in their Sr System. Rin and Erix were prime examples of powerhouses not relying on ss powers because they were talented and swiftly improved in the main path of power, much like the rest of the Grand Primal Cosmos. Lilith was the same, and due to Aria''s circumstances regarding her path of power, she was also removed from Mystic Root''s influence. Neither of them had sses. Lilith had one before, but it was removed. However, it didn''t mean ss sources werepletely useless after exiting Mystic Root''s influence. After all, the knowledge of skills they learned and created using Skill Creations chances would remain. For Rin and Erix, creating ss skills using those chances was nothing more than absorbing its benefits and ultimately improving and creating their own skills based on knowledge and inspiration. The duo had tons of Skill-creations chances that they nned to use on the 5th day to create ss skills. But the number of skills one could ''Slot'' in their ss tree was limited as mentioned. The higher the grade of the ss, the more slots one could have. S-rank and below had 6 skill slots total. SS-rank ss¡ª7 skill slots. SSS-rank ss¡ª8 skill slots. X-rank ss¡ª10 skill slots. EX-rank ss¡ª2nd domain slot. Although the number of skills slotting in one''s ss Tree was limited due to the ss tree only supporting skills ording to one''s ss Source, the skill-creation attempts could be used to improve/modify their existing skills as well. Rin and Erix solidified their knowledge regarding Advanced Magic Formations that Tier-5 skills used in the first four days, and created skills by constantly practicing and sparring against each other and other people in the Virtual Field. Theypletely overhauled their Combat Arts and created new Skillcrafts. Naturally, they also derived swift and normal skill-techniques that could be used without using their exotic Combat Arts. [A/N: I''ll gradually reveal their newly created main skills,bat arts, and Skillcrafts by showing them during real battles and situations. Look forward to them :D ] ¡­ Today was the 5th and final day, but Rin and Erix were still in the Virtual Field with Lilith, Aria, Lily, Maleina, and Amu. Aria also explosively improved in the past four days, shaping her powers into powerful skills that increased herbat power significantly. She was more like a Combat-Summoner due to her affinity with the Animus element, using this element''s power in tandem with other elements in every single one of her skills. "Alright, Rin and I are going to enter our daily Limitless ne session," Erix said. "We''ll just sit here instead of returning." The Virtual Field was a pocket dimension with various floating inds and different biomes. Erix and the group were on one of the bigger floating inds, which had three different biomes¡ªan icy area, avatic area, and thest area raging with exotic winds. In the center of this ind was a spot where all three biomes''s influence converged, creating a chaotic ce¡ªthe ce where Erix and others practiced and trained. "Go ahead. I''ll look out for you," Amu said with a nod. Lilith also created a barrier around Rin and Erix as they sat on a weird ck tree''s branch with orange and green patterns. Now that Lilith, Lily, and Aria also had the Way of Unfettered spiritual art, they could enter the Limitless ne together. Maleina was already part of another Cosmic Faction but wasn''t involved much in that except when she had to get to the next stage of her Spiritual Art. Unlike the Way of Unfettered, she had a Spiritual Art that boosted her proficiency in me powers, giving her exotic me powers and energy paths, which was also why she was talented in brewing potions and was progressing swiftly recently since Lilith told her to focus on it. Her Cosmic Faction''s branch wasn''t even in this Abyss, but she would be able to return to her world or follow Lilith to Earth to join Rin and Erix after ascending to Empyrean-order. The decision was up to her, though she had already decided her option. ¡­ Rin and Erix spent one and a half hours focusing on gleaning the evolution of their Chaos concept. They were stuck in 1st realm of the Chaos concept for long enough, and it was time they made a breakthrough. At least, they hoped to make a breakthrough. The Limitless ne created things ording to their imagination, and so, the duo brought utter chaos to the vast surroundings ording to the proficiency of their different applications of the Chaos concept. The reason they chose to reside in this particr chaotic ce in the Virtual Field was also due to them wanting to progress in their Chaos concept in the hope of getting some inspiration while training and sparring here. Chapter 297: Skill Creation Chances, Five Days (2/2) Opening their eyes amidst the chaotic atmosphere with mixed energy motes and biome of Wind, Ice, and me, the duo felt slightly frustrated. Even using the Limitless ne, the duo failed to glean the next step of their Chaos Concept, ending their session in disappointment. "Gah, this is hard," Rin stood up as she looked at the chaotic scenery. "Chaos¡­" Erix muttered and weakly smiled, "Well, this concept is one of the high-end concepts. Lilith said it would be hard to progress in this one, and it''s showing." "True," Rin sighed and sat beside Erix again, "Forget it. Let''s begin our today''s main dish." "Yeah, I am excited about it," Erix said with augh. "Let''s start." Both of them closed their eyes once again and finally used their first-ever skill-creation attempt. A secondter, they felt their consciousness drifting away as both arrived at different mystic realms, exclusively created by Mystic Root. Erix arrived in a realm of death. Everything was ck and filled with death. It seemed as if Life had no ce or purpose here. Death bloomed at every corner of this world, in the form of strange deathly creatures, exotic skeletons, ghosts, wraiths, cursed creatures, deathly ntations, geography, and structure. Everything was made up of Death, Prana, Spirit, and Soul in their foundation. Erix floated in the sky as he observed the oundishness of this realm while a monotonic voice rang his mind with information. [You have used a Skill Creation chance. You have 10 hours in this ce. 10 hours here is equivalent to 1 minute outside.] [Any creature you kill or interact with here will show you a hallucination that has a chance to inspire you.] [You can only wield Death, Prana, Spirit, and Soul energy here to create a skill.] [Once you create a skill, you can register it and immediately exit from this realm. You can also spend theplete 10 hours by not registering a skill until thest minute and continue gleaning more inspiration.] [You will also automatically exit if you die.] [Good luck and all the best.] *Whistle¡­* Erix whistled in amazement as he looked around and heard the voice exining to him about this skill-creation attempt realm. *Roar!* Erix turned around as a grin spread across his face upon seeing the iing Bone Wyvern with pristine-ck bones, shining with gray patterns. "Let''s begin." ¡­ On the other hand, Rin arrived in a world of des. But this didn''t mean that everything was des here. Instead, there were unique creatures here that made Rin dumbfounded. Every creature, including the strange humanoid ones with a single eye, had one thing inmon. de. Every single thing here had a form of de in them, naturally, and biologically. de energy was abundant and everywhere, in everything, along with Prana, Spirit, and Soul. "Damn..." Rin''s horizons werepletely broadened as she observed this weird yet wonderful realm consisting of myriad types of des. "So that''s how it is, huh¡­" Rin grinned as the monotone voice in her head stopped after wishing her good luck. Without further ado, Rin flew towards a bunch of two-meter tall humanoids of rocky and metallic bodies with a single eye and swords instead of hands fighting each other. Rin joined the fray with a flurry of her des, killing them as she started getting inspiration in the form of information regarding the way de powers these creatures wielded. The duo began and intended to make full use of the skill-creation chances. ¡­ Earth, Phoenix City¡­ Isabe wore a ckbat robe with blue and gold patterns and held a scepter in her hand with a crystal orb attached on top of it, whirling with four colorful energy indicating Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. In the Unfettered Guild''s hall, she faced ten core members of guilds, her face tired and angry. "What do we do, leader? T-They killed Taro-chan and her party," a middle-aged woman spoke while suppressing her sobs. "The Heavenly Melody Guild''s members arrived and killed them, but something is wrong with those bastards. Why are they attacking without caring about their lives?" Alfred said with a deep frown on his face. "Their state of mind felt weird." Alfred was a middle-aged man, one of the early members of the guild that Erix recruited along with Leon and Zoe, who were a father-daughter duo, and Alfred was their long-time butler. "One more thing. Since six of our members were killed, ten people left today just before you arrived," Zoe said with clenched fists, clearly angry. "We helped and supported them, but when trouble came upon us, they ran with tails between their legs." Zoe cursed under her breath, feeling angry because she particrly helped one of them, a girl of her age, and thought she had be friends, but she ran away without telling Zoe anything. "More might leave if this continued," Leon sighed. "I¡­I can''t me them," Isabe sighed and clenched her fists, "The Rowin Elf n finally agreed to help us in exchange for helping them gather resources in a secret realmter. They will be arriving here soon." After saying that, Isabe took out ten pills and waved her hand, giving one to each one, "This pill will boost your Spirit stat permanently by 100 to 200. I got this from the Elf n, as creating this pill is their specialty." Everyone was surprised. "This pill can only work once, but this will boost our powers, and I want each of you in other parties of the guild because you are the strongest we have." "Eat it now and sit in meditation to absorb the pill''s power properly," Isabe said. "Kenshin and Sameira also told me they woulde here after half an hour, so after you finish absorbing the pill''s power, call and gather every member in the central hall." "Alright." Everyone nodded. Isabe looked at them and flew outside before entering the Tree mansion at the back of the guild''s territory. She entered one of the rooms on the top branch''s floor and saw Aaron in meditation. Aaron, Isabe released a soft sigh, her faceced with worry. ''Rin, Erix¡­I hope you two can return soon.'' Isabe was recently feeling a bad omen gnawing at her. Moreover, she recently heard of a few people returning from an Abyss, so she hoped Rin and Erix would also return soon. Chapter 298: Event: Mayhem of the Ancients Ultimately, Rin and Erix used ten skill creation chances and created ten ss skills. Erix created three active skills and seven passive skills. As they were ss-skills, all of them were of Death-attributed. Rin created four active skills and six passive skills. Her de Ki was not an element, but a conceptual energy, so her skills were attribute-less fundamentally, though they could gain attributes from her affinity elements when she executed them. Only ten minutes passed outside, but since they spent 100 hours total in those ten minutes, and that too with full focus, they had no choice but to take a good rest. After sleeping for five hours, the duo joined in training with Aria and others for a while before they also took a rest when only five hours were left till the Event began. The whole central region was more lively because of this single event and the number of participants was more than a whooping ten thousand plus. Participants gathered towards Moon me meadow, where the event''s giant entry portal was located. "Damn, so many people," Erix clicked his tongue seeing the huge crowd in the meadow. "It''s a Blessed Ind at the stack, and the participants are fixed at Royal-order rank, so everyone wants to have a chance," Lilith wryly smiled. "Doesn''t matter how many are there," Rin grinned. "The winners will be us." "Hahaha, that''s for sure," Erixughed, a ferocious glint passing through his eyes. "I am internally shaking because I can''t wait to throw everything I''ve learned and created against them." "Me too," Aria excitedly said, her tiny white fists clenched. "It''s my first time participating in an event, hehe. Let''s win." The group floated in the sky like many others after Lilith put away the Airship, waiting for the countdown to hit 0 in five minutes. "It seems that we already attracted some attention," Lily said as she nced around. "It''s those guys," Rin nodded as she noticed and felt gazes on them. The people who came to recruit Rin and Erix were also in this huge crowd on the ground and the sky. "This Event does not have the permanent death penalty, so people are not afraid to participate," Lilith said. "But most of them will be eliminated early en mass. Big events like this have brutal 1st rounds to reduce numbers." Amu floated and looked around with an amusing expression, "I''ve scanned people who felt special to me. This won''t end without a solidpetition." "Of course," Erix grinned. "The more challenging it is, the better." Five minutes passed in blink of an eye, and the giant fifty-meter portal removed its veil around for people to enter. Another countdown of five minutes appeared, but it was the time limit for people to enter. People gushed forth into the portal as soon as it opened, vanishing quickly into the avenue of the Event. "All the best," Lilith said with a big grin. "Get that Blessed Ind and show this Abyss that you are the real stars here." "You got this," Lily grinned. Rin, Erix, and Aria flew towards the portal and vanished. ¡­ All participants arrived on a huge floating ind with nothing but darkness around it. The notification and panel of the Event appeared in their minds, informing them of the 1st round of the event. [Event: Mayhem of the Ancients] [Round 1: Dance of the Ancients] _Rules: ¡ª> Survive the onught of wills on the ind for ten minutes, without using any kind of energy and without moving a single step. Instantly, everyone''s feet were locked on the ground, but if they decided to move, they felt they could move. But moving meant disqualification. "I wonder what will happen?" Aria asked in anticipation, her eyes eagerly shining. "Probably some willpower-rted stuff," Erixmented as he saw the countdown of ten seconds. "It''s going to begin soon." Ten seconds passed quickly, and the wholly ck sky suddenly changed, manifesting colorful waves that soon took shapes of exotic beasts and humanoids. They started dancing and spread mysterious musical waves. Soon, everyone felt a powerful pressure on them, as if someone was blocking their breathing and vitality, giving them suffocating pressure. Instantly, a few lights shot up, indicating the disqualification of a few people who either moved or mistakenly used some sort of energy. Meanwhile, everyone started hallucinating, and their visions blurred without control. This caused a few more to be disqualified as they used their spirit energy. "Don''t defend," Erix said, his eyes showing various visions. "Just surrender yourself to whatever that''sing and then fight it with your mind, your will." Aria nodded, already seeing within an illusion as she felt the pressure on her will. As time passed, the pressure on each individual started increasing. It affected their mind and physical body. Two minutester, a few hundred people directly got disqualified because, on top of the pressure, the pain started attacking them in their minds and bodies. ''Seven minutes more?'' Erix was speechless. ''I guess this is a torture session to see who can endure.'' ''Heh, bring it on.'' Indeed. The pain and pressure in their mind and body increased every second gradually, while nobody could sense or see anything real. All of them were drowned in some fantasy world where those mysterious beasts and humanoids danced while raining torture on them. Jump scares becamemon, but these jump scares from those dancing mystics brought pain as well. When two minutes were left, several thousand had already been kicked out. Afterward, more and more people were getting kicked out every few seconds. Some had struggling expressions and body shaking as they continued to endure while some were trying to remain indifferent and endure the torture. But a small portion of people were truly indifferent and leisurely taking on everything. Erix, Rin, and¡­even Aria was one of them. Aria''s mental fortitude was unsurprisingly solid. The pain wasn''t unfamiliar to her, not when she had been hurt into her soul and spirit at a very young age and still lived. Rin and Erix were even raring to fight against these so-called ancient dances, but using energies wasn''t allowed, so they just endured the torture without batting an eye. Only a roughly thousand people remained at thest minute, and when the round finally ended, that number reduced to four hundred thirty-six. Thest minute proved brutal, eliminating those who were hanging by till the end. [Congrattions. You all have passed the first round.] [The second round will begin in ten minutes. Read the information and rules.] Chapter 299: Breezing Through the Round [Round 2: Wrath of the Ancients] _Rules: ¡ª> Each individual will fight five enemies one after another once the round starts. ¡ª> Each enemy you face and defeat will pass one of its effective skills onto the next one. The countdown was ten minutes, and people who came in groups like Erix, Rin, and Aria discussed while waiting. "Effective skills? Does that mean that a skill that is effective against us?" Rin crossed her arms, her expression thoughtful. "That seems the case," Erix nodded. "Hmm, but what if we defeat our target before it can do anything to us?" Aria asked as she tilted her head. Rin couldn''t help but chuckle while Erixughed and pinched Aria''s cheeks, "That''s the n." "Tehehe, I am learning your ways," Aria giggled with a merry expression. "Wait, wait¡­was that natural tee hee?" Rin was dumbfounded. "Sure it was, haha," Erixughed. "What?" Aria was confused. "Eh, it''s an expression, I guess?" Rin exined. "Some people back in our world use Tee hee to sound cute, but it''s cringe most of the time." "Cringe? What does that mean?" Aria curiously asked. "Hmmm, something that makes you awkward when you see it." "Oh¡­" Aria nodded, thoughtful. "Then I think it''s based on individuals, right?" "Yeah, some might feel cringe and some not at the same thing," Erix nodded and nced at some people. "Anyway, those people of the cosmic faction that came to invite us also passed." "That guy seems to have a beef with us or what?" Rin raised her eyebrows as she noticed Addler looking at them often. Erix shrugged. "Doesn''t matter." "True." The countdown soon reached 0, and everyone vanished from the ind, arriving in an individual confined arena made of stones and surrounded by white clouds. [First opponent: Trexer Fourarms] [Note: Exiting from the arena''s border will result in defeat.] Erix saw a three-meter tall humanoid with four arms appearing a hundred meters away from him in this one-kilometer-long and wide square Arena tform. [10] [9] .. Erix saw the countdown and inspected the opponent. ''Nihilir: Dismantle Enchant + Chaos Call on Iron Deathly Maw should do the work.'' [Nihilir: Dismantle Enchant] _Type: active-buff skill. _Effect: Enchant another skill and give it the Dismantle aspect of Nihilir. ¡ª> Dismantle: An aspect of Nihilir focused on pure offense, capable of breaking down anything withbined effects brought out from ''Decay of Death'', ''Invasive Pration of Space'', and ''Burning Destruction of me'' [Chaos Call] _Type: active-buff skill. _Effect: A skill to induce chaos using the Chaos concept within a skill''s formation structure to cause a reactive, chaotic explosion. Applies effects of Chaos concept. [Deathly Maw] _Type: active skill. _Effect: conjures a deathly skull that deals damage ording to your Magic power. _Cost: Death energy and Prana of any amount controble by you. Erix could turn this Deathly Maw into an Iron Deathly Maw by coating its structure with his unique Tier-5.5 Metal: zetide Iron, for maximum damage. He had already created a Rune for his Metal enchants that he could modify to give his skills a buff of his Metal''s property and conductivity for skill execution and elements, and then use it for more damage. Naturally, that was not all because Erix also had passive skills that boosted his damage. The ones working for this attack were two. [Death Devour] _Type: Passive skill. _Effect: If your Death-attributed skills strike your opponent, you will actively produce death power by shaving away the ''Living vitality'' of your opponent to umte Death Devour, boosting your Death-attributed damage by 10%. [Death Boost] _Type: Passive skill. _Effect: Using your Death-attributed skills reduces your vitality by 5%, but boosts the skill''s damage by 10%. This boost increases to 30% If you are in Death Heart mode. When the ten-second countdown finished, the Trexer Fourarms roared and instantly pointed its four arms at Erix. s¡­ A giant ck skull with dark blue patterns manifested above it, with the skull''s teeth shining deathly hazy purple of Dismantle Enchant. It took a bite before Trexer Fourarms could do anything, devouring half of its body and cutting it into two before the skull exploded into a burst of chaotic and destructive explosion, instantly destroying its upper half. The lower-half body vanished following that, making Erix grin. ''Chaos Call is working well.'' Chaos Call was the end game of a skill''s execution. He could explode anything and apply the chaos concept''s power to directly increase the damage by 50% + reactive damage depending on the energies used on the skill''s structure. As for how that skull suddenly appeared behind Trexer Fourarms¡­it was simple. Erix had achieved 3rd realm of Space Affinity, and thanks to that, he had certain control of space around him. Just with a thought and a bit of consumption of Prana, he could manifest his skills anywhere within his effective range that depended on his Spirit stat->Spiritual Mystic Eye''s range. ¡­ On the other hand, Rin waited for her 2nd opponent as stood calmly with her hands holding her de Eater''s Katana in a new form of that custom-made weapon while holding Raibor Power Slime in the shape of a spear in her other hand. There was a mysterious Ring around her that looked still, but it was in the maximum motion of light, giving a neon colorful hue mix of dark red, dark blue, and golden. But this ring was an amalgamation of her shes spinning around her. She achieved this by creating a time-loop around her, and with Chronace element''s powers that could physically bend the flow of time and speed with wind and lighting aspects. Rin created this infinite loop ring consisting of her shes that spun at light speed, gaining immensely powerful momentum and power that regarded no defense before her, especially with the ''Severum'' effect of her de concept. Her second opponent arrived. Rin inspected it and just waited for the ten-second countdown before both her weapons shone and her eyes shed. Instantly, a single piercing sh akin to an arrow shot from the Infinite sh Loop around her, but when it reached the enemy in an instant, it turned into a cross-sh, cutting it into four cleanly and killing it. Her attack took less than a second from start to finish the enemy. Rin was dazed in glee. ''Why is this so powerful?'' [Infinite sh Loop] _Effect: Chronace element''s Dissolution flow that loops ultra-dense de shes in a perfect light-speed motion to generate various types of attack ording to your control. Of course, her passive skills also boosted the damage. Chapter 300: Surprising Result, Round 3 [de Rhythm: Symphony ] _Type: ss-skill/passive. _Effect: All of your shes in projectile form gain more power as they move near each other and refine each other''s power. ¡ª> Damage +20% on your de attacks. [de Rhythm: Edgeburst.] _Type: ss-skill/passive. _Effect: The faster your de projectiles, the more prative and condensed they would be, increasing damage up to 30%. The de Rhythm: Edgeburst, especially worked in every single one of her attacks. Her next opponent soon arrived, but this time, Rin used Infinite sh Loop as a support skill. Rin''s hands slightly blurred again, but this time¡­two vertical shes two meters long manifested before her. These two shes actually had thousands of tiny des in them! Pausing time for these two shes with her Time element, the shes stayed still in the air while Rin created an Infinite sh Loop around them. These two shes were no simple shes. Instead, they were Rin''s ss skill: Twin Dial shes. Moreover, two buffs of her ss''s passive skill boosted this active skill. [Twin Dial shes] _Type: ss-skill. _Effect: Condense two shes with tiny des rhythmically flowing with them. _Cost: de Ki and Prana. It was hard to create this skill because of its simple yet highlyplex structure that housed thousands of tiny des within two shes, and she had to make sure they flowed rhythmically inside to prevent projectile breakdown. Unlike Erix, Rin''s build was fully focused and revolved around one thing: de. Her attacks were straightforward, but she had created some shy skills as well that still had the essence of the de to grant them effects of her de concept. [~Rin~] _Race: Human _Bloodline: Ourous Scion (Legendary-2) _Level: 201 _Rank: Royal-Order. _ss: Razing de Serenader (SSS) _Vitality: [100%/100%] _Stat points: 210 unassigned. ¡ª> [ Strength: 1000 (+300) + 350 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 1000 (+300) + 800 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 1000 (+300) ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 1387 / Spirit Force: 13,870 / 13,870 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-S / Magic power: 1500 (+300) / Prana: 10,000/10,000 (+3000) ] _Talent (1/3): Stormshock Chart. -> Lightning element -- 3rd realm Delta -- Lightning Pool. -> Wind element -- 2nd realm Sigma -- Windborne. -> Time element -- 2nd realm Sigma -- Temporal Scribe. -> Chronace element -- Super Exotic Element -- 2nd realm Sigma. -> 1st realm attribute-concept: Crimson Onyxbolt. -> 2nd realm de concept -- Severing de. -> 1st realm Chaos concept. Rin had four elements, but the fourth was abination of the upper three, so she didn''t actively have to turn her Prana into those elements. She only had to use the Chronace element when it came to fights. Furthermore, as long as her attacks met conditions, her concept powers'' effects would buff her attacks as well. Just like Erix, she had also created a buff skill like Chaos Call, but hers was a bit different, and she named it Chaos Flow. Erix could go on full-chaos mode because of his multiple energies to get more reactive damage, but Rin had Chronace Flow as her mainstream energy, so she used the Chaos concept differently. She could flow her chaos concept and keep it chaotically flowing to a certain degree. She had to do it this way to get more potential out of the Chaos concept, just like how Erix used the Chaos concept in his way to get its full potential. The two vertical shes with the ring flowing around them shot towards the 3rd opponent that arrived. It was a ten-meter-tall giant with two heads and holding two curved des. The Twin Dial sh surrounded by the Infinite sh Loop shot forward and in the blink of an eye, struck the giant''s chest. When it struck, those two shes instantly expanded, releasing the thousands of des from inside that chaotic flow, while the Inifnite de Loop also dissolved into a chaotic flow, carrying those thousands of des that pierced and shed into every corner of the monster while individually exploding. The result? Instant, chaotic, andprehensive death. ¡­ The 2nd round finished, but surprisingly, only 19 people were eliminated. "It looks like the remaining people are not bad," Erixmented upon sensing the number of participants. "The third round sounds good. It will eliminate many," Rin said as she looked at the rules. [Round 3: Feast of the Ancients] _Rules: ¡ª> Everyone will be transported to a battlefield of abundance monsters. ¡ª> The participants won''t be able to hurt each other, butpetition between them must remain fierce because the first 100 people to have killed 10,000 monsters will pass the round. "I''ll summon a lot of Animated Spirits for this," Aria grinned. "We just have to kill faster and prevent others from killing." "Yep." The third round started, and everyone arrived on a giant and vast floating ind at random ces. [Leaving the ind will result in disqualification.] [The new batch of monsters will spawn every 10 seconds.] After ten seconds of countdown that everyone saw in the sky, the monsters of varying sizes suddenly spawned at once. From strange floating rock monsters to beastly monsters to nt-type monsters¡­exotic types of monsters spawned, and the mayhem began. Rin adopted a simple way as she had a couple of perfect skills to kill faster and more. [Chaotic Field: de Storm] _Effect: Creates a spherical field of Chronace Flow that perpetually produces des with the formation that chaotically flows around you. Anything within Rin''s ten meters instantly gets shredded by chaotic des that would actively leave the field and attack. In case some tough monsters entered the field, they would get obliterated. However, Rin didn''t even stop and flew at lightning speed while leaving shards of tiny des behind stuck in Time. [Chaotic Trap des] _Effect: Chronace des made up of passive chaos flows within them, but are paused by Time until they are triggered. This was essentially a trap skill, but a constant. At the cost of Prana, and if she wanted to buff attacks, then also Spirit energy, Rin could nket whatever area she moved through with Chaotic Trap des. Flying at full speed with her [Chaotic Field: de storm] andying Chaotic Trap des behind, no monster survived. People around were dumbfounded watching her stealing and killing at lightning speed. Some resorted torge-area skills, but the monsters were not bs of butter. The fullrge area skills consumed more energy and dealt less damage, so monsters could survive such attacks while people would lose energies faster. On the other hand, Erix rained down punches and took out his big gun skill for quick and mass killings. [Punch Factory] Chapter 301: Crazy Plan [Punch Factory] _Effect: A pair of gauntlets in direct control that can transform into exotic metals in your arsenal. The Gauntlets unleashes Punch projectiles ording to the metal exertion put on the controls of the Gauntlets. Erix had five Gauntlets around him as he flew, all of them moving with his control, releasing punch projectiles of various Punch-type skills. These Gauntlets hadplex magic formations that he and Rin had learned from Advanced Magic Formations present in many Tier-5 skills or other special skills like Four Release of Destruction. The Gauntlets could execute five types of Punches, each having the capability to use Erix''s arsenal of powers, including his Concepts. As he flew across the ind, the Punch projectiles that constantly released, but traveled around him, destroying the monsters. Each punch projectile had Nihilir: Dismantle Enchant to them and they obliterated the monster quicker than anyone. ''One thousand seven hundred in the first wave, eh?'' Erix looked at the count of monsters and stopped as he saw no monsters around him anymore. ''I wonder how many monsters spawned in total?'' "Hey!" Erix felt a shout directed at him and turned around to see a group flying towards him. "What?" Erix raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. He felt some kind of hostility from them. "I know you are powerful. Very much so, but don''t hoard all the monsters." "You are just alone, and we may not be able to hurt you here, but outside¡­we have more people and power to crush you." Erix was dumbfounded. "Are you all idiots?" Cracking a wide grin after saying that, Erix said, "I''ve remembered your faces now. I dare you to fucking appear before me outside with whatever powers you have." "If I don''t kill you, I''ll kill myself." Instantly, all sixteen people of varying ages from looking in their twenties to their forties felt a chill crawling their backs. They had seen Erix annihting everything in his path, so they knew about his power. Naturally, they hadn''t seen the full extent of it, but they knew the quality ofbat that Erix disyed was crazy from his powers. "Anything to say?" Erix grinned. "If not, then scram and find me outside." "I''m sure you''ll be able to find me easily because the Blessed Ind is going to be mine." "Now get lost." ¡­ Aria was riding on a big blue whale, while hundreds of birds, fishes, dragons, and other Animated Spirits made up of me, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light elements bound together with the Animus element that spoofed a soul and power source in them. Nobody had seen anything like that. Time and Space elements were also rare, but people in this Abyss had seen it. However, the Animus element was even rarer seen here and recorded. ording to records, there was only one other person in the Kanx Abyss with affinity to the Animus element, and that person was near the peak of the Empyrean-order and would leave soon or may have left already. The next wave of monsters spawned, and Aria flew around while other people watched her animated spirits obliterating monsters. "What the hell is that?!" "Maybe a crazy summoner-type ss?" "I think I heard about this power." "It''s the Animus element, one of the four principle elements. Crazy¡­I didn''t know it could be this powerful." "Her spirit stat is off the charts from the power I am sensing from animated spirits." "This is crazy, she even has her soul awakened. What the fuck¡­.I don''t know anyone in Royal-order who has awakened their souls." "If there''s an elimination of participant vs participant in the next round, we should band together to remove her." "Yeah. She is a threat." ¡­ The 3rd round ended with ease as one hundred people passed. Erix, Rin, and Aria were one of the earliest ones to pass, but the round ended after a total of thirteen monster waves spawned. The fourth round was a Race that was 10,000 kilometers long¡­on a 10,000-kilometer tall mountain. The catch was that flying was prohibited, and dangers were abundant. If a participant died, they could revive once at the half distance backward from where they died. But if they continued and died again, it was a permanent death. Moreover, participants could attack each other in this round, making it more dangerous. As the round started, Erix, Rin, and Aria began at full speed. Erix tried to teleport out of curiosity and was dumbfounded. "What the fuck¡­" Erix paused and spread his spirit sense as his Spiritual Mystic Eye covered a 100-kilometer area around him. "Flying is prohibited, but I can teleport¡­" Erix muttered, and his eyes shone with a brilliant glean. *Roar!!* Suddenly, a level 300 Royal-order Emerald Frost Leopard pounced on him, but Erix simply looked at it as an ethereal punch of Nihilir element manifested. ''Print Obliteration.'' The monster paused mid-air as the punch struck it, yanking it into Space Limbo before the punch exploded and crushed the monster into tiny motes by a condensed space attack enchanted by Dismantle. [Nihilir Punch: Print Obliteration.] _Effect: Forcefully pushes a target into Space Limbo with the Oblin Portage aspect of Nihilir and using the space matter in Space Limbo,pletely crush the target with the Dismantle aspect with the chaotic explosion of the punch. This attack was Erix''s peak single-target attack because it had the highest offensive power he could muster. It had every single one of his offensive powers and energies. After killing the monster, Erix searched for Rin and Aria and got together with them. "I have a n," Erix said with a devilish grin. "How about¡­we end this event early?" "What do you mean?" Rin raised an eyebrow. Aria was also confused. "Well, I can teleport," Erixughed. "Guess what we can do with that." Rin and Aria looked at each other with a confused expression for a second before both of them turned their heads at Erix with a different expression. Aria was shocked while Rin''s eyes shone with a grin. "It seems that you guessed the n. That''s right," Erix widely smiled with a thrilling glint in his eyes. "No one should pass this round except for us three." "We will block all of them near the top and kill them once or twice if they dare toe again. The powerful ones will be there early, but if we three work together, I don''t think anyone can beat us." "Waaa¡­" Aria was ck-jawed, but her eyes also started dancing with excitement. "That''s going to be so cool¡­let''s do it!" "Wonderful idea, darling!" Rin grinned. "I think this is the only way we can go all-out and use everything we''ve learned and created." Chapter 302: Barricading The Mountain Peak, Slaughter Erix quickly teleported with Rin and Aria to the peak of the mountain before anyone else. But didn''t cross into the finishing line, which was a huge starry belt like a finishing line on the mountain peak. The number of participants was 100. The mountain''s neck was huge, and that was where the trio stationed themselves to prevent people from passing. Erix created 200 Wormholes spending a significant amount of Prana, and began meditating to quickly recover his Prana. Aria covered the whole mountain''s neck with her Spirit sense and shared it with Rin and Erix, essentially giving them the same map she saw using her overpowered spirit sense and spirit force, which was in an entirely different realm than others. "Aria, do you know you managed to break through in this higher realm of Spirit power?" "I also don''t know how, but It became like this automatically one day," Aria helplessly smiled. "But I think one can achieve this realm when they can use their soul sense and spirit sense together to shape the spirit power in new realms." "Yeah, but your spirit power managed to have all six transformations, while Lilith said people normally don''t achieve all six transformations," Rin smiled and ruffled Aria''s head. "Mhmm, Amu said that a person''s experience and personality decide which of the six transformations they can unlock in their Spirit power or some other strange thing," Aria wryly smiled. "I guess I amter because I was strange." "Haha, You are not strange at all," Rin smiled and rubbed Aria''s head. "You are very talented and a cute, lovely bubble." While the two talked for a while and waited several minutes, someone finally arrived. Aria sensed a presence in her spiritual radar. "I''ll go," Rin said as she noticed the participant with Aria''s shared radar. She disappeared from her spot like a faint golden-red starlight bolt. The ground charred beneath her form as she traveled at lightning speed. When Rin was ten kilometers away from her opponent, she stopped and stood on a giant boulder. Her opponent would reach her in the next 1.5 seconds. The participant was a woman looking in her thirties. When she finally sensed Rin''s presence, it was toote as her eyes reflected a cross-sh whose corners were bent, making it look like two crossed anchors. It was instant death, and she immediately revived at exactly half the distance she traveled before dying. "W-what the hell¡­" The woman''s breathing turned heavy. In herst moment, her consciousness clearly captured her entire body cutting into countless tiny pieces in an instant when that strange cross-sh struck her. ''How could time affect that particr area, bend, and enhance power like that¡­'' ''It was not just a Time element, but it was fundamentally mixed with Time, and two elements caused that strange element to behave that way.'' ''Super Exotic element,'' the woman finally made the conclusion and also knew who killed her, wasting her only chance. If she went again, she would permanently die, and she didn''t want that. "Get the fuck out of the way! Hahaha." The woman suddenly heard a shout along with a threatening pulse of energy. Her face changed, and she quickly escaped, barely getting away from the Dark blue me Drill projectile. She saw a man with two horns and pale green skin running upward, ignoring her after the failed attack attempt. ''Rushing his death. '' Shaking her head, the woman mutters, "If I''m sure, and that Anarchic de Dancer is there with her partners, I can''t pass yet." While the woman decided to climb further before stopping and resting at an obscure ce in the forest, Rin''s deadly single-target skill technique was ready to butcher the next one. [Atomic Cross-sh] _Effect: A cross-sh with its own time loop, housing thousands of tiny des with Chronace Flow and Chaos Flow in a loop to harness their power. Deals devasting single-targeting damage to the atomic level, with ultra pierce and sh attacks. _Scalings: de Ki, Chronace Flow, Time energy, Prana, Chaos concept, de concept, Magic and Spirit (optional). This was her most powerful Non-Battle Art skill technique. Instant cast, crazy damage, single target. Rin stood still holding her Katana vertically and her Raibor Power Slime in the form of a great sword horizontally. When she sensed another oneing with Aria''s shared spirit sense map, her entire figure lit up, turning her skin starry starlight with transparency for 0.2 seconds before another Atomic Cross-sh released from her weapons. This skill used her entire body as a formation base, but the execution was quick since she had mastered the skill. With a thought, the skill-rune would be active, and she would just have to be prepared for that 0.5 of execution that would proceed throughout her body and weapon. Erix also used his entire body as a base to execute skills since it would give more leeway and momentum to skill formation and execution. ''Done.'' Erix got up as he finished recovering his Prana after five minutes of full-focus meditation. The rampant monsters were getting dealt with by Aria''s exotic Animated Spirits while Rin and Erix killed iing participants before they could even notice they were getting hit. After all, none of them had Spirit powerparable to Aria, so Erix, Rin, and Aria would always discover the iing people first and have the advantage of releasing the first sudden attack. The duo and Aria killed forty-eight people one time, and all of them realized the problem. "Damn it! Why are they not letting anyone pass!" "They want to eliminate everyone." "Let''s go together. We are seven here, and there''s another group fifty kilometers away behind those hills." "This damn mountain¡­." "I am leaving. I-I am not interested in courting my own death." "Even if you go in groups, they are sure to take out several people. Sorry, I can''t participate in thisplete uncertainty. I am leaving." Two people vanished as they gave on the event. ¡­ Rin and Erix waited and killed two more individuals before Aria suddenly said, ''A group ising. A total of seventeen people. They are second-timers.'' "Haha, let theme." ''Eh¡­they are flying at the back of the mountain,'' Aria said with a wry smile. Those poor fellows thought that since the mountain was huge, they would be able to bypass them. However, all of them suddenly stopped as one of them shouted, "Look!" Everyone saw tens of Wormholes ahead, causing their back to tickle with cold sweat. In the next second, everyone also saw Rin and Erix arriving before them, standing ten kilometers away on an empty stone area at the mountain''s neck. "Let''s kill them! We are seventeen people, for the fuck''s sake!" Erix''s smile was big enough to reach his eyes as his Punch Factory appeared, and the menacing five exotic gauntlets started unleashing punches. Rin didn''t attack anyone because her job was to catch someone if they tried to sneakily go past them. But she didn''t need to do anything because no one could escape the ughter fest of punches unleashed by Erix. He also took control of space in arge area and made sure to strike everyone. Almost all of them were forced to employ their full defense, but despite going all-out, the destructive Nihilir-attributed punches bearing pure offense aspect boosted by other power sources Erix were shredding away their defenses like a car getting crushed into a car crusher. After seven of them died, the others lost courage and instantly went all out to escape, even using their Blood Essence to boost their defense and escape. Chapter 303: Unnerving Everyone (1) Eventually, all 100 participants died once at the trio''s hands and some twice, which nailed their coffins. After a while of no oneing, Rin and Erix got a message instead and saw two familiar people approaching them with the clear intention of talking. Those two were none other than Meimei and Lania, the two beauties from Celestial Bell cosmic faction. "Hey, why don''t you let people pass?" Meimei asked with a weak smile. "Stop bullying other people." "Over thirty people left, but the rest have banded together," Lania wryly smiled. "With those many, you two will die and revive at the half point¡­so, how about letting everyone pass? You''ve reducedpetition enough already." "Haha," Erixughed and crossed his arms. "We''ve yet to die once, and I don''t think we will die even once." "So, don''t worry about us," Rin smiled. "You all can eithere and die or surrender." "That''s not going to bode well," Meimei sighed. "All the remaining yers have background, and if you remain stubborn, there''s a high chance they will attack you outside." "The blessed ind you will win can easily get destroyed," Lania said in a in tone and raised eyebrows. "Are you sure you don''t want to back down?" "Knock yourself out," Erix grinned. "Every single one of you will die in a single attack of ours." *Hoooonnnn* A loud sound echoed before Meimei and Lania saw a giant one-hundred-meter-long whale manifest behind the duo with Aria sitting on it. "No one will pass today," Aria grinned. Hundreds of exotic Animated Spirits, all cute and cool looking, but deadly appeared around Aria. Meimei and Lania looked at each other, helplessness evident in their eyes. ''Damn it. These three together are a hopeless situation for us.'' ''Let''s return and tell the decision. We can surrender after that,'' Lania said. ''Let others court death if they want to.'' ''Sigh, if only we could use one-time use items and potions here.'' ''Nah, these two, no¡­these three freaks can still kill us. It''s the difference in spirit stat, and those crazy skills of their Super Exotic Elements.'' ''And I feel like they still haven''t gone all out. Didn''t you see they had some sort of battle form when we watched them in some Mirage crystals? They haven''t used it yet.'' ''Tsk.'' ¡­ Outside, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina went to the Unbound Star cosmic faction and had long started preparing to create catalysts to awaken Erix''s bloodline. Lilith sat before three cauldrons and an intensely burning giant me pot as she refined,bined, and extracted resources. Maleina aided them from the side while Lily assisted them and did things as per Lilith''s instructions. It took Lilith six hours to catalyze the resources and create the three catalysts that Erix would have to devour. "Phew, done." Lilith stretched her arms with a satisfied smile. "Now, Erix just needs to absorb these three things." "Let''s go and wait for them," Lily said with a grin. "I''m sure they will win the Event and get that Blessed Ind." "If he bes the owner of the Blessed Ind, it will produce peculiarities rted to him," Maleina said. "If he awakens there, it might bring some interesting results." Suddenly, Tenebria appeared in her avatar form and said quickly in urgency, "Hurry to the event spot." After saying that, she vanished. The trio''s face changed, and they quickly left. After arriving at the event venue, they saw that many people were there, still waiting for the event to finish. However, after a few seconds, they also noticed an uproar with many people talking about the event. The eliminated participants and those who surrendered obviously spread what was happening inside. All of them went to their organizations, and a few already brought people. "Hahaha," Lilith couldn''t help butugh. "They really pulled up a big stunt this time," Lily chuckled. Maleina narrowed her eyes, "If they get Blessed Ind and people of Royal-ordere to attack¡­none of them will survive." "The basic recovery buffs Blessed Ind provides are enough for Rin and Erix to annihte everyone." More and more people as seconds passed before Tenebria suddenly appeared once again, "They will being out soon," she said. "I''m sure you know what happened by now." "The things are going, there''s going to be a bloodbath, but don''t start it immediately." Lilith raised her eyebrows as she turned to Tenebria, "You mean, get Erix to awaken first while running away?" "Yep. It''s better to be safe than sorry. The thing they did offend everyone, so all of them will at least try to attack. Moreover, whenever there''s a Blessed Ind, a bloodbath would follow it," Tenebria narrowed her eyes. "But it also won''t take much to scare their soul out of their body as long as you fight back hard and kill everyone thates for this ind." Tenebria added. "No Royal-order is currently powerful enough to match them, especially after these," Tenebria smiled and waved her hand as four pills appeared before Lilith. "These pills¡­" Lilith was astonished, especially at the description of the pills. "This effect," Maleina was speechless. "Although this pill seems useless for Rin and Erix since they can farm crazily and get stat points,¡­." "Yeah," Lily burst outughing, "If we eat these, it''s over for everyone." The pills were highly valuable and hard to acquire, but obviously not for Tenebria. And¡­they had a straightforward effect. Eating that single pill would fundamentally boost their progress to the peak of Royal-order. In other words, their fundamental stats would reach the ceiling of Royal-order, reaching 5000 points in each. Including Magic-stats. "They are here." A group of twenty powerhouses exited, one of them was Addler too, his face utterly ashen. The event portal glowed colorfully before a st of firecrackers and designs spread in the sky. [The event has concluded! The winner is Erix, Doom Fist of the Abyss!] A huge five kilometers diameter circr ind appeared in the sky, with a kilometer of thickness from top to bottom. It waspletely white, made of some mysterious material carved with entric and strange arrays of patterns and symbols. Lilith didn''t waste a breath and quickly flew towards the ind. "Let''s go. We have to be quick!" Rin, Erix, and Aria met up with Lilith and others soon and immediately flew away as Erix controlled the ind with his thoughts. ''Crazy!'' Erix was currently hyper-excited as he read the description of this Blessed Ind. "Erix! Snap out, honey. Absorb these three catalyst," Lilith flicked Erix''s forehead as his eyes regained focus on the outside away from the description panel. "You won''t believe what this crazy ind can do! It has so much potential, hahaha." "Alright, but absorb these quickly and assign the ind''s control to me." Lilith sharply smiled, "It''s time for you to awaken the most awesome bloodline this Abyss has ever seen." Chapter 304: Blessed Island, Unnerving Everyone (2) On the ind''s center, Erix was covered in a ck cocoon with dark gold patterns, looking regal yet wild, giving a sense of doom yet vigor of a sun. The bloodline blooming within him was at the extreme ends of both duality. Life and Death. It was his evolution, biologically, granted by natural coincidence and one of the better possibilities of the cosmos that Erix grasped at the beginning. While Lilith controlled the ind and escaped to the north of Core Domain, the ind suddenly shook after a minute and started booming with greenery. "Finally," Rin smacked her lips. "This ind was pure white, with those strange arrays and patterns all over. It didn''t look like what we heard, but now it''s showing." "This is nothing," Lily chuckled. "Just wait a bit more. Since Erix is awakening here, the ind will also produce some phenomenon rted to his bloodline." Not a second after she finished speaking, the ground below with Erix as the center suddenly turned pitch ck in a circr area of a hundred meters. Lilith, Rin, Aria, Lily, and Amu sensed something brewing in the atmosphere and beneath as they flew away at the same time. After a second, the pitch-ck area suddenly produced strange dark gold and purple grass, glowing. At the center grew a sapling that rapidly matured into a unique, majestic tree. It was a ck tree with dark gold patterns on its branches and trunk, and dark purple leaves vibrant with life power. The tree grew a hundred meters tall with thick and robust branches. The surrounding of the tree was filled with faintly glowing ck-gold and purple short grass. Due to their gentle glows, they looked mellow and oozed out the pure power of life and death. But this was just the beginning. Aside from this central area, the rest of the ind was also transforming in exotic ways. "It''s producing things rted to Erix, sort of making it a special habitat for his powers," Lilith said as she noticed the whole ind producing an exotic metal climatebined with nature. The trees, nts, flowers, hills, mountains, rivers, and everything that started producing was not normal but made of elements that Erix possessed. The most prominent was Metal since everything had a tint and faint traces of metal power, making everything look shiny and metallic. And because Erix had acquired a unique Devorex Metal concept, his path on the Metal was drastically different than others. After all, his Devorex Metal could devour metals and create new metals by evolving them after exotic fusion. This Devorex Metal conceptbined with the natural progression of Metal affinity in the 4th realm, the Metal Elemental World, caused a situation where Erix could perpetually produce exotic types of new metals that wouldn''t exist normally. The Blessed Ind was influenced by it, giving a metallic aspect to everything while giving them their uniqueness. Some shining metallic flowers were likeva, some were frosty metallic, some mysterious tree was also space confound, making them glow silvery metallic, while some were deathly metallic, giving a sense of doom with beauty. "It''s been a long time since an event with a Blessed Ind reward appeared, and we got it," Lilith said as her eyes shone, just as thrilled as others. However, Lilith''s eyes soon turned cold as she said, "But we won''t be able to digest this reward easily. Blessed Ind always incurred bloodbath whenever it appeared, and I''m sure people wille for it." "All of them will want to kill Erix to make the ind ownerless and acquire it, but we can''t let them happen." "How long will it take for Erix to finish his Bloodline awakening?" Rin asked. Lilith turned to the majestic tree and Erix, who had turned into a cocoon on its central branch before saying, "I can''t say for sure." "The ind is also helping him while getting transformed with Erix''s influence and expanding its power, so it might not even take long," Lilith said after thinking for a second. "Let''s see the ind''s details. I''m sharing it," Lilith smiled. [Blessed Ind: ] _Evolution Rank: Spiritual Magic Land. _Features: ¡ª> Mind Drive, Pirs, Topography, Barrier-Pool. _Functions: ¡ª> Recovery Aura, Growth. _Upgrade: ¡ª> Unknown conditions. [Features] -> Mind Drive: Control the ind''s movement through the mind. The owner can assign Mind Drive to another one. -> Pirs: You can assign people you trust as Pirs of the ind, giving them benefits of the [Functions] and ess to [Features]. Pir slots: 10 (5 filled). -> Topography: You can freely arrange the topography of the ind to modify climate and biomes ording to the avability in Topowiki. Topowiki produces biomes and climates ording to the owner and Pir''s powers, and things that grow via the Growth function. -> Barrier-Pool: You can consume naturally stored energy in the Barrier-Pool generated ording to the exotic powers present in the ecosystem of the ind to create a barrier surrounding the ind. Barrier-Pool: 37 energy. [Functions] -> Recovery Aura: Increase the recovery of Mana, Stamina, Prana, Spirit force, and Soul energy by 200% within the Ind''s territory. Only Pirs can benefit from this function. -> Growth: The Blessed Ind can grow and nurture exotic things. Put anything you want to grow in its Growth List. Growth List: [0/1] After everyone read the functions and features, they were dumbfounded. "And this is just the first evolution rank of Blessed Ind," Lilith muttered. "No wonder everyone is hungry for these Blessed Inds." "Since these Blessed Inds are a specialty of Mystic Root, people from other parts of the Grand Primal Cosmos specificallye to central areas influenced by Mystic Root to acquire them," Maleina said. "I''ve heard this since there''s someone in my world who has a Blessed Ind and he roams around the universe on it." "But some powerful people arrived and killed him before taking away the Blessed Ind." "¡­." Rin was speechless and asked, "What could his Blessed Ind do?" "I''ve entered it once, and it had a barrier around it. It looked smaller than this ind from the outside, but when I passed through the barrier, I couldn''t even see the ind''s ends. It was very big." Maleina thoughtfully said, "I think new Features and Functions will unlock once we upgrade the ind, but the conditions are unknown." Shaking her head, she added, "I don''t know about the conditions. I was a young student when I entered that blessed ind and wasn''t in a position to ask anything." Lilith smiled as she looked at Erix in the cocoon and said, "The upgrade conditions are unknown because they haven''t formed yet. The conditions would appear ording to the owner''s progress." "Eh, I can feel something familiar¡­" Aria suddenly said and closed her eyes. "It''s Animus element!" Amu''s eyes glowed, and the slime vanished from its spot. After a second, everyone turned to the same south direction and saw Amu riding a dreamy blue deer with ck spots anding towards them. "That''s a newborn soul pulse and the birth of the first native¡­thanks to Aria''s Animus element," Lilith raised her eyebrows. "It looks like our powers started influencing the ind''s transformation as well." Tenebria appeared among the group like a ghost again and said, "Eat the pills and start absorbing their power." "Erix can eat his pill after he is finished awakening," Tenebria took out one more pill and gave it to Lilith. "Now, the four of you at Royal-order can have maximum fundamental stats." Lilith stored Erix''s pill while Lily, Rin, Aria, and Maleina ate the pills and sat down cross-legged near the central majestic tree. The ind was moving at the speed of 300 kilometers per hour, which was its maximum speed. But it was already fast considering that the ind''s size was massive five kilometers in diameter. As the ind traveled high in the sky, one could its exotic colorful hues produced from it thanks to its transformation that manifested exotdscapes, biomes, and atmosphere. After two hours of traveling, Rin and the others finished absorbing the pills, infusing them with overflowing power. "Adjust to your new peak parameters. The ind will absorb your energy''s residual since you are pirs and use it to recover the damage it inflicts even if you cause destruction here," Tenebria said. "Cool," Rin grinned and shed forward, releasing a hundred meters vertical-long sh. "We progressed so fast¡­" Aria spoke and moved her feet but she identally crashed into a tree. After all, her physical and magical stats reached 5000 from barely above 1000! Moreover, the percentage boosts derived from her Bloodline also increased her stats crazily. Rin, Lily, and Aria started sparring and using their skills to get used to their sudden boost in stats. Maleina went to scout the ind since many exotic nts were slowly growing. ''These can be used for alchemy, but I''ll need to experiment¡­'' Lilith and Tenebria sat under the tree as they talked about the things and state of the central region since Tenebria had her eyes and a way to get information. Suddenly, Tenebria and Lilith looked up in the sky. "It seems that the wait time is over," Tenebria wryly smiled. "They''ve found us and we can''t escape anymore." Although the ind was still traveling, there was a huge single-eye phenomenon above it, traveling at the same speed as the ind. "It''s the Divine Sight Myspiona," Lilith raised her eyebrows. "They got her aid to find us?" "It was bound to happen. When the top forces want to find someone, there are many ways and powerhouses here capable of doing that," Tenebria smiled. "But we have Abyss Rule on our side." "Utilize it well and show this Abyss that they can''t do anything to us." The enemies wereing and Ind''s speed was not fast enough to escape from them. After all, there were enough Empyrean-order hunters capable of bringing other hunters along. "If they underestimate us, it''s better," Lilith smiled. Suddenly, the ind slightly shook again while the tree above Lilith and Tenebria slightly pulsed. "Perfect. Erix seems to be at the finishing point." Chapter 305: Unique-Type Mythic-Grade!, Unnerving Everyone (3) The cocoon wrapped around Erix shone with faint dreamy cracks for a couple of seconds before it suddenly shattered and revealed Erix glowing in a luminescent dark gold liquid membrane. The membrane slowly entered his body, revealing his pristine white-brown skin with a dreamy hue of dark gold. His lush long hair that barely reached shoulder length had unique ck luster, looking otherworldly attractive. Erix slowly opened his eyes as his senses activated and felt the surging power throughout his body, from deep within to the surface of his skin and beyond. His eyes had returned normal, human-like, but his pupils were dark red, with a gold hint in their depths. "Wonderful," Tenebria muttered as she snapped out of her reverie first, while Lilith was still dazed. From the depth of her heart, soul, and instincts, she felt deeply attracted and bonded to this man. The ind also spread a pulse of mystical power rted to Erix''s bloodline as the majestic tree grew a kilometer high from its initial 100-meter height. Rin, Aria, and Lily arrived upon sensing the phenomenon and saw Erix stretching his arms as if he had woken up from a slumber and stood stretched straight. A bright smileced his face as he took a deep breath, taking in pure and fantastic prana-filled atmosphere of the Blessed Ind. His morning wood was also unsheathed majestic, but his lean figure with otherworldly defined muscles matching with his face and overall divined sculptured figure dazed thedies. His bloodline manifested with core principles of his own experience and source that made him up, along with two extremities and the exotic catalysts used in the process. Its awakening gave Erix a new, evolved appearance towards his new path. [Congrattions, you have awakened affinity for Life element.] ¡­ Everyone sat at a big table under the tree. Erix wore his makeshift dark gold robe with a crimson red embroidery-like design created from his bloodline energy and Prana. Erix shared his Bloodline''s status with others. "I wasn''t expecting this level of grade¡­"Lilith muttered. [Undeath Aurelion Regalon Bloodline] -> Unique-type Mythic-grade Bloodline. _Level: 1 [ Reach its 2nd level by progressing your Bloodline''s realm.] _Perks: +1000 all stats + 20% of fundamental stats. _Blood Essence: [ 56 ] _Skills: ¡ª> Undeath Aurelion Crown-Lvl 1: Increase stats by 100% of fundamental stats and grant you Paradox Spectrum Heart ->Paradox Spectrum Heart: increase your death power and life power at an increasing rate. -> Cost: 1 Blood Essence per minute. _Note: Explore and progress in your Bloodline''s realm to manifest new skills based on yourprehensive potential and experience. "This status detail of Bloodline is different than mine," Rin said, her voiceced with curiosity. "Is it because you are a pioneer of your bloodline?" "His Bloodline is in the same situation as mine, but since I''ve pioneered my bloodline, especially after its second awakening thanks to Erix, it had a clear path and already high level," Lilith said. "That''s why you only needed Blood Essence for it to level up and form skills based on your progression." "But I''ll have to do more once I evolve my bloodline with Erix, right?" Rin grinned. "Yep." Erix grinned. "I can feel this new source of power in me. It''s going to be fun when I explore my bloodline''s realm." "Your bloodline is splendid. I would say it''s on par with the bloodline I''ve whipped up for Aria," Amu crossed its slime arms and nodded. Aria lightlyughed. "We have different types of bloodline sources." "You can also upgrade Rin''s and my Bloodline," Lilith licked her lips with a wide smile. "But we''ll do thatter." "For now, the enemies areing. Let''s prepare a warm wee for them," Lily smiled coldly as she rubbed her palms. ¡­ At the moment, the members of all Cosmic Factions and top guilds had gathered at the meadow where the event''s portal had appeared in the sky. "Everyone, they''ve killed all sixteen of my guild''s top Royal-order hunters. I''m willing to pay the price, but it would be better if I get the Blessed Ind." "Stop dreaming, Skull Wand Sorcerer! You might be powerful, but you are not the most powerful here, and your guild is also declining." The leaders and big shots of near-peak and peak Empyrean-order powerhouses were discussed, but it didn''tst long after thest remaining people arrived to join the fray. "Let''s go. Make that Blessed Ind ownerless first before deciding who will get it!" "We have gathered roughly five thousand Royal-order hunters. They should be more than enough to deal with them." "The enemy group has one Emyrean-order, but that''s of no threat." "Divine Sight Myspiona, please keep your gaze on them and guide us. We''ll pay the promised price once this ends." "Space Tempest Kalina. Can you begin, please?" One of the Empyrean-order powerhouse was a slim woman with long wavy dark silver hair. She wore a tight ck upper-t with a silver jacket and jeans. ck specs on her face, belly visible, dark silver gloves and boots. Space Tempest Kalina, the only Empyrean-order with Space affinity currently present in the Kanx Abyss. She mass-teleported everyone in the meadow using the coordinates provided by Divine Sight Mysponia. After several teleports, the whole mass of people with tens of Empyrean-order hunters and roughly five thousand Royal-order hunters saw the Blessed Ind ten kilometers away. Space Tempest Kalina teleported one more time, taking everyone right above the Blessed Ind. Erix and others saw them clearly, the sight of thousands of people in the sky looked menacing, especially due to intentions oozing out of everyone. Mainly greed, fueled by the rich and beneficial the ind before them. The Blessed Ind''s barrier flickered into existence, with its Barrier pool fueled by Tenebria''s power. "So many¡­" Aria muttered, slightly bing nervous. "Don''t worry. Most will run away once they see the unstoppable force of death heading their way," Rin grinned. "Let''s begin, darling." Erix teleported Rin, Aria, and Lily out of the ind and arrived before the array of people. At the forefront were the Empyrean-order big shots, and all of them were surprised as they saw Erix and othersing to face them. "Five thousand, eh?" Erix grinned as a pair of giant majestic dark gold bone wings emerged from his back, and his body faintly shone. "Although there are a lot of them, we don''t need to find them individually. Let''s wreak havoc after going among them," Rin cracked her fingers as she entered her Bloodline form, her de Eater and Raibor Power Slime manifesting in her hands. "Aye, aye, captain," Aria grinned as her eyes shone spiritually golden, causing a giant whale to materialize below her. "Don''t hit Empyrean-order even by mistake. They will try," Lily said, her expression somber and serious. Right after that, Rin, Erix, and Lily vanished from their spot, appearing in the huge center of five thousand Royal-order crowd. "Courting death!" An Empyrean-order man with short brown hair and demonic horns snorted. "Kill them!" Aria looked at the Empyrean-order powerhouses, her soul power pusling. A few of them ordered Royal-order hunters to attack Aria. "She has Animus element? Could she be the owner?" "No, the Ind''s central theme does not match her. It''s more of that guy''s power." Aria naturally started conjuring her Animated Spirits as the enemies saw tens, hundreds, and then thousands of Animated Spirits appearing around her, forming an army of her own. "Her soul and spirit power¡­." The Empyrean-order hunters were dumbfounded as they finally sensed the aura oozed out by Aria. However, right after that, a loud bang urred, and a dreadful pulse of energy that even tingled their senses attracted their attention. What they saw was a five-meter-long and tall dark gold bony punch projectile with hazy dark purple mes majestically formed in a pattern all over it. The punch contained chaotic swirls of energies within, vtile andpact as it oozed out pure destructiveness. "NO!" A few of the Empyrean-order hunters shouted while others had their jaw-dropped as they inspected Erix. *BOOM!* [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Royal-Order _Level: 201 _ss: Death Reaper-X _Life Heart/Death Heart: [100%/100%] _Vigor Force: [10,000/10,000] _Stats: 210 unassigned.?¡ª> [ Strength: 5000 + 2000 + 1150 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 5000 + 2000 + 150 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 5000 + 2000 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 1439 / Spirit Force: 14,390/14,290 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-S / Magic power: 5000 + 2000 / Prana: 50,000/50,000 (+20,000) ] _Talent (2/3): Vigor Force, Undeath Living. Erix had infused a whooping 30,000 Prana worth of energies in that frigging punch! It was boosted by 5000 Spirit Force and he was in his Undeath Aurelion Crown form that consumed 1 Blood Essence per minute! His current stats had far surpassed the limit of Royal-order and entered Empyrean-order. His Strength was at 13150 points while his Agility, Health, and Magic were at 12,000 points! His mana capacity was also temporarily increased due to his Bloodline skill. The effect of the punch was devastating enough that no Royal-order in its effective range survived. Some lucky ones who had one-time-use items rted to escape survived, but such items were rare. At least roughly three hundred Royal-order powerhouses died in that single attack, and this shocked every single individual to their core! Erix stood in the center with no living soul in his vicinity, his body turned pristine dark gold with majestic runic patterns, royally wrapped in a regal robe and ck pants while the dark gold Undeath Aurelion crown lit up above his head, with dark hazy purple wisps shining on its crown spikes dreadfully. No words could describe this scenery, but the enemies felt one thing very clearly, deep into their souls. Dread. Chapter 306: Taste of Despairing Chasm, Rightful Arrogance "Come on!" Erix floated amidst the chaotic flows of energies while his deathly and life aura became prominent around him. His attacks were like an unstoppable force of demise, utterly unavoidable. Rin was invincible because no attacks could touch her. Everything within a hundred of hers would slow down and be insignificant, easily avoidable attacks for her. Not to mention that she could move like a lightning bolt, especially the powerful lighting bearing additional attributes of blood and shadow¡ªthanks to the Crimson Onyxbolt attribute concept. As for her attacks, they were unblockable because of the ultimate prative style of her attacks, especially because of her de concept''s ''Severum'' effect. Rin and Erix were buffed by a random speed burst recovery buff of Mark of Paradox¡ªAspect: Resonate. Lily was like a mist, covering arge area in her misty field mixed with snow. Since she also gained her Super Exotic Element, Liviort! Thebination of Mist x Ice x Life! Several people who were struck by her Liviort element''s proper attack had their blood, cells, and everything turned into frost. This element was in the form of misty light blue particles with a faint natural green hue. The defense formed by Liviort was unbreakable due to its ever-regenerative properties and adaptability thanks to ice''s core principles that held myriad flexibility capable of turning solid. As for her attacks¡­Lily had two concepts: Weave and Disperse¡ªone granted her a massive scope of creativity, and another was in the direction of offense. With weave, Lily waved projectile of attack with her foundational knowledge of magic, easily creating skills equivalent to Tier-5. Disperse applied into the core of her every skill, granting them a conceptual effect to disperse the skill''s area size to bigger and even affecting other skills, causing their energies to disperse. This granted her skills an effect that shaved at various defenses, making her powers go past them with Mist''s invasive and light properties. Mist element was an example of ''Dispersion'' in physical form, but in conceptual form, Mist and Dispersion''sbination proved scary, especially when she added frost of Ice in her attacks. Lily''s White Death title came from her deadly and silent attacks that were swift and unstoppable, leaving nothing but sharp frosty mist behind that could damage one just by entering the mist as if those tiny particles in the mist were like the sharpest and most condensed micro droplets. But all of her attacks went a high notch above with the Liviort element! Lastly, Aria was straightforward. Her Animated Spirits each had a wisp of soul and mixed elemental powers boosted by Aria''s soul and spirit power, which were massive whenpared to Royal-order hunters present here. She had designed four properly structured Animated Spirits in her Spirit Soul Book, each having arrays of capabilities. Elemental Dragons, Brilliant Blue Whale, Myriad Fish Pool, and Havoc Birds. Elemental Dragons were all-rounder but mostly offensive. They acted ording to their structures because Aria had Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Light elements. The dragons used various elemental attacks ording to their core shaped by Animus + other elements. They were conjured morepactly and were the mainbat force. The Brilliant Blue Whale was a single Animated Spirit, with its core consisting of Water, Wind, and Light elements shaped by Animus. It consumed most of Aria''s energies but granted a healing buff to her Animated Spirits and others within range along with a defensive shield and barrier when needed. Myriad Fish Pool produced exotic tiny koi fish. Each had two singr abilities ording to their core elements. A fish would self-explode with rted elemental effects that it possessed to either trigger the enemy skill projectile to waste its energy or self-explode near an enemy in an outward and potent fashion to inflict damage. The fish were sort of expendable soldiers. Lastly, Havoc Birds. They were long-range soldiers with only a single purpose: Attack. They flew and maneuvered ordingly while shooting various types of projectiles from their mouths or eyes, depending on their core''s elements. Their formation had instruction and real objectives sentient by Animus element, so they were annoying because all they focused on was dodging, maintaining distance, and attacking relentlessly. When Erix, Rin, Lily, and Aria began their attacks, those roughly five thousand Royal-order hunters only had a short-lived chance to fight back. After all, once they saw the devastation spread by them, especially Erix, the enemies started losing confidence. Erix was an utter nightmare for everyone, and the pulses of power his aura spread were unnerving everyone, especially since the initial three-hundred-something deaths boosted his power further. Gaining Death and Life power every second, Erix''s attacks that had Death-attributed became more potent while his Life Heart remained full thanks to the increasing life power. "No!" Addler aimed for Erix as he floated two kilometers away and saw Erix''s punch obliterating three people at once. ''This is my trump card,'' Addler pointed his finger at Erix after eating a pill and wearing a glove in his right hand. The magical glove was a one-time-use item, a pure offensive boost glove. However, Erix suddenly disappeared from his vision, and not even a secondter, he felt a chill at his back. "That''s not gonna work." Addler turned around and saw Erix leisurely sitting on a makeshift dark gold bone throne. "I can sense your intentions, so you can never ambush," Erix yawned and leaned back on the throne. Meanwhile, the five Gauntlets floating around him continued to release destructive punch projectiles. Most of the people were simply running away from those punches and trying to destroy them by working together. Those who attacked Erix would lose their life a secondter because Erix teleported behind them and gave them death. "You will also meet someone in the future," Addler said with great frustration disyed in his eyes, "Someone who will show a difference. A bigger mountain than you." Erix raised his eyebrows before he burst outughing. "I''m sure I''ll meet people like that in the future." "But the only difference between you and me would be that¡­." Erix cracked a grin. "Unlike you, who is filled with frustration, I''ll be filled with fires of excitement." "Good luck in your next life." *Boom!* The battle only started for two minutes, but a seed of despair already started sprouting in them as they saw deaths spreading among them. The Royal-order hunters felt a wide chasm of power between them and those four people. In the 3rd minute, people started running away, escaping from the aerial battlefield. "Stop!" "Get back, you idiots!" "Work together properly! Use formations!" "I-It''s no use, leader. They have crazy perceptions. Formation''s weak spots are the child''s ce for them to find and easily destroy!" "No¡­I can''t¡­" After another minute, only the Empyrean-order hunters floated above the ind, their faces ashen. Erix, Rin, Lily, and Aria floated before them while they internally discussed. ''We can still destroy the ind, but I don''t know if it''s worth it.'' ''I don''t know what to do. We need to kill that bastard, but none of us can touch him, thanks to Abyss rule. Damn it!'' As Lilith, Maleina, and Tenebria also arrived and faced the big shots, some of them showed hostility towards Lilith. It was a stalematesting a couple of seconds as Erix and others just watched them with a hundred meters distance between the two groups. ''Should we threaten him after capturing those two Empyrean-order women? We can only fight them.'' "Hey," Erix shouted, attracting the so-called big shots'' attention. Crossing arms, Erix smiled at them. His smile was in no way friendly. It oozed out utterly cold and devious intent. "You want this Blessed Ind, but you can''t do anything to me," Erix said as he slowly floated forward. Rin and others watched with rxation with a hint of thrill. "And if you think you can capture my woman and threaten me with her, then let me assure you," Erix arrived before the group of Empyrean-order hunters, floating just ten meters away from them. "The moment you decide to be ugly, I''ll carve your presence, face, and everything in my soul," Erix said with a wide grin, "I''ll find every single one of you and kill you." His words were backed up by potential and confidence that was clear for them to see. "Go ahead and make a move if you want your name in my death note," Erix floated above them, clearly looking down on them as his gaze oozed out arrogance. "You all are scrubs to me. If I was in Empyrean-order, I would have started fighting you all," Erix grinned. "But lucky for you all, I am not there yet." "But I''ll be one soon and surpass you easily considering that I was just a normal human not even half a year ago, haha." Erix turned around after saying that with a lightugh and floated back to his group, his voice carefree, "So, If you dare to attack the ind and my woman, I''ll end all of you in the future. That''s my promise to myself." "Write your doom now if you wish to. Haha, this offer is limited." A secondter, Erix teleported everyone back to the ind, while the Empyrean-order powerhouses remained silent and watched the Blessed Ind flying back to the central region of the core domain. "Why didn''t you attack them, Falcon Sword? Didn''t you want revenge for your guild''s members?" Someone finally spoke, and it was a taunt. "Fuck you! That bastard''s potential is scary, and he seems crazy. Why the fuck would I risk my future for something I am not guaranteed to get?" "I am leaving," a woman with a golden battle dress and white wings left. A wolf-tribe beastfolk man also left. Soon, everyone left at their own pace and speed. The vying for Blessed Ind ended sooner than expected. It resolved faster than any battles in the past. ¡­ On the other hand, it was finally the time of departure from the Abyss. Chapter 307: Mystery Box Erix, Rin, and others sat at a metallic round table under the majestic Dreanox Tree, the phenomenon that resulted from Erix''s bloodline on the Blessed Ind. It didn''t have information since it was a new thing, so Erix would know its benefits with time. "We got enough Patron Points to buy those Mystery Boxes." "Buy it," Aria said with shining eyes, curious about the mystery hiding in the mystery box. "Yeah, let''s buy it," Erix nodded and opened Patron Realm status. [Patron Realm] _Candidates: Rin & Erix. _Leaderboard Rank: Unranked. ¡ª> Yet to enter any challenge. _Patron points: 763 _Patron shop. ¡ª> [ Open - Close ] Both of them opened the Patron shop and spent 10 points each, deducting a total of 20 points from 763 as two palm-sized white boxes with faint gold linear patterns appeared before them. "Eh?" Erix noticed a timer after buying the mystery box. "It seems that we can only buy one Mystery box per week," Rin wryly smiled. "That sounds good depending on the types of items this mystery box gives," Lilith smiled. "Let''s open it," Erix touched the center of the box, which had a keyhole-shaped design. "You first," Rin held off and focused on the other mystery box as it opened. After a burst of sparks, the box vanished before an item materialized. It was round and shiny. [Congrattions. The mystery box mystized a consumable-type item¡ªPill: Dream of Horvux.] The pill floated before Erix. It was ssy ck with a mysterious purple and bright brown cloud-like phenomenon whirling inside. "What the hell?" Amu jumped in shock upon looking at the pill "There''s a soul, a spirit inside the pill, but it''s strange. I can''t understand." "I can''t understand," Amu''s voice was frustrated. "It''s normal," Tenebria chuckled. Patron Shop''s mystery wouldn''t give normal items. Some rare ones would be strange, with fortune and danger attached." "This pill is something of that type. A rare find," Tenebria looked at the pill with a curious and reminiscent light in her eyes. Everyone quickly inspected the pill to see if they could get information. [Dream of Horvux] _Eranul Dimension Pill. _Patron: House of DreamSand. _Effect: Enter the dream of Horvux upon eating the pill, and change its fate in the realm with your soul at stake. "Well. The mystery will remain longer it seems," Erix wryly chuckled and put away the pill. "Just follow your way as usual, and you''ll awaken your souls," Tenebria said. "Yep," Lilith chuckled, "They''ll achieve it soon." "Time for my box," Rin rubbed her palms a couple of times before putting her hand on the box''s lock sign. It burst with sparkling lights and revealed a big item, hovering above everyone and covering the entire table. *Crackle¡­* The shadow it cast over the table was tingling everyone as they sensed the aura of the dark cloud that crackled with pristine blue-white lighting. It was beautiful, but the stark contrast of the ck cloud and the aura of the lightning indicated a certain doom. "Woah!" Aria eximed as her eyes reflected the heavenly lighting bolts as they crackled with a certain destructive pleasing aesthetic. [Heavenly Nimbus Shen ] _Heavenly Immortals Dimension. _Patron: Sun Wukong Pce. _Description: ¡ª> Heavenly Nimbus Shen is an opportunity. Bind with it and kill other possessors of Heavenly Nimbus Shen to evolve yours. ¡ª> When the number of the possessors reduces to 100, the trial of the Awakened to Void will begin. Other Possessors: 6834. _Note: Discover the abilities of Heavenly Nimbus Shen yourself after binding with it. "Well, this is another rare item," Tenebria said. "I think first Mystery boxes always give a rare reward." "But this is damn great!" Rin appeared on the cloud like a lightning bolt as she finished binding with it. "Babe, this is Sun Wukong''s myth!" Erix was also dumbfounded as he eximed. "What the fuck, it''s real¡­" "It''s not a myth anymore," Rin grinned. "And if Sun Wukong is real, how powerful he would be?" "Pff," Tenebria couldn''t help butugh as she shook her head, "Sun Wukong''s power is not something you can imagine right now." "Furthermore, Sun Wukong''s most recent activity is dated back to over a hundred thousand years ago," Tenebria weakly smiled. "So, you can''t imagine the realm of power he has at his disposal." "True," Amu dazedly nodded. "I also can''t understand a shit from this one''s foundation. The nature of force at its core is something I can''tprehend at all, but it''s the least thing present. It''s¡­I can''t describe it." At the moment, Amu''s world was also expanding. It was always trapped under that Elf kingdom, and its knowledge had gathered due to people visiting him, but the true scope of the world, the main one outside of the Abyss, was still foreign to the cute Slime. The understanding of power was limited to Amu''s own power and observation made in the Langriss forest. "Rin, let''s y with this cloud and discover its powers," Aria said as she appeared beside Rin with excitement in her eyes. "Let''s go." ¡­ As the group made their way back to the central region after five hours of leisure and fun travel, their journey''s end in the Abyss neared. Lily staying to assist Lilith in her final tasks here. Maleina was also staying as a needed assistant. However, Aria''s journey here was over, so she would be going with Rin and Erix. Amu was like a contracted spirit to Aria but on a deeper level due to the pure soul binding since Amu had tied its life to Aria. But the departure was not immediate. Tenebria left while the group stayed in the resort. Rin and Aria fell asleep like logs as the evening descended, but for Erix, Lilith, and Lily, the night was long. After all, they would be separated for some time, so Erix and thedies had a long, leisurely, intense, and variety of modes in the night. Maleina also joined as a supporter of the sort, but Erix proved heavy and dominant due to one single additional factor. His Bloodline. The boost that his newly acquired Bloodline gave Erix was insane, and its potential was screaming at him. As for others, Lily and Maleina were utterly wasted, and Lilith¡­ ¡­ "Sorry, you won''t be able to say goodbye to her." Rin stood in the bedroom as she saw Lilith wrapped up in the cocoon. "I went all out and triggered her Bloodline''s evolution," Erix said with augh. "I''ll keep her at the faction''s abode. It will be safe there," Tenebria said. "Let''s go. The portal is ready." The group arrived at the Unbound Star cosmic faction''s pce. The huge Blessed Ind attracted everyone''s attention, and people also knew the winner as the mirage crystals had spread everywhere in the central region. The battle of Erix, Rin, Lily, and Aria against those five thousand Royal-order hunters was also recorded, so everyone knew what they revealed so far. All Royal-order and Empyrean-order collectively heaved a sigh when they saw Erix''s gang before the portal above the Unbound Star cosmic faction''s mansion. "They are leaving." "Best news for the next fifty years." "If they stayed here longer¡­I can''t image what would happen." Everyone talked, and people gathered below. Shortly, they saw the Blessed Ind disappearing. It went inside Erix''s origin region. "We''ll be there soon," Lily said with a smile. Rin, Erix, Aria, and Amu entered the portal as Lily, Maleina, and Tenebria watched them vanish. Lilith was not present as she was in her bloodline''s next evolution. The dark red cocoon with mystical golden patterns had a mysterious and deadly aura. Although Rin and Erix''s story in the Abyss ended, a new one would begin soon that would shake the Abyss soon. It would begin as soon as Lilith emerged from the cocoon. The Dark Queen''s wrath. ¡­ Earth, Phoenix city. The Labyrinth Tower that pierced through the sky in the Phoenix City glowed briefly before a portal opened high above, at twenty kilometers off the surface, Erix and others emerged. "We are finally back, eh?" Erix took a deep breath. "Wait, this smell is different. We need to descend to see how our world looks after five months." "So this is your world," Aria curiously looked with her eyes shining, being able to look far and wide despite being so high in the sky. "Let''s not make an entry with Blessed Ind yet," Rin grinned. "Yep. It will be fun as a surprise," Erixughed. However, they suddenly got a notification. [Please enter the Labyrinth Tower and register as natives if you want to regain the benefits of the Mystic Record of this.] "Eh? Oh yeah, the leaderboard tab and others disappeared after we died," Erix said as he remembered. "I guess it''s about that. We need to register to participate in events and other things here like the leaderboards," Rin nodded. "if it is for natives, I won''t be able to participate in those things with you," Aria said with a slight pout, but then she also got a notification that surprised her and then gave a big smile. [You were born in the Abyss, so you can choose to get native benefits of this Mystic Record by registering. Enter the tower''s base floor.] Chapter 308: DO NOT READ THIS. MISTAKENLY UPLOADED HERE. F*** [Of course, the effect can be mystic and reality bending, but will be contained within the limit ording to your personal overall power by the cursew of ''Danger for Reward'' even if you make it absurd, so better make your effect carefully. If your extra effect can be epted as it is, the general ''set'' power and effect boost you get by maintaining your oath will be stronger.] ''Gotcha.'' Aeron focused and kept his me arrow pulled, but didn''t release it. In his source region, he started writing the oath. < I will always use my bow when attacking enemies in a loop order of three precise steps. > However, Aeron suddenly stopped as he got an idea. ''What if i restrict it to this particr Phantom Ability instead of bows in general? Yep, this is good.'' [You need a name for this Phantom Ability you created.] ''Hmm¡­that''s it. I got the name. Also, might as well modify the ability a bit to make it suitable to my oath,'' Aeron nodded with a grin. ''This is better.'' Lapis chuckled. [Yep. You got it. d I didn''t have to tell you that.] Aeron internally rolled his eyes. He kept his bow conjured and pulled an arrow for two seconds before he dispersed the ability and used it again. He pulled a meArrow and released it. *Boom* He pulled another one and released it. *Booom* ''Last.'' *Boooom* ''And it''s name is¡­mehunt Rambe.'' Aeron quickly wrote his cursed oath bound to the ability while a notification of Phantom Spark rang. [Congrattions. You have created a C-rank Phantom Ability¡ªmehunt Rambe.] When he finished the oath, another notification rang. [mehunt Rambe has be Oath Bound.] ''Haha, this is looking nice,'' Aeron looked at the Phantom Ability panel with shining eyes. Lapis smiled while nodding. [mehunt Rambe]¡ªCursed Oath Bound. |_Rank: C |_Type: Offense ¡ª Offense Rank: C+ to B |_Description: Conjures a strong stic redwood long bow/short bow with a set of three arrows. |_meBow: Conjure ¡ª 325 spirit energy cost. |_meArrow: Emission, Transmute ¡ª 100 spirit energy + ??? Curse energy. |_Enchant Boost: 100% to the meArrows. Lapis nodded with a smile -- [This cursed oath is pretty good for your first one.] < I will always use my Phantom Ability: mehunt Rambe when attacking enemies in a loop order of three precise steps. > < First arrow pull will have both bow''s ends maintaining only 2 inches of distance. > < Second pull with 1 inch of distance. > < Third pull with 1 centimeter of distance. > < If I mess up the order or fail to pull with precise distance between the bow''s both ends, one of my random limbs will be disabled for 1 hour. > < If I seed in pulling arrows in this order, each of my me arrows must contain all explosive power within 1 meter of radius and their explosive power must increase in ordance withws of danger for reward depending on my situation.> ''Yeah, this extra effect is not that absurd in realms of mystic and reality-bending,'' Aeron grinned and asked, ''Does the cursed oath''s boost count in determining Phantom Ability''s rank?'' [It doesn''t count. That''s why you can''t underestimate anything. As for the rank, it''s determined by theplexity of a number of uses of different applications.] [Your mebow is a product of Conjure. Your meArrows are products of Emission and Transmute. It''s a weapon-type that also uses your physical power to pull arrows for speed and increase in damage on top of the ability to boost your meArrows depending on your curse power, curse energy, and Enchant.] Lapis smiled. [This is indeed a bonafide C rank Phantom Ability and its offense can indeed reach C+ ording to your current power. But with your oath, you increased the damage even further. Contained explosion is a good idea.] Aeron used the mehunt Rambe as a bow conjured and he immediately pulled the string. *Boom* ?*Boom*?*Boom* ''My current speed is pulling 1 arrow every 1.5 seconds. Thest one is taking me 2 seconds,'' Aeron narrowed his eyes. The 3rd arrow pull required a strong and precise enough pull of the string that the bow''s both ends must only have a distance of 1 centimeter between them. The pull also required him to use Fortify of 10 x physical boost in his arms. It cost him 1000 curse energy. Each arrow broke the sound barrier, and its speed generated extra kic power, increasing the damage even more, especially since me explore and general explosive shockwave are contained within 1-meter radius upon impact. This increased the damage in that 1-meter radius bubble to an extra level. ''If I had this Phantom Ability against that C-rank Samurai Haunt, I would''ve insta-killed him,'' Aeron grinned. [True, but there are more dangerous and tricky C-rank Haunts with various powers. The Samurai had curse energy on a higher spectrum of C-rank, but its abilities were not as much. You''ll understand when you encounter more Haunts in Dark Ruins or when this city gets attacked next time.] [Also, you can practice until you can pull the arrows every second without mistake here. But after that, we''ll go join a Guild so we can enter a Dark Ruin. Practicing there is better, and you can make more makeshift Phantom Abilities there while gaining experience.] [Phantom Hunters usually do that and thene to the training room to solidify their experience and improve their Phantom Abilities.] ''Good idea. I only took 30 minutes to create this Phantom Ability, so I can make something more of this level anytime now that I know how the basic works,'' Aeron nodded and began shooting arrows. ''It''s only a matter of how to efficiently use my everything in imaginative creations.'' ''I''ll practice for one hour and create some new types of Arrows. For example, I can Transmute spirit energy to Wood, so how about Vine Arrow that produces vines around the target upon impact and my trigger?'' ''How about a Shield Arrow to create a humanoid-sized stone wall upon impact?'' Aeron grinned. ''The more Enchanted the arrow with curse energy, the stronger its effects.'' Lapis was surprised. [Different types of arrows with effects, eh? Not bad. Those simple effects should be easy to create since you got 100% proficiency in the first level of all basics.] Aeron''s eyes glinted. ''I''ll make those Arrows and refine them in the next hour. After that, we''ll go join a guild. If I can get Mystic resources like some exotic magical wooden materials from Dark Ruins, I can scan, study, and conjure them for suitable bows for different types of arrows.'' [That''s¡­you are creating a skill tree of Archer or what?] ''I''m doing just that and will finish it today as long as things go as nned,'' Aeron smiled with shining eyes, thrilled even. ''Let''s start.'' ... One hourter, Aeron left the Phantom Tower. "Selina mentioned that Star Horn guild. Should we try there?" [Star Horn Guild is one of the five Pir Guilds in the city...but we can try there. Let''s go. It''s better if we join one of the five Pirs, but I don''t know their criteria and tests. It''s up to you.] ''Gotcha.'' Chapter 309: Reverberating Return As Rin, Erix, and Aria descended, they saw that the vast meadow to the left of the tower waspletely different and huge! Towering castles, pces, exotic tree structures, different structures, futuristic ssy mansions, and various things spread in the meadow. The most prominent one was the territory of the Heavenly Melody Guild. "That''s our guild. It became bigger too," Rin smiled as she looked around. "But the number of territories reduced to only five, eh?" "The buildings are beautiful and so different," Aria muttered as she curiously looked at everything. Soon, the trio arrived at the tower''s base and entered its base floor. Immediately after that, all three of them were bombarded with notifications. Rin and Erix became the natives again, while Aria was also registered as a native. But the notifications just started. [Evaluating your power level¡­] All three of them saw a status screen of their powers with numbers beside them. [Evaluationplete.] [Congrattions, you are number 1 ranked in the World Leaderboard.] [Congrattions, you are number 2 ranked in the world leaderboard.] Everyone else got a notification of the change in the leaderboard, spreading a huge shock at the big shots all over the world. "Damn, we are top ranks already?" Erix was dumbfounded. He opened the world leaderboard and indeed saw his name at the top! [World Leaderboard] -No.1: Erix¡ª105,435¡ªTitle: not selected yet. -No.2: Rin¡ª86,022¡ªTitle: selected yet. -No.3: Leishun¡ª32,440¡ªTitle: Roaring Thunder. -No.4¡­. "Why is Aria not 3rd?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "I know it," Aria said with a wry smile. "I got a notification saying that I can get benefits of native and participate in events, but can''t have my name on leaderboards." [Aria] _Power level: -> 39,570. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. (Max foundational stats of Royal-order) -Spirit: 3290 points. -Soul: 2640 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Special-type Mythical-grade: 10,140 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Light¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Water¡ª4th realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Earth¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Fire¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Wind¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Animus¡ª1st realm: 5,000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª "Interesting. The Power level doesn''t include our skills and actualbat power, but only the powers we have," Erix said as he looked at his evaluation. [Erix] _Power level ¡ª> 105,434. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 1439 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª>Unique-type Mythic Grade: 14,495 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Metal¡ª4th realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Death¡ª2nd realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Space¡ª3rd realm: 15,000 points. ¡ª> me¡ª2nd realm: 2000 points. ¡ª> Nihilir¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª> Punch¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos¡ª1st realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Devorex Metal¡ª1st realm: 10,000 points. Rin couldn''t help butugh, "We are monsterspared to others, haha. Especially you." [Rin] _Power level: ¡ª> 86,022. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 1387 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Unique-type Legendary-grade: 7135 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Lightning¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Wind¡ª2nd realm: 2000 points. ¡ª> Time¡ª2nd realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Chronace¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª> Crimson Onyxbolt¡ª1st realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> de¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos¡ª1st realm: 10,000 points. [Title acquisitionpleted.] Suddenly, Rin and Erix got another notification. [You have gained the title: Deathly Throne Erix] [You have gained the title: Ruination de Rin] Erix grinned. "Titles might give some benefits, like my first title." "Let''s see," Rin checked the details of her title. "Nothing," Erix shook her head. The titles didn''t give any benefits. "This base also changed quite a lot," Erix said as he looked around the vast base of the tower, which wasn''t as empty as before. Aside from the Mystic Shop, there were 32 unique gates. Naturally, these gates still barely took 10% of the vast hall''s space, as they were just attached to the wall. "Cosmic Factions," Rin muttered and pointed at the Unbound Star cosmic faction''s gate. "So, the branches of Cosmic Factions appeared like this," Erix nodded, "It makes sense to have their entrance on the tower''s base floor." "Anyway, let''s go out and meet with others first, haha." However, the trio heard a shout of a familiar voice right after that. "Rin, Erix!" Sameira and Kenshin flew inside as Sameira shouted. Rin turned into a lightning bolt and appeared right before them before hugging them. "They are Rin''s mother and father?" Aria asked with shining eyes. "She is so happy." Erix grinned and side-hugged Aria, "Haha, I''m sure they''ll be happy to ept you as their daughter." ''Wait¡­what if they know I am two-timing,'' Erix thought. ''Hmm, whatever. They''ll understand.'' "We can have chitchatster, Rin. The situation is dire," Sameira said with a somber expression. "Erix, follow us," Kenshin said as he looked at Erix, his expression severe. "We have to save Isabe and Aaron." ¡­ Inside the Unfettered Fate guild''s central hall¡­ The guild had five exotic structures, but the main one was a twenty-meter-tall ck crystal pce, with the [Unfettered Fate] written in huge golden letters at the center. Inside the hall, the people numbered a total of 18, including Rin, Erix, Aria, Sameira, and Kenshin. Rin''s and Erix''s expressions were dark, and their eyes were murderous. Although the guild had slots to have 100 people, only 13 members remained. "So only you remained¡­" Erix looked at the members he recruited initially, along with some new faces. Leon, Zoe, and Alfred remained. Elena, the Six-eyed Monk ss girl also remained who was the trio. Roy and Tony, the twin brothers also remained with their uncle Samual. These six were the ones that Erix and Rin initially recruited. The other seven people were new and were meeting Rin and Erix for the first time. ''Goddamn, they both took first ranks in the leaderboard!¡­'' ''Isabe-chi always used to praise them to heavens, but I can now see why¡­ W-we can do this with them.'' ''Of course! Hahaha, just look at their damn power level. I don''t know how the hell he passed 100,000¡­what kind of crazy powers he has?'' "How is Isabe''s situation?" Erix asked as he looked at Sameira and Kenshin. "She is healing, but it''s taking time," Kenshin clenched his fist. "She died once and revived beside Aaron, but a traitor betrayed the guild and spilled information." "Her name is K. She used to be a high-ranking member and was a woman in her forties. Strong-willed and tough woman," Sameira said with a sigh. "We still don''t know why she betrayed Isabe." "She told enemies about Isabe''s special skill and also helped them get Aaron." "Aaron is now in their captivity and what they want is Isabe." *Crrrrr¡­..* Everyone felt a sudden suffocation and felt as if they were glued to space. The feeling of death infinitely neared to them. But this phenomenon immediately vanished in a second. "My bad¡­" Erix said as he stood up, his eyes returned to an eerily cold calm state¡ªthe dim red eyes bearing a dark silver glint in the depths. "Give us their location," Rin said as she and Aria stood up. Aria already knew what Rin and Erix were thinking, and seeing the atmosphere, she brightly smiled and said, "Don''t worry. We will get back to Aaron first. Safe and sound. I promise." "That''s right!" Amu shouted with anger bubbling in its big cute golden eyes. "Those assholes will pay this price with their deaths!" The Slime''s vulgarity was also gradually increasing after traveling outside for the past month. "I''m sending you their location," Kenshin stood up. His hand blurred, his index finger already at Erix''s forehead. Erix started seeing images in the bird''s eye view. Kenshin sent the whole map with great details visually by using spirit force. "You know their base now, but Aaron is with them," Sameira clenched her fist, feeling frustrated. "Kenshin and I were nning to go and save Aaron, but we couldn''t think of a good n." "If we went, they would surely kill Aaron," Kenshin fumed, and his eyes trembled. "Things got out of hand." Erix saw their stats and realized something. "Dad, Mom," Erix smiled. "We''ll bring him back safely. And don''t me yourself for this situation." "Who could''ve thought that someone that close would betray the guild? Unexpected things happen and sometimes tragedies too, but this¡­" Erix coldly smiled. "This is not a tragedy for us, but for them." Rin looked at Erix and held his hand. There was nothing to say. Rin knew what her parents felt. Since they were strong, and were allies, they were feeling responsibility as leaders. "Don''t worry," Rin said as she looked at her parents. "We''ll return soon with Aaron and introduce you to Aria." Erix looked at the guild members and nodded with a faint smile, "Rest and recovery. We''ll be back." In the next second, Erix, Rin, and Aria vanished as Erix used teleport. Destination: Dark Daggers Alliance, Frangara City. ¡­ On the other hand, people all over the world were talking about the top two spots on the leaderboard. After all, it happened very suddenly. East, West, South, North, Center. Everywhere in the world, all the top guilds and forces felt a sudden overwhelming pressure on them. An individual''s power didn''t matter most of the time, but there were times when it mattered. The appearance of Rin and Erix riled up all the top ones, especially those who thought themselves they were best, with both facts and confidence. A storm has begun brewing. A storm capable enough to engulf the whole world and change its foundation. The Relentless Force. Chapter 310: Frangara City, Dark Dagger Alliance Frangara City. This city was 250 kilometers away from Phoenix City, a city on the same tier as Phoenix City, but it was more popr for the big industrial and IT development. The poption of the middle ss and the poor was high in this city. The city also had ruling powers in various forms before the apocalypse. A gang, a syndicate, corrupt government sections, and such. But after the apocalypse, and five months after that, the current ruling power was none other than the huge Syndicate that became bigger. Dark Daggers Alliance¡ªan organization consisting of multiple guilds that monopolized the city''s resources in the apocalypse and acted wantonly. There were small guilds who resisted them, but the Dark Daggers Alliance suppressed and destroyed them. People started leaving the city due to the atrocities of DDA. The remaining poption decreased, and the people of Dark Daggers Alliance acquired a solid base in the city, moving ording to top leaders'' interests. The Alliance leader was Jakal. The most powerful guy in the alliance ording to his 18th ranking in the Power level Leaderboard. Along with Jakal, there were five more leaders of other guilds in the Dark Daggers Alliance, but Jakal was the strongest and most influential for one reason. He was no longer a human, but a vampire. Jakal changed his race and became allied with the Rorus vampire n, providing them with human cattle in exchange for various benefits and support. Their next target was destroying Heavenly Melody Guild, but it was not an easy task. Jakal''s ambitions were high. He wanted more people in the alliance under him, and the nearest Phoenix City was the best ce to make more depraved people and add them in the Alliance. If Phoenix City was maintained and orderly thanks to Heavenly Melody Guild, Frangara City was the exact opposite of Phoenix City thanks to the Dark Daggers Alliance. Still, the crime rate all over was wanton. People absolutely needed groups and guilds to survive, so there was a certain stalemate in Phoenix City, with the Heavenly Melody guild at the top to oversee things due to theirrge number of people who were betterbatants than general people, along with strong leaders. Phoenix City''s poption numbered twenty-two thousand people, while Frangara City''s poption numbered just four thousand. But 90% of them were members of the Dark Dagger Alliance, from members to officers to elites, and so on, with Jakal at the top along with five other leaders. But Jakal was not alone. He had two more brothers. The youngest brother called Rotan, the absolute spoiled scum, went to the Phoenix City''s areas, and his dick brain activated. Rotan assaulted a party that consisted of three members of the Unfettered Fate guild and four members of another small guild. The party was going to a Wave-type dungeon''s final difficulty for the juicy custom-armor ticket reward, but Rotan and his party of ten people assaulted them as they were passing by. Isabe was informed at the beginning of the assault, and she hurried there with people. However, Rotun''s party was strong, and they managed to kill others except for one girl that Rotan was going to sexually assault. Isabe arrived on time before Rotan could pull down his pants and killed him from afar as soon as she saw two people holding the girl down. It was an instant death for Rotan with Isabe''s single-target precise kill, and she put a barrier around the girl before the others with Isabe attacked the people in Rotan''s group. Still, two of them escaped, and the big conflict began. Jakal started sending elite teams to ambush the people of Phoenix City while ming Isabe and the Unfettered Fate guild in the name of revenge. After killing random people for a whole week, the Dark Dagger Alliance''s team started targeting the Unfettered Fate guild''s members only. Jakal used a simple portion of the masses, and despite Heavenly Melody guild''s constant help, the concentrated force of Dark Daggers Alliance targeting Unfettered Guild proved heavy. Ultimately, people left the guild, and someone even betrayed Isabe, resulting in Aaron getting into the enemy''s hands. Jakal wanted to target Phoenix City but also wanted revenge, so he was aiming for two birds with one stone. "Brother, that woman will surelye for her son," Mordar King said with a nasty grin. Looking at his stupid twenty-year-old brother, Jakal smiled and said, "I know. You did good work, but you have another task at hand. Go and finish it." Jakal was a man in histe thirties, the firstborn of the crazy parents he killed. He raised his brothers, and became a syndicate leader five years ago, handling smuggling and shadow crimes for the government party he supported. He had a muscr physique like his father, a height of 6''4 feet, and a criminal mind. s, he was about the face a natural order of things. An inevitable flow of the cosmos mechanism. ¡­ Rin, Aria, and Erix floated high up in the sky above the Dark Dagger Alliance''s territory in Frangara City and observed it. "Sanctuary Area. It''s pretty interesting," Rin said as she coldly observed the faint red barrier covering a significant section of the city. Each area with a popce had a Sanctuary Area. They appeared after everyone cleared the First Floor: Aestin''s realm. In the Sanctuary Area, people couldn''t hurt each other. It was an indestructible area because people''s powers would lose effects on both people and inanimate things. Nobody could get hurt by others. However, a sanctuary area was tied to the guilds situated in it and in the surrounding area that it influenced. If people living in the sanctuary areas had a high kill count of other leveled humans, the effects of the Sanctuary Area would reduce, making it possible to hurt others to a certain extent. Phoenix City''s sanctuary area was in the vast meadow where guilds were situated, and it was at [100/100] Santruary protection. Meanwhile, Frangara city''s sanctuary was at [0/100] Sanctuary protection. In short, it was a free-to-attack area despite being the sanctuary area. They had their big army of three thousand people there as they progressed daily with various dungeons, field dungeons, and other events in the city. They held the monopoly of the city''s resources, and whatever events and phenomena that regrly appeared there. They had plenty of necessities thanks to various facilities in the guilds'' exotic construct models from Guild-dungeons and monsters for food. People fucked around randomly, lived wantonly and spent their lives inplete debauchery in the city. Even during the day, Erix, Rin, and Aria could see people partying and just having a st in various ways at various ces. Having the entire city in their hands, they could get resources any time and leisurely live while progressing at their pace. But this debauchery life was putting them behind in the marathon, and they hadn''t realized that their pace would screw them sooner orter. Well, It was sooner than soon. "Found him," Erix said as he opened his eyes. "I''ll go and grab Aaron first." Erix disappeared from twenty kilometers high in the sky and appeared beside knocked-out Aaron. ''Oh?'' Erix was surprised to see Aaron possessing magic and mana, but he focused on the priority task first. Aaron was in a small room and no one was inside as a guard. ''No one is outside or inside. Heh, why would these pieces of trash stand guard?'' Erix shook his head and pointed at Aaron, wrapping him up in a cushion of Prana with Life power. A secondter, Erix and Aaron disappeared. Chapter 311: Erasure Punishment In the sky, they appeared before Rin and Aria. "He is fine, but I don''t know about this mental state," Erix frowned. "From his eyes, he cried a lot and must have suffered." "He is just five years old," Rin''s icy voice hissed through her clenched teeth. "Erix, these people are hopeless. It''s a breeding ground of chaos." "These people wouldn''t bat an eye when killing anyone innocent or bystanders at their whims. Their minds are rotting," Aria said as she bit her teeth, feeling sad and angry. "Just look at them¡­" "Mum¡­" Aaron''s eyes opened as he muttered in his sleep,"Don''te here¡­" The words stunned Rin, Erix, and Aria because they knew what they meant, and it also made them angry. Aaron was five years old, but what made him say that? What made him say "Don''te here" to his mother? He understood everything. "Damn it!" Erix cursed under his breath as an intense, icy light passed through his eyes. "There''s only one way to end this," Rin said with an expressionless, cold face. "Aaron needs to be shaped, and we will do that by showing him the end of this nightmare." "Let me heal him," Aria said as she put her hand on Aaron''s forehead, using the Animus element to nourish his unawakened soul and spirit, while also using her water and light elements to energize Aaron. Aaron''s eyes fully opened, clear and rippling as they looked at Erix before him. Instantly, Aaron''s eyes started dropping tears of relief as he saw Erix and Rin. Aaron remembered the duo and knew how much sense of protection he got from them. They were the ones who saved him and his mother in his eyes as they killed those demons. Seeing them again, Aaron cried while stretching his arms and hugging Erix. After calming him down, Aaron started speaking with rity. In the end, Erix asked, "Aaron, what do you think should happen to those baddies?" "They¡­" Aaron sniffed, his cheeks red and eyes angry, "They should disappear...forever." "If you listen to us and your mother carefully, we''ll make those baddies disappear. What do you say?" Erix smiled. "Mhmm, ok," Aaron nodded. "Mum is safe, so I am happy." "Let''s go then," Rin said with a cold smile. "We will make them disappear." ¡­ Jakal and the other five leaders gathered in their meeting room and were discussing the next n when all of them suddenly felt a chill, and the atmosphere in the meeting room turned heavy. The round table broke into pieces. Its rubble flew chaotically as Jakal and others saw Erix, Rin, Aria, and Aaron appearing in the center. "Who a-" "No talking," Erix said, sealing everyone in a lock of space,pletely trapped. Everyone used their elements and exerted their full physical strength, but nothing could break the space lock around them. Instantly, a feeling of death enveloped them. "Aaron, this is how we will make them disappear," Erix pointed at a middle-aged man, and Aaron also looked at him. The middle-aged man looked terrified at this situation. "Poof," Erix''s index finger released a Nihilir Wisp that stuck the man, causing him to phase into the Space Limbo before his body was broken into zing dark purple motes and beautifully vanished. "He disappeared¡­" Aaron muttered. "Yes. You only disappear people are that baddie, okay?" Rin said with a smile. "You can''t do it now, but keep in mind to be a good boy and listen to your mother. You have a lot to learn." To have a good conscience, Isabe could teach him best regarding that. But for now, they needed to erase Aaron''s fear of these baddies and end this nightmare to remove whatever trauma he may have for his future. "Who is the leader?" Erix asked and unsealed everyone''s heads. The remaining six people, including Jakal, took a heavy breath while their eyes fluxed with fear. "W-who are you?" "The guild master of Unfettered Fate," Erix grinned. "The true one." "You d-don''t know who you are messing with! We have two thousand people outside, ready to pounce on you!" A woman in her early thirties shrilled at Erix. However, Rin''s hands blurred, and a flow of Starlight golden light with faint ck and dark red sparks enveloped the woman for a second before vanishing. "Numbers doesn''t matter in some situation," Rin said, her Katana piercing into the ground as she narrowed her eyes at Jakal and others. "This is one of those situations." Not a single trace of that woman remained in the world, not even her Tier-5 magic dress. "Some people areing here," Aria said, her purple eyes shining with faint white-gold glints as she had the entire area under her radar. "Should I go and restrain everyone outside?" Aria asked, her voice eager. "Alright," Erix nodded. "It''s not a good idea to kill those many people since it will lower our sanctuary area''s protection." "I can read their consciousness like a book and depth of depravity. As long as they did horrible things, they must be ves for their lives," Aria said with her fists clenched, her anger solidifying. "No innocent should suffer because of their corrupted minds that only wait for retributions." After saying that, Aria vanished from her spot and went outside while Amu grinned, happy that Aria wasn''t the softie like before and could initiate this kind of decision. "We''ll use them as ves on our Blessed Ind," Rin ruthlessly said as her icy res pricked Jakal as he felt death nearing him. ''No fucking way! Y-Yes, I need to do that,'' Jakal''s eyes faintly glowed red. "Good idea," Erixughed and floated towards Jakal. "And you four will disappear before your whole Dark Dagger Alliance." "Erix, he is using Bloodline resonance," Amu suddenly said as the slime appeared on Jakal''s head with spikes on its bottom. "It''s fine. Let him use it," Erix grinned. "We have to see what kind of vampire friends he made." "Let''s go at the top. Aria is already capturing people swiftly." Erix teleported everyone from the hall and appeared on top of the big pce. Outside, Aria had unleashed thousands of Slime-type Animated Spirits with robust and gluey structures, using Water and Earth elements to create potent Mud slimes. The slimes were faster and stronger than everyone in the city, and their structure was unbreakable by their attacks. A slime would immediately m into someone and trap that person inside before gathering at the empty area before the pce. The people who ran away faster than slimes failed to escape since Aria would assault them with her Spirit wave attack, showing them stars in daylight. Even though it was just a crude spirit force attack, Aria could still knock them out due to the vast disparity between her Spirit power and others'' Spirit power. Moreover, the majority of people were still at Noble-order lifeform rank. In just a few minutes, every single person from the Dark Daggers Alliance was present before the pce, each one trapped in a slime. Erix and others descended, showing Jakal and other leaders to the trapped members. However, just as Erix was about to speak, several powerful auras approached them, all of them in Royal-order except one that made Rin, Erix, Aria, and Amu assess it. That one was an Empyrean-order lifeform rank aura! Chapter 312: Elimination, Full Power In the huge square at the center of Dark Dagger Alliance, over two and a half thousand people were trapped inside Mud Slimes, unable to free themselves. Before them, Erix, Rin, and Aria stood with Jakal and Alliance leaders. The trio and Amu looked at the six vampires. Five were Royal order powerhouses, and thest was an Empyrean order, level 329. Vampires arrived speedily and floated before Erix and others, scanning them with narrowed eyes and assessing the situation quickly. "Erix, Rin. They got around a thousand people as cattle. They suck their blood every day and keep them alive with food," Aria said with her voice slightly cracking. Aria was sad and angry because, in the memories she read from Jakal''s mind, she saw Jakal going to their area and seeing those human cattle. People of varying ages, young and old both. "It seems that you wiped out our allies," said the Empyrean order vampire who looked in histe twenties with a faint smile as he looked at Erix. ''His aura is strange¡­What exactly is his Power level?'' On the other hand, Erix inspected the Empyrean-order powerhouse and saw his Power level because he didn''t conserve his natural aura and blocked inspection. He wanted Erix to see his power level and scare him into submission. Usually, people could prevent others from checking their Power Level after this function appeared. Weaker ones would do that to prevent looking weak. [???]?[Level]: 329?[Powerl level]: 103,490 Erix''s face turned weird. ''How am I stronger than this Empyrean order? Sure, he is still early Empyrean order, but¡­'' Shaking his head, Erixughed. Rin also coldly smiled, ''Aria, get ready. We''ll take out the Royal order trash while Erix will handle that Empyrean order.'' ''Let''s see if they are intelligent first,'' Erix said. A Nihilir Wisp appeared above Jakal. It touched him and entirely dispersed him into faint dark hazy purple particles that soon vanished. "Your allies are gone," Erix said with a smile as more Nihilir Wisps appeared, and erased the remaining three leaders. However, the vampire leader who was seven feet tall and hands behind his back didn''t react much. The other five vampires in ck robes also floated silently behind the leader. "They are weak, so they are gone. My name is Remelik," said the Empyrean order vampire with a calm smile on his face. "We belong to the Rorus vampire n, situated just fifty kilometers away, into that Twin-Stone Vally." "We can offer you our alliance. As a n, we have ess to exclusive resources, items, and methods. As long as you be our ally, we can have rtions of mutual benefits with your guild." "I presume that guild is Unfettered Fate," Remelik added with a smile. However, he saw the eyes of Rin and Aria oozing hostility while Erix narrowed his cold, ruby crimson eyes. ''Kill them.'' Erix''s eyes shed silver, exerting his full power and affecting the space around to hold the five vampires. Rin and Aria''s eyes also shined before their figures blurred, and their powers surged. ''FOOLISH!'' Remelik internally shouted at this situation, not expecting these three Royal-order to court death. However, when he actually felt the power of the other party, a wave of shock assaulted him. ''Space element¡­'' Remelik saw a punch projectile arriving at him right as his wide w-projectile attack released. However, Remelik saw that the beautifully chaotic dark purple punch with vtile formation struck his w and utterly obliterated him, while the shockwaves pushed him back, even shredding a portion of his Prana Kavach. Remelik''s heart shook. ''That purple me wasn''t just an attribute-concept of me!¡­what was that?'' While he was in his thoughts, his back turned utterly cold as he noticed the presence of his subordinates vanishing. His eyes focused ahead in the starlight flow that blocked his vision. He saw Rin wielding her Katanas, but the one that shocked him was Aria as he felt a familiar power. ''Soul power! I haven''t awakened it yet, but this girl already did?'' ''I can''t fucking stay here!'' Remelik''s entire body turned blood red and scattered, turning elemental as he tried to run. Remelik knew Aria''s soul power was capable of suppressing his capabilities. Soul Pressure was a terrifying thing for those with unawakened souls since it could directly suppress Magic power and even spirit power, lowering theirbat power. Remelik knew that if he stayed there, he would die. s¡­ "You can''t escape." What Remelik saw before him was Erix, floating with a strange dreamy dark purple scarf that floated behind him, through his arms. Six chaotic orbs filled with Nihilir, Vigor, and Death energy, coated in nano-metal floated behind Erix. Erix''s upper body was bare, showing a lean and shapely body lining with no fat and pure pristine condensed muscles. His lower body''s outfit had changed into a ck loincloth with dark gold energy, made from his Bloodline''s passive Bloodline essence. His Combat Art didn''t have this addition, but he added it after getting his bloodline and changing his get-up. However, his entire body had strange patterns and lining, faintly pulsing with hazy dark purple, gleaming sharply. "We are pretty close in Power level," Erix grinned as he smacked his fists. "Use your domain on me. Let''s see if you can kill me." *Crr...* Erix consumed 30,000 Prana to activate this recently modified and created Combat Art. Celestial Chaos Form. He kept the same name because it suited this form even more. The Chaotic Orbs that were his ultimate fuel looked like celestial bodies, and his appearance was no less befitting to it. His entire body was acting as a huge formation nexus to utilize his energies in the most proficient way possible, thus helping him execute his strongest arsenal of powers. No other skill and technique they get or had could match Rin''s and Erix''s peak creations that utilized their powers best. Their strongest arsenal. Skillcrafts. Remelik gulped. He had an ominous feeling, but there was no other choice left to him by this new enemy. Remelik roared and used his domain, disappearing from the material world as they appeared in a blood-red world with a shadowy forest. The trees, flowers, mountains, rivers, everything looked shadowy and not clearly physical. Remelik hid, his presence entirely vanishing. ''I''ll ambush him!'' This was his specialty. An Assassin-n, and assassin-type powers. Main elements: Blood, Shadow, and Mist. Remelik focused on Erix. Erix floated above the forest, calm and collected, his spiritual mystic eye''s radar expanding, but unable to find Remelik. ''Interesting.'' "Alright. The first strike is yours," Erix shouted with a grin. "But know that the moment you start, I will also start." Remelik didn''t waste time and didn''t hold back. ''Spear of Alucard: Blood Shade.'' Consuming 50,000 Prana and 15,000 Spirit force, Remelik neared the end of his main reserves. ''If only I had saved some Blood Essence¡­'' Remelik regretted but shook it away and focused. ''I only have one chance.'' Erix''s spread sense suddenly caught the intention. In the next moment, his sense captured the exposed presence of Remelik along with a destructive phenomenon heading towards him. In that instant, Erix''s intention directed a lock-on at Remelik''s position. His Skillcraft activated. The six orbs shrank to a pea''s size for a moment. At the same time, Erix''s entire body blinked, blurred, and gleamed in an instant before a thumb-sized sphere manifested right before Remelik''s eyes, at the precise location marked in his Space Map when Remelik''s attack manifested. ''Atomic Chaos Point¡­'' Erix''s thought released, and his Skillcraft unleashed. This single-target,pacted attack to affect fixed space, was an instantous target skill. It was not his most powerful Single-target skillcraft. But it was the fastest yet fatal. A sphere appeared around Remelik with concentrated gravity at its center point, which was a condensed metal used as a carrier for this gravity prison sphere. That same metal was also the vtile point where the entirety of Erix''s attack was constructed. It exploded and the gravity space sphere turned chaotic silver, entering into Space Limbo and exploding automatically after breaking the domain and material ne''s space. The intensity and destructiveness were far out of Remelik''s defense, which he hadn''t even prepared properly due to making a sore mistake at the veryst end. Remelik''s existence was erased with that attack. He thought since he got the first strike, his attack would hit Erix first and kill him. But despite releasing his attack first, Erix managed to target his Skillcraft at him. And¡­Remelik''s attack also managed to hit Erix. The Spear of Alucard squarely struck Erix''s chest a moment after Erix''s attack activated. The ominous spear was no small attack. It was Remelik''s strongest ambush attack, and it indeed gave hell to Erix. Enveloping him in a razor-sharp shadowy blood barrier, Erix was attacked at the micro-level physically, shredding his skin, flesh, bones, and organs. His Life Orb drastically reduced and reached 0%. A burst of death aura exploded outward, turning Erix into a pristine dark gold skull figure, shining, and giving a majestic vibe. "Welp, time to be the skeleton king for a while," Erix shrugged as a robe appeared around him. Rin and Aria arrived. "You died," Rin rolled her eyes. "Haha," Erixughed and nodded. "I wanted to take on his attack. It was powerful." "Hehe, Erix can experiment with death," Aria giggled. "Alright, let''s finish the matter here. We have to bring Aaron back to his mother fast." "They must miss each other so much." ... The trio arrived beside Amu, who had Aaron safely within its slime protection. The two thousand-five hundred people had an interesting expression. Nobody was high or drunk. Everyone had a crystal clear mind at the moment and a singr thought. It was to listen to whatever those people before them say and obey them like good dogs. Chapter 313: Absolute Reign (1) Erix took out the Blessed Ind, and mass teleported every captive on it. Afterward, he also activated the barrier pool, essentially trapping everyone on the ind. "Aria, release them." Erix, Rin, and Aria floated slightly above, facing the big group of people. Amu put Aaron on top after bing a big slime. On the other hand, the Mud Slimes vanished and released the people, but none of them tried to move. Sweat tickled on their body, and fear of death enveloped them. "First," Erix showed his index finger. "Forget about dying. You will not die on this ind even if you kill each other." Erix''s cold smile chilled everyone, "I will not allow you to die unless I decide to send you to your deaths." "Second, you will work on this ind as ves. For starters, build yourselves small abodes in a rtively empty area and then work on building a pce." "Third," Erix showed his third finger and smiled, "From now on, you will focus on magic upations. As ves, you will produce potions, items, cook, and other things." "Anyone wants to say something?" Rin asked as she crossed her arms. "Screw you!" Someone shouted like a pin dropping in a silent environment. The woman who screamed had a n. She thought that if she started and riled up other people, chaos would ensue, and everyone would attack those three people. However, all she attracted was the gazes of people. And then everyone heard a lightning crackle. A dark red lightning bolt surrounded by Dissolution Flow struck her, reducing her vitality to almost zero. However, her vitality swiftly healed afterward and her injuries disappeared within two seconds. Finding herself back from the death''s door, the woman felt relieved and despaired both. "You can''t die here because this is your hell," Erix uttered. "If you understand the situation, start working." Everyone scrambled and flew away, finding a big area as a first task. Meanwhile, Erix, Rin, and Aria flew out of the ind and went around the city to capture the remaining people of the Dark Daggers Alliance. "This city is established, so more people will soon fill up this ce," Erix said as he overlooked the city from high in the sky. "Or it will be filled by some random n of another race," Rin chuckled. "Whatever, our task is done." "Mhm," Aria smiled. "Let''s bring back Aaron to his mother." Erix snapped his finger, causing the Blessed Ind to move towards Phoenix City after he teleported the trio back to the ind. ¡­ The flying monsters curiously approached the ind, and some even attacked the barrier in futility, but Aria''s Animated Spirits were patrolling around the ind and killed the monsters. Below, many people on the way were shocked at a floating ind speeding away, erupting in discussion and wondering. "What was that?!" "Holy shit, is that some kind of new event?" "It''s so big and still flying at that speed¡­.what the fuck?" Many people saw the floating ind speeding away. Within half an hour, the ind also reached Phoenix City, floating on top of the meadow and attracting the giant poption''s attention. Uproar ensued. Some people even flew up in curiosity, approaching the ind. The barrier was visible, but since it was transparent, people could see inside and saw colorful dragons, birds, and fish flying around. The Animated Spirits approached the group of people, their auras intimidating. "These monsters feel more powerful than us! Run!" "Is that some kind of new dungeon? Why notification ain''t arriving?" While people were talking about the ind, Erix, Rin, Aria, Amu, and Aaron already arrived at the Unfettered Guild''s territory with teleport. Inside the Virident Tree Pce, Erix and others arrived in the hall, but Erix teleported everyone again and arrived inside a big bedroom. Isabe was sleeping in the bed. Kenshin and Sameira already stood up with anticipation as they sensed familiar auras suddenly arriving in the hall and then in the room. "Mum!" Isabe''s eyes shook as Aaron''s voice entered her ears, causing her to open her eyes. The mental trauma of Aaron getting kidnapped and the anxiousness caused her to sleep even after her injuries were healed. However, Aaron''s voice stirred her awake as she opened her eyes. "Mom!" Isabe got up, her eyes getting clear as she saw several people before her. Aaron jumped and hugged Isabe as he started bawling while Isabe also hugged him, feeling relieved as her tears streamed. From her blurry eyes filled with tears, Isabe saw Erix, Rin, Aria, and Amu. Upon clear look, she saw who they were and her eyes widened. "Erix, Rin¡­" Aaron looked at her and wiped her tears with a smile, "Mum, they returned and saved me and made bad guys disappear." Isabe got up, turning into water particles and appearing before Rin and Erix before hugging them tightly. "You finally returned¡­" Isabe squeezed them, her voice shaking. "I missed you two." Erix and Rin smiled and caressed her back. "We also missed you," Erix grinned. "We are here now, back on the main track," Rin chuckled. Isabe smiled and looked at their faces and aura, "I can see you two went through many changes." "You don''t know about the notification because you were sleeping," Sameira with a prideful chuckle. "These two are at the top two ranks in the leaderboards." "Dark Daggers Alliance is no more. The city''s safe area is entirely empty, haha." "And from now on¡­" Erix''s ruby eyes shed sharply," I want to see who can challenge us." "Mum, they are so powerful! Way, way more powerful than when they left," Aaron excitedly said as he jumped in the bed with raised arms and clenched fists. "I will be like them and beat all bad guys!" "Also, Aria and Amu are also so powerful," Aaron giggled and jumped towards Amu, who aptly caught him in a slime ball before popping him up. "Everyone. This is Aria," Rin said with a big smile as she pulled Aria and patted her head. "We met her in the Abyss, and we are her new family." "Hello~" Aria greeted everyone with shining eyes as she saw more people close to Rin and Erix, making her happy. "And I am Amu. Aria''s guardian spirit," Amu said with a big grin and sparkling golden eyes. "I can tell you three are good and caring with a clear conscience." "We''ll be in your care, but don''t worry. I will also care for everyone," Amu popped out of a slime hand and patted its tummy as if patting its chest with a confident, big smile. Everyoneughed at Amu''s words, and the atmosphere soon turned merry. After talking for several minutes, Erix said, "We can talkter but for now¡­It''s time to make some rules and establish some order." "Order of our own," Rin followed up with a sharp expression, her eyes meeting Erix as both of them had decided on their next move. ¡­ It was six in the evening, the Blessed Ind had attracted many people, and thousands of people had gathered at a big empty ground in the center of the meadow, which was usually reserved for big public meetings of guilds for the past months. Due to various events, floor clearing, and other things, the guilds held meetings regrly. The guild leaders arrived and stood at the front, with their core members behind them. The rest of the people stood behind, easily numbering several thousand in the huge circle. One of the guild leaders was a buffy muscr man, Kan, and his gang whom Erix and others met in the Targon city''s headquarters. "Boss, those people we met returned. I feel like this floating ind belongs to them. What do you say?" Ronaldo said to Kan as he stood beside and curiously looked at the ind. "Rin and Erix. They died on the first-floor realm but returned," Kan nodded, his eyes thoughtful. "The members of Heavenly Melody called everyone for a meeting, so things are going to get interesting or distasteful. It depends on people''s take." "Let''s see what they have to announce." People were murmuring and discussing the meeting, but they didn''t have to wait long as a group of people suddenly appeared in the center, causing the ruckus of people talking to slow down. Several of them recognized Erix and Rin, while many who did not recognize them felt a strange pride. After all, the no.1 and no.2 of the world leaderboard ranking were in their region! "I''m sure some of you know us, but to those who don''t know us, I am Erix. The guild master of Unfettered Fate guild." "I am Rin, the vice-guild master. And for your curiosity, the floating ind above indeed belongs to us." People erupted in an uproar at the confirmation, but the next words of Erix silenced everyone. "Dark Daggers Alliance of Frangara city is no more. We''ve killed their leaders and enved their members. They are on the ind," Erix''s in yet cold voice echoed everywhere as he stated the result. "And from now on, there''s going to be some changes to this ce." "What changes?" Yagun Mubei asked as he narrowed his eyes. Erix looked at him and raised his eyebrows, "Yagun Mubei, eh? You are still alive?" Yagun''s face turned red. "I am the leader of 2nd strongest guild here!" "There''s no second strongest or third strongest here anymore," Erix grinned and put away his gaze from him and looked at other guild leaders. When he saw Kalfan at the forefront, he was surprised as he remembered him and the young man and girl beside him. His gaze met and Kan nodded with a smile. Erix nodded back while Rin continued with the announcement. "The changes are simple. First, once this meeting is over, no guild territory must stay in this Sanctuary Area," Rin said, dropping a bomb that dumbfounded everyone. "And this is non-negotiable," Erix smiled and added, his tone rejecting any notion of objection. Chapter 314: Absolute Reign (2) "What?!" Hearing the words and the tone of Erix, everyone was dumbfounded. An uproar began among people. "Why, Erix? It would help if you could provide a sound reason," Kan said, his voice ringing high and wide to suppress the normal talks of people. "The reason is simple," Erix smiled. "This Sanctuary Area is a protection zone, so keeping guild territories here is just taking needless space." "It''s not an efficient use of this area," Erix narrowed his eyes and continued. "We have Guild-dungeons for structures and other ways to strengthen Guild Bases, so people who don''t live in Guild territories should build their houses here in the sanctuary zone." Just as Erix finished speaking, another uproar began, even bigger than before. But this time, the general public was cheering loudly! Guild territories had taken up most of the space in this five-kilometer diameter sanctuary zone. It was the same size as the Blessed Ind, so the ind floating above covered the exact space of the Sanctuary Area. "Second¡­" Rin''s voice spread, suppressing others'' voices as everyone quieted down. "The floating ind you see above is named Unfettered Kingdom, and¡­a Kingdom has its citizens." Erix produced a ck index-finger-sized rectangle card with shining dark golden letters swelled on it. [Unfettered Kingdom] "This is the citizen card of Unfettered Kingdom¡ªYou can call it U-card! It has a magic formation inside that will allow you to spirituallymunicate with other holders of the card." "Each card has a unique serial number, and if you touch another card with your card, you can add that person to your contact list." Erix raised his right hand upward while the people were dumbfounded hearing the announcement of the cards and their functions. "Stay in your position and wait for your U-card," Erix said. In the next second, his eyes shed with space, and his Prana started consuming as he started creating the cards. One by one, cards rapidly materialized in the sky and floated in rows up rows, creating a big spectacle. Erix had already learned the spiritual magic formation present inm cards that everyone used in the Abyss, and it wasn''t hard to learn nor was it a secret in the Abyss. This form ofmunication wasmon, and it was bound to arrive here, but Erix decided to make it essible quickly because he could. He had Metal elements to create the card''s base material, so he only needed to learn the spiritualmunication formation, which was easy. He gave a unique serial number of five digits + alphabets to each card and created a total of eight-thousand six hundred and seventy-two cards¡ªthe same amount as the number of people present here at the moment. Erix''s Space Map registered every person, and he mass teleported the cards before every single one. "Using a bit of your Prana on your U-cards will register you as an owner of the U-card and you can put it under your name, but you will need Spirit sense tomunicate with other card holders, so need Spirit stat awakened." "If you don''t have spirit sense, you''ll have to store spirit force in it from people who have unlocked Spirit state to use the card''s call function!" Everyone grabbed the card that appeared before them and inspected it. [Name: ???] [Grade]: D [Serial Number]: A13B8 [Spirit Force stored]: 0 [Contacts]: ¡ª "What is with this grade?" "Are there other uses of the cards?" People started shouting, but Erix raised his palm, "Silence and listen!" The voices quieted down, and Erix continued. "The card''s grade indicates its quality and effective range! D-grade cards can only contact people within 100 kilometers of you." "C-grade card''s range is 500 kilometers and¡­" Erix''s smile turned into a grin, his eyes gleaming, "the C-grade card will have a storage space of 10 cubic meters!" "Unlike our Inventories from the system, you can store anything in a C-grade or higher-graded card''s storage space!" *Uproar!!* This was big! Erix had Space Affinity, and it wasn''t hard for him to create a storage space attached to the card with a formation, especially because he examined the Hunter Card from the abyss! Here, people could only store items gained from the apocalypse in their attached invisible Inventory¡ªDrops, dungeon rewards, and various other event rewards. People also started crafting potions, one-time-use items, artifacts, and other things, and their uses increased. They could also store them in the inventory, but the it didn''t have unlimited space. Unlike in the cubic meter size, the Inventory had limits ording to the number of items stored inside¡ªlimit: 100. As such, the U-card was a big thing. "I want to upgrade my card!" "How much will it cost to upgrade the card?!" The other guild leaders looked at the cards after grabbing them and felt strange as they looked at each other. Until now, everyone thought they were equal to each other, but the return of the Unfettered Fate Guild''s leaders changed the whole game here. epting the card felt like bing their subordinate of sorts. "Card upgrade is not avable at the moment," Erix responded to the people''s demand. "And Card upgrade will not be free." [Event! Prana Vein emergence beginning in one hour.] [After an hour, a Prana Vein would manifest at a random location near all 50 Sanctuary Areas around the world. People can enter the vein zone and mine Prana Stones.] ''Interesting,'' Erix. ''Erix, might as well announce the currency n right now,'' Rin said. ''This is a good opportunity.'' "Everyone, you will need exclusive currency of Unfettered Kingdom to upgrade the cards and other things or facilities we might add." "The exclusive currency is called Unfettered Credit, and it is not physical, but spiritual, as it will appear in your U-card." "You can earn U.C. by donating natural resources of Tier-5 and above or Prana stones." "More about this will be disclosedter, but the exchange center will be built here in this center tomorrow." Sweeping his nce around, Erix announced thest, but not the least uing change, one that outright nailed their position here. Chapter 315: Absolute Reign (3/3) Andst but not least, thew and order must be maintained here." "We don''t want even a minor example of Dark Daggers Alliance''s crimes in this area," Rin''s sharp and cold voice spread everywhere. "If anyonemits atrocities, they will suffer a fate worse than death." "If you have a dispute, you can solve it yourself, but we''ll put our noses into things as we wish," Erix faintly smiled. "If anyone breaks certain bottom lines, expect yourself to disappear forever." "From now on, this is no longer a pure public area. This is Unfettered Kingdom''s territory!" "And if anyone has any objection, they can leave the card and get out of this area or fight us," Rin smiled. "We''ll offer you the eternal slumber." The meadow turned silent. It was as if people were digesting the words and processing them logically. The majority of average people have be overall more cautious ever since the apocalypse began. When it came to the big forces before them, it was required to contemte hard instead of outright objecting like fools. In the end, nobody had objections, and people scattered away to prepare for the mass moving. The guild territories vanished one by one as the guild leaders put their guild bases at the edges of the Sanctuary Area. Meanwhile, the general public started building houses using their Mana or Prana. Erix also built a metal dome at the center, the so-called exchange center. The n was to get quick resources from the people and give them to their ves to craft potions, items, and other things. Naturally, he also nned to use them for farm dungeons and events when necessary. For instance, the uing Prana Vein event. ¡­ Erix, Rin, Aria, Isabe, and everyone started working to reform the area and make it a proper town. It was small, but Erix had abundant Metal and Prana. He gave some solid shapes and designs to the arrays of houses and created proper pathways. The central area was kept reserved for other buildings that might built in the future, so only the Exchange Center was present at the moment. It was closed, and the building needed staff, so a few of those ves could fill in that hole. But not at the moment. "Twenty minutes left. Let''s go," Erix stretched his arms and snapped his finger, teleporting Rin, Aria, and Isabe onto the floating ind. "Where are we going?" Isabe curiously asked. "For the uing event that''s starting in twenty minutes," Erixughed. "The difference is that we''ll be raiding a spot at another Labyrinth Tower, not ours." "This is our kingdom now," Rin grinned. "And we''ll make people depend on us and make our strength while us being their backers. Mutual benefits to progress faster than others." "Waaa, you are nning world domination or what?" Aria chuckled. "Well, that''s not going to be easy, and we are not interested in staying here forever," Erix''s eyes showed fires of ambition deep within as he said, "But while we are here, we must raise to the top before others and put our mark of domination." Isabe smiled and said, "Only you two talk grand like that, and I missed that, haha." "But, I am with you on this journey," Isabe''s eyes resolved. "Should we bring Aaron with us?" Amu asked. Isabe shook her head, "The kids can absorb Mana ever since Mana veins also appeared and can get strong physically, so Aaron''s focus and attention is always on training." "He wants to be strong like Erix," Isabe chuckled. "Alfred is our guild''s instructor this week, so let him train with other kids." "Actually, let''s bring them up on this ind," Erix said and snapped his finger, opening a portal with its other end opening at the guild''s training hall at the northeast edge of the Sanctuary Area. "It''s better to train on this ind because of its superior magic atmosphere. Kids will progress faster here." "Wait, Erix," Isabe said in an abrupt voice, her gaze pointing at the direction where those ves had built their colony two kilometers away, on the other side of the glowing blue-waterke. "Those people¡­are they properly reined?" "Haha, don''t worry. I''ll create a barrier in here, so they won''t dare to think of anything." "And my Animated Spirits also watch over them," Aria cutely snorted. "If they dare to do something, my dragons will incinerate them." "Yep. As for proper reins on them¡­" Erix rubbed his chin and turned to Aria and Amu, "Is it possible to create some sort of spiritual seal to restrict their intention and movement?" "Possible," Amu nodded with a big grin. "Leave it to me. If they produced even the faintest of the intention of hurting anyone, the seal will be able to knock them out with a powerful spiritual assault." "Great." ¡­ After bringing in the kids and Alfred, Erix drove the Blessed Ind towards the nearest Labyrinth tower. Moving at full speed, Erix teleported the whole ind with him at the expanse of massive Prana consumption. They arrived at the nearest Labyrinth Tower ten minutester. Even though it was the nearest tower, it was still 1400 kilometers away. Seeing the massive floating ind above, the thousands of people were dumbfounded. The majority of the world''s people were still at Noble-order lifeform rank, but they were gradually ranking up. "There are at least around a hundred people at Royal order rank within fifty kilometers of the area. If we count that Dwarf-tribe''s location, then more," Erix said after scanning the area. "Isabe-sis, are those ns and tribes considered natives and participate in the events?" Rin asked. "Nope. They can''t participate in events or tower floors." "Then this area''s Prana Vein is ours," Erix grinned and cracked his knuckles. "This is our 3rd Prana Vein event. Thest one was a week ago," Isabe said. "We can''t simply farm Prana Stones from it. The Prana Vein zone is an underground zone with mining sections." "Each mining section has battle challenges, so if youplete the challenge, you can upy it to farm Prana stones." "The deepest mines have tougher challenges, but more Prana stones. You can also challenge the people who upied a mine to take their mine, but you can''t kill anyone inside the Prana Vein zone." Isabe finished speaking, informing all there was to the event. "Thanks for the heads up. Now, let''s go and meet some people here," Erix grinned. "Their sanctuary is 100% intact, so I guess they are not that bad." Chapter 316: Laveron city, Prana Vein Event Erix and the gang flew out of the ind, attracting the attention of the group of people who came to check out the ind. Upon seeing Isabe, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Amu, the group of people immediately used inspect. However, they couldn''t see their Power level as Erix and others had conserved their auras. Erix approached them while smiling, Rin and others right beside him. "Who are you?" asked a middle-aged man from the big group. "We are from another city, a bit far from here," Erix answered, causing everyone''s jaw to drop in shock. "You are natives?! How the hell did you get this ind?" "It also seems magical." "Why are you here?" the same middle-aged man asked as he frowned. "That''s a very good question," Rin smiled. "We are here to participate in the event that''s about to start in fifteen minutes." Suddenly, a few more auras approached the group, more powerful ones. "Leader." "Leader Yorik." "Leader John." Four people arrived¡ªthree men and one woman. All four were at Royal-order rank and had some progress in the Spirit path. ''It seems that they are guild leaders of the major guilds here,'' Isabe said. ''Weak,'' Rin clicked her tongue. The spiritualwork in the group was active, so Erix and others could discuss things internally. "Are you part of any guild?" asked Yorik, the oldest of the group with a big beard and white hair, looking in his sixties. "Of course we are," Erix lightlyughed and added, "Let''s talk while sitting at a table. That center below looks very well-developed." ¡­ Erix and others found out that this Sanctuary area of Laveron city had six guilds ruling it and then other small guilds at various parts of the city. The total poption here roughly reached twenty-thousand. In the sanctuary area''s center was an open pavilion with a table, indicating that they used this ce for public meetings. Erix and others sat at the table with six other people, while two people stood behind each of them. "The event is starting in exactly sixteen minutes, so let''s make this quick," Erix said with faint smile. "We are here to participate in the Prana Vein event." "The event is public, so no one is stopping you," one of the two women at the table said. She looked in her thirties¡ªck hair, blue eyes, a slim figure, and an adequate bust. "That''s good to hear," Erix nodded. "I am Ron. You can participate in the event, but we are interested in that floating ind," said a man in histe twenties¡ªsharp face, thick eyebrows, and handsome. "How did you get it?" "Forget about it. That''s not something you can get," Rin chuckled as she shook her head. "You can''t get it here." "Eh? I think people can get anything they want in the current world...as long as they try," a girl behind Ron said in a mocking tone. "You mean¡­by force?" Rin narrowed her eyes, her smile bing wide. "That''s one of the ways," the girl replied with a snort. "Conflict won''t benefit you, so let''s keep this peaceful," Isabe helplessly smiled. The guild leaders wanted to inspect Erix and others but could not and it slightly frustrated them. Without gauging their power level, they didn''t want to create conflict even though their curiosity regarding that floating ind was gnawing at them. If some random people arrived here, they wouldn''t listen to them and make this meeting. However, there was a giant freaking ind floating in the sky, and the people who brought it here were the same as them¡ªthe natives. The hunger for power and wonders was a new priority aside from survival in this new age! Just as the table turned silent for a couple of seconds, a man in his thirties withbed ck hair and a chiseled jaw with a clean shave stood up. "I am Karas, the leader of Suncrow guild," Karas swept his nce at Erix and others before speaking in a serious tone. "I would like to have a dual with one of you." Hearing Karas, the other guild leaders, and their close core members standing behind them took great interest. All of them wanted to see theirbat power. Moreover, Karas was strongest here ording to his Power Level¡ª30,590¡ªranked 13th on the World leaderboard. Erix''s group was stronger than him except for Isabe, who had a power level of 28,540¡ªranked 64th on the world leaderboard. However, Erix''s response disappointed them. "No. Not interested," Erix smiled. "We will not duel with anyone, but you are free to challenge us in the Prana Vein event." "We just wanted to inform you that we''ll be participating and wanted to see the general power here." Standing up, Erix added, "Since we are done, we''ll be leaving." Erix then spent a bit of Prana and marked Rin and others to teleport as everyone arrived back on the ind. Meanwhile, the guild leaders and others were shocked. "What the hell? Did they just teleport?" "They sure did, but how?!" "Item or personal power?" "And they even have that floating ind. Leader, I couldn''t see clearly, but there were colorful dragons, birds, and fish flying around at the edges." "I feel like that ind itself is a crazy trove of treasure." The guild leaders nced at each other, each with their own thinking. But Karas frowned, shaking his head as he said, "Don''t mess with them. They are none other than the mysterious Rank 1 and Rank 2 in the leaderboard that abruptly appeared." "How do you know? They didn''t even speak any of their names." "My hunch," Karas indifferently said and stood up. "If you all want to do something¡­like wanting that floating ind, be their guests." ¡­ "Isabe. I saw your rank in the leaderboard, but the power level mentioned there is not the same as you have right now," Rin noticed while checking the leaderboard. "Yes. I didn''t enter thebyrinth tower, so it hadn''t been updated yet. Once I enter, it automatically updates." The group sat at the table while watching the kids training and Alfred supervising them. The kids numbered a total of seven, their ages ranging from five to nine. Aaron and another little girl were from the Unfettered guild, while the other five were from the Heavenly Melody guild. When five minutes were left until the Prana Vein event''s beginning, it was break time for the kids. Amu and Aria yed with the kids by creating cute and small Animated Spirits, causing merryughs and giggles. But Aaron rushed towards Erix and said with puppy eyes, "Erix, I miss Sangle. Can you bring him back?" "Oh yeah, what happened to Sangle?" Erix pped his thigh. "Sangle flew away after you died and went to Abyss," Isabe said with a sigh. "My title¡­" Erix thought about this title, and the section appeared. [Title: Beast Subjugator]¡ªDeactivated. Erix raised his eyebrow. "My title''s effect is deactivated," Erix got the notification whether he wanted to activate the title, and he did. Instantly, he felt a sense of bond with Sangle again. "Sangle is alive," Erix said with augh."I think it''sing towards me, but due to the distance, it will take time." "How far is it?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "No idea," Erix wryly smiled. "But ording to what I am sensing, the eagle is pretty far from here, but not that far from Phoenix City." "Sangle also must have gotten stronger since it''s still alive even after five months," Rin grinned. "Sangle ising back?!" Aaron''s eyes shone. "Yep," Isabe smiled and ruffled Aaron''s head. "Yey! Sangle ising back!" Aaron cheerfully shouted and went back to y with the kids. Meanwhile, five minutes passed, and everyone on the heard the notification that it started. [Prana Vein event has started. Find the entrance and begin farming. All the best.] "Let''s go," Erix stood up and called Aria and Amu. After teleporting with everyone except Kids and Alfred, Erix''s eyes gleamed with silvery space as he used Space Mapping. His Spiritual Mystic Eye covered the fifty kilometers of the area around him in tandem with his space vision, creating a 3D map in his mind. "Hahaha, it''s not even hidden," Erixughed while shaking his head. "Let''s go. Other people will soon find it." Snapping his finger, Erix teleported everyone and arrived seventeen kilometers away from the Labyrinth Tower of this city, at a small mountain range consisting of three dry mountains. The entrance was a cave, and it was oozing out Prana energy in a condensed manner, so people would soon find it. Erix and others entered inside the cave and arrived in a vast cavern the size of a football field. "This is level 1 floor. Those circles on the walls are mining spots, but they''ll only open once we touch the circle to start the challenge andplete it." Isabe exined. "You can solo challenge it, but if you are in a party, the challenge will consider that. The difficulty will automatically adjust ording to the number of people in the party." "Welp, then let''s go to the deepest part and then challenge the best Mine''s entrance," Erix grinned. His eyes shed silver, only to get a surprise. ''Teleport is not working...'' "It looks like I can''t teleport here. Let''s go, we''ll have to go by foot." Everyone''s figure blurred as they sped up into the passage leading to the 2nd floor under the ground and then to the 3rd, 4th, and finally 5th. Thest floor was the smallest, 1/5th of the first floor, and only had 5 Mining entrances. "Be, how do you suggest we do this?" Erix thoughtfully asked. "Do we part our group into two to get Prana stones from two mines or one first?" "One," Isabe said, her expression serious. "It takes time to mine Prana stones. If we all work together, we can do it faster before the event ends. Usually, the guilds used to make 10-member parties for each mine even on the first floor." "Alright, let''s do it." Chapter 317: Importance of Prana Stones, Big Difference Erix touched one of the magic circles on the wall and got the notification. [Do you wish to ept the challenge?] ''Yes'' A secondter, everyone disappeared from the cavern. [Challenge: defeat the Crystal Magma Goloth] The group appeared in a mysteriousvatic ce with a crystal biome and a fifty-meter-tall giant standing just a kilometer away. *Roarrr!* The giant roared, conjuring magma meteors above it as they rapidly shot toward the group. Erix''s eyes shed as consumed Prana and produced Nihilir Wisps that appeared before the iing meteors. The moment those wisps touched the meteors, they vanished and appeared behind the giant, giving it a taste of its own attack as it slightly stumbled forward. *Crackle!* Rin waved her de Eater katana and Raibor Power Slime longsword, releasing a giant cross-sh costing 20,000 Prana, 2000 spirit force, and 2000 de Ki for a full buff of Ruined de Piece ss-skill. Rin''s best ss skill, Ruined de Piece, activated whenever she consumed de Ki in her attacks. Ruined de Piece: Random offense-type buff + 10% to 100% increase in your attack''s power depending on consumed de Ki in the next attack. The Cross-sh was two attacks, so after the first one, the second one got the Ruined de Piece effect. The cross-sh dealt significant damage to the Crystal Magma Goloth, creating a giant, deep X-shaped gnash on its body and sting it back. "You guys became so powerful," Isabe said as a sigh of amazement left her mouth. She took out her staff with a four-colored magic orb and created a water-elemental field before using Wind and creating icy attacks. Since it was a Magma/crystal type Boss, Ice had an attribute advantage against it. Aria conjured her giant whale. It opened its mouth and released a burst of condensed water bullets that exploded upon impact. Crystal Magma Goloth had a gigantic amount of Vitality and toughness, but it still neared its death after those attacks, with Erix finally finishing it off by releasing his attack. "I can''t believe we finished it off so fast¡­" Isabe wryly smiled. The scenery cracked like ss after the giant boss died, and the group found themselves in a magical cavern littered with Prana crystals stuck on the walls and floors. "We have to break the crystals from their nodes. If you break them from somewhere else or even a crack forms, its energy will leak, and Prana stone won''t form." Isabe informed them and then demonstrated how to do it. She conjured a simple Prana de and used it to cut a nearby spiking crystal from its node. The crystal had seven nodes, simr to seven zig zag-type linings, and she had to precisely cut through the linings to separate a chunk from the whole crystal¡ª1 low-grade Prana stone acquired. "This crystal has seven nodes, so we''ll get seven Prana stones from it." Everyone understood the assignment and started mining Prana stones. The whole cavern had approximately a hundred crystals, which were roughly 600 to 1200 low-grade Prana stones depending on the Prana crystal''s size and nodes. Prana stones were very important for Royal-order powerhouses and above. Aside from being a general currency, a Royal-order powerhouse needed Prana stones to expand and strengthen their Arcane Spirit Pond gradually, which was their source of Magic power and Prana capacity. The initial steps towards the Empyrean-order required three stages of Arcane Spirit Pond''s strengthening. -First stage: infusing the pond with 10,000 low-grade Prana stones. -Second stage: infusing the pond with 5000 medium-grade Prana stones. -Third stage: infusing the pond with 1000 high-grade Prana stones. After these three stages, the Arcane Spirit Pond would have expanded and this process also increased the Prana energy capacity of the pond. Afterward, it was daily training toprehend the new patterns that would appear at the bottom of the pond after it expanded with the first three stages. Comprehending those patterns would allow one to form an Arcane Spirit Vortex using Prana at the center of the pond, thus pushing people to the next lifeform stage¡ªEmpyrean-order. ¡­ "Found it!" Meanwhile, the people of Laveron City found the cave''s entrance and informed others as people started gushing into the entrance. Although the Prana Vein cavern had five floors, it was still not enough for every group to upy a mining cave. The guild parties had a big advantage, but almost all people were part of a guild despite not being official members, so the management was not too chaotic. However,petition was still fierce. It was not allowed to hurt each other in the event avenue, but people could challenge a group that had upied a mining cave, and if they won, they would be allowed inside and farm Prana stones with others. The existing group wouldn''t get kicked out, which was a plus for everyone in a way. Still, not everyone could upy a mining cave. Fortunately, the number of Royal-order powerhouses all over the world was still low, and Noble-order powerhouses had no use for Prana stones, so the ones who had already reached Royal-order were benefiting and progressing, leaving others behind. Those who progressed leisurely and had lessprehension power would take longer to enter Royal-order rank, bing eventual fodders and working force. On the other hand, those working hard relentlessly using their wits and capabilities would rise and sit at the top in this thoroughly dog-eat-dog world where nothing else but power mattered ultimately. ¡­ "They are here," Karas said as he looked at the mining cave''s red-glowing magic circle that Erix and others upied. If the circle was glowing red, it indicated the mining cave was upied. "Tell us how powerful they are after you fight them," John, the blond-haired guild leader of White Feather guild, said with augh. "I am sure we will lose against them, so we''ll upy one of your caves here," Karas smiled. "Wait for us." The other five guild leaders winced while Karas touched the magic circle and initiated the challenge. The others rapidly touched the remaining magic circles and began their boss challenge. Meanwhile, Erix and others got a notification of the challenge and it was not avoidable. After three seconds, the group vanished from the mine and appeared in a vast grassynd that looked like thousands of hills littered due to the high-low of the ground. "You really want to know ourbat power, eh?" Rin grinned as she saw Karas and the others. "Come, I''ll solo you all. You seven vs me." Karas didn''t have a change in expression, but his party members grunted and grimaced. She was looking down on them! "Let me motivate you more," Erix smiled. "If you manage to defeat Rin, we''ll ept defeat and leave the entire mining cave for you." "There are others on the 5th floor, so we''ll just take one of those." "Let''s begin," Karas nodded as he took out a pair of brown metallic guns with ruby and emerald patterns. The others in his party also took out their various weapons. One-time-use items and consumables weren''t allowed during the event challenge battle to prevent it from dragging and make it fair. "Don''t wait for me. Just attack," Rin floated up and approached them, stopping just five hundred meters from the group. "Because if I attack, it will be over." Karas nodded, "Begin." At his signal, all nine party members of Karas''s party unleashed their skills. *Swoosh!* *Crrr!* First, Rin was trapped in a giant triangr prison before a hole opened at its front where several powerful condensed dark blue orbs with vtile lightning shot inside, exploding. Right after that, ten me spears with patterns shot towards the dust and debris that rose after the triangr prison was destroyed with explosions of those dark blue orbs. *Boom!* Each spear exploded in a narrow st before a few more attacks shot toward Rin. Rin wasn''t visible to them ever since she was trapped, so they didn''t know how much damage they did to her or if they defeated her, but the remaining members also hurled their attacks. In the end, Karas also released his prepared attack, a giant icy flower with entric light yellow patterns. "Interesting, he has an attribute-concept of ice," Erix noted in surprise. "From an event or Mystic shop," Isabe said. "I am also nning to buy an Attribute-concept te since I have enough Mystic coins." *Boom!* Karas''s attack also struck Rin, but when the visual finally cleared, everyone in Karas''s party felt their heart jump out of their mouth. "Sorry. Your attacks were not enough to break my defense," Rin smiled, surrounded by her Chronace Field and simply dissoluting all attacks that neared her. Not a single impact managed to reach her. "That confirms my hunch," Karas muttered. "She is Rank 2 on the leaderboard. Rin." "I''ll attack now," Rin''s eyes gleamed, and in the next second, Rin waved her hands and released ten ultra-fast and condensed shes bearing all of her powers costing a total of 20,000 Prana, 1000 de Ki, and 1000 spirit force. Karas and his party had conjured their defenses, but aside from Karas, the rest instantly vanished and appeared outside the cavern. Karas''s figure was almost cut into two, but since this was a challenge, he wasn''t injured in the real. The thick, condensed ice coating his body was shattered along with the shield that he conjured. Although he survived, Rin didn''t need to use a second attack because his Vitality hit 0, and he disappeared, arriving in the cavern. "Boss, what the fuck?! What was that power?" "It wasn''t like any element we''ve seen so far!" "It was a strange elemental power indeed. My ice defense was thoroughly shredded and severed while the aftereffects were also deadly," Karas nodded and walked towards the mining cave upied by John. "But no need to dwell on it. Focus on the event and mine Prana stones. We confirmed what we had to confirm." Chapter 318: Returning, Shocked Isabella Prana Vein Eventsted for two hours. Before an hour had passed, Erix and the group finished mining all Prana Crystal and acquired a total of 958 Low-grade Prana stones. "Next one. Let''s go." The group exited the cavern and looked at the other magic circles glowing red. Without further ado, Erix touched the nearby magic circle and challenged the party upying the mine inside. The ones inside were Ron and his party. Rin saw the girl who talked about how everyone could be gained in this new world and couldn''t help but grin. "Let''s not waste time and finish this fast," Erix said, his voice echoing towards Ron and his party in the vast grassy in. ''Dismantle Point.'' Erix''s attack, which was a simply thumb-sized pitch-ck condensed orb of Nihilir and other energies inside appeared right before the ten people and pulled them with irresistible force with powerful gravity attraction by bending space to thatDismantle Point and¡­ *Boom!* Instan-kill. All ten of them died in the challenger, and everyone appeared in the mining cavern. "Not bad, you all mined seventy percent of the crystals already," Rin chuckled. Ron and others had dark faces, but there was nothing they could do. Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe didn''t waste time as they started mining the Prana stones from the remaining crystals. Ron and others also resumed instead of wallowing in the miserable result of the challenge. ''They are rank 1 and 2,'' Ron said to his seven team members who had awakened Spirit state. The other three hadn''t awakened it yet. ''They are so powerful, damn it! This is cheating!'' ''Nothing we can do about it, Kira. It''s just like in the old world. People with authority and power could get away or do anything. In this new world, they are the ones at the top.'' ''But that doesn''t mean they''ll stay at the top forever, humph.'' ''If you stop cking, sure.'' ¡­ All mining caverns were empty before the event even ended, so Erix and others left after getting a total of 1380 low-grade Prana stones. "This is too low of an amount," Erix said with a wry smile. "But I think Mystic root will increase the Prana Veins or even manifest a bonafide Prana-vein that can be mined for arge amount of Prana stones," Rin thoughtfully said. "After all, people won''t be able to progress without Prana stones." "Yeah." "Isabe, what''s the daily routine here for people these days?" Erix asked. "Hmm, it''s almost night, so there''s going to be a world-boss event where people can earn Mystic coins based on their contribution towards defeating it." "For materials of potions and crafting various things, the craft-type dungeons will also appear during the night for a limited amount of time." Isabe also remembered another important thing and added. "The month is going to end after four days, so the 6th floor realm will also open." "Aside from that, it''s all about killing monsters to reduce their rapidly increasing number and power and level up." Aria thought of something and asked, "What about those various ns?" "From what I found after visiting the elf n, the ns that appeared here also don''t know how and why they appeared here," Isabe wryly smiled. "The elf n has three Empyrean-order powerhouse, two early and e. I think if Mystic Root transported these ns, then their power level should be the same or near the same." "They''ll have to progress here like others by coexisting with us and bing allies with various guilds." "The advantage they have is their knowledge of various magical things and their methods. They have skilled people." "The Elevn n I visited is proficient in Alchemy and taming monsters," Isabe said before she sighed. "The alliance failed because people left our guild and failed to fulfill their conditions." "Hmm," Erix rubbed his as he thought of something and said, "We will visit it again and see what they have to offer." Rin chuckled and said, "As for recruiting people, We are getting tons of requests from people who want to join our guild, haha." "I have an idea. We''ll hold apetition among people," Erix grinned. "A tournament of sorts and will select the top ten from them for the first batch." "And as a bonus reward, I''ll throw in custom-made weapons for them. With my weapons, I bet they''ll be more powerful." "It''ll be so cool," Aria''s eyes shone. "You have so many types of Metals because of your unique attribute concept. Erix, I also want a weapon, but I need to think what kind of weapon I want." "Haha, of course, darling. I''ll make you one," Erix smiled. ''Darling?'' Isabe was surprised. "And Erix, we also have one more thing to do," Rin knowingly smiled while moving her eyebrows up and down. "My bloodline evolution." "We''ll do that tonight. It''s been a while since I''ve had some passionate exercise, haha." "I will join!" Aria giggled. However, Rin and Erix immediately looked at Isabe afterward and saw her shocked expression. "Ah¡­we had to keep it secret for some time¡­" Aria''s voice turned lower, and her neck shrank. "You guys¡­" Isabe looked at them as her shock increased upon understanding their rtionship. Rin couldn''t help but burst outughing. "It sounds crazy, but well¡­haha, Erix has two more women aside from Aria. They''ll be here after they finish their tasks in the abyss." Aria''s cheeks puffed red as she said earnestly, "I love him, and Rin too, and everyone in the party." "It just happened with the flow," Erix said with a faint smile. "Power and situation changes everything. Well, it started with Lilith that we felt was trapping us, but¡­." Erix and Rin ryed their adventures in the Abyss to Isabe while the ind flew toward Phoenix City at moderate speed. Isabe listened as she learned of various things and could feel how Rin''s and Erix''s mentality changed and progressed along with their adventures, situation, and power. After hearing roughly everything, the ind also reached Phoenix City as Isabe digested their adventure. At the same time, Alfred finished the kids'' training session upon seeing that they''ve arrived. "Sangle will be here soon, right?!"Aaron excitedly approached Erix with shining eyes. *Screee!!* Erix looked above as a loud sharp whistle of the eagle echoed in the sky, above the ind, and attracted everyone''s attention. "Sangle is here." Chapter 319: Moonlight Sanguine Eagle, Myth Emergence Erix permitted the eagle through the barrier as it came flying down. Sangle lookedpletely different from before, looking bigger and having a new look. Sangle was no longer a Bloodwood Eagle! *Whistle!* Descending under the majestic Dreanox Tree, Sangle''s big figure and twenty-meter-long wingspan covered everyone. [Moonlight Sanguine Eagle] _Level: 213 _Rank: Royal-order _Bloodline: Moonlight Sanguine (Epic) _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 7480 ¡ª> Agility: 7843 ¡ª> Health: 6998 ¡ª> Stamina: 7392 ¡ª> Spirit: 489 ¡ª> Magic: 7590 / Prana: 50,000. Sangle had moonlight-feathered wings with mysterious blood patterns, a crimson crystalized crown on its head, and deadly talons. Sangle was one of those beasts that had higher intelligence at early evolution, which was also the main reason it epted to be Erix''s pet after getting a beating from him. "Haha, many people haven''t awakened Spirit stat, but Sangle already did it," Erixughed. "No wonder it survived and got stronger." After all, Spirit Force could boost its skills, giving it an edge over other beasts. "Yes. Only four people here have monsters have unlocked Spirit stat here," Isabe nodded. "Rin''s father have one." "Sangle! You¡­you look different." Aaron was shocked looking at the big Sangle. Sangle saw Aaron and gently nudged its feathery wing''s end on Aaron''s head. Sangle remembered Aaron because the kid rode on its back more than Erix and others. "Let''s give an upgrade to Sangle," Erix grinned and waved his hand, conjuring icy and blood-type metal particles that streamed around Sangle. Erix coated its wings with a nano-metallic structure and also coated its talons. The attributes of the metals matched with Sangle''s attributes, allowing Sangle to tap on the metal''s power for a boost. It was like Sangle acquired items, much like how people wore armor sets and used weapons. "I want to ride on it!" Aaron excitedly said. "Alright, go and take him on the rides." "Me too!" "I want toe!" The other kids also wanted to go, so Erix put all of them on the Sangle''s broad back. ''Just roam around here and return after several minutes.'' Erix and Rin could cover 50 kilometers of the area around them, while Aria could cover even more, so Erix could immediately teleport and take action if something happened within this range. Of course, they couldn''t monitor everything but could focus on Sangle, thus automatically gaining vision around it. After sending Sangle away with the kids, Erix teleported everyone down and entered their guild base. "I''ll join with Leon and others. They must be in a dungeon," Alfred said with a smile and took out the U-card, using it to contact Leon. "Alright." After Alfred left, Erix said, "Then we four should finish our daily session of Limitless ne." "Aria also has the same spiritual art?" Isabe was surprised. "Yep. Aria, Lilith, and Lily joined the Unbound Star cosmic faction," Rin said. "We''ve yet to check the faction hub here. Did people here join?" Erix curiously asked. Isabe dryly smiled while shaking her head. "Nobody aside from Heavenly Melody guild joined the Unbound Star faction since it''s rankedst and doesn''t have any team." "The other factions have teams of people from other worlds, and they advertised their faction heavily at first while no one from Unbound Star came." "We''ll have to do Faction missions, but they are only for proper Royal-order, and average people have a hard time getting recruited for missions in the hubs," Isabe wryly smiled. "We''ll have to check about the faction thingster. We''ll do that tomorrow morning after announcing the tournament for guild recruitment." Erix''s smile looked ferocious as he said, "We must have powerful subordinates that can do work for us. If we can get resources and use more time on personal and meditation training, we''ll progress faster." "That''s great," Rin nodded while grinning. "We just need to participate in important events. As for resource gathering for our progression, we can leave them to our subordinates. We''ll have a certain gap in power, so doing work for us should also benefit them." "Yep." "If we want powerful subordinates, we''ll have to be absolute power in their eyes," Erix''s eyes gleamed before heughed, "I am not saying they should revere us, but close to that would be good." "They must believe that following us can take them greatest heights," Erix''s eyes zed with hunger and ambition, "just like how we believe we''ll go to the greatest heights there are out there." Erix''s words and his strong intent couldn''t help but rile and excite others, even Isabe. Aria was practically thrilled with hints of red on her face as she super looked forward to being with the whole group and exploring the vast wonderful world out there. "Greatest heights¡­" Rin''s eyes were the same as Erix, and her smile was devilish. "We''ll have many challenges to ovee. If there are demons and devils, there should be gods and deities¡­Haha, I can''t wait to fight them all." "You all are dreaming very high. I like it," Amu grinned. "Hey, we are not dreaming. We are envisioning our future," Erix cheekily grinned. "Anyway, let''s begin the training. Amu, since you can''te with us in Limitless ne, can you look out for the city, kids, and members of our guild and Heavenly melody?" "Leave it to me." ¡­ Erix and Rin focused on the Chaos concept, while Aria and Isabe started training together because both of them had multiple affinities, and both wanted toprehend the Advanced element bybining their Primal elements. It was Aria''s first time in the Limitless ne, and she was surprised at the buff. Especially because Aria already had highprehension that unlocked its potential after she gained her mental freedom. Moreover, both high spiritual power and awakened soul were factors that contributed to increasingprehension power. Aria had both, so her progression speed was bound to increase. On the other hand, something big was brewing five thousand kilometers away, in the sea between the central continent and eastern continent. The vast Eastonia Ocean churned like never before, but strangely, all the water seemed to be under some kind of influence and control. At the depth of the ocean, a mystical magic formation spanning thousands of kilometers appeared. And from that formation, a vast amount of crystalized structures emerged¡­along with thousands of auras. The grandest and most magnificent crystal pce exuded a vibrant array of colors, with the dominant shades leaning towards the celestial blues, creating an ethereal and otherworldly aura, giving it a touch of majestic and regal sense. And at the top of the pce was a magnificent statue of a giant Trident. Chapter 320: Grandiose Recruitment, Rules, Crazy World Boss Event Rin and Erix used full-time in Limitless ne to explore and expand different ways of the Chaos concept. Their progress to reaching the 2nd realm concept was slow because of the nature of the concept. Both of them could see many possibilities on how they could direct their Chaos concept forward, but that also prevented them from progressing. Their understanding of those possibilities was still vague and not solidified. They didn''t know how and which way should their Chaos concept progress. But they could only try without giving up despite knowing their dilemma. On the other hand, Isabe and Aria made significant progress. Aria even seeded in awakening the Ice element, reaching 1st realm in Ice affinity in her first Limitless ne session. Isabe had been trying to awaken the Magma element since she had focused on the Fire and Earthbo for the past week and also seeded today. With Magma, Isabe''s affinities numbered five. Fire ¡ª 3rd realm Water ¡ª 2nd realm Earth ¡ª 2nd realm Wind ¡ª 2nd realm Magma ¡ª 1st realm After everyone got kicked out of the Limitless ne, Isabe said, "The world boss will start after half an hour. I have enough to buy the Attribute-concept te, but I''ll do it after the world boss." "That reminded me, we didn''t have the option of Attribute-concept te when we checked Mystic Shop, so that means a higher level of Mystic Shop gives more types of items?" Erix rubbed his chin. Rin nodded, "I remember that we can increase Mystic Shop''s rank by spending Mystic Coins. 10,000 coins to make it level 2 if I am not wrong." "Mystic Shop? What is that?" Aria curiously asked. "It''s a special shop in the Labyrinth Towers. You''ll know how it works when we go there after World Boss," Isabe smiled. "And yes, my Mystic Shop''s level is at 3, and the options of Attribute-te also appeared in this level." "I see¡­Well, Rin and I can take it easy on getting new powers. We still have a bunch that we have to get on the same level, haha." "Yeah, I want to get this Chaos concept 2nd realm and then my Attribute-concept to 2nd realm," Rin nodded. "Yep. Same," Erix grinned, and then his eyes suddenly shed as he thought of something, "Rin¡­How about we focus on how Chaos can affect our affectable powers in different ways?" "You see, the concept of Chaos can do many things because it can apply to almost everything, and since the 2nd realm will only unfold based on our own thinking and direction, let''s utilize it well." "Hmm¡­It seems that you thought of something," Rin raised her eyebrows. "Yep. I am thinking about gearing my meaning of Chaos to affect things chaotically with longer and permanent changes in things," Erix''s eyes gleamed. "Not just our own, but influence external powers and things too." "I see what you mean," Rin grinned. "We''ll work on this in our next Limitless ne session." "Also, I''m gonna put our guild and Heavenly Melody guild bases on the Ind," Erix said with a thoughtful expression. "The environment of the ind is way better, and training is faster there." "Our ind is roughly as big as this meadow where everyone is living, but the living space we have here is not much," Rin said. "I think we can barely hold a thousand people properly. The other areas must be ours to shape and make for training and other things." "Anyway, let''s go and announce the tournament first since almost everyone in the city is gathered at the tower." "The number is more than I imagined," Rin said with a chuckle as her spiritual mystic eye captured the view of people at the tower. The group left the Ind and flew towards the gathering at the tower since the boss would appear in the vast jungle patch at the east of the tower until the river. The jungle would creeply grow every day and also get destroyed every day due to boss fights. Everyone had gathered together near the tower outside and were waiting for the world boss to appear at midnight like usual. People all over the world were also waiting for their respective area''s world boss to appear at exactly 12 o'' clock. Erix and others arrived, their presence naturally attracting everyone''s attention. This was also a perfect chance to announce the tournament since almost everyone living in the area was present. A lot of people still hadn''t gotten their U-cards, so Erix decided to distribute the U-cards first. After everyone got the U-card, Erix said, his voice loud and clear, "I have an announcement to make, an important one!" Waving his hand, Erix consumed ten thousand Prana and created a stylist array of weapons above him. They were just designs with no actual foundation but each had an exotic metal structure and powerful aura of their Tier-5 and higher materials, shining brightly in everyone''s eyes as they saw them. All types of melee weapons and ranged weapons were present in the showcase, each fantastically altered and looking powerful because Erix had the abundance of knowledge and imagination required to create magic formations for weapons because of his time spent on creating skills. "Not to boast, but if I make a custom weapon for you using a myriad of Metals with exotic attributes at my disposal, it''s going to be your strongest weapon." Everyone gulped, their desire invoking as they looked at the array of over a hundred weapons floating above Erix. If there was onemon thing that every single person possessed in this current world, it was the desire to be more powerful. "However, not everyone is worthy of my careful crafting of legendary weapons," Erix smiled and snapped his finger, causing all weapons to vanish. Everyone''s gaze shifted to Erix, their hearing rapt and focus aimed at him. "Only members of the Unfettered Fate guild will be privileged for this boon." The other guild leaders and core members of their guilds felt immense pressure once again. But aside from that, they also felt an instinctive desire to be a member of this powerful force. "And those who left the guild before..." Erix narrowed his eyes while his smile turned cold, "You can forget about joining us ever again." Those over eighty people who left the Unfettered Fate guild felt heart-twisting regret that turned their lever green. A burst ofughter also rose among the crowd. "So, what is the requirement to join?" Someone asked in a voice infused with Prana while the rest remained silent for the answer. "A simple tournament of three rounds. It will start tomorrow morning, at ten." Erix smiled and added, "We have time until the boss appears, so let me state the rules." "First round. We will use the Arena function for team battle. You all vs us four. But," Erix waved his index finger as if saying no, "But you will not attack us." "In that team battle, all of you must defend yourselves from our attacks from above. Nothing else." "The battle will go on until only one hundred participants remain. They will be divided into two groups and do another team battle against themselves." "When the total number of people in battle reaches fiftybining the remaining people of both teams, we''ll proceed to the final round." "1v1 battles. Simply put, the fifty of you will fight each other while we eat popcorn. In the end, we''ll select ten people to be the members of the Unfettered Fate guild." "This is it." [Event: World Boss. Spawing in five seconds.] The daily world boss event also began as the countdown started. Everyone flew up, some with wings, various skills, items, or flying monsters. ''I am afraid everyone will have a small haul of Mystic coins today," Rin grinned, her eyes glinting dark red, ''Erix, let''s go out all out.'' ''Yep. We are behind on only one thing, and that''s Mystic Coins, haha. Let''s show them our capability in full glory and clear-cut manner.'' Erix''s smile grew ferocious. Five seconds passed as they finished their exchange, and the gargantuan boss started materializing. It looked as if it was made of metal, but had a unique stuture. While its giant legs started materilizing, a phenomenon descended. [Safe Veil Enacted] Everyone heard a notification, but Rin and Erix were surprised, while Aria was as curious as ever because all of this was her first time. "What is Safe Veil? I''m sure this didn''t appear when we fought World Boss daily five months ago," Erix said as he looked at the giant barrier that covered a hundred kilometers of radius with the World Boss at the center. It was five kilometers away from the group of twenty-five thousand people that spread in the sky. Some groups also stayed on the ground as they had more advantage and power on the ground. "The daily World Boss event changed after we cleared the 3rd floor. They are insanely strong and cause widespread destruction where everyone dies multiple times." *Honnnnnnn* "Today''s world boss is yet again different. It''s different every day, but¡­" Isabe looked at the one-kilometer-tall robotic giant. It was made of metal and looked sci-fi, with a humanoid robotic structure. Rusty brown yet shining metal with entric patterns. "Anyway, Safe Veil can revive people after ten seconds of dying. Unlimited revivals." Just as Isabe finished speaking, the two eye sockets on the giant robot golem glowed crimson before it released a sweeping ter five meters in height, spanning a hundred kilometers in length, until the border of Safe Veil. Theser didn''t just sweep at a single angle, but in a zig-zag manner. This made it hard for people to even predict, making it a matter of luck for many. Erix, Rin, Aria, and Amu were fast enough to react, but only Erix needed to act, so the others didn''t do anything. Erix made everyone teleport instantly to dodge the sweepingser attack. This first attack instantly killed several thousand people out of twenty-five thousand. "They are dying again," Aaron said with a pout. "Kids. Focus on training," Leon said with a stern expression. It was his duty today to keep the kids'' attention away from the battle. "No, I want to see Rin and Erix! They are strong! I want to see their power!" "Me too!" "Sir Leon, pretty please¡­" "We are already used to it. Remember, we also died several times¡­" a nine-year-old kid with brown hair said while rolling his eyes. Leon sighed and gave up, "Fine. Then stay here obediently. I''ll also go to get some Mystic Coins." Meanwhile, Rin and Erix transformed into their strongestbat form as they used theirbat art. For starter, they decided to charge their strongest attack and inspected the boss to know its name and details. Chapter 321: Treasure Fishing, Myth Emergance Rin in her Asura Chaos form, and Erix in his Celestial Chaos form rained their attacks on the monster without pause. They spent minimum Spirit energy and other limited-recovery energy but didn''t hold back on consuming Prana. Kenshin and Sameira also joined them and attacked from afar because Erix''s space control could save them from getting killed and save time. Everyone could feel the amount of potency in Rin''s and Erix''s attacks! They were devastating and had so much impact that their attacks were impairing the giant robot! After five minutes, the boss suddenly glowed brightly, and all of its joints and further parts separated and flew up. "Phase two!" "What the fuck, so fast?!" "Monsters¡­" The boss transformed into a circr disk and released drones that glowed red before unleashalf-a-meter tall hingsers. The people also started hurling out their attacks. After another five minutes, the boss finally died. Everyone died a lot of time except for Erix and the group. After the boss died, everyone''s powerful adrenaline was still running and they cheered loudly! "We''ll get first rank today!" "Yeah! Our first time getting, but notst, hahaha!" "We''ll get daily first rank from now on, let''s fucking go!" Isabe smiled, "There is also a world boss ranking on which area defeats the world boss fastest. We''vee into the top five, but never 4th or higher." [World bosspleted. Congrattions. Your area is the first to vanquish the boss. +1100 Mystic Coin to everyone.] Afterward, a huge wall of top 100 contribution ranking appeared, while the rest got their personal rank in notification. [Contribution Ranking] Rank 1¡ª Erix (1000 Mystic Coins) Rank 2 ¡ª Rin (900 Mystic coins) Rank 3 ¡ª Kenshin (800 Mystic coins) Rank 4 ¡ª Sameira (700 Mystic coins) Rank 5 ¡ª Isabe (600 Mystic coins) ¡­ Aria could participate and contribute, but only natives were allowed in various rankings and leaderboard rewards. The top 100 got bonus Mystic coins ording to their ranking but, everyone still got Mystic coins ording to their contribution. Erix got 12692 Mystic coins, and Rin got 10490 Mystic coins. Aria got 9704 Mystic coins, which was higher than Kenshin, so she contributed more damage. "We got a lot of coins, eh?" Erix was surprised. "Yes. We get small increments in rewards everyday, but toughness also increases," Kenshin said before grinning, "But you three monsters broke the bnce. We are ahead by a lot of timepared to yesterday, haha." "Can we go and buy something from Mystic Shop?" Aria excitedly asked. She had gotten this mysterious currency and was curious to see the shop as she had seen nothing of such sort before. Erixughed and patted her head, "Let''s go." ¡­ Naturally, many people rushed into the tower to buy things from Mystic Shop. The fortunate thing was that the mystic shop was very mystical because it had infinite space. Everyone who entered inside would arrive in a unique space individually, so there would never be traffic. It had tens of doors on the shop, so queues also onlysted for seconds as people rapidly disappeared into the doors to their individual shop spaces. Erix looked at the roulette and spun it. It had five sections in runic letters, but Erix could understand them through the intent oozing out of them. [ Talent | Skill | Equip-Item | Resource-item | Random | ] After letting it spin for a few seconds, Erix pulled the lever to stop it, and the roulette started slowing down. In the end, the pin stopped in the [Random] section. The tab glowed before a shop interface of the [Random] section expanded, disying the shop containing five items. Note: You can only buy one item per list. To buy another, you must refresh the list. Bnce: 15302 Mystic coins. 1. Random Talent Stone: 500 Mystic coins. 2. Random Egg: 5000 Mystic coins. 3. Random Item box: 1000 Mystic coins. 4. Random Skill: 1000 Mystic coins. 5. Random Treasure Fishing: 10,000 Mystic coins. [ press ] [ press ] [ Exit ] "What is Random Treasure Fishing?" Erix raised his eyebrows at this peculiar option. "Let''s see," Erix grinned and pressed on the 5th option. [Do you wish to buy Random Treasure Fishing?] [ Yes ] ¡ª [ No ] Erix pressed Yes without hesitation as his Bnce reduced to 5302 Mystic coins. [Your Mystic Shop has been upgraded to level 2. The chance of acquiring Tier-5 and higher items has increased. Spend 50,000 coins to reach level 3 and unlock a new section.] A golden fishing rod also appeared beside him, and a mystical blueke with colorful sparks inside manifested before him. It was as if something like a gxy was in the pond, but it had an entric flow with those colorful sparks. Erix walked forward into this whiteness space with this sudden magic pond appearing before him and grabbed the fishing rod before throwing the hook inside. [Wait until something gets hooked and pull. If you do not pull, then you''ll lose the fishing chance.] "Alright," Erix stood properly and grabbed the fishing rod tightly before waiting. Five seconds passed. Half a minute passed. Two minutes passed. Erix narrowed his eyes, "What the fuck?" He decided to be patient and closed his eyes. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. His eyebrows twitched, but went back to meditation and waited. ''Rin and others will be confused.'' Communication couldn''t reach here, so a U-card would be useless and they would wonder why he was taking so long in the Mystic Shop. Twenty minutes passed. "This can''t be fake or prank," Erix muttered and continued waiting without pulling up the rod. Thirty minutes passed, and finally, the rod slightly moved. Erix opened his eyes as they gleamed sharply at the pond. He couldn''t see anything except for colorful sparks moving around inside, but the hook was slightly moving. Without hesitation, Erix pulled up as he didn''t want to lose the chance since the voice specifically said he would only get one chance. It moved so subtly that Erix was skeptical at first, but the voice''s warning also made sense in reverse. At first, it sounded as if the force would be strong and if he failed to pull, he would lose the chance. But the hook moved ever so subtly as if it was an illusion, and if he didn''t pull, he would never hook anything after that. So he pulled and saw an absurd thing hooked on it. It was a dark blue eyeball with light blue shining patterns and an abyssal ck pupil but with demonic-looking ck wings attached to it. ''What the hell is this?'' Erix quickly used inspect on it and got details. [Lapis Ilue Visiore] _Type: Geno Gear. _Grade: Special (Growth-type) _Description: Rece your physical eyeballs with these eyes after infusing your Prana in it. "Oh?" Erix grabbed the eyeball and infused Prana in it. In the next second, his body shook as his eyes and eyeballs werepletely squashed brutally before their particles flowed into the winged eyeball. "Fuck¡­" Erix grunted. Meanwhile, the eyeball started shining before it turned into sparks and entered into his empty eyeshockets. After some pain, Erix felt a soothing andfortable sensation as coolness spread from his eyes to his mind. He opened his eyes and looked around, but felt no different until he infused Prana in his eyes. [Lapis Ilue Visiore] _Stage: 1 _Effect: Increase Spirit recovery by 10% and grant Lapis Vision. _Cost: 1 Prana per minute. ¡ª> Lapis Vision: Allows you to see the flow of various energies. _Note: You can train the eyes by using it on particr things. Its 2nd stage will be based on the type of thing you''ve observed most using the eyes. "Interesting. For the flow of energies, using it when I craft items would be best," Erix grinned. This could increase his crafting speed and if he trained his eyes for that, he might get more mystical benefits. He didn''t know what kind of potential it had, but it looked promising from what he saw. ''And I''ve stayed here enough,'' Erix wryly smiled and quickly left the shop before getting bombarded with a shocking notification. [Myth Emergance: Antis. Every sanctuary area has a gate leading to Antis. Explore it for its resources and treasures.] [But beware, Antis is the ce of Antians, and the foes inside are formidable. Depending on how much you''ve raided Antis, you will get daily retaliation from them.] [Period of Myth Emergence: 5 months.] Erix was dumbfounded and quickly left the tower. He didn''t even need to fly up to see a huge one-hundred-meter-tall gate at the edge of the Sanctuary Tower, near the TreeBug guild''s territory. "They are moving away from the territory," Erixughed and flew towards there. Thousands of people were also gathered there at the giant gates with a mystical dark-blue watery whirlpool filling it up. Rin and others were there, so Erix teleported right beside them. "What took you so long?" Rin confusedly asked, but then was startled when she saw his face and noticed his eyes. "Your eyes look mystical and beautiful," Aria said with surprise. "It seems you got something good from the shop," Sameira smiled. "Yep. Itnded on random, and I got this at 10,000 coins," Erix nodded with augh. "I can see the flow of various energies more clearly and constructively with these eyes for now, but it can be upgraded for more mystical effects based on my use." His eyes were not red like before, but a mix of blue like that eyeball with red patterns in the pupils. "I see. Anyway, we''ve been waiting for you," Rin said as he looked at the portal with a grin. "Let''s go and explore Antis for a bit. The other guilds and many people already entered inside." Chapter 322: Atlantis, Catastrophic Event The moment Erix and others entered the portal, they also arrived inside a huge bubble at the depth of the ocean. One kilometer ahead of them was a big pce door, one hundred meters tall and fifty meters wide, but they couldn''t see anything to the sides of the door or above. It was pitch dark-blue color everywhere. But a window popped up before everyone, and people were still discussing as none of them had gone to that door. "When did this event start?" Erix asked as he looked around and sensed the presence of over two hundred thousand people. "So many people¡­." After all, this was a global event, and each area had a portal, so people all over the world were arriving. Erix could also sense some Empyrean-order auras, indicating that people of various ns also arrived. "This event started ten minutes before you arrived," Rin said while looking at the huge information panel. "This is interesting." "Some areas must have forged solid ties with extraterrestrial ns since they are here," Erix said and resumed his focus on the information window. [Myth Emergence: Antis] _Description: Vanquish the King of Antis to save your world. _Notes: ¡ª> Enter the frontal door to arrive at the central hub of Antis upied by the Garakuwa Hydra. ¡ª> Kill Garakuwa Hyrdra to upy the central hub and open six paths leading to six different tribal areas of Antis. ¡ª> Each tribal area is a progressive journey of dungeons and challenges you must ovee. ¡ª> Only after killing chiefs of all six tribes will the Antis Throne Chamber open for the final battle. _Conditions: ¡ª> Other extraterrestrial ns can enter the bubble, but only natives can participate in this event. ¡ª> 5 months of the countdown: Failure to defeat the King of Antis in five months will result in the activation of Antis Core, which will submerge the whole world in the water and cause the destruction of 90% of the poption. ¡ª> If the native poption of your world reduces to 500k from the current 4.9 million within the next five months, a new Myth civilization on par with Antis will emerge. _Rewards: ¡ª> Resources will bloom all over the Earth as people clear the challenges of Antis. ¡ª> After defeating the King of Antis, the chains will break, and a location known as the World Council will emerge for native people to contend for the ownership of the Earth to ascend to the cosmic scale and proceed towards broadened horizons. ¡ª> Individual rewards based on contribution. "Five months, huh?" Erix contemted after reading the whole thing. "The rewards certainly seem interesting." "What do we do now?" Aria asked. "Should we go and take control of the hub?" "Some people approaching the door," Kenshin said as he narrowed his eyes faintly shining eyes as he extended his spirit sense. "Let''s go," Erix said and teleported his party as they arrived right before the door. However, a huge red warning window popped up in everyone''s mind. [Warning: Only people above 30,000 Power level should proceed further.] The group behind looked at the door and saw the same warning popping in their heads, invoking surprise in everyone. Erix turned around and faced the group of roughly fifty people. Behind them, another group was approaching the door, and behind them, more people starteding at the door like a herd. However, everyone whoid their eye on the door received the same warning that stopped many people. "Huh? This is a bummer." "I mean, it''s only a warning. If you want to go and court death with your twenty thousand Power level, go ahead." "No use for us." People''s voices rose as they started talking and went back to the portal at the end of the huge bubble. Meanwhile, the remaining people who had 30,000 Power level were discussing about gathering the capable ones and going together. "Hello. Could you let us inspect your Power level?" A long-haired handsome man wearing a blue robe asked with a polite smile as he looked at Erix and others. He was the leader of the group that was right behind Erix and others. "Aren''t you surprised how they suddenly appeared here? Haha, They are the rank 1 and rank 2 group," Mubei of the ck Swan guild said with a snarkyugh as he arrived with his core members. The other guilds of Phoenix City also arrived and gathered to the left of Erix''s group. Kenshin also called core members of Heavenly Melody Guild and sent the rest back. ''Leon, Zoe, and the rest, you all return and look over the ind since you can''t enter Antis,'' Erix said and nced at Aria, ''Aria, you too since you can''t enter inside.'' ''Mhmm,'' Aria nodded. Erix''s eyes shed and he teleported Aria and the rest of his guild members right before the portal at the end of the huge bubble barrier. "Space power?" the blue-robed man raised his eyebrows. The remaining people were roughly a bit over a hundred, and all of them had various reactions seeing Erix teleporting people away. "It is indeed space elemental power," Erix chuckled, his inspection of Spiritual Mystic Eye capturing everyone''s aura. "It seems we still have people below the thirty-thousand power level here, but that''s fine." After all, if they only counted people with exactly 30,000 Power level and above, they amounted to barely sixty. "We are going to enter to fight that so-called Garakuwa Hyrdra and begin this quest in the true sense by upying the hub. If you want to join, then follow." After saying that, Erix turned around to face the door, followed by Rin and others. The group consisted of Erix, Rin, Isabe, Kenshin, Sameira, and three people from the Heavenly Melody guild who were Kenshin''s rtives and part of the same family. They were also in the top 30 of the world leaderboard. [Once the Garakuwa Hydra awakens, the exit will be sealed for five minutes.] A huge blue text panel appeared at the center of the vast circr hub that was three kilometers in diameter. Right below the text was a massive monster with seven serpent heads coiled on the ground, with its heads resting above its body. It had no limbs but looked terrifying with ck scales with violet patterns and violet miasma whirling around it that released from the nostrils of its seven heads. "Woah, that¡­" Erix and others heard other voices as people arrived. Kan arrived with Ronaldo and Barkha. "Holy shit, that''s a big snake," Ronaldo smacked his lips as he grinned. "Its meat will taste good if it''s not poisonous," Barkha licked her lips while grinning. "Greetings, Erix. Would like to let us three into your party formation?" Kan said with a smile as his bald head gleaned. "Alright," Erix invited the trio into the party and saw their levels and Power Level. However, he was surprised to see Kan''s Power Level at 30,480. "Howe you didn''t appear in Leaderboard?" Rin asked in surprise. "I didn''t enter the tower for the past ten days, so it didn''t refresh yet," Kan said with a smile. The other people also arrived and looked at the massive hydra sleeping at the center. When they saw the text above it, everyone''s face changed. "Would you take the initiative first?" the blue-robed man asked as he looked at Erix and the group. "What''s your name?" Rin asked with a sharp nce. "Leishun," the blue-robed man answered with a smile. "I am right behind you in the leaderboard. Nice to meet you." "Roaring Thunder, eh? Just don''t get in our way," Rin smiled and turned to look at the Hydra. "Erix, let''s begin." ''Dad, Mom. We are stronger than you, so just focus on supporting us,'' Rin cheekily said. ''We''ll attract the Hydra''s attention since we''ll be damaging it more than others.'' ''The rest of you should do the same,'' Erix nced at Kan, Ronaldo, and Barkha. ''You three too. Just focus on doing attacks from long-range and standby your defense for unexpected attacks.'' *Snap¡­* Erix and Rin disappeared with a teleport, arriving a hundred meters away from the sleeping Hydra. [Garakuwa Hydra] _Grade: Legendary _Vitality: [100%/100%] _Power Level Stats: ¡ª> Attack: 30,000 ¡ª> Defense: 40,000 ¡ª> Health: 200,000 ''This is nice. So its attack is at 30,000 ording to its various powers that use the same calctive formte for power level,'' Erix was surprised as he looked at the status of the hydra. Rin nodded. Meanwhile, the Hydra''s fourteen eyes opened a secondter and it rose up from its coiling position, raising whooping two hundred meters in height! Many people at the edge of the hub roughly three kilometers away gulped as they saw its size. "H-How about we just let those two handle that monster? Their Power level is already way higher than us." Kenshin nced at the middle-aged man who spoke and said, "Nobody is forcing you. Just nt your ass there if you don''t want to contribute." Leishun chuckled and said as a lightning glint shed in his eyes, "We have to attack. I''m pretty we''ll get some kind of reward once that hydra dies based on our contribution." "They started." *Hiss!* Erix and Rin initiated their Combat Art, entering their respectivebat forms. "W-What the fuck?" "Did they get some kind of Super Saiyan power or what? Why do they look so¡­fucking badass?" Ronaldo started biting the nails of his right hand while his eyes whirled, "I want that kind of power." Kan pped Ronaldo''s head and loudlyughed, "Then observe them carefully. I''m sure we can learn from them." "Everyone! Release your long-range attacks!" Leishun shouted as he took out a fancy wooden bow with dark blue patterns. A legendary-grade weapon of Tier-4! Pulling its string, a lightning arrow conjured with a skill execution in its formation. The arrow changed color as he consumed Prana for the skill along with his ss''s energy and Spirit force before releasing the arrow and targetting the Hydra. The rest of the people also released their long-range attacks while Rin and Erix were lights moving around. The hydra''s attacks failed to even touch them while the duo hurled their attacks on it, chipping away its Vitality at a fast rate. Barely a minute had passed before thest head of the Hydra was also destroyed,pleting the first challenge of the Antis. [Congrattions. You have sessfully defeated the Garakuw Hydra.] [A Tier-5 Item box has been rewarded to everyone based on their contribution.] [The Central Hub is activated.] At the center of the hub, the circr part with some kind of runic formation glowed before a pond emerged. The pond had pristine blue water with faint golden magic sparkles. And at the edge of the hub, right at the front, six giant cave entrances became visible, each entrance had different rocky and metallic materials, but looked natural. [The protection pond and six passages have been opened. Drink the pond''s water to gain Aquatic protection for ten hours to survive in the brutal atmosphere of Antis.] [Without Aquatic Protection, you will take increased damage of water, ice, and lightning attributes while also suffering a constant water pressure that reduces your vitality and durability of armor-sets ording to the areas you venture.] [Good luck in your endeavors.] Everyone was surprised and flew towards the pond. Rin and Erix looked at the six giant entrances and frowned because each one also had the same warning. [Warning: Only those with 40,000 Power level and above should enter. It is advisable to have a Tier-5 armor set and a Tier-5 weapon for higher chances of survival and a team of at least 200 to 1000 people to venture inside.] "Welp, this is it for today," Erix wryly chuckled and turned to the group of a hundred people. Rin clicked her tongue. "We need more people to get stronger faster. I feel like if only two of us enter inside, we won''t survive." "Yeah, let''s return," Erix said before he teleported his group to the edge of the hub and left. However, many other powerhouses felt a huge pressure on them. "This can''t go on¡­" Leishun muttered. "We have to get stronger faster, damn it." "Yes. If we stay behind, those two will win almost everything. That Council or something in the reward seemed very important." The others left while discussing and talking about Erix and Rin, but all of them felt as if a fire had been lit on their assess, giving them big pressure to get stronger faster. Chapter 323: Members, Information, Terrapin Clan After returning back to the Blessed Ind, Erix, Rin, and Aria had passionate battles for four hours. Rin''s bloodline also evolved like Lilith, reaching Mythic-rank. [Bloodline: Ourous Regalon Demphire ] _Grade: Mythic _Level: 1 [ Reach its 2nd level by progressing your Bloodline''s realm.] _Perks: +1000 all stats + 20% of fundamental stats. _Blood Essence: [ 84 ] _Skills: ¡ª> 1. Dominion re Orbs. ¡ª> 2. Ourous Flow. ¡ª>3. Darkness Ourous Cloak: Increase stats by 100% and form a ck Blood Seal that you can imprint in one of your items to grant an additional damage boost of Blood and Death attribute. 1 Blood Essence per minute. _Note: Explore and progress in your Bloodline''s realm to manifest new skills based on yourprehensive potential and experience. Upon the evolution of her Bloodline, Rin directly awakened two elements. Blood and Death. It was just like how Erix awakened the Life element upon acquiring his Bloodline, Rin''s bloodline evolution granted her core attributes of her bloodline. Even without this evolution, Rin would have eventually awakened Blood and Death elements due to her Ourous Demphire bloodline because its source was based on Blood and Death as well. Lilith and Rin had the same bloodline before and after evolution, but from this onwards, they would have to be pioneers of their same bloodline that would progress into two different paths. ¡­ The trio took a small nap of four hours. It was enough to recover their condition to prime. Afterward, they entered Limitless ne with Isabe, and four of them trained in their respective powers. At eight in the morning, Erix gathered everyone in the guild''s central hall. The guild''s current lineup was small but solid. Leader: Erix. Vice leader: Rin Commanders: Aria, Isabe. Elites: Leon, Samuel, Zoe, Elena, Alfred, Varan. Members: Roy, Tony, Kartik, Tez, Liana, Raashi, Neriko, Varan, and Mia. Rin and Erix hadn''t talked to those seven members yet, but they stayed with Isabe and others during tough times, which was enough for Erix to give them a reward. "I promised ten people today my custom-made weapons, but you all also deserve one," Erix said with a smile. "However, I will only Royal-order members their weapons, so you nine will have to work towards ranking up. How long will it take?" "You go first," Erix turned his head to Roy and Tony. "You twins, how long?" "Soon, leader," Roy said with a grin. "At most two days," Tony followed up. "We are close toprehending the Arcane Spirit Pool." "Good," Erix nodded before turning to Kartik, the short ck-haired man in histe thirties with a six-foot height. "Hmm," Kartik adopted a thoughtful expression before answering, "Five days." "Six days." "Four days." ¡­ After getting everyone''s answers, Erix sent Noble orders away to do their things. It was morning, and their routine was using Unbound Star cosmic faction''s Spiritual Art, Unfettered Mantra Focus, to enter a singrly focused state to train andprehend their Arcane Spirit Pond''s insight to manifest it and advance to Royal order. Unfettered Mantra Focus was the spiritual art that everyone got after officially joining the Unbound Star cosmic faction. Way of Unfettered was the superior version, but it required some contribution to buy it. Tenebria secretly recruited Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Lilith, and Lily, so they got Way of Unfettered spiritual art. Unfettered Mantra Focus was the downgraded and shallow version of an aspect of Way of Unfettered spiritual art, as it only aided in meditative training. They couldn''t enter Limitless ne. Still, this Spiritual Art was helpful because while the rest of the guilds only had a few Royal-order powerhouses rtive to their big numbers, the Unfettered Fate guild had six members already at Royal order aside from Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe. Those six were Leon, Samuel, Zoe, Elena, Alfred, and Varan. In total, the Unfettered Fate guild had ten Royal-order powerhouses, while other guilds had lower than this number! The highest had Heavenly Melody Guild, but they also only had five Royal-order powerhouses including Kenshin and Sameira. On the broader scale, only 0.5% of the living human poption reached the royal order, which was roughly 20k, while the rest of the 99.5% of people were still in the Noble-order. ¡­ "The six of you will get your custom weapon from me first," Erix said as he leaned back with a grin. "Tell me your preference." "I''ll go first!" Zoe said with as she said her hand with excitement. "I want a spear of Fire and Lightning attribute! I hope it also has some powerful long-range powers." "Alright," Erix nodded while smiling as he already thought of a few options on which of his exotic Metals to use as a base. "We have two hours before the tournament starts, so let''s make your weapon first," Erix said before looking at Leon and others. "You five can think about your choices for an hour." "Then Erix, I''ll take Aria and Isabe for a round," Rin said as she stood up. "Yeah, that would be better." "Should we go visit the elf n to continue the alliance?" Isabe asked. "I can be helpful in that," Aria sweetly smiled as her perky elf ears moved. "Yep, that''s a good idea," Erix said with augh. "They must have something useful for us since these ns arrived here." Rin, Aria, and Isabe went to the elf n at once, while Erix took Zoe, Leon, Elena, Alfred, and Varan to the Blessed Ind to begin his grand crafting session. Since Rin and Erix cleaned the major trouble that was the Dark Daggers Alliance,Sameira and Kenshin went back to their main task of solidifying their ties with the Terrapin n for alliance. Terrapin n was obscure and ancient ording to what they observed. So far, they only allowed Sameira and Kenshin to enter their hidden territory. "There," Kenshin said as he pointed at a seemingly normal-looking tree in the forest twenty kilometers north of the Labyrinth Tower. They arrived before the tree and walked into its trunk, seemingly disappearing magically. The duo arrived at a hidden underground cavern with a magical ceiling. It was a lush green cavern that was fifteen kilometers in radius with hills, a small forest, and the rest of thend covered in water bodies. Half of thend had ponds and river pathways connecting the ponds. Each pond had underwater houses and structures, while a huge pcey in the middle. But the inhabitants of this ce were not humans. They were humanoid turtles! Their limbs and skin were green but strong, and each one was covered by a solid turtle shell. Most of them had a dark green turtle shell, but some had natural golden designs and patterns on their shells, indicating their rarer and stronger Bloodline. Kenshin and Sameira emerged from a tree''s trunk in the small forest, attracting the attention of Terrapin. Suddenly, a Terrapin middle-aged man appeared before the duo and caressed his long ck beard. His turtle shell had that rare and stronger Bloodline pattern. His aura was that of an Empyrean-order. "You''re finally here," the man grunted. "If you hadn''t arrived today, we would have made contact with another guild and erased our secret passage that we revealed to you." "And I saw some new people arrive. Your troubles are also gone because of them." Kenshinughed and said, "My daughter and her husband." Sameira wryly smiled. They''ve yet to marry, but Kenshin was already calling Erix his son-inw. "That aside, we are here to hear your condition and your so-called detailed talk," Sameira said as she crossed her arms. "You took long to answer us." "I''ll exin to you our specialty and benefits in detail. You seeded in one task and also passed our test, so as long as you agree to our conditions, we''ll form a mutual benefit alliance with you." "Alright, Kulikan. Let''s hear it," Kenshin smiled. "Follow me." Kenshin and Sameira followed the old man as they entered the pce and arrived at an open pavilion in the backyard. The trio sat at a table before a female Terrapin arrived. She had silver hair and a chubby face, and her shell looked simr to Kulikan''s shell. "Our Race has deep connections to a very ancient bloodline. We were at the cusp of extinction in our old world because of our enemies, but Mystic Root gave us this chance, and we arrived here." Kulikan''s expression was somber. "We can''t afford to let our numbers reduce here more." ''Interesting,'' Sameira''s eyes glinted. ''Their situation seems terrible, eh?'' Kenshin internally nodded. "My n''s total poption is just ny-three, and currently we only get four members a year," the female Terrapin said. "This is due to our Zhenwu Terrapin Bloodline. Until we reach Reverend-order, we can only produce a single heir." "Our n was flourishing in our world a thousand years ago, but our invaluable shells and our power attracted our doom. Our numbers were reduced, and we were kept as ves to craft our special items that only we could produce." Kulikan took out a dark green bangle with entric patterns and sleek but strange material. It looked like jade but had metallic and wooden textures. "This item is our exclusive defense armaments. We have all types of defense with various defensive effects." "With our support, you can reduce your casualties and damage by a lot. Your defense will be superior to most." "Aside from this, we can give you our personal support," Kulikan''s sharply said. "Each of our member have powerful defensive capabilities. Our bloodline boasts the strongest defense." The female Terrapin sighed and said, "Unless we reach Reverend-order, our members can''t unlock theplete potential of our Bloodline. Before reaching Reverend-order, we only have pure defensive superiority." "The other ns and outer power in our world joined together to suppress and made sure that none of us reached Reverend-order. We could never rise again, but this is our chance, so we don''t want to take any risks." Kulikan somberly said, "To prevent the same fate from descending on my n, you two must take a spiritual oath to protect our location and secret." "We will give you items, and our members will join you to help you and grow strong with you, but you must provide us with some resources regrly in the n." "We will discuss more if you can take the oath. If you do not n to take the oath of alliance, then you must take oath to never mention what we revealed to others." Kenshin and Sameira nced at each other before looking at the two Terrapins and smiled. The benefits were too much, and they also didn''t have much constraint on them with the oath. The plus far overshadowed the harmless conditions of the oath. After all, they wouldn''t think of betraying them. It was to their benefit to help this n and get their powerful support. This was all they wanted from them. "We will take the oath of alliance." Chapter 324: Erixs Craft, Groundwork Just like how Kenshin and Sameira formed an alliance with the Terrapin n, many other guilds were forming alliances with various ns for various benefits. By the time Kenshin and Sameira returned with some of Terrapin''s n''s exclusive items and ten members of the Royal-order, only an hour was left till the tournament''s start. Erix had almost finished crafting Zoe''s custom weapon on the ind after an hour of meticulous process. Zoe and others were watching the final touches as fiery dark orange sparks stormed around a 2.5 meter long spear. It was shining with entric patterns while Erix giving the final touches to the formations and sealing them. "Done." Erix smiled and pped lightly once, causing the furnace storm around the spear to vanish. The spear''s body was dark orange with fiery curvy patterns and its pointed part was glittering crystalized with solidified energy nodes and formation in it that Erix created from a metal. The spear''s shaft and its de point were made from different metals, but both had the same attributes¡ªFire & lightning. The shaft was made from a Tier 5 metal while the de point was made from a Tier-6 metal. "Guild master, why did you use two different metals?" Varan curiously asked. "That point de''s metal is not suitable for the shaft. This shaft''s metal could bear more refining and magic formations. It''s a sort of more defense-oriented metal." "But that de point''s metal is more offensive-oriented due to its properties." Erix sent the spear towards Zoe as it flew and floated vertically before it. "It''s name is¡­Fulmin ze Spear," Erix said with a grin as he gave it a name. Everyone inspected it and was gobsmacked at the spear''s power! [Fulmin ze Spear] _Rank: Tier-5 _Grade: Legendary _Base Attack: 7600 + 300% of user''s Strength. _Enhanced Attacks: 7600 + 300% of user''s Strength & Magic stats. 10 Prana per second. _Effects: ¡ª> Fulmin ze: Your skills released through spears deal an additional me and Lightning attribute damage equal to 150% of your Magic stat. ¡ª> Thunderme Wheel: Consming 1000-5000 Prana will release Thunderme Wheels as projectiles that you can control. ¡ª> Lightme Pierce: Releases a lightning-fast condensed arrow from the spear''s tip by consuming 1000-5000 Prana, with high piercing power andpact damage depending on your Magic stat. "As you wanted, this spear has two long-range effective attacks. Since you have Fire and Lightning affinity, everything you release from this spear will be boosted ording to your power buffs." Zoe excitedly grabbed the spear, her eyes shining brightly. "This is so powerful! Its attack is crazily high!" "Yep. That''s the magic of my unique Metals," Erix grinned. "Go on, check out the effects." Zoe nodded, and others eagerly looked at her as she swung her spear in the sky five one-meter-tall dark orange wheels with dark blue lightning sparks materialized from her spears and shot into the sky. "Awesome! They pack a lot of punch I can feel," Zoe was thrilled and looked at Erix with excitement. "No wonder your created skills are so powerful." Erix waved his hand and conjured a Nihilir Wisp. The Nihilir wisp shaped into a square shield ording to Erix''s control, with the new application applied to it¡ªRipple Riddle. It was a defensive-type Nihilir application, unlike Dismantle, which was an offense-type. Heprehended Ripple Riddle after his Nihilir Affinity reached 2nd realm. "Use Lightme Pierce on this shield," Erix said with a smile. ''If I seeded in that formation, then Lightme Pierce should breach this defense.'' "Come on, guild master," Zoe weakly smiled. "I''m sure I am not powerful enough to break your defense even with this spear''s power." "Just try," Erix said with augh, "As for this defense, it is an application of my Nihilir element called Ripple Riddle. It solidifies the space that I shaped, which is the square shield in this case, and forms a subspace in it." Erix put the shield one hundred meters high in the sky and added, "Anything that entered through this application of Nihilir would be met with a thorough decay and destructure at micro-space levels, thus nullifying attacks." "But if I seeded in the magic formation of that effect, it should puncture through this shield," Erix smiled. "W-what? This spear is that powerful?" Leon stuttered. Not just him, but everyone was shocked upon hearing that. After all, Erix''s power level was more than five, no¡­almost six times theirs because all six of them were barely around 25k of Power level! Erixughed at their reaction and said, "I only used 1000 Prana for this Nihilir wisp, and it''s not powered by my spirit force or other energies." Zoe looked at the ghastly purple shield and nodded as she held the spear tightly and took a stance, "Alright, I''ll use full power in this Lightme Pierce." "Max 5000 Prana for activation. 1000 Spirit force for the damage boost. 1000 Rage Energy of my ss for further damage boost." Zoe''s aura rose as she focused and used the effect. The spear''s shaft''s entric patterns shone along with the spear point''s de. ''Let''s see¡­'' Zoe pulled back the spear and hurled it forward with her full power, but kept it in her hand. *Swoosh!* The spear''s point released a lightning-fast nail-like projectile that struck the square shield. It started dissolving in the first micro-second when its tip entered but then¡­it vanished and also made a clean hole in the shield. Erix''s eyes sparkled. "It worked!" ''Fuck¡­it really worked!'' "Guild master, I felt some kind of unique power when I used it," Zoe''s brows creased. "It felt like a conceptual power¡­" "Exactly!" Erix grinned. "I also confirmed something and it worked. Basically, In that Lightme Pierce effect''s formation, I designed it while infusing the intent of my Punch concept." "So if you use Spirit force as a boost along with Prana when you release Lightme Pierce, It will gain the power of Punch concept." "And Punch doesn''t just mean forming a fist and punching," Erix''s eyes narrowed and his smile widened. "Punch is an action concept and it can be realized even without forming a fist, so I imbued it in this formation. The other form of my Punch concept is¡­puncturing, which was clearly disyed in that attack." Erix grinned and looked at Zoe, "Without that, your attack can''t possibly pass through that Ripple Riddle shield and make a hole like that, haha." Elena, the blind girl, suddenly eximed, "I get it!" A subtly excited smile formed on her face as she said, "I¡­can I go and train? I want to meditate for my Blossom concept." "Sit under that tree. You''ll feel more focused on this ind," Erix nodded and then looked at the others. "You all can take your time to think what you want. I''ll make daily three items until everyone gets one." Leon, Alfred, Varan, Samuel, and Zoe also left to train. The guild territory had been moved to the Blessed Ind, but it was still mostly empty due to a low number of members. Just as Erix was about to exit to look around the area, he sensed several presences mixed with two familiar ones approaching the ind. He opened the Ind barrier and let the group inside. ''Turtle people? Didn''t see this race in the Abyss,'' Erix was surprised to see ten people of a green hard-skinned humanoid race with turtle shells along with Kenshin and Sameira. ''It must be the people of the Terrapin n they talked about.'' "Erix, we have some matter to inform you. Let''s go inside." "Alright," Erix smiled and snapped his finger, causing him, Kenshin, Sameira, and the 10 Terrapin members to teleport into the guild''s hall. "Sit, everyone." The Terrapin n members who arrived with Kenshin and Sameira were dumbfounded. Their Prana Kavach had vanished, but Kenshin''s and Sameira''s Prana Kavach were intact. "You¡­you have 3rd realm of Space power, but still¡­" "What happened?" Sameira asked in surprise. Erixughed and said, "You two didn''t resist my teleport since you were familiar with it, but these 10 felt it the first time, and their resistance was instinctive. The passive line of defense was Prana Kavach, but theirs vanished because they couldn''t resist my forceful teleportation." "Anyway, what''s the matter?" Erix sat down on the single sofa chair and curiously asked. The Terrapin n members were excited! If they got the support of this person and his guild, they were sure to survive and get strong. These Royal-order Terrapins could feel Erix''s aura and his power despite him also being a Royal-order. "I told these guys that you are worthy of their trust, and so I brought them here for a discussion," Kenshin grinned. "These turtles have quite some impressive things." "Oh? I am all eyes," Erixughed. "What''s their specialty?" ¡­ Meanwhile, Rin, Isabe, and Aria also managed to get on the same ground as the elf n. More precisely, it was the Moondawn Elf n. They were a mix of High and Dark elf bloodlines. Just like other ns that had appeared all over the world, this one also had a small number of people and powerhouses. They were better off than the Terrapin n, but they also needed support and alliance to grow. Aria''s and Amu''s presence made it easy for the Elves. They even wanted Aria to marry into their n, but that was impossible, so after forming the alliance with terms on both sides, Rin and the others left. Missionplete. Meanwhile, only ten minutes were left until the beginning of the tournament and thousands of people had gathered at the center square of the meadow. Not everyone was going to participate because it was certain that only people who reached Royal-order rank would get the chance, but many Noble-order people still wanted to enter. Chapter 325: Tournament, Field Missions Erix talked with Sameira, Kenshin, and the ten Terrapin members about their n and alliance. They also showed him the power of their defensive capabilities, surprising Erix. Rin, Isabe, Aria, and Amu arrived and joined in the discussion after ten minutes, sharing the good news about the alliance with the Moondawn Elf n. "Alright, let''s move out. The tournament is starting in 5 minutes, and it won''t be good if we arete to the time we set for it," Erix said. "Alright, we''ll go with the Terrapins here to do our first task then," Kenshin said. "Cosmic faction''s field missions need a minimum of 10 people per team, and with the Terrapins, we have enough for the minimum-ranked missions." After all, the cosmic factions'' missions required one to be at least at Royal-order. This was also why only Royal-order could join the faction and was the reason why Erix and Rin were told to join Unbound Star by Tenebria only upon reaching Royal-order. It was a strict requirement. "So you are going for those missions?" Rin raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Tell us how it goester. I heard they are pretty hard and dangerous." "The rewards are good, and we also have to catch up to our daughter," Sameira smiled. "Alright, enjoy your tournament. We''ll get going." ¡­ The people were waiting outside, and when a couple of minutes were left till 10 o''clock, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe arrived at the Sanctuary Area''s center. Erix looked at the nket of people spanning two thousand, but a particr group of four hundred people stood at the front. "So you are the participants?" Erix smiled and crossed his arms. "Alright, make one full party of your number." "It''s done!" A middle-aged man with sleek blond hair wearing a light armor set for a Mage shouted. "We are ready!" "Yeah!" Everyone cheered, while the people who simply came to watch also joined in the uproar. "Alright, then ept the challenge. We''ll begin the first round," Erix said as he challenged the big party. The Arena function activated, team vs team battle. Aria, Erix, Rin, and Isabe vs the 439 participants. "Get on the tform!" Erix waved his hand and created arge metal square tform 300 meters long on all sides. Everyone flew on the tform before Erix raised it high. The audience also flew up with their various flying skills or their flying monster mounts to watch the tournament. "You all know what to do! Just defend and survive against our attacks! Only one hundred of you will go the next round." After saying that, Erix turned to Rin, Aria, and Isabe to his side. "Adjust your attacks ordingly. Don''t go all out. We also want to observe if there are some talented people but weak." "If you spot some promising individuals like that, even if they are at Noble order, keep them alive." "Good idea," Rin grinned. Isabe and Aria nodded. Four of them started attacking, while those439 people also used their various defensive skills. "Humph, show off¡­" Yagun Mubei said with a snort as he watched the tournament. "Then get strong instead of watching this," a bald man with a fit figure and sharp face said. He was Yagun''s father. His rank was right after Kenshin and Sameira, Ranked 11th on the World leaderboard. "Come, we have a meet-up with the Sky Knight guild and Rose Throne guild at the Antis Hub. The other guilds from nearby cities havee." ¡­ After finishing the first round and eliminating 339 people, Erix parted the remaining 100 people into two parties of 50-50. "Begin," Erixmenced the 2nd round as a huge battle above the big tform began. 50 vs 50. The big fight would go on until a total of 50 remained. Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria sat on afy metal sofa made from a semi-liquid exotic metal that Erix created and watched the fight happen. "That girl and those two guys are pretty sharp and a goodbatant with her skills," Rin remarked while highlighting the individuals using her spirit force and sharing the focus in spiritual chat. "Yeah, I noticed them. Among the Noble orders, these three have higher potential," Erix nodded. "Better than me in terms of their fighting style," Isabe self-deprecatingly smiled. "You have your own style, and we''ll teach you some cool basics we''ve learned in Limitless ne. It will only take a day," Rin said with a grin. "After that, you just need to discover your art ofbat." "Me too," Aria excitedly said. "For now, I am not doing much except for creating my Animated Spirits, but I am trying something different with them, hehe. Wait for the surprise." While they were watching, the four of them suddenly felt a presence behind them. A familiar presence. However, they only felt it for a brief moment, but the four of them heard a voice in their heads. ''Visit the Unbound Star faction when you can, but it should be today.'' "Tenebria?" Isabe was surprised. "She must want to tell us something." Erix nodded. "Yep. We''ll go visit after finishing up with the tournament and talking a bit with the ten new members," he said before focusing on the tform. "It seems that the 2nd round is over." The remaining fifty people stood bloodied on the tform. One team had 28 people remaining, while the other team had 22 people remaining. "Erix, this is going to be so long if we go with the original 3rd round," Rin clicked her tongue. "Moreover, some of them are scrubs. It will be a waste of time." "Yes, I also feel the same," Isabe nodded with a wry smile. Erix nodded as he shared the same sentiment after observing the battles. "True. Then let''s reduce the number to 24 quickly." Erix nodded before he looked at the 50 people on the tform. "This round is going to be too long if I go with my initial 3rd rule, so I am going to reduce the number further." Erix divided 50 people into two groups of 25-25 and made them challenge the team battle again with the Arena function. Once a total of 24 people were left, one had 14 and another 10, Erix stopped the battle. "Good. Now, I am going to assign you a number from 1 to 24," Erix said with a narrowed smile. "This is still going to be long because each one of you will fight 24 battles non-stop." "Thanks to the Arena function, you can recover to prime after finishing a battle in the arena mode, so you will not stop. Not even a single break will be allowed." "We''ll count your wins as you fight, and the top 10 with the most wins will join the guild." Erix waved his hand and created 24 metal badges, tiny but shining. The metal badges flew towards the people. "Attach them anywhere, and they''ll stick." The participants did as told. "Good. Now, you will challenge a number next to yours, which means 1v2, 3v4, 5v6, and so on. After that, you will skip the ones you fought and choose next. This will go on until everyone has fought with everyone." In short, there would be a total of 576 battles! "Damn, this is still going to be too long." "Yeah, let''s go and find some dungeon." The audience was reduced further because most of them were not interested in watching these people. After all, they were here to see Erix and Rin''s power, the top rankers of the leaderboard. "Isabe-sis, let''s go and make some food. I heard you awakened the Mystic Chef sub-ss without a grimoire. Haha, I can''t wait to taste your food." Erixughed and said, "Yeah, let''s eat something while watching the battles, haha." "Alright," Isabe gently smiled and nodded. Rin and Isabe left while Aria and Erix remained. "Where''s Amu?" Erix asked. He could sense everyone''s presence, but not Amu''s or Arias''s because they passively hid it with their superior Spirit force''s nature. "Amu is with the kids on the ind," Aria said with a soft giggle. "Amu took a liking to the kids and is teaching them like he used to teach me." Suddenly, Erix''s U-card rang as he got Sameira''s call. "Yes, mom?" Erix cheekily answered. "Haha," Sameira chuckled at the other side and said, "It''s nothing serious. One of the kids named Rony is in the gang on your ind. His mother wants to meet him, so open that barrier for a bit." "Alright. I''ll add her presence to the list, so she can pass through the barrier." "Thanks. By the way, we took our first mission after some selection and talking with people here in the hub. There''s an emergency mission that requires people with 100,000 Power level or above, and a team is looking to fill 3 remaining spots, so if you and Rin are interested, you can check out the details here." "Oh?" Erix was surprised and curious. "What''s the deadline?" "Eh, it''s an emergency mission, so only 38 hours left." "Alright. Thanks for the heads up. We''ll check it out." Erix put away the U-card and rubbed his chin. "What''s the matter?" Aria curiously asked as she closed in towards Erix and squeezed his arm. "We''ll be going on our first field mission soon," Erix gently booped Aria on the nose and chuckled. "They need people with over 100,000 power levels." "Waa¡­then I can''t join," Aria pouted. "Yep. There''s not much here to do for us anyway. We are ahead by the world''s progress, haha." "Do you know how long will it take?" Aria asked. "No idea," Erix shook his head. "This will be our first field mission." "Then I''ll stay here with Isabe-sis, and we will get stronger!" Aria showed her fist grinning. "Haha, that''s good," Erix wrapped his arm around her as Aria put her head on his shoulder. "Umm¡­can we have passionate battles again tonight?" Aria shyly asked. "I want you to do it like you did with Rin¡­" Erix roared inughter and said, "so you want the crazy style, eh? Alright, level 3 today for you today." "Is that max level?" Aria curiously asked. "Nope. Level 4 is max, hahaha." Chapter 326: First Winners, Slave Collar Rin and Isabe returned after making some food, and the four of them snacked them while watching the battles. Time passed, and after two hours of non-stop battles, everyone finally finished their fights with each other. "Alright, good job everyone, but you all know the ten that are going to join the guild." "Congrattions to the winner." Erix smiled and approached the group of 24 people, with the 10 winners looking thrilled. The remaining ones had disappointed expressions. "As for those who didn''t win, don''t worry. This is just the first recruitment, and the guild has plenty more space for new members." One of the girls in herte twenties immediately asked, "When is the next recruitment?" Rin shook her head, "We can''t say for sure because it depends on when we return from the cosmic faction''s field mission. A couple of days for sure, but it will not take long." ¡­ Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe returned to the ind with the 10 winners. When they arrived there, all ten were surprised and even more excited to see the atmosphere and topography of the blessed ind. "I promised custom-made weapons, but you won''t get them immediately for obvious reasons," Erix said. "I''ll make three to five items every day, after returning from the field mission. Until then, do whatever you want and can to get stronger in your way." "All of you are at Royal-order rank, so you''ve crossed a hurdle. This ind has versatile elemental areas, so stay in the area that matches your element when you want to meditate for training." "I sense a lot of people behind that mountain range¡­" asked the young man in his early twenties as he pointed at the mountain range. He was the youngest of the ten winners, alongside a girl with ck hair around a simr age. Rin''s eyes gleaned and a cold yet wide smile appeared on her face, "They were members of the Dark Dagger Alliance in the past and¡­.ves in the present." "Haha, don''t worry about them," Erix said with augh, his expression sharp, "Make yourselvesfortable and do your things." "But remember one thing," Erix smiled. "You are our first recruits, so consider yourselves lucky for this position. But if you don''t work and get stronger on par with the benchmarks that''ll be set regrly, we will demote you." "Only the best will be core members of the guild, so don''t fall behind." Everyone nodded, young and old, their eyes showing resolve to stay in this elevated position they were feeling. After saying that, Erix teleported with Rin, Aria, and Isabe behind the small mountain range of tiny mountains. The ves numbering roughly 3000 had built their houses in rows. The total number of houses was 1.8k, meaning that many were living together. "Jeez, they need punishment," Rin snorted as she looked at the things happening. More than half of the ves were engaged in carnal activities and were high as fuck with various intoxications. The rest were following instructions, and training in meditation to get stronger. "Aria, can you send a wave of spiritual force into those busy ones like a powerful p, painful and stingy to their mind?" "I can," Aria nodded. "Good. Do it, and then tell them to gather here," Erix coldly smiled. Suddenly, Amu appeared before them wearing ck specs and a hat, "What''s up, guys?" "Pff, what''s up with you?" Rin chuckled. Isabe also chuckled. "Aaron also recently speaks in new ways with me, it''s adorable." Kids that young would try and imitate things, but Isabe was just happy that Aaron was back to being happy and lively. "Hehe, it''s the style of kids," Amu grinned, but hearing his childish voice that wasn''t distinguishable from a boy''s or girl''s voice just made it even more funny. The ck specs and hat vanished as they were made from its slime body and Amu returned to normal before turning to the houses. "Are you going to put them to work?" "Yep," Erix nodded and snapped his finger as his eyes faintly shone dark silvery. "I''ve made a simple device recently called¡­ve cor. These mindless mob needs one to set them straight and be useful for us." A dark silver ve neck cor with entric patterns appeared before Erix. "What does it do?" Isabe asked after she failed to inspect for details. The ves also arrived as Aria finished sending a mass wave of stinging ps to their minds and telling them toe here. "It will control them with the famousbinations of fear," Erix grinned. "Pain and death." The ves, ranging from as young aste teens to as old as people in their sixties, arrived and fearfully stood before Erix and others. "You all never learn, right?" Rin''s cold voice reverberated while dark clouds suddenly manifested above them. ''Aria, mark some of the very nasty ones for me,'' Rin said. ''Okie.'' Aria marked sixteen people who hadmitted the most atrocities so far in their lives. She could sense it from their consciousness and marked them. A secondter, everyone heard multiple lightning crackles as dark red lightning bolts with ck sparks shed and killed those sixteen people with perfect precision. However, Erix smiled and revived them again since their souls couldn''t leave the Blessed Ind''s closed system barrier. This was one of the perks of the Blessed Ind. Even if people died on the Ind, their souls wouldn''t immediately enter the cosmic cycle as long as the barrier was activated. Erix healed their injuries the moment they died, so all sixteen people were revived once again. "Arghh!" "It hurts!" "N-Nooo¡­Arghh!" Although they revived, the condensed pain that gathered into them after dying rushed at once, causing them immense pain. Their broken screams and terrified voices made the rest of the ves shudder involuntarily. "You are not here to fuck each other and enjoy your life on this beautiful ind," Erix''s cold voice reverberated, but he contained it in space in this area so that other people on the ind wouldn''t hear anything. "You are ves, and here to suffer because of your actions! If you want to live without suffering, then work!" Erix snapped his finger as a flux of Prana whirled around him before vanishing while his eyes gleaned dark silvery. Soon, every ve found a metallic cor around their neck. It was thin and small, but it made their already cold heart even colder. "Do you know what I can do with this cor?" Erix asked with a sunny smile. "With a single thought of mine, I''ll kill you in a brutal death as well as revive you and let you enjoy your pain." "But if you don''t want to experience that, then hand over all those intoxication stuff from your inventory and live ording to the rules." "If you understand, then get on your knees and put your heads on the ground." Without hesitation, every single one did as told as their fear level increased. They absolutely realized, even the dumb ones with fully rotten minds, that their situation here would be way worse than death if they didn''t listen and obey. "Aria, who has the lowest amount of atrocities to their name?" Erix asked. "I want ten people." "Okie," Aria nodded, and her eyes shed golden as she shortly marked ten people. Erix waved his hand, causing the ten of them to teleport before them. "Get up." The ten people got up fearfully and looked at them. Four were in their twenties, three girls and one boy. The other six were older than forty years old, three men and three women. "Do you know why the ten of you are here?" Erix asked with a smile. All ten shook their heads, fear rising in their eyes as they didn''t know why he teleported them here. "You ten have a job to do. There''s a new building at the center of this Sanctuary Area and you ten will work there with this." Erix created ten metal tes with the same entric magic formation carved on each. There was a tiny slot in each of them, the perfect size of a U-card. "The te will activate when you put a U-card in it and infuse Mana¡­." Erix exined about the U-card and the te''s function. He created the te by imitating the Abyss''s Hunter card''s formation to upgrade his U-card. For now, he only added one upgrade for the card, which was to increase themunication range of a U-card to 500 kilometers. "Your job is to upgrade people''s cards in exchange for 2 Prana stones or a Tier-5 material, be it a crafting material, potion ingredient, or anything else," Erix said. "Due to the rough crafting, these tes will be destroyed after you upgrade 100 cards in each, so here¡­" Erix consumed more Prana and created 30 tes more. The ves grabbed the tes and nodded as they understood the job. "I''m sending you to the building. I''ll make a teleport formation there that connects to here, so you can return for some rest, but not everyone must at once." "And," Rin narrowed her eyes, "Don''t think about doing anything funny while outside." Erixughed and said, "These ve cors are not something anyone can break, and if you try to break, you''ll die before it happens. These ve cors are made from the strongest metal in my arsnal. It''s a Tier-6 metal of death and ice attributes." "I understand." "We will not try to escape¡­" "I-I want to atone for my sins¡­" an old man with a ck beard broke down as he started bawling and fell on his knees. "Stop the drama," Erix rolled his eyes. "I am sending you now. Do a good job every day, and you''ll live better." After sending them away, Erix handed over a device to activate the ve cor to Isabe, Aria, and Amu. "Use this if they try anything funny. Rin and I are going to Unbound Star cosmic faction for the field mission. If it''s good, we''ll participate. If it''s not worth it, we''ll return soon." Chapter 327: Cosmic Faction Hub, Facilities, Field Mission After handing over the guild handling to Isabe and Aria, Erix and Rin directly flew towards the Labyrinth Tower. Entering inside, they saw a long row of doors attached to walls at the edge and flew at thest door. Thest ranked cosmic faction, Unbound Star. Since only Royal-order could join factions, it didn''t have native Earth members. However, they saw over a hundred people of various races, including humans in the hub. They were in various groups, big and small. The strongest were Empyrean-order ones because those at Reverend-order and above were in a higher ne of existence and had a different hub. Still, since the Unbound Star cosmic faction was rankedst, at 100th rank, it was quite clear that it didn''t have enough members to prop it up. The hub looked like a huge hall with four corridors leading to different areas of the cosmic factions. "Erix, we should also check out those cosmic faction facilities," Rin grinned. "Tenebria told us that it can give us useful resources as rewards depending on our performance." "Yeah, we''ll check those outter. Let''s find the group that''s doing the emergency mission first," Erix said as he walked towards the big round desk in the middle. Above the desk were holograms of missions. One of that was the emergency mission section, and only one was avable. [Resource Extraction]¡ªEmergency. Mission: Extracting resources and the core of a vtile dwarf that is about to explode in three days. Reward: ¡ª> Tier-7 Comprehension Stone Tablet of your choice. ¡ª> 100 Comic Coins. ¡ª> Self-reward distribution: Whatever you acquire from the is yours except for the''s core. "Are you interested in that mission?" Erix and Rin heard a voice behind them as they saw a seven-foot-tall bulky man with a military-cut hairstyle and wearing a cyberpunk-ish ck outfit. His powerful aura indicated that he was an Empyrean-order and his Power level was 185,780. "We are," Erix answered with a smile. "Nice bloodlines," said a long dark green-haired girl who appeared from behind the bulky man, with aid-back white coat around her arms that faintly glowed with a rainbow hue. A ck vest and tight leggings covered her shapely figure. After Rin got her bloodline evolved, her Power Level increased, but it hadn''t touched the 100k mark yet. "You can join, but she can''t," the bulky man said as he crossed his arms. "What is the Power Level of your weakest member?" Rin asked with narrowed eyes. "One hundred fifteen thousand," the girl replied with a grin. "That''s me." Rin raised her eyebrows before she sharply smiled, "Let''s duel. If I win, I''ll join." "Tessa is my name," the girl said with a smile. "Rin." "Erix." "I am Har," the bulky man said with a nod. "The rest of the members are at Hell''s Garden. We can also go there and initiate the duel between you two." "Hell''s garden?" Erix repeated before he turned his head to the left and saw a demonic flower symbol above the corridor''s entrance. "It''s our first time in this lively hub, so we don''t know about the facilities," Rin said. "What''s with the Hell''s garden?" "Follow us." Har and Tessa walked towards the corridor while Rin and Erix followed as Tessa exined, "Hell''s garden is a vast expanse of dimension with extreme environments at various areas." "There are no resources there, but only a dangerous and hazardous environment that changes every day. Members can train there, usually forbat practice." They entered the corridor and arrived in another small hall with an array of trees and nts. The hall had three doors at three sides of the wall and no corridors. There were a few people, less than 50, in groups. They were discussing and some also left as Erix and others arrived. "That''s the Hell''s garden," Tessa pointed at one of the doors. "The other door is Hell''s Tower. You can clear floors there and get rewards." "Oh yeah, Hell''s garden, Hell''s tower, and that third door leading to Hell''s Pool, is present in every cosmic faction." Tessa grinned and added, "Which means, there are people of other cosmic factions in Hell''s garden. The leaderboard of Hell''s tower is connected to all as well." "As for Sea of Hell. It''s a torturing ce with little gains for most people. I don''t wanna exin it here, so you can just check it outter." Rin and Erix were surprised and even excited. "What''s the highest floor record of Hell''s tower?" "768th floor," Har answered before he grunted in his heavy voice. "Apparently, this record hasn''t been broken for centuries." Tessa snickered and said, "Of course, only Empyrean-order and below can enter the Hell''s Tower. So once you go past Empyrean-order, you lose your chance to enter again." "We''ll break that record," Rin said with a grin. "Absolutely," Erix also said with a grin. "Haha, good luck," Harughed. "I am currently stuck at 342th floor. It''s hard. But I still have a long way before I breakthrough to Reverend-order." "Unless you die," Tessa giggled. "Stop cursing other people," Har rolled his eyes. The group entered the door of Hell''s Garden and soon arrived in a frosty environment with everything on ice. However, Rin and Erix could also see a different phenomenon of darkness far away in the north. "This icend is our cosmic faction''s entry point," Har said before turning his head in the west direction. "The rest of the team members are in the forest area to the left. Let''s go." Erix''s eyes gleamed as he produced Nihilir Wisps, immediately surprising Har and Tessa as they looked at the wisps. Their eyes glinted as they used their senses to check out the wisps. "What the hell is this element?" Tessa muttered. "Super Exotic Element," Ha spoke, his voice hoarse and his eyes whirling with shock as he looked at Erix. "What are the elements?" "Space, Death, and me," Erix smiled. "Let''s go to the forest. Don''t resist the teleport." The two wisps touched the two of them before all four of them vanished and teleported 140 kilometers away at once, which was the maximum distance Erix could teleport in one go. Of course, at the cost of 1400 Prana. "One hundred kilometers more, and we''ll be at the forest area," Har said. "Ok," Erix nodded before teleporting everyone again but didn''t use Nihilir Wisps on Tessa and Har this time since they didn''t resist the Space Matter mark that Erix used for teleporting. As long as anyone was within his active range of Spiritual Mystic Eye''s sense range, he could mark them and initiate teleport. Powerful people could resist while weaker people would be helpless against the forceful teleportation. The group arrived at the border that separated the two areas and it was quite a spectacle. One part was fully frosty with nothing but ice. The temperature reached over -200 Celsius. On the other hand, Just 1 meter thick border away from this icy area was a thick forest area. The only thing separating them was a meter-thick ground border of mixed icy and greennd. "This phenomenon of separate areas is the same as our Blessed Ind''s areas," Rin said with surprise. "You have Blessed Ind?" Har was stunned and immediately turned around to look at the duo. "Yeah," Erix nodded. "Why? Is it very hard to get?" Tessa rolled her eyes and was speechless. "The fuck, of course it is. They are fucking natural phenomena things. You can either get them from Abyss worlds on rare asions or from a cosmic event that naturally urs." "It''s a matter of luck and power. You need to be at that ce at the right time and with sufficient power." "Make sense," Rin chuckled and said, "After we got it, we had a lot of enemies after us for it." "Anyway, where are the other people? Call them, and let''s begin our duel," Rin added with a grin, her dark red eyes faintly showing golden sparks of Chronace flow. "Do you have anyone in your team with a Super Exotic Element?" Erix curiously asked. Har shook his head and said, "No. But we have ones with Exotic Elements. I have one, Tessa has one, and two more have an Exotic Element each." Right after he said that everyone felt auras approaching them. "I already gave them a signal that we''ve arrived," Tessa said as she yed with a dark silver card on her fingers. "What''s that?" Rin asked upon seeing the card. "Am card?" "Yep. It''s expensive, but you should buy it for field missions. It costs 50 cosmic coins to buy one, and their range is 20,000 kilometers." "Damn, it''s better than my U-card," Erix clicked his tongue."I''ll have to check it out and learn it. Soon, they saw seven people arriving. Two of them were demons as indicated by their exotic skin and horns. Both men. Two were dwarves, one female and one male. The remaining three were beastfolks. One bunny man, one wolf woman, and one lion woman. However, the lion woman was not furry like the other two. She was like Lyra and Klelia with more human appereance like smooth skin and beautiful face with beastly features like ears and a tail. "Are these two new ones?" Shifa, the lioness woman said with a frown. "This girl has less than 100,000 Power Level." "We are going to duel," Tessa said with a grin. "If she wins, then she can join us." "Uhh, can we just go now?" one of the demon men called Leirat said. "This fucking mission appeared today morning, but we''ve already wasted a whole day. That dwarf will blow up in three days, and I don''t know if we have enough time to reap all the benefits." "Yeah, let''s just go already. Even if she has less than 100k Power level, we ten should be enough to extract the core andplete the mission," said Dinda, the dwarf girl with red hair. "And Power Level doesn''t indicate one''s true power," Dinda added while rolling her eyes at the lioness woman. "Let''s just go, Shifa." "The Strongest of us will make the decision," Shifa said as she looked at Har. "Speak." Har turned to Rin and asked, "What''s your elements and their realm?" Rin smiled and waved her hand, creating a field of Chronace Flow that covered everyone within. Instantly, everyone''s face changed as they felt the exotic power hitting them and felt the change in the flow of time bending entrically inside. "What the hell, you also have Super Exotic Element?" Tessa was speechless. "Why the fuck you didn''t show it when he showed it?" "Wait, wait¡­you mean he also has a Super Exotic Element?" Meikar, the other demon asked with a dumbfounded expression. Shifa the lioness, Horu the bunny man, and Milia the wolf girl were shocked even more. "Bwahahahah," the dwarf man, Kajaughed loudly. "Say no more. Let''s just begin our darn mission already. I can''t wait." "This mission is fucking shared between the 95th ranked Cosmic faction to the 100th rank, and if we failed to get that core, we won''t get that precious reward," Leirat said. "Har, open the damn portal. Let''s go." Chapter 328: Wonderous Experience "Alright, let''s go," Har nodded and took out a round badge. Infusing Prana in it, the badge glowed and shot out a beam that opened a portal. Everyone entered inside one by one and arrived in an extremely heated environment with glittering stones and colorful crystals on the ground. The greenery was minimal, winds were strong and hot. The sky had three suns, and the atmosphere was heavy. The gravity was fifty times as powerful as Earth, making everyone feel heavy as they stuck on the ground. "We''ll have to find the''s core first and secure it before others do," Har said as he waved his hand, creating dark silvery wind waves that spread out. It was his Wind element with an attribute concept of Starwind Bloom. *Crrrrr* Suddenly, the ground beneath them cracked, and everyone flew up. *st!* A huge st urred before a giant brown and red mixed crystalized crab emerged. It was ten meters tall and released a strange maic aura around him. [Cruz Mag Crab] _Power Level: 150,490 The giant crab''s red beady eyes looked up before it immediately jumped, swiping its ws, and releasing a wave of shes toward the group. Erix teleported with Rin to dodge, while others also did the same except for Har. Har grunted and made a shing motion, destroying the iing waves and slicing the crab in half with his powerful Starwind Bloom wind sh. ''Babe, we have to be careful here.'' Rin nodded. ''Let''s proceed with precaution.'' ''I''ll look out for escapes and defense with my space-rted moves.'' ''Ok, darling. I''ll leave myself to you then,'' Rin grinned. "Erix, Rin. If you two have some scout-rted powers, then you''ll join Dinda and Milia to search the core for us." "I have," Erix nodded. "I can scan without obstructions with my Space Mapping." "Space Mapping?" Tessa tilted her head. "It''s abination of my space vision with Spiritual Mystic Eye." "Spiritual Mystic Eye sounds like a medium for your spirit sense," Leirat clicked his tongue. "That''s freaking rare. It must have boosted your spirit sense a lot, and if youbined it with Space Vision, you definitely got the best scouting skill." However, Rin and Erix were internally stunned and nced at each other. ''Don''t these guys also have Way of Unfettered spiritual art since they are in the same faction?'' Rin wondered. ''Hmmm, they should, but Tenebria said that this art is rare and higher level... It''s graded Broken-Divinity. This must be either expensive or require some condition before able to acquire or buy it.'' ''Yeah, Broken-Divnity sounds badass, so it must be a very high grade,'' Rin wryly smiled. ''Damn, Tenebria gave it to us like giving vegetables.'' "Well, we got it from some means that we can''t disclose," Erix replied to Leirat''s question outwardly with a rueful smile. Leiratughed and said, "Understandable. Alright, find us that core quickly." However, Rin narrowed her eyes and said, "If we spend time finding the core while you gather resources, we should get a part of what you get." "Ah, yes. Of course," Har scratched his head. "I forgot to mention that. The resources we gather until you find the core will be equally distributed. So worry not and give your all to find the core. We just need to secure its location first." "And here. We only have one extra," Tessa threw am card at Erix. "20,000-kilometer range, so it basically reaches anywhere on this ce. Contact us immediately if you find it." "Alright," Erix said with a grin. "There''s nothing in this area, so we''ll be moving ahead." After saying that, Erix snapped his finger and teleported away with Rin. The bunny girl Millia and Dwarf woman Dinda also went for a search in different directions. Since they were searching for the''s core, they had to search deep underground while moving on the surface. Erix could prate atyers and in 3d, so he could even find ways to easily go underground and search more for the core. ¡­ Half an hourter¡­. "Damn it!" Dinda cursed inside an underground cave with a dead jelly-like slime with a translucent semi-liquid crystalized coating around it. It was dead, but it wrapped around the body and stuck her to the ground. She had to consume a significant amount of Spirit force to get away before she managed to free herself and moved back to the surface after passing through the ground in her Earth-elemental form. She could scan deep grounds, but due to the vtile amount of waves and activity due to the core being radioactive, she couldn''t scan for monsters. "This is fucking 6th," Dinda cursed before she moved to another area and continued her search. On the other hand, Erix could literally make a precise 3D map, so he could easily avoid the monsters underground. Instead of just Earth-rted sensing Dinda which was interfered with by multiple things, Erix could make a clear 3D space map with everything detailed because those things couldn''t affect the space containing it and his space vision that used it. In his search, Rin focused on being cautious of nearby threats and other instinctive dangers while Erix purely searched for the big picture to find the core. After spending a bit over half an hour, Erix encountered a peculiar scene in his Space Mapping. "Rin," Erix said. "Activate your Chronace Field at maximum." "Okay, darling~" Rin replied with a hint of excitement in her smile. She was having fun in this underground danger journey. Erixughed hearing her tone, and pulled her into his embrace before creating a basic Nihilir-space field for extra protection. "I am going to do something dangerous to see a random scenery," Erix pulled her up, his face a breath away from hers while a devilish smile hung on his lips. "I bet that random scenery is worth it," Rin wrapped her arms around him with a seductive smile. "Show me." Erix kissed her before the scenery around them changed. In the first second, invisible waves instantly prated their full-powered defense, slicing through their clothes and injuring them, enough to slice their bones. The due had the maximum foundational stats a Royal-order could have. 5000. With their oundish Mythical-grade Bloodlines, their stats were cream of the corp in Royal-order. Their stats were strong enough to keep them alive after their powerful Super Exotic Element''s defenses chipped away at those constant waves. On top of stats 2000 + 20%, their powerful Bloodline also provided a powerful healing factor. Their injuries immediately healed in a second. "This is the ce," Erix muttered with his eyes looking at the wonder before him. The flowing waves constantly injured them while their Prana was getting reduced by 10% each second. "We only have ten seconds, but¡­this¡­" Rin''s eyes also looked at the powerful bent and wobbly space centered around a vtile glowing sphere with a multitude of orange and green hues amidst a bright white liquid surface. Erix immediately entered transh deliberately but also knew he didn''t have much time, so he subconsciously set a limit as well. Although Rin didn''t have an affinity for Space, this wonder core that was an exotic mix of various things also tingled her spiritual senses as she tried to glean into it with her Spiritual Mystic Eye at full power. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Erix immediately teleported with thest remaining big of Spirit Force away from this''s core that had devoured space and bent it strangely around it. Erix gained much information from it that he wanted toprehend and get insight into, but in those ten seconds, he managed to gain clearprehension towards his next steps of progression in Space. The scenery was also breathtaking despite the dangers and both of them heaved a sigh after safely arriving in a hollow spot under the ground. They still had to cross a few thousand kilometers to reach back to the surface. "Let''s rest for a bit to recover Spirit force," Erix said before he burst outughing. "That was crazy." "But worth it, right?" Rin grinned andy on hisp. "You really made us stretch a lot in those ten seconds. Haha, I am still feeling tingles." The pain they felt was minusculepared to what they experienced and absorbed. "Let''s inform others. I actually don''t want to move for a while," Erix stretched his arms and leaned back on the wall before taking out them card from his inventory. "Hey, Har. We found the core." [Ha: Great. We encountered a bit of trouble, so it''ll take ten minutes before reach there.] [Erix: How will find us? Can you track thism card?] [Has: Y-Yes. I''ll hang up. We have to kill this f-] "It''ll funny if they die here," Rin chuckled. ¡­ Har and the gang were facing a powerful enemy. It was an enemy that they couldn''t run away from, and it had already killed a few people from some other Cosmic faction. "Goddamn it, how will we kill this thing?!" Leirat screamed, his eyes bloodied. Har''s expression was somber as well. It was two hundred meters giant golem with a fully crystalized body of various colorful crystals. Their speed was not enough to get away from this golem that could easily travel through the ground and manifest before them. Its power Level was 319,940, so their attacks had heart time reaching their core. Everyone was scrambling while speeding away from the constant attacks and running. ''Let''s move in different directions at once with full speed. The unlucky one will have to survive until we find some way to prate its defense.'' ''Motherfucker, then we should pick you, who is best of us at running away! You damn bunny, lead it away. We''ll find some ways!'' Chapter 329: Dangerous Turn of Events While Rin and Erix were resting a few thousand kilometers deep under the ground, Dinda and Millia were moving towards them. From Har''s group, the bunny man Horu became bait to attract the dangerous golem while the others racked their brains to find a way to save him and defeat the golem. "What do we do?" Tessa frowned. "We can''t abandon Horu, right?" "We won''t," Har nodded before he contacted Horu. "Lead it towards our new friends who are waiting near the core. We''ll be also going there. I believe Erix or Rin might be able to assist us in prating that golem''s defense." "Are you counting on his Super Exotic Element? What''s itsbination?" Leirat asked. "Space, Death, and me. This is why I believe his so-called Nihilir element could have some ways to prate its defense." Har''s expression was somber as he added, "That golem is a wonderous creature of this, bearing the most exotic materials of this. If we kill it, we will also gain precious resources." Shifa grunted and nodded, "We both have the strongest direct offense, but we couldn''t prate its external defense. If Erix and Rin can somehow help us shred and corrode its defense, we can throw our most powerful attack at its core and kill it." "Damn it, if only our Soul attacks worked on it," Meikar said as he smacked his lips in fraustration. Leirat added with a frown, "Our soul attacks can''t defeat it because its consciousness is protected by a stronger ethereal field created by its crazy elemental mineral structure. We are useless against it in offense, so we''ll focus on affecting its consciousness to reduce its damange, aim and distract it as much as possible." The demon brothers had more powerful soul attacks, but in the end, their soul power fell short of killing the golem. "Alright, increase the speed. Haru and the golem are already fifty kilometers away," Tessa said. "I''ve told him to go on a bit of a longer route before he reaches there, so we''ll meet up with the group before he brings the golem there." "Alright, now inform Rin and Erix about this," Shifa nodded before looking at Har. "We''ll maintain our speed and recover our spent Spirit force and soul force." "Then let''s go, I''ll give you my Astridwind buff at full power to increase our speed and attunement to these earth-maic fields to reduce resistance," the dwarf Kaja said as he used his Exotic Element, Terra Aeris, to buff the whole team. "We better reach our destinate fast and prepare." The six of them were on their way towards Rin and Erx, but it wouldn''t be long before they got bad news from the duo. "What?!" Tessa eximed after she talked with Erix. ¡­ Inside a hollow cavern spot deep underground, Erix rolled his eyes as he replied, "Rin and I have exhausted our Spirit force. We''ll need at least 30 minutes before we even attempt to do what you all want us to do." [Tessa: Thirty minutes is surprisingly fast, but...] Sleeping on hisp, Rin also added, "We may have a way to weaken a part of it to reduce its defense significantly if we go all out and allow another powerful attack to breach it before you throw your strongest attack at its core, but we''ll need 30 minutes for full recovery to help." Erix suddenly thought of something and said, "Wait, I have an unobstructed space route from the surface to our location that''s two thousand and four hundred kilometers deep. That golem can''te here if I bring all of you here with my teleporting, right? I have potions, so recovering Prana is not a problem, and that''s all I need for teleporting." [Tessa: Unfortunately for us, That freak golem is easily able to go under the ground. Its Earth and Metal elemental powers are very high. It''s a crazy walking treasure golem made of exotic materials of this.] "You guys can''t escape from it?" Rin asked with a speechless expression. [Tessa: Cannot. It canpletely turn elemental and travel through the ground without obstruction, and its sensing range is higher due to¡­duh. You should know how. Anyway, there''s no other choice but to destroy its core and defeat it.] Rin and Erix looked at each other. "What to do, darling?" Rin wryly smiled. "It''s supposedly a freak golem with 319,940 of Power level. That''s too much for us." [Tessa: I just asked. Haru can''t survive for a full thirty minutes. He has no Blood Essence in store, so he can''t boost himself, and once he exhausts his Spirit force, that Golem will be able to catch him.] Suddenly, the voice switched from Tessa to Har. [Har: You both have a powerful Bloodline, so please tell me that you have some Blood Essence in store.] "We have," Erix said. "And that''s our trump card. Our Blood Essence will boost our attacks significantly, but we''ll also need Spirit Force for more boost. It''s a difference of freaking two-hundred thousand power level. Even if we want to affect a tiny spot and corrode its external defense, we''ll have to give our all." After two seconds of silence, Har''s voice came. [Har: Alright. You have thirty minutes, but if you can do it early, please do it and inform us. Our situation is both golden and dangerous. We''ve sensed the presence of others, but due to the golem, they are not approaching us. And if we bring the Golem there, the core is as good as secured because no one will approach there.] "Alright," Erix replied before cutting offmunication. "They are bringing such a terrible troublemaker," Rin rolled her eyes. "I''ll teleport us after releasing our attacks," Erix said as he rubbed his chin, "We''ll have to truly go all out by using Blood Essence, and that too on two suitable attacks that can prate its defense." "I leave the spot-finding to you," Rin grinned. "Just tell me where I have to attack." "Yep. They don''t know I also got Metal affinity at 4th realm," Erix smiled. "I should be able to scan that Golem''s structure with my Space Mapping and find an optimal spot for us to reduce its defense towards its core." Rin got up and sat in meditation, "Let''s recover quickly with deep focus. At best, we should be able to recover our Spirit force to full in around twenty-five minutes." ¡­ Fifteen minutester¡­ Har and others finally arrived at the location right above Erix and Rin. [Har: Erix, we''ve arrived at the surface. You got fifteen minutes more.] [Erix: We areing to the surface and will recover the rest of Spirit Force in deep focus there.] [Har: You don''t need to waste timeing up here for now if you want to. Even if the Golem reaches here, we can survive for a few minutes against it. Leirat and Meiker have specialized debuffs to reduce the golem''s damage and senses, while Dinda is specialized in defense.] [Erix: Alright, then we''lle up once as soon as possible once we recover.] On the other hand¡­ A dark pink starry light with cyan sparks moving through the sky speedily. It was Haru in his bloodline form, and his speed was forty-five times the speed of sound, approximately 15 kilometers per second, which was his maximum achievable speed on this at his full power. The giant golem was a few kilometers behind him, but it was still releasing fast beam attacks toward him to kill him while moving speedily through the ground. It could break down and merge through the''s ground while also reconstructing on the surface at will. This walking disaster was not supposed to be born on this, but all the elements and properties of the were vtile due to the''s life nearing its end, causing this monster to be born that was more powerful than the mission''s upper limit of 200k Power Level. The other people on the, some on the far side were safe, but those near the route where Haru passed through quickly escaped upon sensing its powerful aura. ''You all better do something!'' Haru was scared for his life and prayed his team would do something about this darn Golem. But suddenly, the Golem paused. Haru immediately sensed it stopping because he was tracking it for his safety. "What the fuck?" Haru turned around confusedly and narrowed his eyes which shone faintly golden. He extended his spiritual sense, but the golem soon escaped his radar as it went deep under the ground at breakneck speed. "Fuck it, I''m escaping," Haru didn''t stop and immediately continued flying towards Erix''sm card''s location. Several hundred kilometers deep were two people searching for the core. They were from the 97th ranked Serenate Wings cosmic faction. s...the moment they sensed the Golem, it was toote. A radioactive colorfulser with a high amount of Metal and Earth elements sted into their cave, obliterating both of them. Those two were barely around 150k Power level, so it was simply impossible for them to defend against a sudden powerful attack. [Haru: Guys, I think I lost the Golem. It suddenly went underground.] [Tessa: Underground? Why?] [Haru: I don''t know. Maybe it found some people? Anyway, I am safe, so I aming there.] Dinda and Millia had also arrived at the spot at full speed after knowing the situation and n, but listening to the good news from Haru, everyone was overjoyed. "It''s good if that golem goes after others, but to be on the safer side, let''s meditate and quickly recover to full first," Millia said, her wolf ears stiff while her expression was severe. The group entered meditation to recover their Spirit force and soul force after Dinda created a barrier. Haru arrived five minutester and joined them in recovery. Rin and Erix were also recovering under the ground, but¡­nobody knew that the Golem was approaching the core. Chapter 330: Deadly Yet Thrilling Confrontation While Erix and Rin were under the ground, the Golem was rapidly approaching them. So far, they have only recovered 65% of their Spirit force and still needed ten minutes to recover fully. s, the time it would take for Golem to arrive was shorter than short. On the way, it sensed a few more people in the ground and wasted some time to reach there and kill them. Still, only two minutes passed before the Golem neared Erix and Rin''s cavern, two thousand six hundred kilometers deep. Suddenly, Erix''s eyes shot open as he felt changes in the metal elements, and his danger bells also rang. Rin also felt a premonition as her eyes shot open. Without hesitation, Erix''s eyes shed silver as he and Rin vanished, arriving in another cavern spot tens of kilometer above. ''Shit¡­this presence,'' Erix thought and immediately teleported again. Just a second after that, the cavern was sted with a powerful explosion. ''Erix, is that the golem?'' ''Yes.'' Erix began teleporting without pause to reach the top. Fortunately, he was managing to escape from the Golem with consecutive teleports. But this situation was not favorable. On the surface, Har and others were recovering as well, but Tessa''sm card suddenly rang, and she picked it up seeing it was from Erix and Rin. Before she could say anything, Erix''s hurried voice entered her ears. [Erix: We are bringing that golem to the surface. Get ready. It came after us through the ground.] [Tessa: What?! Haru said it went underground and stopped chasing him, but¡­] [Har: If you are able to kite it and keep yourself safe only using Prana with your teleports, then I hope you can do that for ten minutes, so we all also recover.] [Erix: Tsk, we found the core, and we also have to keep this golem busy more? Never mind, we''ll do it, but we''ll call first dips on the Golem''s body after it dies.] [Har: Alright.] Communication cut off. Meanwhile, Erix didn''t go straight up but led the golem away from the group while going upward. ''Erix, I''ll try to slow it with my Chronace Flow''s Temporal Bend application. I don''t know how slow it will get, but I only need Prana for it, so I''ll just do it.'' ''Alright.'' It took a bit over a minute before Erix managed to reach the surface with consecutive teleports. He immediately chugged a Prana potion to recover before teleporting again and turning around. Both of them saw with their eyes as giant colorful sparks sprung up from the ground before exotic crystalized with the colorful structure of abundant Metal and Earth elements adorned an ethereal array, shaping into a giant Golem. Its two giant eyes, thick body, and limbs shone before releasing several colorfulsers from various parts of its body toward Rin and Erix within the same second. Erix and Rin felt rms, their hearts beginning to pump. ''Shit!'' Erix immediately teleported while exerting his power the fastest possible arriving roughly fifty kilometers away. ''Darling, that speed¡­'' Rin''s face was red as hyper adrenaline coursed through her body. It was the same with Erix. ''Get ready¡­'' Erix replied before the duo immediately felt rms again. Erix quickly teleported with Rin, and right after that, hundreds of colorful structured spikes shredded that location, tearing even the space. The space mended quickly, but Rin and Erix confirmed one thing very clearly. A single attack of that golem if they failed to dodge would bring them infinitely close to their doom. ''Let''s create more distance first. With the way things are, there''s no way I can attack that Golem to slow it.'' ''Yeah, I am going to create more distance. We can''t take a risk with this distance. That bastard is way too fast for us to react appropriately.'' They also realized how hard it must have been for others to survive this Golem''s chase despite not having instant teleport like Erix. But this was Erix''s power, and it at least allowed him to survive against this powerful foe. Two minutes passed before Erix and Rin got a chance to use Rin''s attack. s, it did affect the Golem, but only for 1 second before it was neutralized, and in that 1 second, it only slowed the Golem and its attack for 0.6 seconds. In this turn of events, that was of no help at all, but during the fight, this precious time could save a life or two, giving others a chance to escape some attacks. Rin immediately knew what she had to do once the battle started. ''Great, Rin!'' Erix also understood the importance of her attack. Rin grinned. During the battle, that precious second of slow would be able to help save lives. While the Golem was focused on its provoker, and when situation turn tough, Rin could use her attack containing the maximum power of Temporal Bend. This would slow the Golem and its attacks as well, giving time for others to escape. ¡­ Ten minutes passed, and the moment Har felt that, he immediately called the duo''sm card. [Har: bring it here! Let''s kill that blockhead!] Tessa, Leirat, Meiker, Millia, Haru, Shifa, Dinda, and Haku also got up one by one as they finished recovering. "Know your roles in the battle and prepare," Shifa said as she shed her deadly lion hand-ws against each other. Her bloodline''s runic patterns on the ws shone as she started preparing for her major attack. The others also did the same as they knew it would take a long for Erix, Rin, and Golem to arrive even without getting information about it. Indeed, after twenty seconds, they sensed Rin''s and Erix''s presence in their active radar thirty kilometers away. Dinda mmed her giant hammer on a magical crystal that she materialized. It shattered and everyone a barrier along with boosting their defense and resistance to various elements. Even Rin and Erix received the same buff, making them pleasantly surprised. The Golem issued a maic scream that spread in all directions, shattering crystal forest and its exotic stones and boulders of this. Erix teleported again, crossing 50 kilometers preciose and arriving in a cave at a mountain''s base, twenty kilometers behind Har and the group. During that ten minutes of chase, Erix and Rin only consumed Prana, so their Spirit Force was close to recovering to full. They immediately sat down in meditation and started recovering. Meanwhile, Har''s group began their fight, truly showing the meaning of teamwork to tackle a stronger foe. Meiker and Leirat consumed all of their Prana, half of their Spirit force, half of their soul force, and half of their Blood Essence''s stock to release their strongest debuff skills on the Golem. The debuff of Soul-type affected its core, and despite having resistance and defense, not all was lost. The golem''s attack power, aim, control, and everything was reduced due to its foundation, the core, weakening and suppressed. Dinda made sure to block the attacks with her defensive projectile shields and keep everyone safe. Although not fully, those shields could defend long enough for others to evade by then. Kaja also used his Earth-attributed skill with an Attribute-concept. It was a suitable sensory skill, so he focused on attacks that were more powerful than others to provide additional defense and aid against those. He also had wood and life elements, so he also healed others in case of injuries. Although their lives were fickle against this foe, they could stay alive even with fatal injuries, and as long as they didn''t die in a single attack, all of them could recover their injuries. Har and Shifa didn''t attack and were preparing asyers of Magic formations conjured around them. The remaining Millia and Haru had better means to evade, so with Dinda''s defense, they could also attack while escaping, to distract Golem and make its attacks spread out as big as possible. [Har: Quickly recovery.] Erix and Rin didn''t reply and stayed in meditation, recovering their Spirit Force. But the moment they did, Erix and Rin appeared in the sky, ten kilometers away from the ce of the fight. In the next second, both of their bodies burst forth with a powerful aura, enough to shatter surrounding greenery and other natural things on the surface around them. After all, they were attempting to use their most powerful attack so far. Blood Essence, entirely consumed. They directly poured 90% of it, all into their Arcane Spirit pond. It immensely boosted their 70,000 Pool of Prana. At the moment, this 70,000 Prana gained a magic boost of severalfold due to their Bloodline''s power and also gained their Bloodline''s attributes and effects. Both had the same amount of Prana pool after Erix evolved Rin''s Bloodline. Erix''s 70,000 Prana gained Life & Death power, boosting his next iing attack of paramount importance. Rin''s 70,000 Prana gained Death and Blood power, with her next attack getting the full force of this boost. She used her ck Blood Seal on her de Eater''s Katana by consuming the remaining Blood Essence. Rin used her Bloodline''s skill that appeared after it evolved while Erix used his, Undeath Aurelion Crown, consuming a bit of Blood Essence every minute while using his form. *Swoosh* He transformed as his body turned pristine dark gold with majestic runic patterns, royally wrapped in a regal robe and ck pants. The dark gold Undeath Aurelion crown lit above his head, with dark hazy purple wisps shining on its crown spikes, conjuring a dreadful yet regal picture. "Let''s start, babe. I''m making a spot." "Ok, darling~" Both had wisps of thrill in their eyes as they unleashed their powers. Their body shone, turning into formation mode as they focused on particr aspects of their power to birth an attack for this Golem. ''Mine is Sunderer Drill Punch. What''s yours?'' Erix''s Prana, Spirit Force, Vigor Force, and Death Energy of ss source applied on these particr aspects more in the attack that, at the moment, was manifesting in the form of a fist projectile, a Punch of Sunderer as he named it on the spot. Sunderer Drill Punch: Inflicting 99 Punches in the same spot before the 100th Punch with his final package of formation. -Nihilir: Dismantle. -Death attribute-Corrosion. -Punch concept''s boosts, including his intention to apply full stacked Dominance Mark. -Chaos concept''s preparation in the 100th Punch. -Death power''s aspect to corrode its defense. -Life power''s aspect to suck vitality of its external defense''s structure to weaken it. All of those were boosted and fueled by his Blood Essence enhanced Prana, Vigor Force, Spirit Force, and Death Energy of his ss source. On the other hand, Rin''s Katana was forward, crossed by another sword shaped by Raibor Power Slime. Her Prana, Spirit Force, and de Ki of ss source boosted particr aspects of her powers, with full focus on the absolute narrow and pointed attack to shred its defense on the part done in by Erix''s Sunderer Drill Punch. ''Mine is Point de Impact.'' Point de Impact¡­. Chapter 331: Abundant T. Point de Impact: shes into apact spot with a loop of thousands of des superimposed into one attack at once. Point de Impact: -Chronace¡ªDissolution Flow. -Death Attribute buff of her 1st realm Death affinity. -Blood Attribute buff of her 1st realm Blood affinity. -Bloodline''s boost, giving further boosts to Death and Blood powers in the skill. -de concept''s boost, including the Severam effect. -Chaos Concept''s application and boost. -Crimson Onyxbolt attribute concept''s lighting buff. -Stormshock Chart talent, increasing damage of Lightning and Wind by 30%. The moment Erix and Rin finished executing their skills, Erix sent his thought message to Har, ''Our attacks areing. Get ready for yours!'' The golem twenty kilometers away was still in mayhem, with others being within five kilometers of it and fighting it, mostly evading after debuffing and affecting it since their attacks were useless against it. But not for long. The group suddenly saw a portal opening right before the Golem''s left part of the chest. In the same second, two powerful projectiles unleashed one by one. The first one was a dark purple punch with dark silver vtile patterns flowing in it. Sunderer Drill Punch. It was flickering through space as if it were an illusion, but that was only due to the nature of Erix''s powers affecting it, especially Nihilir. When the punch neared the Golem''s spot that he marked, it instantly flickered, throwing 99 punch projectiles rapidly in a second before throwing thest one in the same second. *BOOM!* The spot where the attack struck shredded and dismantled, mainly death power undoing its defense and life power sucking its vitality in that attack before the destructive aspects further broke in. Right after that, Rin''s flickering dark golden de with red lightning sparks arrived, it was in the space of a chakram because that chakram was thousands of des superimposed into one in a closed loop. Point de Impact struck the spot, visibly shredding its defense. The Severam''s effect showed immediately since despite the disparity between the two, Rin''s attack drove further in after Erix''s initial hole and multiple defense reduction debuff on the spot with his Sunderer Drill Punch. As their most powerful attacks that contained everyone hit the Golem, it gave them the chance to defeat this menace. Shifa roared, much like the lioness she was as the space around her faintly cracked. The tens of magic circles she manifested joined together before condensing into an unstable, confined dark yellow orb with a dark orange aura between her palms. The Golem also roared, intending to attack Shifa upon sensing her attack. However, it was swiftly attacked by Leirat and Maiker with their soul disruption attacks, causing its consciousness to rattle. Shifa''s attack went forward first, striking the spot opened by Erix and Rin. *BOOM!* Her attack was powerful enough for the Golem to release a destructive pulse wave around it in defense as it released a sharp yet hoarse metallic scream. ''The core!'' Tessa eximed in thought that went into everyone''s head. All of them could see its shining and deadly core that was exposed and then they saw a powerfulser directly striking there. It was a ckser with a dark silver and grayish circr pattern flowing around it. "Die!" Har shouted as clenched his palms, and his entire body turned colorful with patterns of his powers, infusing all of his energy and power into this one attack, his most powerful skill. *Crack¡­* The Golem roared. It mostly turned red as if going on high alert, its body shone with patterns, intending to release attacks towards Har, and that too with the intention to instantly obliterate him before hisser attack destroyed his core. ''Rin!'' Erix swiftly grabbed Rin''s hand, transferring Vigor Force into her after making some from his Stamina, and Rin also chugged a Prana potion. ''Got it, darling!'' At the same moment, Dinda, Millia, and others were also rmed and started using their powers, mostly debuff skills to try to weaken the golem. Haru went towards Har to move him away since it was hard for Har to move while executing his attack. Meanwhile, Rin released an attack with Temporal Bend applied at full power and struck the Golem before its charged attack release. ''Phew, that was close.'' Her attack struck the golem, slowed it down, and its attack towards Har, giving Haru perfect opportunity and a hair''s breadth dodge from the attack as he safely escorted Har a few kilometers away, while Har continued to focus his constantser attack on its cracking core. ''Die!'' Har internally roared, finishing hisser attack with a st 0.5 secondster. *BOOM!* A loud crack echoed. The atmosphere shook, and space around the golem bent. A flux of golem''s powerful fluxed, causing several kilometers of the area around it, to create, speed up the process, and shape various materials. It was the power escaping from the golem''s core after it shattered that caused this. The core shattered, fluxed, and vanished. It returned back to its roots as the absorbed its power. The golem''s structure broke down in cracks, but with a process as its ores and materials filtered, its chunks spreading on the ground. They shone with powerful and alluring luster. Everything was silent for a moment as everyone reveled in this post-win gap from a mighty enemy. "Let''s fucking go!" Leirat shouted first, his eyes reflecting the sparks of the materials lying on the ground. "Freaking Tier-7! I knew it. There are several chunks of Tier-7 materials!" ''Erix!'' Rin''s eyes shone as she turned to Erix. ''It''s Tier-7! You can finally scan them.'' Erix was thrilled to the core as well, his eyes immediately activating and his senses open as he started scanning the materials. His Metal World could constantly produce new Metals given how there are myriadbinations and mutations. He could make a higher-tiered Metal from others he scanned, but he couldn''t go past Tier 6.5. Even getting a Tier-6.5 Metal was hard as he had only got 2 so far. Abyss didn''t have a Tier-7 Metal. Kanx Abyss wouldn''t allow a Tier-7 material to be produced. ''With this, We''ll be ahead of everyone in terms of gears,'' Erix grinned. ''Our world''s influence is not strong enough to give everyone a Tier-7 item any time soon.'' ''Haha, nobody even has Tier-6 items as we have, so Tier-7 is a very far concept for them.'' ¡­ Everyone rested around the treasure trove spread on the ground, in the deepest cavern near the''s core that Erix had found. Erix brought everyone here after collecting all the natural treasure resources dropped by Golem to be on the safe side. It wouldn''t be strange of such a pile of treasure with powerful auras attracted monsters and people. Inside the cavern, Erix spread out the whole pile and everyone just sat around it while recovering. The priority was to recover to full before anything else because it wouldn''t be strange if they were attacked by an underground monster or people. Anything could happen at any time, so everyone first meditated to recover their energies. After half an hour passed, everyone neared their recovery and opened their eyes one by one. "Let''s first distribute the loot. After that, I have the n to propose," Har said, his voice mellow and a big rxed smile hanging on his lips. "You look funny, lol" Tessa burst outughing. It just didn''t match his big, tall, fatty muscr build that made him look like he was a butcher. "That''s how he looks when he is rxed and happy," Shifaughed out loud. "Alright, Alright, let''s start," Leirat grinned while rubbing his palms and looked at Erix and Rin. "As promised, you two will go first. Leave Tier-7 for now. Let''s finish choosing Tier 6 materials first." "Haha, we''ll finally get stronger, Kaja," Dinda grinned widely as she looked at her fellow dwarven partner. "Mhmm," Kaja nodded, his trembling showed his excitement as he thought about how much this would help them with their situation in their world. "We have some good news for you," Erix said with a faint smile. "We have a total of eight Tier-7 materials here, and twenty-one Tier-6 materials," Haru said. "Since we are in four groups, let''s make it one Tier-7 item per group. After that, the other three will go three out of us four groups." "You bastard bunny, always calcting like that," Dinda rolled her eyes. "This is our 6th time together in a group mission for carrot''s sake." Dinda and Kaja had grouped with Shifa, Millia, and Haru multiple times. Har joined them asionally, while Tessa was a new member. Leirat and Meiker had also joined both groups a couple of times. Aside from Tessa, everyone already knew each other before this first big get-together for this emergency mission. And they were going to get a good news. "I have something else in n about the distribution," Erix said with a faint smile. "How about¡­we only have three items. That one Tier-7 crystal and the other two Tier-6 crystals." Rin grinned and added, "We want nothing else from this pile." "You are not kidding, right?" Millia asked with a dumbfounded expression. "Nope," Erix chuckled. "But why?" Shifa frowned. "Wait¡­" Har seemed to have realized something, and his expression turned weird, "Don''t tell me you have your Metal affinity at 4th realm?" "Bingo." Erix grinned. Everyone''s eyes shone upon confirmation. It was bad luck that they didn''t have someone with Metal affinity in their group, but they knew about the benefits of having one. "Great! Hahaha, you two really are darn hidden dragon-crouching tigers," Leiratughed out loud. "Alright, here take this and scan them." Leirat took out the pile of materials he had gathered. The others aside from Dinda and Millia also did the same. After all, the rest were focused on gathering resources while Dinda, Millia, Erix, and Rin searched for the core. Whatever they get from their resource gathering would be given to the four of them in equal share. This majorly gave gear crafting materials like ores and crystals, so everyone saved resources in a way. At least, they wouldn''t have to give those metal-type materials to them, which were the most abundant and important loot of this. Erix scanned all of them and took the resources that he couldn''t scan, like the crystals. Crystals were not made from Metal, but Earth and Light elements mostly, with some influence of other elements in mutation towards a higher tier. Erix couldn''t copy them, but they had exotic uses due to their properties, and he could expend them as exclusive items when creating a weapon or other item in the future. In the end, Erix and Rin acquired a total of six Tier-6 crystals, one Tier-7 crystal, and thirteen Tier-5 crystals. After all the distributions were over, Har cleared his throat and said, "The proposal I have is simple. We''ll be breaking an unspoken rule, but fuck it." Chapter 332: Allies, Return "Let''s hear it," Erix said with a grin. "It''s not new for us to break unspoken rules." "Haha, it''s nothing much. My proposal is that instead of staying here for two days to farm for maximum benefits, how about we just extract the core andplete the mission?" Har''s eyes glinted, "Usually, we could make formations around here to prevent people from discovering this, and if theye, we can kill them. However, we''ve already gained pretty good resources, so let''s spend today''s day gathering resources, and then extract core after fifteen hours." "Everyone will be forced to return once we extract the core since the will be destroyed after that." "We don''t mind that," Rin said with a chuckle. "Yep," Erix nodded before heughed and added, "You can even extract the core now, and we can return." "We won''t find loot as good as we got from that Golem anymore, but let''s still spend 15 hours for resources," Shifa said thoughtfully as she crossed her arms before adding. "Millia, Dinda, Erix, and Rin can go gather resources while the six of us will stay and secure this core here." Hearing Shifa, Har and others nodded. "Alright, then let''s go," Erix got up and stretched his arms. "We''ve recovered to full, so we can''t sit still anymore. I am raring to fight more and gather resources." Erix gave his hand to Rin as she also got up and smiled at the group, "We''ll be going ahead." Erix waved his hand to create a big wormhole portal in the cave. "I''ll connect this portal to the surface, so you can instantly reach the surface." Everyone''s eyes shone. "That''s wonderful!" "Hahaha, so we also got a quick escape route." "Let''s fucking go!" Har nodded smilingly and said, "Alright, go and farm resources for us. This time, we''ll take a cut from you." ¡­ The following fifteen hours passed in the blink of an eye. Rin and Erix encountered more powerful people as well, but they were not helpless against them. No one could stop them from escaping, so their lives were not in threat as long as they remained cautious, which they remained fully throughout their adventure and hunting for resources. After four of them returned sessfully on time, Har took out the device given with the Emergency Mission''s eptance. Since he was the leader, only he got it and he used it to begin extracting the''s core¡­into a palm-sized crystal-metallic sphere. He went into that mysterious space bent and created by the core''s activity and used the extracting sphere, targetting the core, and it began the process. Afterward, Erix brought him back to the cave easily with teleport where Har activated another device that came with the mission. It was the same item that opened the portal to this. "Alright, done," Har said as he dusted his hands with a big smile. "Let''s distribute the resources while the core is being extracted. If people are near, then this activity might attract some attention, so let''s finish it fast." As usual, Erix scanned all the Metals and only kept the items he couldn''t create, which were all made of crystals hybrid materials. This had nothing else of value except for those since the general destruction had destroyed the ecology, allowing only the primary resources produced by the to remain intact. After distribution waspleted, everyone stayed on high alert and waited for an hour. "Move," Har said, a hint of excitement in his voice. "It''s done!" The core waspletely extracted, causing the core support of the to break down. Everyone already stood near the portal leading to the Hell''s Garden, and the moment Har grabbed the extraction sphere, everyone entered inside and sessfully returned from the emergency mission. The members of other cosmic factions on that suddenly felt waves of earthquakes and natural disasters sprouting up all over, knocking the socks out of them as they were bbergasted. The atmosphere turned disastrous. They knew what this destruction entailed! Someone fucking extracted the core already even though were two more days left before the''s true destruction! Tons of resources were still yet to get extracted! There were also some teams who didn''t bother finding the core and only wanted to collect resources, but breaking the unspoken rule, Har doused their ns. Everyone had no choice but to quickly leave the unless they wanted to be suspended in space and die. The space was dangerous and ominous. People couldn''t travel in outer space without support. The space beasts and other phenomena in outer space required power and a higher lifeform rank¡ªReverend-order¡ª if one wanted to travel and survive. ¡­ [Emergency Missionpleted] At the desk in the Unbound Star cosmic faction''s hub, Erix, Rin, and the whole group stood before the desk. Har submitted the core andpleted the mission as everyone''s wrist mark lit up. Everyone got faction credit as well, which was based on the mission''s type. Since this was an Emergency Mission of C-rank, everyone got 5000 faction credits on top of the mission rewards. Har patted Erix''s shoulder and grinned, "Add us as friends in your Faction Profile. We''ll send you a message when we have a next good mission for you two. You can''t ept a higher-ranked mission, but we can invite you, just like in this mission." "That''s right," Millia smiled. "You two are still at Newbie member rank, but with this 5000 Faction Credits, you only need 5000 more to upgrade your member rank and unlock ess to the faction''s facilities." Rin and Erix nodded as they looked at the hologram from the magical wrist mark of their cosmic faction. [Erix] _Faction Credits: 5100 _Member Rank: Newbie. ¡ª> Newbie: ess to D-rank field missions. _Leaderboard(s) rank: Royal-order. ¡ª> Faction rank: 3rd ¡ª> Cosmos rank: 4728th "Wait, what''s this?" Erix raised his eyebrows as he looked at the Leaderboard rank. "We have rankings in Leaderboards. Faction rank 3rd?" "Eh, mine is 4th and 7488th Cosmos rank," Rin said in surprise. "Yea. Since you justpleted your first activity in the cosmos and disyed your powers, you got rank based on that," Leirat said with a nod with a grin. "Not a bad rank, but you can go higher." "By the way, Cosmos rank doesn''t show your rank among all Royal-order powerhouses in existence in this cosmos," Dinda said with a cheeky smile. "It''s your rank only among Royal-order powerhouses of the one-hundred cosmic faction." "There are other forces aside from Cosmic Faction. Gctic kingdoms, empires, big organizations¡­It''s a big stage, and there are definitely crazy people out there, from various races." However, Rin and Erix only felt a thrill as their faces clearly showed it. "All of them will know us," Erix clenched his fist as his eyes wreathed in ambition and desire as he looked at Rin and grinned, who also had the same expression as his. "Everyone in the cosmos will know us and witness the grandest rise," Erix''s palm locked Rin''s as they gripped tightly, indicating the resolve and daunting will that rippled out of them. Har and others were influenced, causing them to feel moved in their hearts. All of them also had their own ambitions and desires, but Erix and Rin had one simple and very straightforward, but utterly ridiculous. Other people may say that in high spirits, jokingly, and ignorantly, but it didn''t feel like that with this duo. Har, Shifa, and others felt utterlymitted and serious when they heardErix''s words and the duo''s aura that supported their intent. The hunger that burst forth from them was not something they''d ever seen when someone made a simr statement. "Hahahaha! Alright, we shall witness your rise first," Meiker burst outughing while feeling goosebumps. Everyone else also felt on a simr wavelength. After talking a bit more with the group about some general information about the faction, the duo returned. Arriving back in the tower from the cosmic faction''s door, Erix and Rin went back to their Sakura pce in the Blessed Ind. It was built based on the structure model they got from Structure-type dungeons in Guild. They didn''t contact Aria, Isabe, and others but directly went to their bedroom. They''ve had an intense day that also mentally drained them. After having a passionate battle for an hour, the duo went into a slumber like logs. ¡­ After sleeping for twelve hours, the duo woke up at night, with Aria snuggling Erix from behind and also sleeping as she was tired of constantly fighting in dungeons for the past day. She got too excited seeing various structures and dungeons, while also showing other guild members of her powers. She also joined random parties and had lots of fun that she had never experienced before in her previous trapped life in the pce. Erix and Rin woke, but seeing the cute smiling sleeping face of Aria, the duo couldn''t help but chuckle. "It looks like she had a lot of fun on her 2nd day here," Rin smiled and gently poked the soft cheeks of Aria. Erix lightlyughed and kissed her gently. Rin and Erix left Aria sleeping peacefully on the bed and had a shower before leaving. Since it was night, many people were sleeping while many were doing night dungeons and other stuff. Erix and Rin first went to their Limitless ne session. They felt as if they might progress significantly in regards to the Chaos concept in this session, so the duo went full throttle toprehend and produce insights for it. Erix''s chaos concept manifested in chaotic swirls around him, while Rin''s chaos concept manifested in streaming chaotic flows around her. In their pursuit of forging the next path of their different Chaos, the duo began in full focus and confidence that they would forge it in this session. Chapter 333: Chaos Progress, Boosts Erix finished first, causing a chaotic phenomenon of whirlpools in rotating angles around him. The Prana he used hadpletely changed and transformed under the influence of his Chaos concept, making it ck, dark purple, dark yellow, dark pink, and various other dark color hues of whirlpools. Some whirlpools were horizontal, some vertical, some facing upside down¡­ Everything was chaotic and unpredictable. Amidst that, Erix''s eyes opened, and he stretched his arms to the side before releasing a punch projectile from each fist covered in different gauntlet. Those punch projectiles instantly transformed chaotically, bing different and gaining new powers with internal chaotic reactions from the metals'' effect used in them through those Gauntlets. Basically, his Chaos concept affected the fundamentals results of his execution,, making them chaotic and giving them new, more powerful effects and shape. This was his 2nd stage of the Chaos concept. Chaotic Evolution. [Chaos Concept] _Type: Ethereal-concept. _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Chaotic Evolution. ¡ª> Chaotic Evolution: You canbine things and phenomena to cause changes and chaotic evolutions. _Effect(s) ¡ª> You can actively cause chaos to anything with your thoughts but require Spirit Force to cause it on stronger scales. Chaotic energies and changes, including the things and phenomena of Chaotic Evolutions, have a 50% more potent reactive output. ¡ª> Increases potential and potent output of Chaotic Evolutions by 50%. Erix''s eyes shone intensely with excitement as he came to understand the potential of his next stage of the Chaos concept! ''With the abundant exotic Metals in my arsnal, I can fully utilize my 2nd realm of Chaos concept!'' ''Hmm, I''ll have to do a lot of experiments and learn some patterns to drive these Chaotic Evolutions on things and also see if I can apply this to external things and powers¡­'' On the other hand, Rin was surrounded by chaotic flows of Prana, but it was raging, sharp, and all-type offensive in various chaotic micro-shapes in the flow that was in various dark-colored hues. She floated calmly, holding a single Katana with her both hands as a powerful chaotic stream whirled around her de in multipleyers. Her des manifesting inside with de Concept caused a reaction with the Chaotic Stream application of her 2nd stage Chaos concept, making des change and transform in the chaotically flowing stream, but they strangely connected in an unpredictable way, making them more powerful. Her de''s intensity increased as the chaotic stream was purely made of Prana in which she applied both her Chaotic concept and de concept to it. [Chaos Concept] _Realm: Sigma ¡ª Chaotic Stream ¡ª> Chaotic Stream ¡ªA stream of chaos capable of engulfing all manners of magic applications and attacks, increasing their power with chaotic connections. _Effect(s) ¡ª> You can actively cause chaos to anything with your thoughts but require Spirit Force to cause it on stronger scales. Chaotic energies and changes, including Chaotic Stream applications, have a 50% more potent reactive output ¡ª> Increases potential and potent output of everything in Chaotic Stream by 50%. Shortly after both of them finishedprehending the 2nd realm of their Chaos Concept and got a feel for this newfound power, they were kicked out of Limitless ne as they already finished spending one hour and thirty minutes. "Darling! Haha, this Chaos concept is pure damage fuel for us." "Yep. Haha, let''s spar for a bit using the Arena function," Erix grinned. "We can finally go all out against each other." ¡­ By the time the duo finished sparring for a few hours, the dawn had broken. At seven in the morning, more and more people became active as they began their normal life in the not-anymore-normal world. But six months have passed, and everyone has epted this new normal. Adepting meantzing. Although many people were working hard to get powerful like top guilds, but majority of people started taking it slow after getting a sense and ce of safety in this apocalyptic world. Three days were left until the month ended. If nothing new happened, everyone knew that a new floor announcement would ring after three days. Rin and Erix went to their new allied n, the Moondawn n of elves. After talking to their n leader, who was a mid-stage Empyrean-order, the duo helped them with their task of gathering natural resources that grew and evolved on the Earth upon entry of Mystic Root''s influence. With Erix''s teleportation, they finished the task early and exceeded their expectation, making the elves shocked and overjoyed. The Moondawn n housed four Empyrean-order powerhouses, with one being a pet beast, the Stardusk Owl. This beast was an Empyrean-order of level 382 with a Legendary-graded Bloodline. The other three Empyrean-order powerhouses were the n leader, one elder, and the n leader''s daughter. All three of them had broken through the proficiency of normal Alchemists. They could not only create Potions but also the next level of alchemy craftings, Pills! With their help, Unbound Kingdom could get supplies and knowledge of Alchemy. Aria had an interest in Alchemy, and ording to Amu, she was bound to be a talent in that part, so she could learn much from them. She had an interest in that as well, though her father didn''t allow her to learn other things. But she told the Elf n she would learn from them, and the Moondawn n was more than happy to do that. At noon, Erix, Rin, and Isabe returned to the Blessed Ind. Rin and Isabe went to check out nearby situations and the guild''s members while Erix stayed on the Ind and began crafting weapons. After three and a half hours, he finished crafting weapons, and the parties also returned from their morning drill and training at 3 PM. "Leader Erix!" Zoe pouted with a long face. "Why these weapons are stronger than mine?" The three weapons that Erix made today were indeed stronger in every single way. "Hahaha, I just powered up majorly in my Chaos Concept this morning, and that power has the effect of making my metal stronger," Erix said with augh. "Give me yours. I''ll upgrade it." "Thank you!" Zoe happily took out her spear and gave it to Erix while Leon, Alfred, and Samuel checked out their weapons in awe and excitement. "T-This is going to make us so powerful¡­." The others looked on with envy, and also anticipation because they would also get their weapons soon. "Actually, I don''t want to do anything else for now, so I''ll just create one more weapon." "Do that," Rin said from the top of the pce to the side. "We''ll finish cooking some good food in an hour." "Are you making it with the ingredientsthose elves gave?" Erix asked with a glint in his eyes. Isabe arrived beside Rin in the window pane as Erix asked and nodded with a smile, "Yes." She looked at the elite members of the guild and said, "Be here in an hour for the feast. This will increase your stats." Everyone''s eyes shone. Stats! Getting stats was one of the hardest things in the royal order, especially with ack of resources, means to utilize them, and knowledge. First, the max limit of foundational Stats in the Royal-order was 5000, but everyone barely had 1000+ stats as everyone had just recently ascended to Royal-order rank. Leveling was hard as usual. Nobody has reached level 210, not even Rin and Erix, despite having killed around fifty monsters in the Emergency field mission. The Golem made them level up to 204, and then they reached level 205 in the next fifteen hours of farming. That was all. Only on m v|le|mp|yr Each level gave 10 Unassigned stat points, but even leveling to the max level of Royal-order would only give them 1000 unassigned stat points. However, to reach the peak of the Royal-order and to begin the process towards the Empyrean-order, one must absolutely need 5000 foundational stat points in Strength, Agility, Stamina, Health, and Magic. So, how would people get the rest of the stat points? How to get more powerful without leveling up? Killing monsters was one way as they directly gave stat points, but they''ve started giving less and less as well. This method wouldn''t be time-efficient, and they could guess it. The top guilds were already trying to find solutions to these questions because they knew they would hit that wall. There were several ways, and one of them was the ns that descended. All of them had knowledge and various methods to increase one''s physical power. Magic Power was still easier as people could absorb cores of monsters, but for physical stats, people could follow methods of various ns to get powerful. Fortunately for Rin, Erix, and Aria, they didn''t have to do anything because their foundational stats were already maxed at 5000 thanks to Tenebria. She gifted those pills because they won the Blessed Ind event and needed a boost of power to defend their Ind from the public who wanted to snatch the ind. Hence, Erix, Rin, and Aria could have one main task off their list, giving them leeway to spend time on other things and training. ¡­ Aria also woke up after half an hour while Erix was forging a weapon for Varan. But she went to Limitless ne to finish her daily session after seeing that Erix and Rin were busy. Varan wanted a rather special and ancient weapon. It was basically a mace, but more giant and with a big oval head. It was called Gada. Varan''s ss was Bahubali Warrior, an S-ranked ss focused on physical power enhancement. Leon, Alfred, Samuel, and Zoe were sparring with their new weapons while the other 12 Royal-order members sat on the ground like children watching Erix making a weapon in the air with various tools and metal power whirling around. Seeing Varan''s weapon getting crafted before their eyes ording to his wish, the others started thinking more carefully. After all, this was their chance to get a custom-made weapon, and Erix could make whatever they imagined and described, so if anyone wanted some particr shape and additions to various weapons, he could do that. As such, everyone decided to put more thought into their item request, to see what would work well in their arsenal of powers. Chapter 334: New Type of Labyrinth Tower Floors, Leaderboards The following days'' schedules were simple. Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria would enter Limitless ne in the morning. After that, Erix would craft weapons while others would do anything they wanted like training, farming monsters or a particr ce, participating in random events if they were worth it, and such activities. Erix would join them after crafting weapons as well, spending the day however they liked and ording to the situation. However, they made sure to set aside five hours of time for meditative training to make progress in theirprehensive powers like Affinity, concepts, and such. This type of progress required constant and consistent training, and if they hit a hard wall, they would need resources that could help them. Fortunately, they haven''t encountered such a wall yet. At night, it would be a daily world boss event, but Erix, Rin, and Aria would instead go to another area. A different area each day. This also caused their influence and name to spread. Everyone knew Erix and Rin''s names and Power Level in the leaderboard at the top 2 ranks, but seeing their powers in action rather than just numbers was a different experience. After two more days, it was finally time for the month''s end. The wholest day of October went as usual, but on the morning of 1st November, everyone heard an announcement at 7 AM. Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe didn''t enter Limitless ne as they were waiting for the announcement. [Labyrinth Tower Announcement] [The challenge floors have been opened. Clear the floors 6th to 100th floor and get rewards based on your performance.] [Labyrinth Tower Leaderboard has been opened.] [The 101st floor and onwards will only open for those who havepleted the 100th floor.] "Interesting," Erix cracked a grin. "This is new, but I guess it makes sense if we think about it. We just got a big world event in the name of Antis so if we also got a big floor event like that first one, it would be hard to manage both." "Yeah, we haven''t received any attacks from Antis yet, but the moment anyone enters one of their five territories, it will start," Rin nodded. "Hmm, so we do go check those floors now or after our Limitless ne session?" Aria asked as she titled her head. "Let''s do the session first," Erix grinned. "Some people can take the glory of the first two ranks in this new leaderboard for two hours." Isabe chuckled, "You two are too much more powerful than the rest." "But we shall no ck. Let''s go," Erix smiled and teleported everyone under the Dreanox Tree before they used the Way of Unfettered, causing their consciousness to enter the Limitless ne. ¡­ The number of guild members increased by 10 yesterday as Erix held the 2nd tournament, recruiting 9 Royal-order and 1 Noble-order. The noble-order guy was on the verge of breaking through, and he had promising potential. So far, half of the Royal-order members got their exclusive gears crafted by Erix, and all of them excitedly went to the Labyrinth Tower. Arge group of people rushed inside the tower but disappeared as soon as they used the Tower panel to go to therge hallway on the 6th floor. From there, people started disappearing one by one as they challenged the floor individually. [6th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Jagaran the Whispered Truth. [Minimum Power Level required]: 20,000. [Chance]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental Crystal. (Primary Elements only) Everyone only had a single chance at the challenge, and if they failed in that chance, the 2nd attempt would be a true life and death situation. In short, if they died against Jagaran the Whispered Truth, they would lose their life. Those who had 20,000 Power level and at Royal-order swiftly challenged the floor and vanished. All the guild''s top members had reached that Power Level, so they were the first ones toplete it. The Leaderboard ranking of Labyrinth Tower constantly changed as people all over the world defeated the 6th-floor challenge and moved onward. The Leaderboard also had a sub-leaderboard disying people who cleared the 6th floor fastest. [6th floor ranking] -Rank 1: Yelwon ¡ª 43 seconds. -Rank 2: Sameira ¡ª 52 seconds. -Rank 3¡­ The seventh floor''s Power Level requirement jumped to 25,000, reducing the number of people who attempted it drastically. Sameira and Kenshin cleared it one by one. Their ranks as 9th and 10th in the World Leaderboard were not just for show. Due to their profound knowledge of martial arts and their own way, both of them were constantly improving theirbat styles. Especially after seeing Rin and Erix getting more powerful, they''ve been fired up and were getting stronger more, fully focusing on only their self-improvement. Naturally, talents all over the world were also rising. Some werete bloomers, but anything could happen in any amount of time. An enlightenment one day after working hard for months or years could change one''s life and give directions. The appearance of Rin and Erix with a wide difference of power between them and others had sparked the fuel within those with sky-high desires, ambition, and thirst for power. They knew Might was the Right in this new world, and seeing two native people like them towering way over the rest didn''t sit well with them. ¡­ In the Limitless ne¡­ Rin and Erix spent 30 minutes in Limitless ne forbat training, and then the rest of the 1 hour on other things. They also taught some fundamentals of magic formations, their own knowledge that they gathered and condensed in Abyss, and other things to Aria and Isabe. The rest of the time was spent on progressing in their elements and concepts. Their next target was reaching 2nd realm in their respective Attribute-type concepts. Erix wanted to evolve his Devorex Metal concept, but this was a huge and tough task for him as this concept was broad, and he was the first one to have it. Rin''s Attribute-type concept, Crimson Onyxbolt was something that sheprehended from the same named phenomenon in the abyss, and she had a general direction, so she was making proper progress in it. ¡­ After the squad got kicked out to the Limitless ne, Aria excitedly said, "We go to the Tower next, right?" "Yep," Rin grinned. "Let''s see who is doing good in this new leaderboard," Erix said with a smile. "This leaderboard rank will show who is truly powerful top 100 people." "Mhmm, I see how. This floor clearing tests one''s limit ofbat in an all-rounder way," Isabell nodded in understanding and felt anticipation rising up. "I''ve learned much past two days, so I want to fight in new ways and also see how I fare against others." "Let''s go!" Aria summoned her tiny dolphin with wings specialized for speed flying and flew towards the Tower. *Whistle!* Sangle arrived while wisting, and Aaron was riding on it with five other kids. "Mom! I want to fight too!" Erix and Rin burst outughing upon seeing Aaron throwing his fists that glowed with basic physical enhancement using Mana. The other kids were also using mana to enhance their physical body. This was the passive state that Isabe taught them to improve their proficiency in magic and make them slowly stronger. "You kids! Don''t use it casually, I told you before," Isabe adopted a stern expression as she flew towards the kids after Sangle floated before Erix and others. The kids immediately obeyed while giggling. "Alright, go back and y. We''ll return soon," Erix said with a smile. The kids had a fearful yet admiring look when looking at Erix and immediately became sheepish hearing his words. Erix teleported with Rin and Isabe as he ordered Sangle to return. Catching up with Aria, the squad entered the Tower. "Aaron, he is so cool, right?!" "I saw him fighting in a tournament¡­.I-I couldn''t see much, but the colorful lights and those powers were so amazing!" "Hehe, I am going to be as strong as him!" ¡­ By now, most of the people were done with floor clearing. The highest floor cleared 9th, and it was only by 5 people. When Rin, Erix, Aria, and Isabe entered the Tower, their Power Level also changed in the leaderboard as they had entered for the first time in the past two days. [World Leaderboard] -No.1: Erix¡ª115,435¡ªTitle: Deathly Throne. -No.2: Rin¡ª103,022¡ªTitle: Ruination de. -No.3: Koshal¡ª42,440¡ªTitle: Silent Depths. -No.4: Leishun¡ª34,990¡ªTitle: Roaring Thunder. -No.5: Yelwon¡ª34,210¡ªTitle: Bloodthirsty Hands. -No.6: Mary¡ª33,190¡ªTitle: Whiteme Maiden. -No.7: Gabriel¡ª33,015¡ªTitle: Golden Mage. -No.8: Amir¡ª32,980¡ªTitle: Thousand Nights. -No.9: Kenshin¡ª32,940¡ªTitle: Martial Cataclysm. -No.10: Sameira¡ª32,350¡ªTitle: Warring Artist. -No.11: James¡ª32,010¡ªTitle: Shadow Hunter. ¡­ All the top guilds all over the world and top rankers soon knew the changes in the Leaderboard. When they saw that while they made progress of a few thousand, Rin and Erix made big jumps. Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe easily cleared the 6th floor. It was a humanoid boss in a ss pce, but Erix, Rin, and Aria easily destroyed it with a single attack. Isabe took some time but defeated it after a minute. "Eh? This Koshal guy made a big jump," Erix said with a chuckle. "Haha, he must haveprehended another concept or upgraded his existing one to 2nd realm." "Yeah. A boost of 10,000 points is only on Concepts and Exotic Elements above," Rin nodded as she crossed her arms. "I doubt any native has an Exotic Element aside from two of us." "Eh? People only cleared up to the 9th floor," Rin said with a grin. "Let''s see how far we reach." As such, the squad entered their next floor. [7th floor] Chapter 335 : Floor Clearing, Juicy Rewards [7th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Murath the Golden Vengence. [Minimum Power Level required]: 25,000. [Chance]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental Crystal. (Primary Elements only) Arriving on the 7th floor, the reward was the same. From the 6th floor''s reward, Erix chose a High-grade me elemental crystal. Rin chose the high-grade Wind elemental crystal. Aria chose a High-grade Light elemental crystal, and Isabe chose a High-grade Water elemental crystal. Entering the 7th floor, the squad began the challenge as they disappeared and arrived in the exact same looking, but separate sub-space of moltenva flowing through earth with golden structures, statues, and decorations in a vast hall of five kilometers in diameter. [Murath The Golden Vengeance]: A genius cksmith, with a thirst for revenge against an empire that ruined his wife and kids. The distant revenge out of his reach fueled dark vengeance in him, leaving nothing but hatred for the empire and ultimately turning himself into a weapon of destruction that destroyed the empire. Erix saw a ten-meter-tall humanoid man with six exotic dark gold arms holding six weapons. Spear, Sword, Mace, Chakram, and Hammer. His entire body was coated with nefarious golden coatings with patterns, looking dreadful. Everything was gold and dark gold hues, shining with entric magic patterns. Murath the Golden Vengeance. "A walking alive weapon?" Erix cracked a grin and pointed his index finger at the boss. Murath roared and stretched all six arms at Erix, intending to shoot out projectile attacks. s, before that could take reality, Erix used one of his created ss skills, Reaping Orb. [Reaping Orb] _Effect: Conjures an Orb that sucks the life force from living beings while infusing death in them, invoking corrosion of life. _Range: up to three targets within five meters of the orb. _Cost: 5000-10,000 Prana + 1000-5000 Death Energy. The orb appeared right behind Murath, and with the vast difference of power between Erix and this six-handed boss, Murath the Golden Vengeance instantly died in a second. Once again, Erix, Rin, and Aria cleared it in the shortest amount of time possible. Isabe took some time, but not over a minute. The group continued. [8th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the party of Warblood Goblins. [Minimum Power Level required]: 30,000. [Chance]: 2 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade elemental crystal (Primary Elements only). "Eh, this one gives two chances?" Aria was surprised. "Probably because this is a one vs many battle challenge," Erix wondered before he shrugged with a smile. "Well, it doesn''t matter to us." ¡­ [9th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Sirena The Violent Frost. [Minimum Power Level required]: 35,000. [Chance]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade elemental crystal (Primary Elements only). They also cleared the 9th floor easily and finally moved to the 10th floor, which blocked everyone from progressing. And rightfully so. [10th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Sir Malcus the Archwizard and his Mage Tower. [Minimum Power Level required]: 45,000. [Chances]: 2 [Reward]: 1 x Insight Scroll. "This reward¡­" Rin and Erix looked at each other, dumbfounded. It was the darn Insight Scroll! Both of them still had one each from the Abyss, and they knew how helpful and effective they were. "Do you know the effect of this Insight Scroll?" Isabe curiously asked upon seeing the duo''s reaction. "Yep," Erix said with augh. "This item is going to boost many people." "Yep. Depending on how wisely people use this item and their talent andprehension for the subject they chose, this item can do wonders," Rin said as a glint passed through her eyes before as she added. "After people graduallyplete this floor, we''ll truly see the top powerhouses aside from us." "I want to use this item!" Aria said with shining eyes. "Let''s go." "I am not going to try," Isabe said with a wry smile. "It''s higher than my Power Level, so I don''t want to take a risk and waste one of the two chances." "Yea. The difference is big, and the fight inside is like 1 vs many due to the challenge''s wording," Erix nodded. Isabe decided to quit and left for now while Erix, Rin, and Aria proceeded ahead and vanished from the floor, before arriving on a vast green in with a sunny day. However, their arrival in their respective sub-space of the challenge immediately caused the sunny day to darken as ck clouds covered the sky. At five kilometers of distance was a huge mage tower with colorful lights. It lit up and directly shone a light on them from afar. Enemy Detected. "Intruders areing to steal the knowledge of our tower! Kill them!" Erixughed out loud before looking sharply at the tower and grasping it within his palm from his point of view through his eyes. His eyes glinted with dark purple me with a hint of silver as Erix used his area of effect-type self-created skill. ''Dismantle Zone.'' Instantly, the entire tower was covered in the fixed zone as Erix consumed a whopping 30,000 Prana at once. Then he consumed Vigor Force, Spirit Force, and Prana for Metal elements mixed with Nihilir for a formation of the skill. *Creee¡­* Inside the space bubble that trapped the entire Mage Tower, and prevented any Mages from getting out, hundreds of dark violet sparks with dark silver hues appeared before exploding in chaotic disaster. Erix''s eyes shone as he saw the increase of power in this skill after he used the 2nd realm of Chaos concept''s power, Chaotic Evolution. ''This one''s power is freaking almost an entire fold higher!'' On the other hand, Rin also used her Area of Effect skill, creating a zone around the tower that slowed everyone immensely before a huge chaotic stream like a raging river spread everywhere with countless des, erasing everything and everyone. Her eyes also glinted with thrill as she witnessed how the 2nd realm of her Chaos concept increased the offense of this skill by almost a fold. Meanwhile, Ariabated with tit for tat. The enemy numbers were over fifty mages hurling various long-range attacks and manifestations of projectiles that supported their leader, Sir Malcus the Archwizard. However¡­Aria''s army was even more dreadful. Aria''s Power Level was lower due to her not having many elements in the higher realm and no concepts yet, but she had power that other Royal-order powerhouses didn''t have, and that allowed her to fight far stronger enemies than her despite not having that much high progress in Affinities. The thousands of various elemental Animated Spirits with soul power and high stage spirit power of Aria utterly destroyed the Mage Tower and everyone. [11th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Zulia, the Witch of Dark Swamp. [Minimum Power Level required]: 50,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental crystal (Primary Elements only) Aria, Erix, and Rin also cleared the 11th floor next. Everyone also got the news soon and could only watch as their top rivals progressed further in the Tower. ¡­ [12th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Army of a hundred Cursed Squires. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 55,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental crystal (Primary Elements only) ¡­ [13th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Magna the Starme. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 60,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental crystal (Primary Elements only) ¡­ The 14th Floor''s requirement was 65,000 Power level, and the reward was the same. The trio alsopleted it. However, Aria decided not to attempt the 15th floor as she had some trouble on the 14th floor. "I can''t progress further," Aria said with a weak smile. "I need to improve further. Since it''s not allowed for us to use potions in the challenges, I almost failed in the 14th Tower. I only won because I managed to kill the boss just one second before I died, haha." "If that''s the case, then you should return too," Erix smiled as he patted her head. "Go with your n of creatingbat around formations." "Yes! I need to use my Animated Spirits efficiently," Aria said with a determined and eager expression while clenched fist. "I go and spar with Isabe-sis, hehe. She is also trying her newbat style." "But before that, we should use Elemental crystals," Aria said with a grin. "We''ll increase the realm of our elements first with these." "And Insight scroll," Rin said with a smile. "Make sure you get a Super Exotic Element like us." "Yes!" Aria excitedly nodded as she looked forward to using the Insight Scroll after knowing its effect and how effective it could be from Rin and Erix. "We''ll return after we reach a floor that has a higher requirement of Power level than what we have," Erix cracked his fingers while smiling eagerly. "Let''s go." As such, Aria left while Erix and Rin continued towards the next floor. [15th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the me Dragon Hetora. [Required Power Level]: 70,000. [Chance]: 1 [Reward]: 10,000 low-grade Prana stones. The reward was something the duo desperately needed. For their progression towards the next lifeform rank, all they needed were Prana stones of all grades gradually, learn a Domain, and level up to 300. Out of those things, the one theycked most was Prana stones. As for the domain, they''ve decided to create it when farming monsters as that was easier. ¡­ Thunder Peak Guild¡­ Leishun looked at the leaderboards with unnatural expression. "They are climbing high¡­" "Leader, they are already on the 19th Floor!" "I wonder what type of rewards they are getting? These high-grade elemental crystals are already nuts." "Did you see the world leaderboard, Leishun? Your rank went down to 5th." "That Yelwon¡­she is doing crazy. She must have quickly gotten enlightenment after using an Elemental crystal and progressed." "Yeah, that''s the only way she could get that boost of a thousand points." ¡­ While the world constantly watched Rin and Erix clearing the floors, the duo began their next floor. s, this was not going to be that easy. [20th Floor] Chapter 336 : Difficulty, Mass Progress The 19th Floor''s power level requirement was 90,000, but the 20th floor''s power level requirement increased significantly. [20th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat Nyx the Eclipsed Hollow Knight. [Power Level requirement]: 150,000 - 200,000. [Chance]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x Ticket to the Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. [Note 1]: Those above 200,000 Power Level are not allowed to challenge this, and it is highly rmended to only make your first attempt after measuring yourself to 150,000 Power Level. [Note 2]: You can get an option to skip this floor after using up the single chance. "Weird," Erix rubbed his chin looking at the 20th floor''s window. "So, those above 200,000 can''t enter. And the reward¡­" Rin couldn''t help butugh. "That reward is definitely awesome based on its name. That''s for sure." "Yep." Erix grinned while a sharp glint passed through his eyes. "Let''s get it." Both of them willed to challenge the floor, and the usual option window appeared. [Are you sure you wish to challenge the 20th floor?] [Please note that you have not met the required Power Level.] This time, an additional notification appeared since this floor''s Power Level requirement was higher than their current Power Level, unlike the previous floors. However, Erix and Rin didn''t hesitate and pressed [Yes]. [Error] "Huh?" Erix and Rin were dumbfounded. ''You fools!'' A thundering old and deep voice echoed in their ears, causing them to frown. "Who is it?" Erix grunted, his aura revving up. Rin''s weapons also appeared in her hands, flickering with power like her body. ''I am the Tower master of Labyrinth Towers on this! You fools are promising, yet why do you wish to waste an attempt on this floor?'' Erix raised his eyebrows and said, "We can just win in the next attempt even if we lose this time." However, the voice echoed snort in their heads. ''Attempt it now, and you both will die without knowing how fully wasting the chance. You both possess enough power, but you stillck enough Spirit Force, and an important thing for this attempt.'' ''Domain. Without a domain, you two will instantly die and waste an attempt. I am saying this while fully knowing and understanding your powers. If you still wish to attempt and waste the chance, I will not stop you this time.'' ''However, know that this floor''s difficulty is vastly higher, and that is why there''s an option to skip this floor. The reward of this floor is exclusive and ultra beneficial, hence the difficulty is higher.'' Erix and Rin looked at each other, shocked. "Why are you telling us this?" Erix doubtfully asked. "You are basically saving us a chance." After all, this so-called Tower Master spoke logically, and he had no reason to lie to them. "Yeah, why give us this obscure information and save us a chance?" Rin narrowed her eyes. ''Ghahahaha. Because you two are powerful fools. The other people wouldn''t challenge a floor without meeting its requirements, but you two are more powerful than others here, which also gave you confidence.'' ''You two are indeed cream of the corp here, but this is not in the realm of ''rare''. You two are not exceptional among the proper masses yet. This 20th floor will show you that.'' ''Anyway, you two need a domain first and foremost to even survive for one more second against Nyx. As for the rest, figure it out yourself. The key word is basics.'' Erix and Rin were dumbfounded. "Well¡­thanks, I guess?" Erix wryly smiled. "We felt theck of Domain in that field mission properly," Rin thoughtfully nodded. She could easily believe there were powerhouses at 150,00 Power Level and even simr Power Level as them that could wipe the floor with them out there. "Yeah. Let''s attempt it after creating our domains and using the Elemental crystals for powerup," Erix nodded. ''Wait!'' The voice suddenly stopped them. Right after the voice of Tower Master entered their head, both of them received a notification. [Special Quest: Tower Master''s Gift] _Note: epting the quest will increase the difficulty of the 20th floor by 20%. Rin and Erix felt a tingle seeing that note. This special floor had a skip option. It went to show that this floor was going to be in the realm of the toughest. The reward was exclusive, and this so-called Tower Master also boasted it. And seeing that note of 20% increased difficulty on top of all that¡­Well, it only raised their thrill further. "If the note is like this, then the reward should be worth it," Erixughed. Both of them looked at the quest. [Special Quest: Tower Master''s Gift] _Tasks: ¡ª> Do not attempt 20th Floor for 30 days. ¡ª> Do not exceed 150,000 Power Level before attempting the 20th Floor. Reward: ¡ª> Fortune Ride Token of Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. "Fortune Ride Token?" Erix was at a loss. It was another unknown reward with ack of clear potential use. But since it was a reward of such a quest, it was bound to be good. "Well, it''s connected to that Treasure Arcane, and the name seems good," Erix wryly smiled. "But no flooring for 30 days, eh? Alright." "Yeah. We can get stronger in this period and make progress in Antis," Rin nodded. "Many people will start progressing faster with these new floors'' rewards." As such, Erix and Rin left the tower, leaving their ranks at the top. [Labyrinth Tower Floor Leaderboard] -Rank 1: Erix the Deathly Throne ¡ª 19th Floor. -Rank 2: Rin the Ruination de ¡ª 19th Floor. -Rank 3: Koshal the Silent Depths ¡ª 10th Floor. -Rank 4: Yelwon the Bloodthirsty Hands ¡ª 10th Floor. -Rank 5: Kenshin the Martial Cataclysm ¡ª 9th Floor. -Rank 6: Sameira the Warring Artist ¡ª 9th Floor. -Rank 7: James the Shadow Hunter ¡ª 9th Floor. -Rank 8: Leishun the Roaring Thunder ¡ª 9th Floor. ¡­ "Not bad." Erix and Rin left the tower while looking at the leaderboard. "Konshal and Yelwon, eh?" Rin rubbed her palms while grinning. "They might rise fast after getting resources." "Hahaha, I feel like we exploited the Abyss to the fullest," Erix couldn''t help butugh thinking about their crazy journey in the Kanx Abyss. Meeting Lily, and Lilith, getting her support, and all the powers along with challenges¡­. Nobody had experienced and done that. Their journey in the Abyss made them leap up way higher than the rest on Earth. ¡­ After returning to the Blessed Ind, Erix and Rin saw that Aria and Isabe were sitting under Dreanox while holding an Elemental crystal each, meditating andprehending. The guild members of Royal-order rank sat at various elemental biome spots of the Blessed Ind in meditation as well,prehending and progressing using their Elemental crystals. Kenshin and Sameira were also sitting at different spots, deep in meditation, while holding an Elemental crystal. At least 10% of the whole poption had cleared the 1st floor and got at least one Elemental Crystal. As such, many people were in meditation, eager to use the power of this reward and reap benefits from it. The weaker ones were still going through their life in a leisurely way ever since the appearance of Sanctuary. Some had even started making business centers and transportation for basic resources from dungeons and natural spots. At first, survival was a top priority, but after getting settled and safe ces, diversity in thoughts and activity began. Sanctuary Areas started appearing three months ago, upon clearing the 3rd Labyrinth Floor. Ever since then, the number of people getting stronger at a regr pace began decreasing. ¡­ "So, this is our reward pool." "Haha, not bad." Powered by m_vl_em_p_yr Erix and Rin sat at a table things on it or floating. "Let''s use Elemental crystals first. I can make more progress in the Wind element," Rin grinned. "I''m gonna use all of them for Wind element and get it as high as I can." "Hehe, I''ll do the same on Fire Affinity," Erixughed. "Let''s see who reaches higher since we have Wind and Fire in the same realm." The duo arrived under the Dreanox Tree and sat along with Aria and Isabe. The use of an Elemental crystalsted for five hours. As such, everyone''s five hours were spent in a jiffy. Noon arrived, sharp at 12. Out of 10% of people who got Elemental crystals, 9% of people were ones with only 1 elemental crystal, and they were overjoyed. All of them reaped great benefits and made progress. The other 1% of people were ones with multiple floors cleared under their name and they continued in meditation, using another Elemental Crystal. It was like drugs. Elemental Crystals provided them with information and insight into Elements, allowing them to gain more power of understanding over them, thus increasing their mastery of them. Some broke through to the 2nd realm, while some broke through to the 3rd realm in their Primary elements. The changes in the World leaderboard started showing clearly after ten hours, changing many ranks in the top 100, with many new names appearing while old ones vanishing from it. Thanks to the new form of Tower Floors, the arrival of Antis seemed like a nned timing to many. After all, the rewards were nothing to scoff at. But the real surprise of the Labyrinth Tower Floor came the next day when the time marked 24 hourspletions since the opening of the new Labyrinth Tower Floors. Sharp at 7 in the morning, everyone who cleared the 6th or higher floors in the Tower received a mailbox notification. Erix and Rin looked at theirs in a pleasant surprise. It was the daily reward of Labyrinth Tower Floors ording to the ranks! But it was a reward fixed with a challenge! Chapter 337: 1 Month, First Expendition Under the Drenox tree, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe had just emerged from the Limitless ne after entering it at 5 AM. After they emerged from it at 6:30, they sat in meditation to solidify and further their gains. When the clock hit seven, everyone received a mailbox notification. "Daily reward?" Rin raised her eyebrows. The others also opened the mail and checked it. [Daily Labyrinth Tower Floor reward] _Floor cleared: 19 _Reward(s): ¡ª> 190 low-grade Prana crystals. ¡ª> 1 x Resource box (19th Floor). "Interesting," Erix raised his eyebrows in surprise at the notification and took out the Resource box. It was a wooden box with red and blue magic patterns. Rin, Isabe, and Aria also took it out and opened it. "Eh, I got 100 medium-grade Prana crystals," Erix said, pleasantly surprisedly. "If I can start gathering 100 medium-grade Prana crystals, that would be great, haha." "I got 1000 low-grade Prana crystals," Isabe said. "I got something else," Aria said with a wry smile as she took out a metallic sphere with smooth glowing white patterns. [Phenomenon Containing Sphere-Z1] _Captures a phenomenon''s essence. Rin raised an eyebrow before saying, "Eh, I got the same thing, but instead of Z1, it''s X1 in name." "From its description, we can use it on phenomenons like those Crimson Onyxbolt clouds that you observed toprehend your attribute-concept," Erix thoughtfully said. "And such simr types of phenomena." "Alright, let''s finish our training session and continue towards progression. We''ll also hold a meeting with others after two hours." ¡­ Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks¡­ Just like that, four weeks passed by in the blink of an eye. December 1st, 2024¡­ One month passed by as great progress ensued all over the world during the past month. Rin and Erix were not allowed to enter the Labyrinth Tower due to the special quest, but the rest of the top and talented powerhouses were making progress and clearing tower floors. During the first week when the new tower floors opened, the event of Prana Vein became bigger as it urred twice a week. During this month, the top 100 world leaderboard greatly changed, along with the Labyrinth Tower leaderboard. The top powerhouses focused on gaining personal strength due to the existence of leaderboards, which served to prove their worth to the masses and disy their influence. At the moment, the weakest in the top 100 World leaderboard had a 43k Power Level. Aside from Rin and Erix, who hadn''t entered the Labyrinth Tower for the whole month, the rest of the top ranks in the leaderboard had greatly progressed in power level. [World Leaderboard] -No.1: Erix¡ª115,435¡ªTitle: Deathly Throne. -No.2: Rin¡ª103,022¡ªTitle: Ruination de. -No.3: Urasin ¡ª 97,490 ¡ªTitle: Rotten Heart. -No.4: Koshal¡ª65,440¡ªTitle: Silent Depths. -No.5: Amir¡ª65,180¡ªTitle: Thousand Nights. -No.6: Kenshin¡ª64,990¡ªTitle: Martial Cataclysm. -No.7: Sameira¡ª64,780¡ªTitle: Warring Artist. -No.8: Yelwon¡ª63,210¡ªTitle: Bloodthirsty Hands. -No.9: James¡ª60,780¡ªTitle: Shadow Hunter. -No.10: Gabriel¡ª60,115¡ªTitle: Golden Mage. -No.11: Jax ¡ª58,590¡ªTitle: Demonic Grace. -No.12: Leishun¡ª55,425¡ªTitle: Roaring Thunder. ¡­ Of course, the real leaderboard for indication of one''s capability was still the Labyrinth Tower Floor Leaderboard. The rest of the top rankers aside from Rin, Erix, and the mysterious Urasin, were stuck on the 15th and 14th Floors. ¡­ Antis Hub¡­ At the moment, hundreds of people were gathered in the huge hall under the ocean, at the doorsteps of the Antis tribes. The leaders of top guilds and top rankers were gathered at a table, with two empty seats. "If they are not interested, then we should go ahead," a woman with long wooden-colored wavy hair said. She was a beauty in her thirties, with naturally endowed curves and bust on her alluring figure covered by a light leather ck armor of a magical slick material. The red patterns on her armor and her dark green eyes made her look like an enchantress. Yelwon, the Bloodthirsty Hands. The table had a total of 15 seats. One was empty and the rest were filled. The top rankers and guild leaders sat on those chairs in the Antis hub. They were gathered to begin their first expedition on one of the five Antis tribes. The meeting was to be held at 8 AM, but it had been 8:05, and the Unfettered Fate guild hadn''t arrived yet. Five minutes of waiting seemed long in those guild leader''s hearts. *p* "Let''s begin the meeting," a slim maroon-haired guy with a long and handsome face said, wearing a dark brown robe with ck and blue patterns. Urasin. Behind him stood a humanoid with a bull''s head, looking like a Minotaur but more human-like stature. He had a powerful aura, a clear indication of him being an Empyrean-order if someone inspected him. At the table, there was not just this one Empyrean-order. There was an Empyrean-order powerhouse behind each guild leader. Sameira sat on the chair as she was the leader of Heavenly Melody, and behind her also stood an Empyrean-order powerhouse of Terrapin n alongside Kenshin. Without a doubt, this old white-bearded Terrapin n member was strongest among the rest of the Empyrean-orders, oozing out a certain deterrence to the rest. "We shall wait," Sameira calmly said with her arms crossed and eyes closed. In the current circumstances that developed in the past month, no top guilds were afraid of Erix and Rin. Sure, the duo were strongest among the natives. However, there were tribes with Empyrean-order powerhouses, and the top guilds had made good ties with them, forging alliances. Behind each chair at the table was an Empyrean-order powerhouse with a 150k Power level and above. "Guild leader of Heavenly Melody," Gabrial the Golden Mage calmly said as he lightly put his long blond hair behind his ear. "We all know that our time is more valuable than anything. We shall begin the meeting." "I vote for the Merfinn Tribe to be explored first." Kenshin narrowed his eyes at Gabriel, oozing out a ruthless intent that involuntarily caused Gabriel to develop sweat beads. However, the angel behind Gabriel snorted, pushing her condensed burning and searing aura toward Kenshin. However, the white-beared Terrapin n member who stood straight while holding the cane before him only lightly tapped it on the ground, dispersing her aura. "Haste makes waste," Jinroji said while caressing his beard with one hand and smilingly peacefully. "This meeting was decided five days ago," Koshal calmly said, his short brown hair looking perfect on his handsome face as his blue eyes looked at Sameira and Kenshin. "It''s been almost ten minutes, so if you would please contact them." Behind Koshal stood a rather mighty Empyrean-order, an asura demon. The demonic n with ck skin with dark gold patterns and two cow-like dark gold horns. This Asura demon was 2nd most powerful after the white-beared Terrapin old man based on the aura each Empyrean disyed so far. However, Koshal''s query was swiftly nulled as everyone felt a bunch of presence entering the hub. "Finally¡­" the ck-haired girl in herte twenties sitting at one of the chairs muttered with a wry smile. Mary the Whiteme Maiden. Everyone saw Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe arriving with twelve guild members while talking andughing, spreading apletely different vibe than the one that permeated in hub''s meeting group. "You''rete," Sameira rolled her eyes at Rin and Erix, with a hint of smile on her face. She already knew why they werete. "We had an urgent meeting, haha." Erix and others arrived at their section and saw the table and people sitting on the chairs around it. Erix sat on his empty chair while Rin, Aria, Isabe, an Elf woman of Empyrean-order woman of the Moondawn n, and other six members of the guild who met the requirement to attend this meeting stood behind. The total number of people in the current expedition group reached 114 and only those with a minimum of 40k Power level were allowed in this meeting. As Erix sat on his chair, he immediately said with a smile, "Before we begin, I would like to act upon an agenda." Sameira and Kenshin knew what was about to happen, so only faint smiles hung on their lips. Meanwhile, the other n leaders who sat on the chairs frowned. Some outer, some internally. Their attention expanded as they waited for Erix to continue. "We have an extra person on this seat," Erix said with a sunny smile, his head turning in the direction of a particr person. "What do you mean?" James the Shadow Hunter asked in a confused tone. Everyone suddenly felt a dreadful aura emerging from the Unfettered Fate guild''s section. A lightning crackle rang in everyone''s head, each feeling a sharp tingle in their spiritual senses. Rin stood between Erix and Urasin''s chair, her Katana''s point stuck on the ground as she stood with her hands on its hilt. "Someone needs to die from one of the chairs. Before that happens, this meeting will not begin," Rin said, her voice sweet yet oozing out deadliness. Everyone''s face turned grave and somber. The Empyrean-order powerhouses also became stout and alert, eyeing the Unfettered Guild. "You see, we''ve heard some news about a very disgusting activity by someone here," Erix said, his smile no longer sunny, but icy cold and filled with murderous intent. "It just so happens that we like to show off our powers, so we will be executing some people here," Erix said as his eyes nced over at every single guild leader, and Empyrean-order powerhouses around the table. "I hope the rest will remain wise enough and understand the importance of not interfering," Rin said with a smile. "Of course, unless you do not hold your life in high regard." The atmosphere at the table instantly became intensely tense. Chapter 338: Show of Power, Meeting Begins As Erix and Rin finished speaking, the atmosphere at the table became tense. "Who and why?" Leishun asked, his face showing doubt and confusion. "I''m sure you all are aware of Spiritual Arts. They give various benefits ording to their type," Erix said while smiling coldly. "Someone here practices a Spiritual Art that''s not sitting well with us." "We fear for our safety and others because it''s too cruel and dark," Rin sighed. "Although we don''t im to be so-called heroes, there are some things we will not allow if we see because we have the power to act on our will." "Is that so?" Urasin let out a slightly loud chuckle. "Can you shed some light on us about that matter?" *Crackle!* Rin''s figure became blurred while a bright sh appeared in the hall for a moment as Rin''s katana swung straight toward Urasin''s neck. *nk!* However, her katana''s de stopped before it could proceed to cut off Urasin''s neck. It was blocked by the Minotaur''s hand as it shone with glowing dark brown patterns, bing tough enough to block the attackced with Rin''s all-elemental and conceptual power costing her 30% of her total various energies. The Minotaur blocked the attack, before causing the impact to return to Rin as a loud vibration spread, but Rin brushed off the shock impact by swiftly making another swing. ''Run!'' Minotaur roared into Urasin''s ears, but Urasin''s aura was already turning darker and faint, preparing to escape using his Shadow element. But how could it be so easy? Erix instantly solidified the space around Urasin and the Minotaur, causing both of their faces to change. ''This guy¡­I may have trouble holding him off,'' the Minotaur said to Urasin, causing Urasin''s pupil to dte in response. ''Are you serious?! You are a damn Empyrean-order at 188,450 Power Level!'' The Minotaur was about to respond in thought but suddenly felt a chill crawling his back as he noticed Erix''s eyes looking at him. The Minotaur felt something weird, and an emotion he was not expecting to produce in this meeting appeared in him. Fear of death. ''No way he is capable of killing me.'' s, reality was often different than expectation. Erix and Rin had decided to kill Urasin and Minotaur after finding out about their atrocities. ''Erix, it''s ready.'' Erix heard Aria''s voice before he suddenly felt a burst of power up in him upon feeling an infusion of soul force and spirit force from Aria in an enchanting manner. *Crack!* The Minotaur became red and brown as the space holding him broke. Meanwhile, Rin saw that Erix managed to break the protection of Urasin that the Minotaur provided and acted. Urasin was trapped as he failed to break away from the space prison that prevented him from moving. Rin''s de swung again, and her figure sparkled for a mere 0.2 seconds as her Katana finished the swing and cut off Urasin''s head. Meanwhile, the Minotaur escaped for his life as he sensed the situation turning dire. Just as Urasin''s head fell on the ground, the Minotaur was already five kilometers away. However, right as he exited from the hallway''s entrance, a portal abruptly appeared before him, and he entered inside, appearing in the sky two kilometers above, right above the meeting table. "Die!" the Minotaur roared, bursting out with spiritual force and powerful aura towards Erix, using his domain. Erix and the Minotaur vanished, causing various guild leaders sitting at the table to have multiple changes in their expressions. "Now, let''s resume the talk," Rin sat on the chair with a smile. "What about your guy in there?" a blond-haired man with a military cut asked as he pointed at the tiny domain point floated a few meters above Erix''s seat. He was Jake the Stardust Crush, the 14th rank in the world leaderboard and guild leader of Eaglew Guild. "Erix will be fine. That bull can''t kill him," Aria said with a soft giggle while covering her mouth with her hand. Everyone could see that Aria''s aura was also obscure for them, but they knew it was she who used some kind of skill to buff Erix. "So, why did you kill him? What were their atrocities?" Yelwon asked as she crossed her arms under her big bust and leaned back on the chair. "Using living people and their suffering as a way to cultivate his Spirit force and a type of negative energy," Rin said as she looked at nced at the dead Urasin to her right. "It turned out that this bastard''s title was very fitting." "Rotten Heart?" Amir muttered before nodding with a wry smile. "If what you said is true, then it is indeed fitting." "How did he get such a Spiritual Art? We should destroy that source if it''s possible," Gabrial asked with a frown while his eyes showed he was thinking something. "The n?" James made a guess as he looked at the domain point. "Maybe this Minotaur n had that?" "Correct," Kenshin nodded. "The Minotaur n practices that kind of Spiritual Art. We need to find their location and kill them." After hearing that, everyone looked at the four people who were internally trembling in fear behind Urasin''s dead body but stood motionless with terrified expressions. They were the Royal-order powerhouses of Urasin''s guild that apanied Urasin and the Minotaur here. Erix had trapped them in Space Prison, so they couldn''t escape. "How did you find out about them?" asked Jax, the 11th Rank in world leaderboard. He was a bald muscr man wearing a tank top made from a white material. His skin was like light obsidian, shining and tough, and he had two demonic horns on his head. Jax the Demonic Grace. He was the only one aside from Rin and Erix with a bloodline, bing one of the early powerhouses to bing a demi-human. Behind him stood a demon with the same type of horns and some simr patterns on the skin as Jax. "Well, it is easy to find out when someone from his guild tells us about it," Rin said before she narrowed her eyes. "From the information, it seems that this Spiritual Art cannot be given to multiple people due to its nature and restriction." "Urasin epted some conditions of that Minotaur n, offering humans to their chosen members who also practiced the same spiritual art." Rin snorted, "We thought it was someone talented that was rising fast, but it turned out to be a scumbag." Sameira nced at the four Royal-order powerhouses frozen in space and said, "These people aren''t innocent. They don''t practice that evil Spiritual Art, but they captured and brought people for Urasin and the Minotaur n." The one woman and three men felt despair as they knew they would die after getting exposed. Amu floated towards Rin and looked at the four guys trapped in space prison before freeing them. "Let''s begin." In the next minute, the four of them were tortured for several seconds before they spit out everything. And right after that minute, the domain point also shed. *Thud¡­* The Minotaur fell on the table, breaking it. Everyone saw that chunks of his flesh were missing and injured spots burning with dark hazy purple me burns. After that, all of them focused on a rather unsettling and cold aura. "T-this¡­" There was not a single person present who didn''t feel a cold chill crawl their spine as they saw Erix. He was in his Undeath Aurelion Crown form along with his Death Heart in active since his Life Heart died in the battle, bing a skeleton. His pristine dark gold skeleton body with majestic runic patterns was royally wrapped in a regal robe and ck pants. The dark gold Undeath Aurelion crown above his head shone with dark hazy purple wisps shining on its crown spikes, conjuring a dreadful yet regal picture. "I''m sure you all know the full matter by now, right?" Erix''s voice didn''t change as he spoke and sat on his chair, deactivating his Undeath Aurelion Crown form as his previous ckbat outfit returned. Beside him, on the chair of Urasin, Rin chuckled and said, "Nope, they know everything now. We can start the meeting." "Hey, wait. What about your appearance? Why only bones?" Leishun asked with a dumbfounded expression. The others also nodded, bing curious. Even Sameira and Kenshin were not aware. After all, Erix didn''t tell others specifically about his powers. It was his first time dying after returning here, hence he turned into his Death Heart mode. "That''s none of your business, is it?" Rin raised her eyebrows and also nced at others who clearly looked curious. Sameira, Kenshin, and some others wryly smiled, while some others adopted grumpy expressions. Aria walked closer to Erix and gently ced her hands on Erix''s temples before her body glowed. She boosted Erix''s Life power, while Erix also used his Life power and used some Prana, turning it into Life energy and recovering as he converted back to his Life Heart form. "That Minotaur guy was fun, I had to go all out," Erix said with augh. His eyes nced at other guild leaders and Empyrean-order powerhouses behind them as he added, "I''m d you didn''t step forward as busybodies" "Or we would have more corpses here," Erix waved his hand, causing the dead body of the Minotaur to vanish as he put it inside his storage ring. "Anyway, let''s begin the meeting." Everyone who sat on a chair at the table was smart. They clearly understood the whole scenario atst as they remembered Erix''s first words after he came here. Their eyes showed various expressions and deep thoughts, but they knew Unfettered Guild seeded in the effect they wanted to achieve. If they were not scared of Erix and Rin after getting backing of the ns and Empyrean-order powerhouses, then Erix and Rin were also not scared of them having backing of ns and Empyrean-order powerhouses! Chapter 339: Seabed Forest "We have six entrances, to the six tribes of Antis. The entry requirement of Power Level is the same in all." Gabrial cleared his throat and continued, "We don''t know about their powers and capabilities, but Merfinn Tribe sounds weakest among the six." "I don''t think so." "There are six symbols on each door. Based on the symbols, we feel like the Tarocto tribe is the weakest." "This is stupid," Erix suddenly said with a bored expression and caused silence at the table before he waved his hand and created six light gray metallic cards, each one having a symbol of one of the six tribes. He shuffled the cards by controlling and spreading them out before Rin on the table. Each card had the same back, so no one knew which card belonged to which tribe. "Pick one," Erix smiled. "Good idea," Rin grinned and picked the 3rd card, the one in the middle. Everyone looked at it as Rin turned it around and revealed the symbol. "Baiandron Tribe it is then," Erix announced and stood up. "Let''s go." "¡­" In the end, everyone got up and walked towards the Protection Pond to take the buff. [Without Aquatic Protection, you will take increased damage of water, ice, and lightning attributes while also suffering a constant water pressure that reduces your vitality and durability of armor-sets ording to the areas you venture.] "Check twice if you received buff or not. Without it, you''ll die like a drowning fish," Leishun said to his members and indirectly to others. Meanwhile, Erix added everyone to a single party called [Antis Expedition Party]. Only natives were allowed to participate in these events, so the powerhouses of tribes returned. Aria and Amu also couldn''t enter, so they went to the Moondawn Elf n''s camp in the starting area of the hub, and then they would return to the ind and look after the kids. Many ns of various races had made camps here and were selling their specialties. Since going into Antis would be regr after this, they had finally opened their stores today. On the other hand, the party of 121 people arrived before the huge door of the Baiandron Tribe after receiving the Water-Mystic buff. Erix walked forward and touched the door, causing a pop-up to appear. As a party leader, Erix had to respond to the message about letting the [Antis Expedition Party] in the Baiandron Tribe''s territory. But before that, the rest also had a pop-up, and everyone had to press [Ready] by their will to proceed ahead. Soon, everyone pressed [Ready], and Erix could also press [Enter] in his party leader pop-up. *Dhrr¡­* Right after that, the door slowly opened, revealing a mystical watery blue membrane with dark blue sparkling waves. It looked like a portal. Everyone looked at it in curiosity while Erix and Rin entered inside first. On the other side, Erix and Rin arrived at the depths of a magical sea floor. Before them was a vast colorful natural forest consisting of exotic underwater nts and trees. Soon, other people also popped out from the huge portal behind them in groups. Everyone arrived after a few seconds. "It looks like we are not getting any more indications of the quests," Yelwon said with narrowed eyes while searching the forest. "Let''s just explore the forest and see what''s past it," Kenshin said with augh. "Right," Erix grinned, his eyes glowing with a silver gleam as he was using his Space Mapping. After a second, he finished mapping it. His eyes glowed and projected the 3D map in a size of a hundred meters slightly above him. "This is the forest''s map. It''s 200 kilometers long from here until it''s end and there are monsters inside." Erix chuckled and added, "ording to my scan, the weakest monster has forty-thousand Power Level, and the strongest has Seventy-thousand Power Level." "Reach the end with your groups. We will meet and discuss what to do next there," Erix cracked his finger after saying that and marked a point in the 3D map before¡­poof. Erix teleported Kenshin, Sameira, and the heavenly melody guild''s seven members along with Rin, Isabe, and twelve members of the Unfettered Guild¡ªElena, Zoe, Leon, Alfred, Samuel, Varan, Maya, Roy, Tony, Konrad, Mike, and Beatrice. These twelve members were Royal-order and had 40k Power levels aside from Erix, Rin, and Isabe. Seeing Erix disappearing with two groups, everyone had a varied expression. "See you all there," Yelwon said as she flew forward with her group of five members behind her. "There are monsters to hunt and that means we can level up and might get rewards in some form. It''s better to move as our respective guild groups," Koshal said, wearing a monk-like outfit armor-set with a bead chain around his wrists. He also went into the forest with his group of seven Royal-order powerhouses, the same number as the Heavenly Melody Guild. The rest of the guilds had either four or five and the total guilds participating in this expedition numbered 19. Some were also solo as they had nopanions with 40k Power Level. As such, these solo participants joined other guild groups. In the end, everyone entered the forest and began the expedition in a true sense. ¡­ Erix and Rin''s group also parted into two after teleporting in the starting area of the forest. The first monster Unfettered Guild encountered was a fifty meters tall sea horse with blue me trails behind it. [Chilling me Seahorse] _Power Level: 57,300. "Elena and Zoe will fight this monster," Erix said as he snapped his finger, trapping the giant seahorse into a space prison, preventing it from moving. At the same time, a couch appeared behind Erix, Rin, and Isabe. "For real, boss?" Zoe asked with a doubtful expression. "For real," Erixughed. "We shall do that," Elena''s eyes behind her cloth blindfold faintly shone golden before she took out her sword. "Alright, we''ll show you our power," Zoe grinned as she brandished her spear. Both of their weapons were crafted by Erix and had boosted theirbat power significantly. Chapter 340: Strongest Group, Big Monsters "Alright, go," Erix snapped his finger again, teleporting Zoe and Elena right before the giant seahorse with sleek dark blue scales and me tails, looking as powerful as its monstrosity. "As for you all, we have a different task for you," Rin said with a grin as she turned to the other members. "Spread out in two groups and attract surrounding monsters here." "Don''t engage in seriousbat even if you are powerful and capable of killing them," Erix said. "Just bring them here by provoking them." "Understood," Leon smiled as he understood Erix''s n. The ten members parted into two groups and went in different directions. The forest was two hundred kilometers in straight length, but it was slightly bigger in wideness, at roughly three hundred kilometers. After everyone left, Erix, Rin, and Isabe looked at Zoe and Elena fighting against the Chilling me Seahorse. "They can project powerful enough attacks through your weapons to destroy that monster''s projectile attacks as well," Rin said with a chuckle. "Our group''sbat power is highest among the rest." "Mhmm," Isabe nodded and said, "Since we''ll be progressing more than others, we''ll also receive more retaliation." "No need to worry. We''ll remain ahead even if we get stronger retaliations," Erix said with a carefree smile. "Let''s train our members until we reach a powerful enough stage where we can challenge ourselves." "Yep. I wonder what''s behind the forest. Should I go and scout ahead?" Rin asked. "Haha, I know you are raring to go," Erix burst outughing. "Alright, go. But if you encounter something dangerous, then inform me." "Don''t worry, darling," Rin sweetly smiled. "I won''t hog all the fun." "I shall join in the danger with you two," Isabe said as she clenched her fist, fired up and raring to test her new limits as she had gained much during the past much. Her Power Level had reached 54,380! She was right behind Leishun in terms of World Leaderboard ranking, at rank 13th! "Haha, okay. You can definitely survive with us given how much you''ve improved," Rin grinned. "Thanks to you two," Isabe beamed. ¡­ Rin left while Erix and Isabe remained on the sofa. "These two are doing good," Erix said as he watched Elena and Zoe evading without much trouble and dishing out constant attacks on the monster. Although only a minute had passed since the group left, they still returned while carrying a few powerhouse auras behind them. A giant two-headed snake with a Power Level of 46,940. A giant fish with spiky dark green scaled skin and feelers. 51,390 Power Level. A giant seal with a horn on its head, crystal-coating on its skin, and magical patterns, bearing a Power level of 42,890. Lastly, a giant manta ray-like creature, but with an exotic coral reef structure on its back powered by its core and powers. It was the strongest among the four, bearing 64,795 Power Level. Both groups brought two monsters behind them each. Erix quickly froze the monsters into his Space Prison, causing the group to heave a sigh. "Good job. Now, make pairs and pick your target," Erix grinned. "That Corfor Manta Ray will be a tough call, so you can exclude it from the options." After all, the strongest of them was Varan, with a 46k Power Level. The rest had lower than that but higher than 40k. "Eh, we can''t try the Manta Ray?" Varan scratched his head. "I wanted to fight it with Maya." "Why me?" Maya rolled her eyes. "Ourbat abilities synergize well," Varan grinned. "Of course, if you are scared to challenge this, then it''s fine." Erix looked with amusement. "If you two are interested, then go ahead." Maya put her ck hair''s lock behind her ear as she nced at Varan. After a couple of seconds of not blinking, she blinked and said, "Fine. Let''s do it." "Great," Varan said with augh as he put his Gada on his shoulder and turned to the Mantra Ray. He wore a light-metalbat armor set of golden and silver design. Maya took out a ck book out of nowhere as it floated before her. She stood behind Varan, wearing a ck robe withpis blue patterns and stone, magically enchanted to boost her stats and powers. "Boss, we are ready," Varan turned his to Erix and showed a thumbs up. "Alright," Erix nodded and unsealed the Manta Ray from the seal. Varan immediately provoked it by having his Gada and releasing a strong red-ish golden energy projection sh. Samuel and Leon decided to fight Spike Crystal Fish with 51k Power Level. "The remaining two monsters will be a single-person battle," Erix said. "Samuel and Leon, why don''t you two finish the other two?" "Alright, boss," Samuel said, his eye-patched eye faintly glowed red as he turned to the snake. "I''ll take on the snake." "Fine, I''ll take the weaker one," Leon chuckled. "The rest of you can go ahead to find more," Erix said with a smile. "Get used to fighting under the water." The remaining members left to bring more monsters and just after that, Zoe and Elena killed the powerful Sea Horse. But unlike the monsters on Earth, this one didn''t turn into motes and vanished. However, Zoe and Elena got a surprising notification while the monsters also glowed and started shrinking. "Boss, this is new," Zoe eximed in surprise upon getting the notification. The sea horse also shrank into an orb as ity on the ground. Elena picked it up before she and Zoe arrived before Erix and Isabe. Both of them inspected the orb and were surprised. [Orb of Lost Ancient] _Info: Infuse Prana to receive a random reward of the Lost Ancient. "Also, we might be close to level up," Elena said. "Whenever we kill a monster, we feel something going inside us and powering us. We felt the same, but we actually didn''t get stats after killing it." "Yes. We didn''t get stats like we kill monsters outside," Zoe nodded. "But we still felt something, so I think we can level up faster here." "Interesting. Alright, go and bring more monsters here. Kill one more and see what happens." Erix grinned and stood up, "If we want to speed up and clear the whole forest, I''ll also have to make a move myself." Isabe wryly smiled. She understood that Erix was going to bring as many as possible with his space powers. Chapter 341 : Isabellas Mysterious Concept While Rin went ahead to scout, Erix gathered monsters and put them in his space prisons by overpowering them. The strongest monster he caught was 73k Power Level, and it was like handling a puppy to Erix as he trapped it within a space prison effortlessly. During the past month, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe made much progress. Isabe''s progress was reflected in her Power Level. She awakened her 2nd Advanced element, Ice! She also reached the 2nd realm in her Magma affinity, her first Advanced element, and also reached the 2nd realm in Ice as she focused on these two and progressed in her Spirit stat with others as that was the priority. However, the most important was that she managed to awaken her first Conceptual power. "Erix, I want to challenge that seventy-three thousand Power Level monster," Isabe said as she looked at the dark blue shark with dark indigo blue ice patterns, sizing to a hundred meters in length and twenty meters in height. "A difference of 20k Power level, eh?" Erix cracked a grin. "Okay. With your arsnal of powers, you should be able to kill that monster." Isabe''s power level was 54k, while the shark monster had a 74k of Power Level. An hour had almost passed as Zoe, Elena, and the other ten members had already killed around fifty monsters altogether in 1v1 or 1v2 battles. "Be-chi gonna fight it alone? I am ready to watch it," Zoe said as she grinned and sat on the sofa beside Erix. "Zoe," Leon wryly smiled while slightly ring at his daughter. "Haha, it''s fine. You all fought a lot, so have some rest," Erix said as he waved his hand and created exotic and aesthetic-looking metal sofas with semi-liquid metal materials for seating on the sofas. Everyone except for Varan and Elena sat down. Those two were killing thest two monsters in two separate 1v1 fights. Meanwhile, Isabe went ahead and faced the shark monster frozen in space. She took out her specially crafted item, a staff with a magic potent orb made from metals attributed to her. "Erix, I am ready," Isabe said with a nod. "Have fun," Erix smiled and freed the shark from his space prison. ¡­ Elena used a custom-crafted sword of light attribute along with the ''Wave'' concept. In her Wave concept, it was not just action, but universal. She could feel all kinds of waves, of various elemental, and atmospheric, waves from her attacks, from enemies''s attacks, and even waves produced with the execution of skills. Her main elemental affinities were Light and Wind, both in the 3rd realm thanks to elemental crystals. Aside from that, she had two more affinities of me and Earth, both in the 1st realm. But she still used all elements in herbat style to gain boost, and with her ''Waves'' concept, she could forge multyered attacks and bring out the best of using all elements and utilizing their boosts. On the other hand, Varan had Earth, Fire, and Crystal affinities. Two primary, and one advanced. Both of his Earth and Fire were in the 3rd realm while Crystal at the 1st realm. He used those elements in tandem with his medium of power. His concept¡ª ''Smash''. For now, his thinking of Smash of smacking everything or anything with anything in his possession, and when he attacks with that thinking and pattern, the concept would apply, boosting those attacks by a whole 50%. But that was not all. He was the only one aside from Rin, Erix, and Isabe to have a 2nd realm concept. His 2nd realm Smash¡ªBreaking Crash, boosted his smash attacks more on top of giving it an attribute of ''break'' upon smashing, which would reduce the durability and defense of anything physical or magical. ''Among them, Varan and Elena are strongest in terms of purebat power,'' Erix internally nodded. ''But as long as others progress in their concepts and bring out some new forms to increase theirbat power, they can catch up.'' Erix looked at Isabe, watching her fighting. ''Let''s see what she has in store. I''ll figure out her concept this time.'' *Boom* Isabe had two elemental zones around her, one Ice and one Magma. She fueled those zones by using her Prana and executed skills by extracting power from them. The shark monster was ice-attribute, but hot and thick Magma shields and walls managed to block every single one of the shark monster''s attacks so far. Whenever those ice attacks struck the Magma-attributed defenses that Isabe conjured, the ice would cool down magma, making it tougher and stronger. With her control, she even sped up that process, making her defense stronger. ''I can defeat it!'' Isabe clenched her fist, thrilled. Soon afterward, a hit of pink appeared on her cheeks. ''I have to use it and attack to win.'' Isabe''s concept was unique, but it was birthed not because she chased it, but because her way of life awakened it automatically. It happened twenty days ago, but Isabe didn''t tell to anyone, except that her concept''s power directly affected herbat power. The surprising thing was that she even managed to reach 2nd realm in it five days ago, directly jumping to 13th rank due to getting a boost of another 10k points. "Can she really kill it?" Varan muttered. "That Shark also has a conceptual power, and it''s defensive." Erix nodded. The monsters here had conceptual powers as well on top of having powerful physiques. Everyone needed advanced and potent skills to kill them after finding their weak points. "Boss, what do you think?" Beatrice curiously asked. "Why doesn''t Isabe tell us about her concept? Do you know about it?" "I got no idea yet," Erix wryly smiled as he shook his head and focused on the battle. "See if you can glean something from this." Isabe blocked two more attacks while her aura started turning fleeting and lighter. However, the potency of her Magma and Ice elemental zones suddenly increased by a fold. "Woah!" "What is that boost in power?" "She used her concept, but what happened?" "I can also only feel the conceptual-type power, but don''t know what kind of power it is." Everyone was confused, while Erix narrowed his eyes. He fully focused his Spiritual Mystic Eye, and put all his consciousness on it, to see exactly what nature of thought power and concept of Isabe''s Conceptual power. Chapter 342 : Strange Power, Technology Key ''This¡­'' Erix frowned. ''This is not like the usual Conceptual powers. Why is it like this?'' Erix couldn''t feel the exact substance and essence as he could feel in the usual Concepts he had seen so far. Isabe conjured giant spinning drills made of Magma containing potent power. ''It boosted her magic power directly?'' Erix was stunned. ''What kind of concept is that?'' ''Conceptual powers aren''t supposed to do that directly. They apply a type of power to attacks or activities that meet a Concept''s criteria, making that attack powerful and giving it the benefits of that concept. ''But Isabe''s Conceptual power directly boosted her magic power.'' Soon, everyone saw the giant Magma Drills spinning terrifyingly shooting toward the Shark monster. Those drills struck the Shark''s pentagon shield that it created to defend itself, but one of the drills drilled past it and broke it while the other three giant Magma drills continued. The Shark tried to escape, but the drills obviously followed it, the attack''s speed outssing the Shark''s speed as its dodging and escaping tactic failed. *BOOM!* All three drills struck the shark monster, causing an explosion. One of the drills entered inside it and exploded, spreading intense me inside it. ''Yes! It worked!'' Isabe clenched her fists. ''It was the right idea to make two different types of drills, one type more oriented towards thicker Magma so they could solidify and explode into burst chunks by freezing the power of the Shark, while the other two drills bearing more me power activate inside to deal pure me damage.'' The Drill-type attacks are something she spent time developing, using her learned knowledge of formations from Rin and Erix, and other skills'' formations. That four drills skill was equal to near top Tier-5 in terms of pure offense-type skills. Moreover, Isabe knew that the Ice element''s nemesis was Fire! If water could douse the fire, then the fire could melt Ice! This shark had three attributes, but ice was its main and most powerful. It had high ice resistance as well. To defeat it, she needed maximum me power and the me power in Isabe''s two other drills burned the shark''s organs and reached its brain, killing it swiftly. The effects of her 3rd realm me and 2nd realm Magma affinities were boosted by her 2nd realm concept, allowing her to defeat this foe with 20k higher Power Level than her and higher defense. The dead body glowed and shrank before turning into an orb. Meanwhile, Isabe leveled up to 238, gaining 10 stat points. "I did it!" Isabe grinned as she returned with a p of her wind-attributed wings towards Erix and others. "Let''s see what you get from it," Zoe rubbed her palms while grinning. "Or I can open it for you." "Nope," Isabe chuckled and infused Prana in the Orb of Lost Ancient. It glowed and turned into motes while manifesting a key. [Key of Lost Weapon] _Effect: Use the key on an item to give it a random Lost Ancient technology form. "This is new!" "Yeah, we got resources, and some items from other Orbs, but never got something like this." "Maybe because this monster had a higher Power level? It''s the only one we got which had 74k power level." Meanwhile, Erix released a sigh, attracting everyone''s attention. "I still couldn''t figure out your concept." Isabe mischievously smiled, making her look beautiful with her slightly mature face and vibe. "This is a secret for you to figure out." Erix wryly smiled. However, he didn''t know that Isabe was just embarrassed to say it and was not prepared for it. ''What do I do¡­'' Internally Isabe sighed. But she had already spent time contemting it and put it in the back of her mind. She decided to live the same way she living with her secret for now. ''Whatever happens will happen when the timees. I don''t want to think about it now,'' Isabe thought. "Erix, how do you use this? Any idea?" Isabe stretched her hand holding the key. "It''s an interesting item. How about you make your staff have physical contact with it?" Erix suggested. Isabe nodded as she tried it. The moment Key touched her staff, Isabe felt a magic trail producing in the key. Raising her eyebrows, she infused Prana in that trail, causing the key to activate. It got absorbed into her staff, instantly coating it into nano motes, but physical. Her staff broke down into those nano-motes before a powerful aura fluxed from it, surprising everyone. "Woah, is this stuff gonna transform into a robot?!" Tony eximed. "Or maybe a mecha?" Roy grinned. However, the motes started shrinking, making everyone confused. But everyone soon got the answer as the end result turned out to be a small purple star-shaped thing. It glowed and had beautiful violet patterns on it. "It became like this¡­" Isabe was stunned. "I hope it still contained the property of the weapon you made, Erix." "Let''s inspect it," Erix dryly chuckled. He also wasn''t sure. "Well, even if the staff''s effects and properties didn''t retain, I can make another one, haha." "Oh, it''s Tier increased to 6!" Zoe shouted in shock. "First Tier-6 weapon among us. Haha, we also have a chance to get that key and give our weapon some technology." [Star Mage''s Badge] _Tier-6 _Grade: Legendary _Attribute: Fire, Magma, Earth, Ice, Wind, Water. _Base Magic Attack: 10,200 + 300% of user''s Magic stat. _Attack form: Elemental orb projectile attacks. _Effect(s): Overloaded Fuse, Dual Spark Lasers, Synergy Pool. _Technology Form: Star Mage Badge. ¡ª> As long as this badge is attached to you physically, you can conduct all powers of it and project it through your body part as if you holding the staff. _Technology Trait: ¡ª> Supernova Mark: Absorbs residual elemental energies and stores them in the badge. Once it reaches full, you can use a Supernova Mark on your next attack, boosting its power by 50% to 100%. "This item is great, alright. How did the staff turn into this badge and still retain all properties and effects of that stuff?" Erix rubbed his chin as she was surprised, even shocked. "It also increased basic attributes like Attack and I can feel that it can release Isabe''s attacks more efficiently." Isabe smiled and took the badge. "Hmmm, where do I put this badge?" Erix looked at the badge and then Isabe''s head as he got an idea and chuckled, "I found a perfect ce based on its size." Taking the badge, he put it on the left part of her head after putting a lock of hair behind her ear. Isabe''s heart raced with Erix this close, but she remained calm. "Hair clip, eh? That''s a good idea indeed." "Yep," Erix grinned and looked at the star badge with beautiful flowery-type patterns on it. "It looks perfect on hair." "Yeah, Be-chi. That looks good as a hair clip, haha." "It also won''t get in the way in that ce." "I want to see what other kinds of transformation that mysterious key does." Erix said, "Alright, let''s move ahead. We''ll find more monsters and kill them while moving constantly this time." "We''ve used one hour, so only nine hours are left before the buff runs out," Isabe nodded. "Let''s proceed ahead." Chapter 343: Baiandron Race, Destruction Progress As Erix and others proceeded ahead, they killed more monsters on the way. Each monster killed gave them an Orb of Lost Ancient. However, none of the orbs gave [Key of Lost Weapon] as a reward. But when they found a monster with 68k Power Level, and Erix killed it instantly to save time and continue forward, the Orb of Lost Ancient it dropped gave the Key. "Use it on your weapon," Erix sent the Key towards Varan as it flew and arrived before him. Varan was surprised, but after thanking Erix, he used the key on his Gada. His Gada did not transform like Isabe''s staff. It became a golden color with dark brown and dark gold patterns instead, changing its structural property, but still retaining all effects. As a special technology trait, Varan''s Gada turned into a weapon that could change its size up to twenty meters! Although its weight increased tremendously, it felt as if it was light in Varan''s hand. "Woah, boss! This is powerful," Varan howled as he waved his twenty-meter-long Gada, destroying trees and boulders in the water. "Its technology trait is also awesome," Varan grinned as he showed its details to others. Technology Trait: ¡ª> Power Smash: Consume three or more different types of energy and create a power core in the center of your weapon''s head, making your next weapon as Power Smash that deals a powerfulpact st on-hit. The more amount of energy you consume, the stronger it is, and the capacity of the power core depends on your magic control efficiency. "It''s good. You can infuse various elemental energies based on your affinities after consuming Prana to produce them, use Spirit Force, and your ss energy," Erix nodded. "All of them will also apply affinities'' effects, and the act of attacking with your weapon will apply your Smash concept." "Yes," Varan nodded while smiling. "Observe that weapon''s formation and power core when you use it. Learn from it so you can create a skill that powerful," Erix thoughtfully said. "I can see that this weapon''s capacity of housing energy increased a lot more, and this Power Smash must be equivalent to a top Tier-5 offense-type skill." "You can observe its formation and Power Core when you use it, to learn and increase your knowledge of magic." ¡­ Varan''s weapon also turned into a Tier-6 one. Everyone''s weapon had Tier-6 materials since Erix had them, but their weapons were not at Tier-6. Hecked the intricacy and advancement to create a Tier-6 weapon. ''These weapons are lowest of rug in Tier-6 realms, but they still showed the transformative and capacity aspect of a Tier-6 weapon,'' Erix thought while he leisurely sat on a sofa and watched others fight. By the time they reached the end of the forest, another hour had passed by. When they arrived there, it was a cliff with strange water filling it. Although everything was in the water, this cliff was still filled with dark blue water and oozed out a magical aura. The other groups had long arrived here because all of them prioritized breaking through the forest. But the members of the top ones were missing or fighting the monsters. Erix and others also soon saw a few people bringing monsters near the periphery of the forest''s edge and fighting with them. After all, everyone knew that the monsters gave EXP and transformed into an Orb that gave random rewards. "You''re finally here," Yelwon said as she smacked her lips. Everyone saw Erix''s group arriving and became active. "Where''s Rin?" Sameira asked in surprise. Erix''s group arrived at the Heavenly Melody group''s location. "She went ahead to scout. Let me see if she is in the range," Erix said as he closed his eyes and enhanced his spirit sense, using his Spiritual Mystic Eye to the max and detect Rin''s presence. During the past month, he had also increased his Spirit stat by roughly four hundred points. "Brat, what''s your Power Level?" Kenshin asked in surprise. "This Spirit Force is way stronger." Erix grinned, "Everyone made progress in their affinities, so of course, we also made some and gained Spirit power. There''s one more source like others, and it''s Spiritual Art." Everyone''s spiritual art increases one''s Spirit power if they train in it every day. The Way of Unfettered was rather special because it didn''t give direct benefits like other Spiritual Arts. Other spiritual arts gave people a power source, attribute, and new ability, but Way of Unfettered was unique and a very high-graded Spiritual Art. Instead of other benefits, it gave them a ce to get stronger faster based on their potential and talent, and a higher speed of increasing Spirit power. On top of that, its 2nd stage evolved Erix and other''s normal Spirit Sense into a Spiritual Mystic Eye. "As my Power Level, it''s¡­" Erix secretly showed his Power Level panel to Kenshin and Sameira. The guild members knew about Erix and Rin''s true power level, but others didn''t know. Seeing the panel of Erix''s Power Level, Kenshin pped Erix''s shoulder whileughing wryly, "Good. Don''t slow down, haha." "Or we will catch up," Sameira chuckled. The other guild leaders arrived there for discussion, so the 2nd meeting soon began. The current situation was as such. The mysteriouske was their next point of entry because when people neared theke, it showed a digital panel of entering the Baiandron Tribe''s 1st region. Entering inside meant they were finally going to make contact with the enemy. However, instead of everyone entering at once, the guild leaders wanted to send a single team of people who specialized in escaping and scouting with their skills. They wanted Erix and Rin to lead them because they were the most powerful and way ahead of others in terms ofbat power. "The idea of scouting ahead is good," Erix nodded with a thoughtful expression that soon changed as he smiled. "However, you should send your own team from different parts of thiske." "It''s a fifty-kilometer-wideke, but I am sure that going inside will show us a whole new world of the ocean where these Baiandrones live," Erix leaned back on his chair and nonchntly said. But just as he was about to continue, thekeshore near them burst out with a flood of water along with several powerful auras. ''Darling, It''s party time.'' Erix''s eyes shed as he heard Rin''s voice in his head. His eyes also cleared everything in an instant as he mapped the situation. "Group up and get in your formations!" Sameira shouted and alerted everyone. The other guild leaders snapped out of their brief shocked state before they could do it on their own. It showed how Sameira the Warring Artist was most readied of all in this situation involving a sudden challenge. Everyone acted swiftly and ran away while Rin arrived beside Erix. Some people were still slow, but Erix decided to clear the zone of iing monsters that Rin brought with his move. *Blink.* Erix sent everyone within two kilometers of him away, teleporting them far away from the iing threats. Everyone found themselves several kilometers away, but also saw what emerged from theke and trembled. Not just from the sight, but the aura that they released and the power it waved towards them. A total of four ten meters tall humanoids, but with an octopus-like head having bio-metallic helmets, and other bio-metallic aspects in eyes, limbs, and tentacles that emerged from around their necks. Their hands held arge barrel rifle-like gun with a powerful aura as well. One of them immediately pointed it at Erix and activated it. The Baiandron''s patterns on its body shone as he pulled the trigger, and his Prana was consumed as the strange gun weapon released a neon glowing bar-shaped condensed dark blue bullet towards Erix and Rin. ''Darling, care.'' Rin grinned, while Erix''s eyes glinted as he saw the power of this strange bullet containing concepts, water, and some other foreign elements. ''sma? Electric¡­interesting conceptual powers.'' Erix waited till the bullet was just ten centimeters away from him and Rin. It felt cool instead of heat, but Erix could faintly vision what would happen the moment it touched him. The power in this strange bullet was enough to render his and Rin''s vitality to 0% without prepared defense. ''Let''s see its properly.'' Erix grinned. A dark gold skeleton hand manifested right before his chest, coated by exotic hybrid metal with ck, purple, and dark red patterns. Erix sent Rin away with a blink teleport, but he shot back like a bullet while his dark gold skeleton hand that he created with Death element''s fundamental energy Death Stream as a medium while his other powers gave it powers. While shooting back like a bullet, Erix took one second to execute his move¡ªteleporting himself along with the bullet that his skeleton handheld. The direction immediately changed to a mountain nearby at the periphery of the forest. Erix teleported again and appeared beside Rin while the big bar-shaped bullet struck the mountain. *BOOM!* Everyone''s mouth turned agape at the power as the bullet enveloped the whole mountain that was two kilometers wide and two kilometers tall. In the next second, a st urred, razing the entire mountain into tiny particles while intense sizzling of strange electricity and sma churned and vaporized the water in that mountain area. For a second, a bubble formed there, but it was swiftly squashed. The ocean turned chaotic, and powerful currents manifested, pressing everyone. "You really brought one hell of a party," Erixughed out loud while his eyes glinted with the thrill and amusement he felt at this situation. Rin didn''t bring an ordinary enemy. Each one of them had around 150k Power Level disyed when inspected! Even Kenshin and Sameira had their expression turned somber. Everyone had to protect themselves by creating a Prana barrier or those chaotic strong currents that were spreading everywhere would pull them chaotically in their flow. "Humans," one of the Baiandron spoke in a jarring deep voice beforeughing. "You will die." And then, everyone heard a notification. [Sudden challenge: Kill the four Baiandron Guards.] [Destruction Progress chart of Antis has been unlocked.] [Baiandron Tribe Destruction Progress: 0%] 1. Kingdom. 2. Four main cities. 3. Army. Chapter 344: [Tempest Blade: Temporal Shred] "All of them have around one hundred and fifty thousand Power Level! Will they be able to handle these Baiandrones?" Leishun felt jitters and wanted to escape from this situation. "Why don''t we retreat for now?" Everyone gathered together a few kilometers away from the battlefield and saw two lights¡ªRin and Erix, moving around dodging and attacking the four enemies. "Should we go a bit more far away from this ce?" "Yeah, the shockwaves are still reaching here." Everyone could see Erix and Rin speedily flying around or teleporting. Suddenly, they saw a one hundred meters long de manifesting from Rin''s Katana, while Erix teleported her right behind two Baiandrones. Right after that, everyone saw a wall of faint hazy purple mes in a ssy-phenomenon still motion pping on the two Baiandrones, pushing them between material ce and space limbo and sealing their movement while also applying strange marks on their body, armor, and weapons that began strange deathly corrosion and causing them to feel strange burns. This was Erix''s debuff and control-type skill that he perfected recently from one he made during his ss-skill creation attempts. [Spectral Limbo Print] _Attributes: Nihilir, Death, Chaos. _Effect: Conjures a wall of any size and potency ording to the energy consumed. Targets hit by the wall will be pushed into space between Space Limbo and Material, sealing them and beginning corrosion and death of matter and energy, reducing durabilities and defenses. However, the enemies were not weak enough to be sealed for long. They could only be sealed for one second, but¡­that one second was enough. *sh!* It was enough for Rin to swing her full-powered,rge-scale, one-swing attack--One of her most powerful pure offense-type skills. The de shed in an instant, but Rin made the time flow fast in her as a jelly-like chronace flow coated around her and the de, increasing her speed and gaining time of two full seconds in that single second. *sh, sh, sh, sh, sh!* ''Haah!'' Rin''s bloodshot eyes cooled while her whole body was littered with injuries as she exerted herself to extremes, both physically and magically. The shes looked spectacr as those two Baiandrones froze in an agonizing hell that began with this Rin''s skill. After spending elemental crystals and reaching the 5th realm in her Wind concept in ten days, Rin spent fully focused four days on the de concept and made her breakthrough to the 3rd realm of the de concept¡ªSlice & Dice, giving her a new direct power aspect like ''Severam'', named ''Cut''. Just like Several, it could stack ording to a condition. Of course, she already had the idea of the possibility she visualized for the next evolution of her de concept, so it was not hard. On top of that, she spent the remaining days of the month progressing in her newly acquired affinities from her Bloodline''s evolution¡ªDeath and Blood. She was determined to make progress, and due to her having the bloodline of the same attributes, Erix''s mastery in the Death element, and one of the guild members having Blood affinity in the 3rd realm, Rin progressed properly without trouble. As such, Rin managed to reach 2nd realm in Death and Blood elements at the end, boosting her pure-offense aspects and allowing her to create stronger skills and modify her existing ones to their improved versions ording to her progress in powers. The one she used was one of the two most difficult ones as they contained all of her power aspects. [Tempest de: Temporal Shred] _Attributes: Chronace, Blood, Death, de, Chaos, Crimson Onyxbolt. _Effect: A de of any size depending on required energy consumed. Targets struck by the de will have 10,000 Severam stacks inflicted on them per 0.5 seconds, with thousands of tiny dark red lightning des with Dissolution-Flow structure constantly flowing in a time sped-up loop of chaotic stream within the condensed de at lightning speed. If the de proceeds to sessfully severe, the severed part will be marked with Cut stacks that would activate upon the user''s will and consume the blood and energy of the target to spread cuts in other areas ording to cut stacks. Rin made fifteen shes with this de on both Baiandrones in a single second while using time of Two seconds, practically using the [Tempest de: Temporal Shred] to its full potential at the cost of harming herself and exerting over her limit. But the results were shocking as everyone saw both Baiandrones cutting into several big chunks at first, before proceeding to get diced into thousands of pieces, making them deader than dead. Her attack contained all offensive and other utility aspects of her elements and concepts, making this skill one of her most powerful at the moment. "You seeded, babe!" Erixughed and kissed Rin, while also using his life power to heal her, and teleported away because the remaining two Baiandrones angrily attacked. Their big guns to transform into glowing saber-ded spears, having condensed dark blue des on both ends. They rushed towards Erix and Rin while releasing two shes. *Shraaa!!* "Two left, your turn," Rin smiled as she wrapped her arms around Erix. Erix grinned and pressed Rin''s butt after carrying her in princess style and teleporting one more time, juking both Baiandrones are they snarled in anger. "Let''s do this," Erix licked his lips while Rin rested in Erix''s arms and used her Chronace Stream to wrap them in a Chronace Bubble, allowing her to increase their speed, slow iing attacks or close-range assaults. Meanwhile, Erix started conjuring one of his strongest attacks as strange ten-meter-long big rodes appeared one by one and traveled around him. All ten rods were mysteriously ssy, made of dark purple metal with dark silver and dark orange patterns, but they were not in a material ne. Instead, the rods floated around in the Space Limbo. All ten rods were getting magically enchanted with formations as Erix continued with the execution of the skill and his various energies consumed, using 70% of his every energy like Rin did in her attack. Baiandrones became more ferocious and had their speed increased. But Erix could still barely teleport out of their range and remain safe with Rin''s Chroance control despite their fast speed in this water, increasing both Baiandrones'' frustration and also the determination to kill them. But after just six seconds since the first two Baiandrones died, Erix was ready. He stopped, appearing three kilometers away from both Baiandrones, while also nearing the group of a hundred people. All of them felt panicky and erected their defenses. ''Why here?!'' ''Run!'' Some even moved away more in fear of getting hit by a wild attack or shockwave. They didn''t have the confidence to deal with even a reduced attack from them or rather, to do that, they would have to spend energies, including Spirit Force that could only be recovered naturally. But, they were still slower than the Baiandrones, who immediately turned around with their bodies glowing like usual before vanishing into the high-pressured flowing water and zooming towards Erix at full speed, appearing before the duo in a second as usual. However, this time, Erix didn''t teleport again. Everyone''s mind felt a sudden pinch and their hearts reached their throat as they saw the scene between life and death. But of course, Erix had a n and it was time to end these bio-cyborg octopus-head humanoids, which was why he didn''t evade them. Before those Baiandron''s attack could hit them, Rin expanded her Chronace Field to envelop both Baiandrones as Erix moved back a bit. Meanwhile, to the unpleasant surprise of both Baiandrones, those ten rods punctured through both Baiandrons at once in pure terror. One each in their heads and four limbs. "Arghhhhh!" *Screeeee!!* Chapter 345: [Erasure Void Rods] Both released painful cries as their defense failed to resist those strange Rods. In reality, each being had a field around them, that would give them the support of the material ne''s space ording to their existing power, ording to their overall stats in every single area. Why? Because their existence put weight into the material ne, and formed that field. The strength of this field was affected by magic, physical, and all other aspects that earned their foundational powers. Continue your adventure with m|v-l''e-NovelBin The rods felt resistance from that field, but their fields were not strong enough and these Rods were way more powerful as they held held power of one of the most offensive elements in general--Nihilir, in their structure and Nihilir''s enchants, that they could not do anything to prevent these rods from puncturing them in that second. These rods were essentially Erix''s main and most powerful attacks at present, abination of weapon and skill structure, that he could create anytime within a few seconds. The metal used was specifically created and driven to evolution with his interference in Metal World, so they had Nihilir-element in them, making it the best medium to bring out more power from his Nihilir-based attacks. Of course, he could only create these deadly Erasure Void Rods because of his progress in the past month. After using all high-grade elemental crystals to reach the 5th realm in his me element in six days, Erix reached the 3rd realm in the Punch concept, expanding a whole new realm of power. Making the Punch concept reach 3rd realm wasn''t that hard. It took only him five days of full focus on the Punch concept to make a breakthrough because he managed to find, visualize, and acquire a possibility of what he wanted in progress to 3rd realm of the Punch concept early in the month as he already had a rough idea of it. And...the idea of these Erasure Void Rods was also birthed after his breakthrough in the Punch concept. But he could only turn this idea into reality after sixteen days of fully focusing on the Devorex Metal attribute-concept and roaming around to find various metals and understand more about them. He had to create metal-magic structure theories in his mind, believe them, and try to apply them in constant failures in experiments andprehension for sixteen days straight before he managed to make a breakthrough and produce Nihilir Metal! His first Tier-7 Metal! The amount of hard work and focus Erix and Rin put in the past month was no less than any other previous month, and their power caused all the people in this group to involuntarily feel awe as they saw the spectacle of power twice within ten seconds. Everyone saw the rods glowing while they firmly sat pierced into the two Baiandrones'' heads and limbs! Their mouths were not pierced, so they screamed in pain and powerlessness because of the danger these rods posed to them. [Erasure Void Rods] _Attributes: Metal, Nihilir, Death, Chaos, Punch, Devorex Metal. _Effect: Rods bearing power to travel in Space Limbo and puncture through at any spot in the parallel material ne with extreme piercing power that renders the target unable to defend. Upon the user''s will, the rods can explode with the entirety of its attribute''s power in a pure chaotic destruction with Chaotic Evolution consuming all various energies to create a most chaotic and destructive explosion. In the next second¡­all rods violently and chaotically exploded with utterly no regard for anything, obliterating both Baiandrones. [You have reached level 214¡­] [You have reached level 214¡­] The attached big spheres of the void in the water with nothing in them appeared in ce of the Baiandrones, making everyone who looked at it feel death and terror. Space itself was broken due to the nature of Erix''s attack and its attributes, but it mended swiftly while the water chaotically churned and streamed. [Congrattions onpleting the challenge. Destruction Progress: ¡ª Army: 8.9%, Overall: 4.2%.] Most people only snapped out of their dumbfounded state after getting the notification. "Let''s go. It''s time to enter theke. Follow us because we have to enter theke from another spot to avoid enemies. With such a big group, they can detect us." Rin said as she and Erix arrived before the group. Everyone nodded. They knew Rin went to scout ahead, so it was wise to go together with them. Hell, they felt safer that way¡­until they realized a possibility that they could also abandon them and it was not wise to rely on them. With fear and half-baked trust, everyone followed the duo while Kenshin and Sameira talked with Rin, Erix, and Isabe about Rin''s finding in private. "T-They did it." "What is their power level now? I am curious." While many were discussing Erix and Rin''s crazybat, the guild leaders and the top rankers felt their guts churning and talked in a private spiritual chat group. [Leishun: It is too much. What the heck is their Power level? Anybody knows?''] [Koshal: Just wait until they enter the Tower again.] [James: They haven''t entered the tower for a whole month even though I am sure they could clear some floors. Why is that? I think there''s a reason for that, or do they just want to hide their Power Level?] The big group of 121 people entered theke at a slow speed with their senses expanded while the top rankers internally talked about Rin and Erix. Inside theke, it turned out to be a huge water world withrge natural stone pirs and more depths with no light. Everyone saw structures twenty kilometers away, with colorful lights, but these structures were also three kilometers deep in a gorge. [Amir: I don''t think we are on Earth anymore. What the hell is this ce?] [Yelwon: Whatever it is, that Rin surely found a good spot after going ahead. We can safely n here first and move forward. I think Erix was going to suck some benefits out of us when we talked about scouting ahead since he knew Rin was already inside.] [Jax: Haha, he is ruthless and doesn''t let go of opportunity to pressure us.] [Gabriel: If they feel like killing us, I don''t think it would be that hard.] [Leishun: Heh, hard? It would be as easy as killing chickens.] ''But I would rather maintain a friendly connection with them,'' Gabriel thought, his mind forming some schemes. But he was not alone. The others were also thinking about the future and their rtions because...one thing was hammered as an absolute fact for everyone. "Gather here in a circle," Erix said, announcing as his voice entered everyone''s ears. "We have some intel and a n based on that with roles, so choose your roles." That one absolute fact was that every time they would think about making some big move, their future nning, their progression, and other things¡­they would have to do that while bearing Erix and Rin...and the Unfettered Fate guild in their mind with great consideration. None of them liked this feeling of having people with a big gap in power between them in thiswless world because it gave them a sense of constant threat and pressure. They could hide in the Sanctuary Area, sure. But ultimately, it was up to their mindset and choices if they wanted to progress and prosper, be they wise or foolish. Chapter 346: War Begins "What do you mean by roles?" Yelwon raised her eyebrows. The guild leaders formed a ground behind a huge pir while other members stood behind. "First of all, proceeding towards that city is dangerous," Rin said. "After crossing a bit more distance, we''ll get a warning that only people with 100k Power Level should go there." "In short, that area is pretty much like a mid-game orte-game area, eh?" Tony chimed in while rubbing his chin. "That''s right," Erix said while Rin nodded, and her eyes gleamed, using SPirit Force and Prana to project the scenery she saw from her eyes. Soon, everyone saw arge building structure five kilometers wide, made of metals and crystals. There were also building structures as well, with smaller Baiandrones and other types of Baiandrones with different types of tentacles and colors. "I''ve scouted several hundred kilometers in all directions in thiske, and found some ces," Rin said with a faint smile. "For our raid, we''ll have to attack this factory." Everyone understood. Rin showed a few more ces, but the first one was the factory. It was a manufacturing factory of power cores that were refined from energy ores found in-depth mines. These cores were used as potent energy sources and mediums to create more powerful sources for their weapons. The group of 121 people traveled a hundred kilometers west, avoiding the city in the north. Rin brought the group in a thick entangled water nt field on a hilly-like surface. But three kilometers away was a big mountain, and it was their target. "That mountain has three huge passages through its body and past any of them is the location of the factory," Rin said. "I managed to sneak in easily while masking my presence and going past guards with my speed, but this time, we''ll have to kill them." "How many are there?" Mary asked. "And how powerful?" "Each passage has four guards, between 40k to 50k Power level. After killing them and entering, we''ll face our next challenge." "And if you feel danger, escape to this location and enter this portal," Erix said before he waved his hand and created a horizontal portal on the surface. "Jump into this portal and you''ll be back at the starting area where the entry portal is located." Everyone''s eyes shone. "Thank you, Mr. Erix." "Haha, this is a big help. If stronger Baiandronese after us, we can escape safely." "Truly, thank you so much." After the members spoke out of excitement and relief, the top rankers had no choice but to smilingly thank Erix for this life-saving route. Whether they wanted or not, if push came to shove, they would have to use the portal to make their lives easier. "Alright, part into three groups," Erix pped his hand lightly and drowned other voices. "Each group will go into a passage and join the war." "Actually, Heavenly Melody guild and Unfettered Fate will be one group," Isabe said with a smile. "The rest of the people can part into two bigger groups." "Haha, that''s bnced indeed," Rin grinned. "Alright, get in formation and go." ¡­ [Challenge: Kill all Baiadrones in the factory area and destroy all factories.] [Power Level Requirement: 45k] The guards Baiandrones soon felt some auras approaching them. However, before they could proceed to investigate, all Baiandrones guards suddenly felt auras near them. The top rankers arrived in their smaller party in both passages and swiftly killed eight guards before they could do anything because Erix directly teleported both parties into their respective passages. On the other hand, Erix teleported all members of both guilds into the 3rd passage while others attacked the guards at once, killing all four in a couple of seconds. After going past the passages, everyone indeed saw a hugend with factories and lots of Baiandrones. Erix scanned everything quickly and said, "Most of them are at 20k-30k Power Level Baiandrones. They are working-ss since they are the ones working everywhere here, numbering five hundred." "The others are Baiandrones of 40k-50k Power, numbering one hundred. Let''s name them guard-ss since they are patrolling and guarding ces inbat form simr to the four we fought." "There are a few more powerful auras at the end," Erix narrowed his eyes as he looked at the end of the factory area, where a big mansion was located. "Must be the boss area of this challenge," Roy said with augh. "But I guess boss Rin and Erix can make quick work of it." "They areing," Kenshin said as he narrowed his eyes. Zoe grinned widely, with embers burning in her eyes and her Fulmin ze Spear lighting up, "Let''s go!" She vanished from her spot and zoomed towards the iing Baiandrone guards and workers. Varan, Elena, Beatrice, Leon, and Maya joined her and began fighting. The other tworge groups also beganbat. "We are outnumbered, but we just have to kill more," Sameira said as she took out two a rifle with a long metallic jade de attached to it. Pointing at the iing ten worker-ss and two Guard-ss Baiandrones, Sameira pointed her rifle, as it opened a magical scope and her aura exploded before infusing into the weapon. "Bam," Erix grinned as he knew his mother-inw was going to use the weapon he made to its full power. Sameira pulled the trigger, lightning up patterns on the big rifle while consuming her various energies from power sources to execute her attack skill through the rifle. *Boom!* It released a spiraling round bullet of dark orange with dark blue sparks that vibrated in a condensed manner. It exploded upon nearing the Baiandrone group, with Sameira''s 3rd realm Shatter concept going on with full power in this attack while augmented by her elements and skills. The explosion enveloped all 12 Baiandrones before a high-pressured atmospheric field manifested due to one of the effects of her Shatter concept. Your next read awaits at m v|l-e-NovelBin All 12 Baiandrones were razed with the mestorm explosion in a raging storm of water and wind with zing mes. But all of that was also affected by the Shatter Field, forcing everything to part into two. This effect instantly multiplied by 100 and more upon the enemies not being able to resist due to the mestorm explosion and theirck of defense against Shatter''s power. *Boom!* All twelve Baiandrones were shattered, along with their weapons and other things, into hundreds of tiny perfect square parts. "You two can go ahead for the boss. We will clear the mobs," Sameira grinned at Rin and Erix as she put the fancy long magic rifle on her shoulder. "That''s right," Kenshin smacked his gauntlets whileughing. "Of course, if you can spare some big shots for us, that would be great." "Haha, alright." Erixughed while Rin grabbed Erix''s hand and grinned, "Then we''ll be going ahead." ¡­ Baiandron Tribe''s Royal Pce¡­ "King Kauiel. The humans have arrived and destroyed one of our power core factories." "We managed to kill a few of their people, but the rest escaped." "King, we can finally make our move since they breached the barrier." King Kauil nodded while caressing one of his dark green honeb-micro-structured tentacles. "Check our portal connections and prepare troops. Our people are limited, so we''ll have to send people ordingly." "We shall first send unmanned machines to attack those who attacked us and collect some data. It''s good that they decided to attack us Baiandrones first." King Kauli''s face stretched a wide grin while a dark glint flickered in his big round eyes. "We have been created for only one thing. To kill humans and take over this world to thrive and live further. Let''s show them the power of Antis and our six tribes." Chapter 347: Haha, No After destroying the factory, and killing hundreds of Baiandrones, everyone escaped from the Baiandron Tribe''s portal and arrived back at the hub. Three people died out of one hundred and twenty-one. It was an unfortunate, but irreversible fate. However, the death of three people still shook half of the people. Nobody wanted to die. They survived the initial hell of this world-changing event, lived for constantly changing six months, and got powerful! They didn''t want to die! It had been a long while since they had seen the deaths of such powerhouses, but Baiandrones were tough and a few careless decisions and moves killed three people during the war in the factory area. "Let''s continue. We still have over five hours to spend with the buff," Erix smiled as he looked at another tribe''s door. "We shall enter the Merfinn tribe and clear one of their early areas." Since the Baiandrone tribe had further challenges that they could handle, the other tribes should also have such challenges. Everyone could easily infer that, so nobody objected and everyone soon entered the Merfinn Tribe. This ocean area was yet again different. It was freezing and stormy, affected by magic in the water. Unlike with the Baiandrone tribe, the group of 118 people directly faced powerful monsters of 70k - 100k in the snowy water forest. The nt lifeform was tough and exotic here as well, bearing crystal-clear structures with entric internal patterns of their lifeform. The monsters in this vast forest area were many, but not all in one ce. Each spot only had two to five monsters. Their powers were devastating for most, so they mostly focused on defending themselves while attacking, while the top rankers focused on killing. [Jason: What the hell is with their weapons?! They are getting most of the rewards!] [Leishun: Erix¡­That bastard has Metal affinity at the high realm for sure. Only their weapons and items are superior to others.] [Yelwon: I wonder if I canmission from him?] [Gabriel: I also want one. If I had that long sword of his guild member, my skills would definitely go above a notch. If he can create Metals, it means that the sword has such a perfect metal foundation of three elemental attributes that match that boy''s] [Leishun: Jason, you got the title of Destruction Forge because of your cksmith-rtedbat ss and also have a Magsmith sub-ss, but your weapon is worse than his. What''s going on?] Find your next adventure on m_v l|e-NovelBin [Jason: Fuck you.] [Jax: Jason''s Metal affinity is at 3rd realm.] [Jason: It''s not just affinity, brah. That Erix has something else rted to Metal that makes his crafts more powerful. Most importantly, how the hell does he have those exotic Metals of such a high tier? They are the key.] [Yelwon: I don''t know all about that, but your crafting is also worse. Do you see those attacks that his guild members are throwing from their weapons?] [Koshal: Magic formations. His basic knowledge and vocabry for magic is simply higher. That''s why his and his wife''s skills are so efficient and powerful.] [Leishun: I know, I know. They are powerful. Far ahead of us, but let''s not demotivate us by praising them all day.] [Yelwon: Humph, we are discussing facts that are simply out of our reach at the moment, and that sounds like praise to you. Go work harder, kid. You''re falling in ranks.] [Jax: Antagonizing them is a fool''s errand. I would rather form ties with their guild.] [Jason: Fuck! I am low on Spirit Force and we got more fucking guests.] The chat room turned silent again as the big group encountered a pack of monsters. It was a pack of wolves numbering eleven. Each one was above 70k Power Level. Everyone focused onbat, each ying their own role. First, most of the people were not capable of keeping up with the wolves. Their speed was higher for them, and it was hard for these people to attack. As such, they focused on buffing stronger ones while some tried debuff skills. All people had various sses, with many focusing on different aspects ofbat. Control, Debuff, Attack, Buffs¡­ Erix and Rin didn''t attack as usual. If they wanted, they could kill all wolves with ease. However, they were not here to babysit others. They kept their senses around for other enemies while letting the big group handle thebat. To prevent casualties, Erix would save people who were about to receive fatal attacks. Jason, the green spiky-haired guy in his thirties was a powerhouse ranked 16th in World Leaderboard. He had a tank-ss, and led a wolf or two turn by one for other groups, directing them to traps of multiple attacks. However, he screwed up a few times and was fine until one of the dying wolves suddenly attacked Jason and he also failed to react properly. However, he felt a presence beside him before the iing fang projectiles could strike him. The iing attack was erased while the dying wolf froze in the air, causing Yelwon to promptly react as she released several blood-red spear projectiles that skewered the defenseless dying wolf. "Jason, ranked 16th," Erix turned to the short man beside him and grabbed his spiky hair, "You are focusing on others, specifically my guild members." "What''s your intentions?" Erix narrowed his eyes. Yelwon, Leishun, and others near noticed it but were busy inbat as it was time for another injured wolf to die. [Leishun: What the hell? Why is Erix targeting Jason?] [Jax: Amen. Jason''s face caused myughing nerve to activate.] [Yelwon: He looks like he is about to piss. Pff¡­] The others didn''tment, and chat soon died as everyone focused on ending the fight. Meanwhile, Jason was stuttering and having an inner monologue of standing up to Erix and speaking. "I-I was just looking at your items, man." Jason gathered his shit together and forced a smile beforeughing. "You scared me, man. You see, I am also a Magsmith, and with my ss, I can enchant my items for a boost and some other shit." "But when I saw those items you crafted, and how your members were doing freaking better than rest, I was curious." Jason cleared his throat and grinned. "Boss, I-I can join your guild and be your assistant." "Haha, no," Erix burst outughing. "No need really." "W-" Jason then saw Erix disappearing, causing his face to turn nk. ''W-What the fuck¡­ I fought with my self-esteem and decided to revoke my guild leader title and be his assistant, even telling him a bit about my ss, but he fucking rejected me so easily¡­.'' [Leishun: Hey, what happened? Why does your face look like you ate shit?] [Koshal: Erix left afterughing. What happened, Jason? Did you tell him a joke?] [Yelwon: Must be a good joke.] [Jason: Joke¡­.Fuck you all! Fuck him! Damn it! I''ll show everyone who''s the boss¡­in the future!] [Amir: Don''t shout out loud your thoughts like that in this chat. It''s disturbing. We are fighting here.] [Vanessa: That was really loud. Jason, stop crying and start recovering. We are almost done.] [Jason: You all...damn it!] Jason removed his spiritual connection from the spiritual chat. Chapter 348: Protection Scheme, Two Birds with One Stone The entire group didn''t realize how time passed as they gradually crossed the forest while killing blood-thirsty monsters that wouldn''t leave them alone once discovered. By the time they saw a way out of the forest, four hours had passed by. After all, everyone also had to recover their lost energy and move carefully while maintaining their energies to fight. If Rin and Erix were not present and the entire group only had adequate power levels of powerhouses of the same number, it would have taken ten hours for this group to cross the forest. In short, Erix and Rin''sbat capacity ate up an entire six hours of effort, finishing this first expedition into Merfinn Tribe''s territory in four hours. Past the forest, everyone saw breathtaking scenery¡ªIt was a water world of giant and broad stream pathways going into furthernds and depths of this sea. Soon after they moved towards a rather big bowl-like rock covered in vines and glowing moss for grouping, everyone saw a notification. [Challenge: Pass through the Harrowing Stream area and reach the next area.] [Power Level requirement: 55,000] "Let''s stop for now," Leishun said as he sat on a squishy and soft moss. "Everyone is close to theirst recovery potions and emergency buff potions." "Yeah. Also, our buff runs out within an hour," Yelwon said before looking back at the forest area. "This forest is still unexplored, and there are still monsters. Let''s spend the remaining time fighting and improving ourselves." "Yeah. Let''s gather Orbs of Lost Ancient. They give out good stuff." "Ahem," Erix fake coughed and said as everyone ceased their discussion and looked at him. "Then we will not proceed further. Act on your own in groups and fight until the buff runs out." As such, people partied in various groups. The top guilds moved into their own group, while weaker guilds that only had one or two people with a 40k+ power level grouped up to be a bigger party. Everyone wanted those Orbs of Ancient Lost, but there was only 1 orb per 1 monster. The big group indeed killed many monsters, but they were 118 people! It was hard to distribute orbs due to that, but everyone at least got two or three Lost Orbs of Ancient during the past four hours spent crossing the water forest. "Boss Erix, is your protection offer still avable?" Someone asked, and everyone''s ears immediately perked up, while a few people''s faces slightly soured. "Tsk," Yelwon clicked her tongue and turned to her group. "Let''s go. We''ll be going ahead." "Even if there''s a stronger monster, we can defeat it by working together. It''s not even that hard." "Good luck," Koshal smiled at Yelwon and others before he also left with his group. However, only five groups left. The remaining neen groups stayed and eagerly looked at Erix. "Boss, it''s an easy get-rich scheme," Varan grinned. Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin couldn''t help but dryly smile. Erix''s protection scheme was indeed a win-win. ''Erix, let''s do it. We can also strengthen our Spiritual power this way,'' Rin''s eyes glinted. Erixughed and said while sweeping his nce across the groups before him. "The protection offer is still avable, but since we have parted into multiple groups, there are some conditions." "Rin and I will save you as usual, and we''ll take one Orb of Ancient per head, same as before." After Erix finished speaking, Rin said, "But you have to stay within our range for us to act. Find single or double monsters ording to what you can handle, and bring them within 200 kilometers of our position." "As long as you are within 200 kilometers from us, you won''t die, but you''ll pay with an Orb of Ancient. If you don''t have it after we saved you, then you will die." "We are not here to babysit you," Rin smiled while narrowing her eyes. "If you don''t pay, we will kill you." Erix grinned and crossed his arms. "Find us in the forest, eighty kilometers northwest from here. That''ll be our position. Good luck." After saying that, Erix teleported both the Unfettered Fate guild''s group and Heavenly Melody''s group at once, appearing near a pond and a slightly empty area in the forest. It was a good ce to meditate and stay in focus with their senses spread. Meanwhile, Isabe led twelve people of Unfettered Fate to find monsters and the Heavenly Melody guild also left in a group to fight for improvement and rewards. Erix and Rin sat beside each other near the pond under a tree and entered deep focus. Their spirit stat had crossed the 2.1k mark, gaining almost seven hundred Spirit stat points during the past month by practicing daily in Limitless ne and making progress in elements and concepts. At their full focus on their spirit sense, their Spiritual Mystic Eye could cover 250 kilometers of area and mark all presences as if they were watching everything from a bird''s eye view from above with distinction. It could be a bit risky as well, which was why they told others to remain within 200 kilometers diameter of them. After all, to swiftly act, take note of so many different presences with distinction, notice someone in prompt and unavoidable danger, and then move and save them was no easy feat. It was extremely hard! Erix and Rin had to pour the entirety of their focus into this activity and it strained them mentally while also challenging them physically into acting, and then a challenge of control and execution to save a target. But doing all that was obviously not a fruitlessbor. It was hard, but it improved them spiritually, increasing their spirit power A.K.A Spirit stat. In the first ten minutes, each group found monsters to fight. They were also getting used to fighting in the water with efficiency, so everyone was doing better. Somewhere in a group¡­ ''Fuck! I almost died there!'' ''That was really a close call, brother. Would boss Erix have saved you if you didn''t remain careful?'' ''We both haven''t been saved yet, and I would rather remain cautious. I want those Orbs of Lost Ancient for myself.'' ''True. Although the orbs don''t give good rewards often, there''s a chance to get better rewards as well.'' In another group¡­ ''Noo!!'' A man in histe twenties thought that a giant fish that was speedy and ruthless devoured him, but he didn''t feel the expected pain. "Pay up. One orb." The man only saw Erix before him, his heart still beating the fastest ever. "T-Thank you." "Orb," Erix raised his eyebrows. "Stop wasting time. I need to go back into focus." Stay connected via m-v l|e-NovelBin The man quickly took out a Lost Orb of Ancient with a slightly painful expression. "C-can I open it for you?" However, Erix vanished and the orb in the man''s hand also disappeared with him. "Hey, Mike! Get back into the fucking fight and shoot your arrows! Stay behind me, so I can save you promptly." "Haha, dude lost an Orb. Serves him right. It''s fine, Mike. You can continue and attack more just because you have higher attack power." "But you only have one more Orb left. You better earn one more before going careless again." ¡­ Rin and Erix watched everyone and everything from the sky. Not physically, but their consciousnesses that observed everything within 250 kilometers of them via their spirit sense¡ªSpiritual Mystic Eye! ''Easy rewards with benefits, haha. Babe, how many have we got in total since arrived here?'' ''We got sixty-seven Orbs total including the one you just got. It''s gonna be fun opening all of them,'' Rin grinned broadly. The duo went back to focus on grinding their Spiritual power, strengthening it by straining to the maximum. Chapter 349: Rewarding Expendition In the end, their 10-hour-long buff finally ran out. The moment the buff vanished, everyone got a notification. [Do you wish to return to the Antis Hub? Declining means you will have to face the powerful pressure of this deep ocean and constant damage while moving back to the starting location.] It would be hell if they declined! Everyone swiftly pressed ''Yes'' in their minds and vanished one by one. In several seconds, all 118 people appeared back in the hub. And immediately after that, announcements rang worldwide. [Congrattions on making the first progress in the war with Antis.] [Antis Expedition Leaderboard has been opened.] [As every individual enters this war and contributes, their daily expedition will be assessed, ranked, and rewarded.] [Antis Expedition Leaderboard] Rank 1: Rin ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 13,289 points. Rank 2: Erix ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 12,870 points. Rank 3: Yelwon ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 4830 points. Rank 4: Kenshin ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 4828 points. Rank 5: Koshal ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 4729 points. Rank 6: Sameira ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 4638 points. Rank 7: Amir ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 4320 points. Rank 8: James ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 3820 points. Rank 9: Isabe ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 3793 points. Discover more stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin Rank 10: Gabriel ¡ª 10 Hr. ¡ª 3729 points. ¡­ After the leaderboard panel sprung up before everyone who disyed the top 100 ranks in Antis Expedition, everyone also received individual notifications that caused everyone''s eyes to shine. [10-Hour Expedition Assessment and Reward] ¡ª> Assessment: Excellent. ¡ª> Reward: SSS-grade Treasure Chest. "Oh?" Erix was indeed surprised. "You got SSS-grade treasure chest?" Rin looked at Erix. "Yep." "Dad, what you got?" "S-rank treasure chest." "I also got S-rank," Isabe said. Suddenly, everyone heard a loud scream and felt a rising aura in one of the groups. "I got a fucking Tier-6 legendary weapon! Let''s go!" The one who shouted was none other than Jason. "Haha, watch me study this weapon and improve my Magsmithing!" Jason grinned widely and nced at Erix, but didn''t dare to turn his head towards him. "I''ll make the best weapons!" "Shit, I got an Advanced medium-grade elemental crystal! I can choose any element from Advanced Elements!" This shout even caused Erix and Rin to raise their eyebrows. "We get such things from these chests?!" Zoe eximed and quickly took out her A-grade treasure chest. "That guy surely got an A-grade treasure chest like me, but he got that crystal." "Advanced elemental crystals of high grade?" Erix muttered. "That''s indeed a big reward." Rin opened her SSS-grade treasure. It shone colorfully before a prism-shining crystal with colorful lights appeared before her. [Advanced high-grade Elemental crystal] _Imbued one of your advanced elements to turn this crystal into that attribute. "A-grade chest got medium-grade and I got high-grade?" Rin frowned. "I feel like we can get something better from our SSS-grade treasure chests than this." "You are right, dear," Sameira chuckled as the treasure chest before her showed everyone the exact same crystal that Rin got. "I knew it," Rin jokingly pouted. "Darling, open yours." Filled with curiosity and expectation, Erix opened his SSS-grade treasure as well. It shone and spewed out an item with a dark aura. Erix looked at it and dryly chuckled. "Superior-grade Dark-elemental crystal." "It''s a crystal again," Kenshin said with a wry smile while holding a pair of big cat-paws. "Still better than this Tier-6 item that''s of no use to me." "Master, can I have it?" one of the youngdies in her twenties behind Kenshin asked. She was one of the students of their martial dojo before the apocalypse. "Yeah, Nia also uses gauntlets like you," Rin nodded with a grin as she looked at Nia. "Nia, you should also find an armor set suitable to this weapon. It would look cute on you." "Sister Rin, I feel like you would look better withw and even better if you role y with brother inw, hahaha..." ... Everyone rxed and eagerly opened their treasure chests like everyone with anticipation and discussion. The Antis Hub quickly became a Trading Hub. Everyone got various rewards, and all of them were useful rewards, but exchanging a reward from another that would benefit both parties was more alluring. Everyone understood one thing, and it was going to spread everywhere, making people motivated to be stronger faster. That thing was¡ªgoing into Antis for 10 hours and working their ass off in danger gave very handsome rewards. Must enter every day, hunt monsters, and progress! Many people exchanged rewards while the other part of the hub also became lively. Those shopping stalls and makeshift shops of various outer ns had finished preparing to full, with their exotic items disyed for everyone. The general currency was Prana crystal, but those various races had their specialties as well that people bought by paying other resources after negotiations. Moondawn Elf n had the full support of the Unfettered Guild, hence they managed to procure more resources and make more potions and pills that only they could make. Terrapin n was a hidden n, and they only sought benefits through Heavenly Melody by supporting them. They only gave their products to Heavenly Melody in exchange for their direct support n. It was a mutual reliance alliance. Just like that, some other guilds also had such alliance with ns like that, which was easy to notice for Erix, Rin, Kenshin, and Sameira. For instance, Yelwon and her guild members all fought with a unique and collective power a few times that made them stronger for a certain duration. Koshal and his group had a strange, differently shaped badge on each that did some work, allowing them to swap positions with each other and some objects. Erix knew Space power was at the y there, which meant that there was a n that had a power source of space or a master of the Space element. As both groups arrived at the big Moondawn Elf n''s camp, they talked about a few things regarding other guilds. "All of these guys have secrets and I want to know them," Erix said as he leaned back on the chair. "There are opportunities to get strong everywhere, but we have to seize them by taking initiative." "Of course, without ughtering them," Erix said with augh. "We can''t erase these ns anyway, nor will it be fun to do so when they are so weak," Rin said before yawning. "The Sanctuary Areas," Kenshin nodded. "For now, we can try to look into Koshal and his guild." "Yep, If we want to keep my monopoly over Space power and everything that bes a product of it, we have to find that n," Erix narrowed his eyes while an excited smile formed on his lips. "Alright, I''ve decided. Babe, after weplete our Labyrinth Tower special quest, I am going to look for this n." "Oh yeah, Erix. I wanted to ask," Sameira cleared her throat and suddenly changed the topic. "What kind of rtionship do you and Rin have-" Sameira turned to Rin before she continued calmly, "with Aria?" Chapter 350: Loot Time, Fun Time Hearing the question, Erix and Rin were at first taken aback before smiling. "We''ve been waiting for this question for some time, haha," Rin chuckled and then cleared her throat. Sameira and Kenshin looked at each other, their eyes already saying that they had the answer in the back of their mind. "That''s right, it''s a harem," Rin said, showing her white teeth while grinning. "Cough," Erix coughed and said, "Actually, there are two more women." Sameira and Kenshin were dumbfounded. "Brat, you really made a harem before making a kingdom," Kenshin wryly smiled. "Erix is more than enough to handle us, and our group is awesome," Rin smiled as she grabbed Erix''s arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "Hehe¡­" "Well¡­we have given you freedom, and you are more than mature enough to make your decisions," Sameira sighed and wryly smiled. "As long as you are happy." ¡­ After everyone returned back to their respective guilds after a tiresome expedition of 10 hours, everyone went to sleep. It was seven in the evening, and the daily World Boss event would start after three everyone, so all 118 people also wanted to recover and return to prime condition for the boss fight. Erix and Rin also directly went to sleep because they had also exhausted themselves mentally and physically, especially due to their protection offer scheme. After they woke up two hourster, Aria, Erix, Rin, Isabe, and other Royal-order guild members gathered under Dreanox Tree. "It''s time to see the fruits," Rin said as she took out arge pile of Orbs of Lost Ancient. A total of 71 orbs! The others also took out their orbs. Everyone had at least five or six orbs! "I also want to open some," Aria said with eager eyes as she looked at the orbs. *Whistle¡­* Suddenly, everyone heard a whistle and felt some winds before Sangle also arrived at the tree, with Amu sitting on it. "Where did you two go?" Erix curiously asked. "We went to scout some areas," Amu said whileughing in his usual childish voice. "It''s a n of a certain type of Demon bloodline. A fun ce, hehe. I''ll tell you moreter." "For now, tell me what are these orbs?" Amu jumped upon one of the orbs, its eyes curious. "A reward we get after killing a monster in Antis," Rin said as she rubbed her palms while smiling. "Let''s begin." Erix parted the pile of 71 orbs into four and gave it to Aria, Rin, and Isabe before all four started opening the orbs one by one. After ten minutes, a big pile of various things appeared in the group, with the most reward being Prana crystals. Zoe, Elena, Leon, and other guild members opened five or six orbs at least one medium to high-grade elemental crystal, so they could make further progress in getting powerful. Maya was the luckiest among others as she got a mysterious rune inscribed with a pair of skills of Water-attribute. Aqua Dragon''s Chant and Deep Blue Piece. These two were Tier-5 skills but had the potential to progress further by the user. However, Maya didn''t have water-affinity, so it was useless for her. In the end, Maya and Samuel made an exchange. A Primary medium-grade elemental crystal in exchange for the Power Rune. All powerhouses who participated in the recent expedition of Antis and many others have tasted the power of an Elemental Crystal. It could give them the inspiration and enlightenment required to make progress and breakthroughs in their elements'' mastery and realm. It was a direct boost since their overallbat power depended on their mastery of elements. For Maya, it was a good deal because the most important, valuable, and limited resources at the moment were none other than Elemental Crystals. On the other hand, out of 71 Orbs of Lost Ancient, Erix and Rin acquired the following rewards: -> 5400 x low-grade Prana crystals. (Orbs: 34) Some orbs gave as low as 100 low-grade Prana crystals, while some gave as high as 1000 low-grade Prana, but rarely. -> 800 x medium-grade Prana crystals (Orbs: 8) -> 200 x high-grade Prana crystals (Orbs: 2) -> 9 x low-grade Primary elemental crystals (Orbs: 9) -> 5 x medium-grade Primary elemental crystals (Orbs: 4) -> 2 x high-grade Primary elemental crystals. (Orbs: 2) -> 7 x Tier-5 nt and ore resources. (Orbs: 5) -> 11 x Tier-4 ore and nt resources. (Orbs: 11) ->1 x Mega Key of Lost Ancient. (Orbs: 1) "We got a good loot, alright," Rin nodded while smiling and picked up the Mega Key of Lost Ancient. "The keys can give traits to a weapon and transform it. It''s a rare item as well," Isabe said as she curiously looked at the key. "You didn''t get any normal key out of 71 orbs but got a higher version of it." "Yeah, boss. What if you make your best weapon to date, and then use this key on it?" Tony grinned. "It''s gonna be a super op weapon." "True," Rin nodded. "How about a new Katana for Rin?" Aria said with a bubbly smile. "That way, you can use your Raibor Power Slime for other things." "That''s right," Amu sagely nodded with closed eyes. "That Raibor Power Slime has a big potential. Don''t forget that it''s a reward from the best natural wonder location in Kanx Abyss." "That reminds me, my Radiant Lifebane Tree will level up soon. The month is ending tomorrow, so the new batch of fruits will also mature fully," Erix said. "Great!" Rin grinned. "With those fruits that give us powerful buffs, we can take on some risky challenges." "Yep." "Let''s put away the Prana crystals for now. We''ll save them until we have gathered enough for us toplete the first stage of the next rank-up process," Erix said as he waved his hand and put away all Prana crystals into his personal space inventory. Ever since he had finished studying and creating formations to make sub-space storage to add to his U-cards, Erix had also created the best inventory for him. The best thing was that the personal inventory he created with his mastery of the Space element was the fastest to ess for him and he could keep track of items easily. "As for these resources. Aria, take these," Erix said as he gave away the Tier-4 and Tier-5 ore and nt-type resources to her. "You can keep the nt-type resources for your Alchemy and exchange ores for other nt-type resources when you find them." "Okie," Aria smiled and happily took the resources. "I can already craft Tier-4 potions with special effects thanks to my Bloodline. Hehe, just wait a few more days and then I''ll create even better potions than those experts of the Moondawn Elf n." "Oh? That''s a pleasant surprise," Erix said with augh. "Because I spent the whole day learning it and made a breakthrough while you were in expedition," Aria proudly smiled. "Can I also learn with you, sister Aria?" Beatrice said with slight hesitation. "Actually, I have Alchemy sub-ss, but since I wanted to focus on bing more powerful, I didn''t make much progress in it." "But I think, I can take some time to practice it." "That''s good," Aria smiled. "We can practice at the elf n. They got all the tools, lessons, and proper things to nurture Alchemists." "Now, the Primary elemental crystals," Erix said as he nced at everyone. Indeed, everyone''s eyes slightly changed, with onemon factor appearing in every one. Anticipation. "As you all know, low-grade Primary Elemental crystals are not useful for us," Erix smiled. "So, those nine crystals will be distributed among you." "To make the distribution easy for us, the twelve of you can discuss and distribute these nine crystals among you." "Wha..dat''s not fair, boss," Zoe pouted. Rin yfully snickered and said, "Nah, you all decide among yourselves. We have to go." Erix waved his hand and sent the nine crystals on the ground before them, lined up shiningly. "You''ve fought together, so you know who needs it more, who is close to achieving a breakthrough, and the distribution that can increase the overall team''s power," Erix said with a faint smile. "Keep in mind that we''ll be going to Antis expedition daily." "Mhmm." Everyone nodded. "Alright, Let''s get going now. World Boss is starting in a few minutes," Isabe said. *Whistle* "Haha, alright, alright. I know," Erix caressed Sangle''s head and teleported on its broad back. Aria, Rin, Isabe, and Amu also teleported beside him with a blink of his eyes. But by the time Sangle flew up with a p of its wing, one more person arrived on Sangle''s back. "Aaah! You scared me¡­." Aaron suddenly arrived right before Isabe, but then seeing the sky background behind his mother, Aaron''s face turned red and his eyes shined. "Yey!! Boss time," Aaron shouted and hugged Isabe before jumping beside Erix and giddily smiling. "Boss Erix, what will you who me this time?" Aaron had started calling Erix Boss Erix like many others in the guild and wouldn''t stop. Moreover, Aaron was gaining more experience and training while having fun every day. During daily World Boss events, he would join them as Erix would go to another area''s World Boss for a smallte-night fun ride and some action with rewards. "After the world boss, I have a surprise," Amu said while grinning. "Yeah, you said about finding a n?" Erix curiously asked. "Demon n, eh? What''s special about it?" Rin also fired a question of curiosity. "Hehe, I will not tell you. Just wait for the surprise." Isabe chuckled while Erix and Rin jokingly rolled their eyes. "Fine. Let''s hope you are not blowing an empty horn," Erix jokingly sneered. "Humph. You shall see, brat." "Hahaha¡­" Amidstughter and giggles, the group arrived at another sanctuary area with only several seconds remaining before the world boss''s appearance. Chapter 351: Zerians "Eh, why is Boss Erix here?" "Eh, you don''t know since you moved here a few days ago." "Actually, Boss Erix and his gang travel to different areas every day for world boss so that his own area''s people can get more reward." "They arrived here twelve days agost time if I remember correctly." "Why do they do this?" "Eh, This is a win-win for us and his guild''s area. Wherever they do world boss, that area would always defeat it fastest, so they at least get a general fastest rank world boss killing reward." "Although they''ll hog the majority of points thate from participating in World Boss, it''s still beneficial for us because the general kill rank reward everyone gets is the same. "Haha, we''ll be getting our first ce again and a bonus of 1380 coins." "It''s 1390 was yesterday." "The world boss appeared. Damn, it''s a freaking snowman?!" [World Boss Event: Defeat the Blue Frost Snowman] ¡­ After finishing the World Boss even with Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe hogging the top spots, everyone returned. Of course, with a little detour. "Let us see if your boastful surprise matches the hype," Erix chuckled and caressed Sangle''s furry back slightly. "Buddy, lead us there." Since Amu found that location with Sangle, the eagle obviously knew the way to that ce. After flying for twenty minutes, with some small hups of encountering nocturnal flying monsters in the night that died quickly with Rin''s des, the group arrived at the Solium Continent. Solium Continent was the southern part of the world, approximately four thousand and five hundred kilometers south of Phoenix City. The top 10 rankers of this continent were none other than Koshal and Amir, along with their guilds. The region that separated the Solium continent and the Central continent was a huge desert. "Is your ce in this desert?" Erix asked as he looked at the cold desert with monsters littered at various spots. Most of the monsters were Earth-attributed, but some annoying ones were of multiple attributes, with the most troubling being Sand-attributed monsters. Since this desert''s fluxed magic power was distributed more towards the Sand element due to the biome of this ce, the monsters of Sand-attribute strong. "There it is! Hehe, I did right by leaving a spiritual wisp when I enteredst time," Amu "Why? Did the location change?" Rin asked in surprise. "Yeah. Their n location was special like others, so I suspected it could travel under the ground," Amu said with a smug smile. "Let''s go then," Erix said as he extended his senses and did space mapping to capture the location and n''s structure. But as expected, this n also had an outer magic barrier that prevented spiritual senses from intruding. "We are here, but can we really handle an unknown n?" Isabe asked with slight worry. "They should have discovered us by now," Rin said as she raised her eyebrows. "They got a barrier, but with my space vision, I still captured their structure," Erix said, his eyes gleaming silver as he outlined and formed the 3D map ording to his spiritual space vision that prated the barrier via Space Limbo. Their barrier was indeed present, but only in the material ne! It couldn''t stop Erix''s spiritual senses, which could travel via Space Limbo thanks to his Space affinity and easily bypass it. "Let''s talk." Erix snapped his finger and teleported everyone along with Sangle who appeared 2 kilometers deep in the earth before hitting a barrier in a sparkling sandy river. "Wow, so pretty," Aria''s eyes shone as she looked at the huge hollow cavern with waterfalls of sparkling brown and dark brown sands, rivers of sands, and¡­a bunch of normal animal-sized cute and colorful sand monsters. "Such a dense area of Sand-element," Erix was surprised. "I knew this ce had abundant magic power, but this is a whole system." "These monsters are thriving off sands, but also cultivating sand powers," Rin raised her eyebrows after observing monsters and energy flow. "Exactly," Erix nodded. "It''s a whole system. If people with Sand-attribute meditate and train here, they can progress faster." Aria and Amu were already among the cute spiritual sand elemental monsters in rivers, waterfalls, and other streams in this huge area filled with holes, pots, and passages. But of course, this was an upied territory. "They are here," Erix said as he looked at the mirage barrier that fell off like sparkling sands of various brown hues. Three powerful auras emerged, two Empyrean-order and one Royal-order. They were not humans, but humanoids of the same height and features as humans except for their dark brown skin with golden brown patterns and two golden brown palm-sized horns. "Humans¡­Natives?¡­finally." The Royal-order demon was a lean-muscled young man with ck hair and a red ruby on his forehead. He seemed relieved upon seeing Erix and others rather than somber like the other two senior demons with him. One of them was a middle-aged fat-belly demon while another was a tall bald demon looking in his sixties. ''They are Royal-order. It wouldn''t be a problem even if they decided to stir trouble.'' ''Let''s calmly handle it, but stay sharp.'' Just as the two senior demons exchanged thoughts, Erix and Rin appeared before the trio, five meters away from them. "What is your race called?" Erix asked with a smile. "We are demons of Zerian bloodline! Our n is called Rek''Lo Zerian n, and I am the current patriarch of the n." The young Zerian demon eagerly said before stretching his hand. "My name is Liero." "Erix," Erix shook his hand. "And we are indeed natives." ''I guess this is how our first encounter with ns here goes,'' Erix chuckled. ''The other two seem cautious¡­rather uncessorily,'' Rin''s pupils shrank. ''We are not threatening to them.'' Two Empyrean-order and one peak Royal-order could indeed dispatch an average big gang of Royal-order powerhouses. Erix and others were only four Royal-order, one Royal-order monster, one unreadable Amu, and one child. So in their eyes, Erix and others should be of no threat. Of course, the ns that arrived on Earth had some conditions and rules to follow for a certain amount of time until their appearance. For instance, since there wasn''t any native lifeform of Earth that reached the Empyrean-order, the powerhouses of the Empyrean-order couldn''t take the initiative to attack natives. However, there was a catch. ''I think it''s my fault they are bing cautious,'' Erix wryly smiled. ''I forgot to change my base intention.'' The catch was ''Intentions''. Erix held no fear towards these Empyrean-order, and his intentions were not defensive because he had the confidence to disappear and escape. As such, only Erix was open for the attack on these two Empyrean-orders. Of course, this rule would be destroyed the moment a single native reached the Empyrean-order, but it wouldn''t change the situation much. The mutual alliance was the way to progress and thrive¡­except this wasn''t the case for this particr n. "We can invite you to our n if you are sure of it, but we currently have no intention of forming alliances¡­for now," the elder Zerian powerhouses calmly said, adding thest words a bit unnaturally. ''W-Why?!'' The young Zerian demon prince''s expression changed and his fists clenched. Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin ''This is strange,'' Aria frowned. ''I have a bad feeling.'' Chapter 352: Leiro, Sus Clan ''Elders!'' Leiro shouted, with a hint of pleading evident in it. ''Please think about it more. There''s no harm in following the pathid to us by Mystic Root like many other ns who got the opportunity to arrive here.'' ''n lord. Your father and mother sacrificed themselves for the whole n. We also recognize your potential and wisdom, and that you''ll reach great heights, but there are some things and steps we have to take before you reach that level.'' ''We shall not ally with native forces carelessly and go with the previous lord''s n. That''s the only way to rise to greater heights and return to our world for revenge.'' ''But-'' ''Please end this quarrel here, lord. This is the will of our n.'' This response naturally surprised Erix and others. They didn''t expect the n to show clear intentions of no alliance. "Well, If you are not interested, then we are also not," Rin raised her eyebrows. "Let''s go." "Right," Erix said with augh before his faintly gleaned. A secondter, all three Zerian demons were shocked. "That young man has Space-power and strong spiritual power, but no threat to us." "Lord, let''s forget this and return to prepare. I''ll have to scan this ce and our n''s barrier thoroughly to see if there are any foreign traces." "Kaiel, you go and look outside to see if they left. Once they do, immediately prepare to contain this 3-kilometer area with Sand Source Nexus. Once it''s done, we''ll immediately move our n''s location." "Tsk, we only just arrived here and luckily found this spot, but those natives had to find us," the fat Zerian clicked his tongue. The trio returned, but Leiro''s eyes were downcast. ''Father, I inherited your position, and even name¡­but this is wrong. Your n only leads to our n''s destruction.'' ¡­ On the other hand, Erix and others left the desert and were on their way back to Phoenix City. "Tsk, I found a good thing, but we can''t take it." "If we were more powerful, we could take a solid treasure from there, but now they will take it," Amu clicked his tongue before pouting. "Brats, you need to get your Domain and awaken Soul fast! Without them, you won''t be able to fight average Empyrean-order powerhouses and kill them." Erix and Rin rolled their eyes while Isabe chuckled. "Amu, why are you acting like that," Aaron pouted. "You are not more powerful than boss Erix. You are just our ymate." "You little¡­" Amu jumped on Aaron and started tickling him, causing Aaron to giggle and y with Amu''s antics. But, Aria had a slightly worried expression. "Ummm¡­I had a bad feeling when I looked at them," Aria said as she rubbed her fingers with thoughtful expressions. "Since I can feel such things even if they try to hide, I could sense it¡­" Aria paused for a moment to think before saying, "It''s like they are nning for something big, and don''t want anyone to know." "Their general intentions when observing us were not good," Aria added with some conviction in her voice. Suddenly, Amu jumped up with a burst of sparkling water sshing off its slimy body. "That little¡­! He discovered my spiritual wisp and destroyed it." Aria giggled and grabbed Amu before patting its head, "You are not all-powerful like before because of me, so they can do it. Sorry~" "Hehe, stop joking, little brat," Amu''s mood changed as the slime smugly grinned. "I''ll be more powerful with time." Erix was also in a thoughtful state and came to a conclusion, "Alright, that''s it. I want to keep an eye on this n. Their clothes looked luxurious, and I got a whiff of Tier-5 and even some Tier-6 stuff in their essories." Leaning back and putting his head on Rin''s thigh, Erix added, "This n has some secret stuff and we can agree on that. Terrapin ns also had their reasons to stay secretive, but they sought an alliance." "And there is this Zerian demon n," Rin thoughtfully nodded rubbing Erix''s forehead. "They are definitely up to something. Changing locations, staying secretive¡­It defeats the whole purpose of theming here." Erix and others knew from the Moondawn Elf n about how this system of various ns appearing here worked. Mystic Root gave such ns opportunities and a path with rewards and safety. Only by attaching themselves to natives could these nearly extinct ns from various worlds progress because the most rewarding things were only acquired through natives. "Even if you want to find them, it''ll be hard," Amu said with a snort. "They erased my traceable wisp and will start moving soon." Isabe wryly smiled and said, "With you four, it wouldn''t even be hard to find them, but I doubt our next meeting will be peaceful." "Actually, leave this mission to me," Amu said as the slime floated up and faintly glowed in blue and dark blue motes. "It''s time that I do some real work to make myself strong and alsoplete a mission." "Ya''ll doing quests, but I am only ying with kids, man. I ain''t cking anymore, hah!" Amu said in new words learned from people here and materialized slimy arms and pped its face. "I''ll find this suspicious n, and trace them in a way they can''t find me and infiltrate them!" "I am a goddamn fairy of ancient will! They can''t find me if I don''t want them to find me!" Amu was fired up! "No, you are our ymate," Aaron giggled and jumped on the slime, gripping Amu with his hands and sticking on its head. But Amu popped like a balloon and vanished before appearing near Erix. "Brat, this is my first mission and I shallplete it. No more ying." "Haha, you can do it, Amu." Erix grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Infiltrate them, keep your connection with us using your strong spiritual power. Once you have found their n and marked their n, we can try some things." His eyes showed a ferocious light as he added, "This is a passing opportunity. If we can benefit, we''ll benefit greatly." "Better if they got some of their n''s special items or other stuff like Moondawn Elf n''s Nature Star Tree," Rin grinned. "Our ind is plenty empty for exotic resources like that." Of course, their moment was bound to be interrupted by monsters. *Roar!* "Woah, that monster is scary! Boss Erix, it''s time to hunt!" Aaron excitedly shouted. "A few more areing," Rin''s flickered as she licked her lips. "Those birds look tasty." "Then let''s just peel them and keep their body intact," Aria nodded before gulping. "I forgot to eat before leaving the n, so I am also hungry." "Then we shall make a big dinner after returning," Isabe said smiling as she rolled her sleeves. "I recently leveled up my Mystic Chef subss, so I can try to make better and more delicious food." Enjoy exclusive content from m-v l''-NovelBin ''I can maintain myself at this status as long as they remain the same like that,'' Isabe thought as she looked at Erix, Rin, Aria, Amu, and Aron, looking d, relieved, and at peace. However, the desire that bloomed from suppressed emotions, and power that materialized in the form of her first concept due to her thoughts¡­was not something that could remain hidden. ... In the end, Amu stayed in the desert for his first mission, while the group returned to the guild and started preparing a feast. After a good night''s sleep, it was time for Erix and Rin to finish their Labyrinth Tower''s special quest. Chapter 353: Nyx the Eclipsed Hollow Knight After eating and sleeping, Erix, Rin, and Aria woke up earlier than others, at six in the morning. The trio freshened up and also had some fun in the bathroom for half an hour before they left and entered the Labyrinth Tower. Erix and Rin wanted to attempt the 20th floor for the special quest, while Aria was going to challenge the 16th Floor. The moment they entered, their Power Level updated, and a panel appeared before them. [A/N: Btw, there was a basic mistake in Power Level calction, but it''s fixed here.] [Erix] _Total Power level ¡ª> 148,180. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 2185 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª>Unique-type Mythic grade: 14,495 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Metal¡ª4th realm: 8000 points. ¡ª> Death¡ª2nd realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Space¡ª3rd realm: 15,000 points. ¡ª> me¡ª5th realm: 5000 points. Read exclusive content at m_v-l''-NovelBin ¡ª> Nihilir¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Life¡ª1st realm: 5000 points. --Concepts: ¡ª> Punch ¡ª 3rd realm ¡ª Hollow Puncture: 30,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos¡ª2nd realm ¡ª Chaotic Evolution: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Devorex Metal ¡ª 2nd realm ¡ª Metal Factory : 20,000 points. "Not bad," Erix grinned. "But the next thing we need is a domain. We have to remain below 150k Power Level for the quest." "I still have room for improvement," Rin said as she looked at her Power Level chart. [Rin] _Total power level: ¡ª> 133,702. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 2118 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Unique-type Mythic grade: 14135 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Lightning¡ª3rd realm: 6000 points. ¡ª> Wind ¡ª 5th realm: 5000 points. ¡ª> Time¡ª2nd realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Chronace¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Blood ¡ª 2nd realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Death ¡ª 2nd realm: 10,000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª> Crimson Onyxbolt ¡ª 1st realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> de ¡ª 3rd realm ¡ª Slice & Dice: 30,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos ¡ª 2nd realm ¡ª Chaotic Stream: 20,000 points. "I''ll improve my Blood and Death after the domain." "Rin, do you want toprehend the Light element? I mean, the Lightning element is abination of Wind and Light elements, so it shouldn''t be hard for you to begin in the path of Light," Aria said with a big smile. "I can help you because I am also progressing fast in Light affinity." "Yeah, I should use some Primary Elemental crystals toprehend Light element," Rin nodded while rubbing her chin before grinning. "If I get powers of Light element, I can be even faster and deadlier." "Aria''s concept is magical too. I don''t know how it would develop," Erix said as he looked at Aria''s Power Level chart. [Aria] _Total Power level: -> 69,716. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. (Max foundational stats of Royal-order) -Spirit: 4336 points. -Soul: 2740 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Special-type Mythical grade: 13,140 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Light¡ª4th realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Water¡ª4th realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Earth¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Fire¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Wind¡ª3rd realm: 3000 points. ¡ª> Animus¡ª2nd realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Magma ¡ª 2nd realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Ice ¡ª 2nd realm: 4000 points. ¡ª> Wood ¡ª 1st realm: 2000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª> Bond ¡ª 1st realm ¡ª 10,000 "For now, I can only transfer some of my Magic power and Prana to targets that Bond with my concept," Aria said as a faint light red string appeared before her, that ethereally connected to Rin and Erix. "But I feel like I can do more with this." "You can, cutie pie," Erix said with augh. "Whatever you imagine in the path of your concept can be possible. You just have to give it a push and carve a path for it." "I am also curious about Isabe-sis''s Concept," Rin wryly sighed. "I hope she tells us whatever that''s in her mind." "We can''t force her, so let''s give her the time she wants," Erix said before he opened the Labyrinth Floor panel and selected the 20th Floor. "Let''s move to our floor while Aria can go to the 16th floor for her challenge." ¡­ After arriving on the 20th Floor, Erix and Rin were about to press [Yes] on the challenging floor and even pressed it but [Error] appeared once again. ''You two¡­'' A sigh of the Tower Master of Labyrinth Tower rang in their heads. ''Why didn''t you form your Domain during the past month?'' "We have a free attempt," Erix rolled his eyes. "Let us just fight this challenge. It''s fine even if we lose once. Next time, we cane with the domain." "We had some resources to use and improve ourbat, so we focused on it," Rin clicked her tongue. ''Fine. You won''t learn unless you experience it.'' The voice snorted before a notification popped up before them asking them if they wanted to challenge the 20th Floor. Both of them grinned and pressed Yes before vanishing from the floor. In the same two dimensions, Erix and Rin appeared and faced a blood-red sea as far as their eyes could see. Five kilometers away from them was a huge tree with entric entanglement of branches and vines, with lush glowing leaves of various red hues. In the middle of the tree was a ck wooden throne. It was upied by a seven-foot-tall humanoid with draconian ck wooden horns with crimson patterns. He wore a wooden knightly armor set with materials akin to the exotic redwood, with ck and dark gold pattern designs on it. [Challenge: Nyx, the Eclipsed Hollow Knight.] Without hesitation, both Erix and Rin released their fastest and most powerful attacks after entering their Combat forms. Rin in her Asura Chaos Form wielded her de Eater and Katana of Raibor Power Slime, instantly consuming all of her Prana for skills, half of her Spirit Force for boost, her ss energy, and her physical moves as her figure blurred and she vanished, appearing behind Nyx. While her both arms swung in an ultra-fast pincer attack from her both weapons with intentions to cut Nyx into pieces, a chaotic whirlpool of Chronace Field also enveloped her. The whirlpool had the capability of forming tens of thousands of des per second, and once Rin''s attack connected in the next millisecond, she could heavily debuff her target, slow it, and overwhelm Nyx with her deadly attacks. ¡­But no. Before anything of Rin could affect and hurt Nyx, Rin''s mind nked while the surrounding scenery vanished, appearing deep within blood-red water with raging streams of glowing crimson and ck sparks. In the next second, Rin saw her own body with her head as she was beheaded by a few sparks of rapidly forming streams that prated through her passive Chronace Field, destroyed her Prana Kavach, and killed her, ending her first andst safe attempt on the 20th Floor. Meanwhile, Erix''s fate was no different than Rin''s. Even after using his Erasure Void Rods along with releasing his close-range single-target strongest Punch in his Celestial Chaos Form, Nyx still beheaded Erix, and he died. Both of them appeared on the 20th floor at the same time, looked at each other, and saw the same shock in each other''s eyes. At the moment, they truly realized why this Floor had a warning and ''Skip'' option, unlike the previous floors. Chapter 354: Domain Creation (1) "How did I die and disconnected with only one attack?" Erix frowned. "I didn''t even enter my Death heart state, and just died." ''Humph, I told you. You better go and reflect on what killed you and how you died. However, you should do that after creating your domain and awakening your soul.'' ''Without these two additions, you won''t win against Nyx.'' Erix and Rin fully understood Tower Master after facing the 20th Floor challenge once. "Nyx, the Eclipsed Hollow Knight," Erix muttered. "If he is this strong to defeat, then I bet the reward will be more than we expected," Rin said with a glint in her eyes. ''Hahaha, you haven''t seen enough to even begin guessing this floor''s reward.'' ''And fools, since you wasted an attempt like this without the required power, you haven''t measured Nyx''s power and your position against him'' ''When other people reach this floor, they will have already Domain and soul, but since you two progressed at abnormal speed in Abyss, your progress speed is not matching this world''s.'' ''When other people will fail against Nyx, they will absolutely skip instead of trying again for a life and death battle.'' ''But you two challenged him too fast due to your progress and confidence.'' Erix and Rin ruefully smiled. ''The 20th Floor, 30th Floor, 40th floor, and so on have Skip options because they are tough and have a special condition like how you cannot attempt the 20th Floor after crossing 150,000 Power level.'' ''So onest time, only challenge this floor after you are fully prepared because next time, you will note out alive if you die.'' "Ok, sir!" Erix grinned and saluted upward. "Next time, we''ll be getting both rewards." "Let''s go, darling. We are going to fully focus on those two goals until we achieve them," Rin said with fiery eyes and clenched fists. ¡­ After Rin and Erix returned to the Blessed Ind, both of them sat down under the Dreanox Tree. "The easiest one is working to develop the ss domain, but I don''t want to move in a given direction," Rin said with narrowed eyes. "I want to create an original domain built of ourprehensive power." "Yep," Erix nodded. "The first step in the way to develop one''s domain is by constructing a space in our origin region using Prana and filling it with our powers and creating a domain core." Rin nodded, "That''s the general thing for the first step. If we develop our domain based on ss, it will be restricted to a limited number of our powers." "Hmm, that''s also one type of domain. Limited powers in the core mean that the domain can boost those powers more," Erix said before he chuckled, "but we are more greedy of course." "Yeah, there''s no meaning in our domain if it doesn''t have the element of our Super Exotic Element," Rin grinned. "Let''s start and see how our initial attempts go." Erix and Rin closed their eyes and entered deep focus before began working. Their consciousness appeared in their respective inner space¡ªthe Origin Region, where all of their source of powers were present along with a few other things. Erix''s Radiant Lifebane Tree was also growing, and his Metal World was also lively. Sine his Metal Element was in the 4th realm, he had his Metal World, but unlike other Metal Worlds, his Metal World was like a factory that created blueprints and also products because of his Devorex Metal attribute-concept. It consumed 10 Prana per second to work, but Erix would also recover 10 Prana per second easily. As such, it perpetually worked. Lifebane Tree was also there, with its fruit close to ripening in a few hours. ''Let''s start.'' Erix consumed Prana from his Arcane Spirit Pond, bringing all Prana and condensing it into a palm-sized round orb. ''Now then¡­my domain should have all of my powers, so let''s first add each one''s wisp.'' The first step was creating a core that would act as their domain. The powers in the core would give foundations to the development of the domain, so Erix began adding all of his powers'' wisps one by one. In one part of Erix''s Origin Region was a small area of his elemental powers. First, he went to his Metal Elemental Nexus, which was like a stadium with colorful metallic sparks and hues. Above it was a thin slit that would lead his consciousness into his Metal World. Erix consumed some Prana to produce metal motes from his 4th Realm Metal element and infused it into the Prana orb that he created. Afterward, he went to his Fire Elemental Nexus next. ''Fiery,'' Erix grinned. His firepower was strongest at the moment because he used all the Primary elemental crystals toprehend the Fire element. Progress Fire element meant a direct boost in the offense. The reason Erasure Void Rods could erase with such potency was thanks to his Fire element reaching the 5th realm, and directly boosting the power of his Nihilir Element. [me Affinity] _Realm: 5th realm Jeta¡ª Infernal zer ¡ª> Fire Master: All me you produce is 30% stronger in potency and effectiveness. ¡ª> zing Composer: The power of mes you create is increased by 100%. You can apply Combust and Burn on anything with me elementals. ¡ª> Fiery Land: Your me element is boosted by 100% potency in all its aspects. ¡ª> True me: Your me can now act as a medium for other powers and change into various forms with extra power. Overall me elemental power increased by 50%. \\_Description_/ ¡ª> Attunded to Fire. Ability to turn mana into fire. Maniption of mes. ¡ª>Allows you to refine your body with me and acquire me Elemental Body. ¡ª> Your me mastery has reached enough level to interact with your spirit. Your Spiritual Attacks can be infused with your me-attribute. me will dance at your will. ¡ª> Your me mastery has reached enough level to allow you to sense me elemental dimensions and connect with them. You can create a me Elemental World and cultivate powerful mes in your origin region by making connections with exotic me elemental dimensions and using them for your progress. ¡ª> You can now create me Elemental Runes. After putting a wisp of me by consuming Prana into his Prana orb, Erix moved to the Death Elemental Nexus and put a Death Wisp into the orb. Afterward, he moved to the Space Elemental Nexus, produced some Space Matter after consuming Prana, and put it into the orb. Afterward, he put Life element''s energy wisp in it andstly, Erix put a Nihilir wisp into the orb after consuming some Prana. But the first step was not over yet. He still had to add the power of his concepts! His concepts were also in manifested forms in the Origin Region. The Punch concept no longer looked like a punching fist after Erixprehended and progressed to the 3rd realm of Punch. It now looked like a pitch-ck round hole with a golden border around it. [Punch Concept] _Realm: Delta ¡ª Hollow Puncture. ¡ª> Punch Ordinance: All of your punch-rted skills can bepletely turned from melee into projectiles at your will upon execution whilst holding full power. ¡ª> Hollow Puncture: Punch is making a hole. Your punch-rted skills have 100% extra pration power and projection speed. _Effect: ¡ª> All punch-attacks deal 50% more damage. ¡ª> All punch projectiles have a dominance mark. If the Punch sessfully strikes the intended target, you gain a Dominance Mark, increasing your next Punch power and their effects by 1% per stack, up to 100%. Once at 100%, Your punch attacks ignore 30% magic and physical defense of anything or anyone until you are out ofbat or haven''t thrown any punch for three seconds. ¡ª> As long as your Punch-rted skills make holes into the targets, the holes will explode with the same amount of power used when puncturing the target. His attacks were even more deadly thanks to this new realm of Punch heprehended, and this also gave him the confidence to ruin the defenses of beings even more powerful than him in raw stats and power. When this Punch''s effectbined with his skills that use all elements, especially Nihilir, it was devastating. ''That Nyx. If I can''t hit him, then it''s all useless.'' Erix thought before using Spirit Force to create a Nail-shaped projectile and applying the power of his Punch concept to it before putting it in his Prana orb. Next, he moved to his Chaos concept, created a whirl of chaos using Spirit force, and put it into the orb. And finally, he put a piece of his Devorex Metal attribute-concept into it. But there was one more source of his power left. Bloodline! Erix put a drop of his Blood Essence into the orb and finally started condensing the first step of Domain Creation. ''Now that everything is in the Orb, the next thing to do is¡­'' Erix focused on the Prana orb and started creating basic formations. These formations were simple. It was just to give a ce to sit for each of his powers that he infused inside. These formations were to distribute which power would benefit more once he executed domain after developing it. ''I can tweak with itter, so I''ll just put all equal for now.'' Chapter 355: Domain Creation (2) Rin also finished infusing a bit of all her powers into her Prana orb and started creating magic formations using spirit force and Prana. These formations were basically broken pathways surrounding each power source, and how much area they take up in the orb. For starters, all powers received an equal share in the Prana Orb as they could tweak itter. After finishing the first step, the duo respectively began the tough second step. They created the ''half'' core of the domain. The next step was toplete it and make the full core of the domain that would develop in the third step. ''Second step,'' Erix observed the Prana orb with his powers upying it and creating different zones in it. He used his Spirit Force and enveloped the Prana orb with it. At the moment, both Erix and Rin were at the same step. Inside their respective origin region, their Prana orb floated in silence with their spirit force enveloping it. But after a second as they began the next step, the Prana orb started turning faint in their origin region until it eventually vanished. Cosmic Arcane Layer: A sub-dimension present parallel to the whole cosmos. It contains the working of magic, as well as its source. At the moment, the consciousness of Rin and Erix were in the Cosmic Arcane Layer along with their Prana orb. Being in the Cosmic Arcane Layer, they could not do anything except for observing. However, the cosmic arcaneyer could do its wonder, and this was how [Domains] were created. Their powers within the orb started acting up, influenced by the workings of the Cosmic Arcane Layer. Erix observed how each of his powers released a trail and started joining with one another in a mysterious formation. In thisyer, nothing was impossible, and as such, both of their Prana orbs were affected, causing their powers to expand, shape, and construct in thisyer. Ultimately, one had to keep their Prana orb in thisyer until it automatically reached a conclusion of utilizing every power present in it to form aplete ''magic'' by the workings of the Cosmic Arcane Layer. Everyone had to keep their Prana orb in thisyer until it automatically turned into their Domain''s core. The speed of working depended on one''s focus, and how ''DEEP'' one could go into the Cosmic Arcane Layer. The deeper one went, the faster their core would form, and the better their Domain would be. The power one could deliver into their domain when using it was also rted to the Cosmic Arcane Layer. How much extra power their domain would receive also depended on one''s depth into thisyer. At the moment, Erix and Rin were fully focused and drowned in this Cosmic Arcane Layer that even if someone attacked them, they wouldn''t know. Their consciousness drifted in theyer, trying to go deeper while their Prana orb transformed into their Domain''s core. Both of them didn''t know how much time was passing as their consciousness stayed in theyer. But when their domain core finally formed, they knew it was time, and with a moment''s distraction, their consciousness appeared back in their Origin Region. Step 1: Laying pieces of foundation. Step 2: Condensing those pieces into a foundation. Theypleted the two steps, creating the domain''s core. However, the third step was the most time-consuming out of the others and required more effort. It was the development of their domain, and it was also to be done in the Cosmic Arcane Layer. But Erix and Rin opened their eyes, leaving their Domain''s core in their origin region. "Only a bit of Spirit Force left," Erix said before he looked at the sky to check the time. "Damn, we already spent 3 hours?"" "Haha, Let''s recover first before continuing," Rin chuckled. "We''ll have to do multiple rounds of recovering Spirit Force topletely develop our Domains." The duo meditated for twenty minutes before recovering their Spirit force to full and once again entered the Cosmic Arcane Layer with their Domain''s core. But this time, their Domain core wasplete, and it was time to develop their domain. It was not hard. All they had to do was to go to the deepest they could with their consciousness for better results and begin infusing their Prana into the Domain core. What would happen once they infuse their Prana into the domain core? It would be affected. Not by them, but by the workings of the Cosmic Arcane Layer. The moment they steadily started infusing Prana, a sub-field started expanding from it and the development began. ording to their desires, subconscious, experience, and all of their essential factors,the Cosmic Arcane Layer began developing the duo''s Domains with the core as the base, the duo''s Prana as a resource, and their Spirit Force as engines. While staying inplete focus at the deepest they could in the Cosmic Arcane Layer, Erix and Rin poured Prana and Spirit Force at a steady pace. Consistency and steadiness were important for the perfection of the domain. This process of their Domain developing from their core by the Cosmic Arcane Layer only happens once. As such, people had to give more than their all for the power they sought. Erix and Rin remained at their peak performance throughout before they actively broke their connection with theyer when only 1% of their Spirit Force remained. As for Prana, they already consumed 3 whole potions each. This single session consumed 20k of their Spirit Force and 270k of their Prana! But they were nowhere near done with developing their Domain. "Phew¡­that was a strainer," Rin sighed, but when she and Erix noticed sweat covering their whole body, they looked at each other in shock. Despite not doing any sort of physical activity, their bodies were covered in glistening sweat. They shouldn''t even sweat considering their racial features and power. However, this sweat was not normal. Instead, it was residual magic that passed through from the Cosmic Arcane Layer to their origin region, and then throughout their body before turning into this form of sweat by using their physical energy A.K.A stamina. This phenomenon was notmon at all. Rin and Erix were shocked because they had heard it from Lilith when they were learning how to develop their Domains from her. She had told her at that time that when one managed to enter a certain level of depth in Cosmic Arcane Layer during Domain creations, they would get this type of ''sweat'' that would be useful. Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin "Babe, that means that our domains will be crazy, and have one of the best abilities," Erix grinned as he gathered the sweat into an orb and put it into a potion bottle. "I want to kill a Peak Empyrean-order while we are still in Royal-order," Rin grinned. "Exactly. That''s at least how much powerful we should get before ascending," Erix licked his lips. Rin also did the same. "The Prana in this so pure and potent," Rin chuckled. "We can use it in thest stage of breakthrough to Empyrean-order." "Yep," Erix nodded. "It''s even more pure and potent than High-grade Prana crystal." In the end, both of them filled up eight potions,ting a total of 1 liter. "Erix, Rin." Just as the duo entered meditation to recover their Spirit Force, Isabe arrived. "Should we enter the Limitless ne session before you continue?" "Yeah, let''s do it. We can save some time that way since we''ll improve in the session," Erix nodded. "Is Ariaing?" Rin asked. "I am here!" Aria''s voice rang from above as she jumped off the whale andnded beside them. "Aria, you really have the potential to be an assassin," Rin chuckled. "Little assassin. If you mask your presence, nobody can sense you." "Hehe, I am powerful!" Aria puffed her cute with cute smile. Aria indeed had that potential. The group didn''t waste more time and soon sat in meditation before entering Limitless ne together. Chapter 356: Domain Creation (3), Atlantis Invasion After the Limitless ne session, Isabe began cooking, both to make delicious food for everyone and to improve her subss¡ªMystic Chef. Meanwhile, Erix and Rin finished one more session. This time, they consumed 20k Spirit Force as usual, but 300k Prana. It meant that their efficiency and speed increased. Domain Development Progression: 6% done. Each session took half an hour, so the duo entered a twenty-minute meditation session to recover their Spirit Force before developing their domain again. Erix looked at the vast in of ck grass around him, but each de of grass had a milky-golden tip to it. Rin''s domain looked like a ck sea with crimson-red shapes moving around in the water. Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -NovelBin Domain Development Progression: 10%. After leaving theyer, the duo opened their eyes. "Damn, I wonder how it''s going to develop," Erix grinned with excitement. "I haven''t seen a trace of Nihilir yet, so I am curious¡­" "Me too," Rin nodded with shining eyes as she described her domain. "But we are taking a break now." "Lunch is ready. Come on. It''s already afternoon," Isabe''s voice rang towards them from the second floor of the Sakura mansion beside the Dreanox Tree. [A/N: If you haven''t seen Sakura Mansion in aplete picture, you can see it in AUX Chapter [Illustrations]. And also Aria''s picture if you haven''t seen it.] ¡­ During the dinner, Aria and Isabe revealed shocking news to Erix and Rin. "What? Really? That''s tricky, alright," Erix rubbed his chin. "But I think good too." "Yes. It''s good for us," Rin grinned. "We basically carried everyone''s asses in thest expedition, so it''s fine if it doesn''t have to be that way." "But if Expedition time is 2 hours daily, then what time is when they attack?" Aria wondered. "It will happen today, so we''ll know soon," Erix said before putting a meatball into his mouth. "Yummy!" "Be-sis, you also leveled up in your Mystic Chef subss?" Rin asked in surprise. "Yep. Just reached 4th level today while cooking," Isabe merrily smiled as she nodded. "More tasty and better food from now on." "Hehe, I will also break through in my Alchemist path today I think," Aria grinned. "We are going to be more strong and wreak those Antians who will invade us." [Antis Invasion will begin in five minutes.] [You will not receive a five-minute prior warning starting tomorrow. The invasion will happen within five seconds of the announcement.] "Five minutes, eh? Let''s finish the lunch first," Erix said before picking up a piece of wrapped meat slice in seasonings and veggies and eating it. But one by one, those who were allowed on the Blessed Ind started gathering. First arrived Zoe, Leon, and every Royal-order powerhouse of the Unfettered Fate guild because they were already on the ind at various spots and were training using the resources. They had just received a lot of rewards yesterday from the expedition, and some of them were immediately usable. They gathered under the Dreanox Tree after seeing Erix and others dining in the Sakura Mansion. After two minutes, Kenshin, Sameira, and the seven core members of the Heavenly Melody n also arrived. Ten members of the Terrapin n also arrived with them. They started talking and preparing. Both guild groups already had plenty of experience fighting together, so they shared their improvements and rewards. When only a minute was left until the invasion, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe arrived. "As you know, brats. You two are staying out of this, okay?" Kenshin said with a grin as he smashed his gauntlets. "We know, we know," Erix grinned. "We shall leave the scrubs to you all." "Hahaha¡­" "Well, can''t deny that," Sameira wryly smiled. "Then as you know, we two will keep an eye on the area and prevent fatal damage to people and things alike," Erix said as he sat on a throne-like chair under the tree with Rin. "The Sanctuary will be deactivated during the invasion, so we have to be careful," Rin said before she added with a wry smile, "Let''s hope other guilds are prepared." "They should and if they are not, they will pay for it," Erix shrugged. "Alright, I am teleporting you all the moment I sense Antians on our radar." Everyone nodded. "I''ll create my army meanwhile, so I can also begin recovering for my new skills," Aria said as her eyes twinkled with golden spiritual power that gushed upward, visible to everyone in the naked eye. Her sparkling golden spirit force transformed with Aria''s Mana, conjuring various Animated Spirits. Since Aria''s affinities had increased, she made sure to create Animated spirits having each of her elements, or multiple at once. Just as Aria finished conjuring her Army of 10,000 Animated Spirits, the countdown turned zero. Both Erix and Rin closed their eyes, senses fully expanding. However, they didn''t need to look much because the portal that was present in every single Sanctuary Area after the Myth Emergance: Antis moved up and turned horizontal. "Woah, so we will know where theye from, alright," Yony eximed. "It''s right on top of our sanctuary area." "Defense!" Kenshin shouted. Everyone soon sensed the presence pouring, and Erix also teleported everyone to the center of their Sanctuary Area. "Fifty¡­.one hundred," Rin muttered. "Two hundred." From the portal that expanded to be one kilometer in radius, covering 2/5th of the Sanctuary Area, two Tribes of Antis gushed out. Baiandrones with their tentacles octopus head, wearing their mecha-bio armors and their weapons. And Merfinns, with their humanoid upper half, and fishtail lower half. However, Merfinns transformed soon, turning into aquatic beasts and releasing powers. Thebat immediately began with both tribes and all people in the Sanctuary Area attacking them. "Five hundred," Rin said before she narrowed her eyes. "No more." "Three hundred of them are at 20k Power Level or lower. Good," Erix raised eyebrows. "I guess this is also another way to progress for those that are left behind, but only if they put in effort." "But their goal is to increase causalities among us," Rin said with doubtful eyes. "I don''t think it should be this easy." 300 Antians were at 20k Power Level or below. 100 Antians were between 20k - 30k power level. 50 Antians were between 30k - 40k Power level. 40 Antians were between 40k - 50k Power level. The remaining 10, five Baiandrones and five Merfinns were between 50k - 60k Power level. The whole battle onlysted for five minutes before finishing. Killing each Antian gave them more experience than monsters. But they also gave something else, which was unexpected. Not all Antians dropped rewards, but at least a quarter of them dropped Orbs of Lost Ancients. Killing Baiandrones didn''t give them anything except for experience to level up in the expedition, and they hadn''t even encountered Merfinns in the expedition. But people didn''t get anything from Antians during the expedition. Yet, Mystic Root made them drop rewards during this invasion. "It can''t be this easy, right?" Erix scratched the back of his head as he looked at the portal. Rin also looked at the portal, "Well, it''s still there." [Second wave beginning in five seconds.] Right after everyone heard the voice, the big portal parted into five, at five different spots in their Sanctuary Area. "There''s the new school, Erix," Rin quickly as she pointed below one of the portals. Erix''s eyes were glinted with faint silver as he was teleporting people around. Not just his guild and Heavenly Melody members, but every other powerhouse above 20k Power Level. Based on their powers, he quickly distributed them under five portals. "Phew, done." [1] The countdown hit zero, and all five portals spewed out Antians. Erix and Rin also entered focused mode to preventmon casualties. ''These people are going to work for us eventually. The more manpower we have, the better for our United Sanctuary n.'' Rin nodded, ''We''ll put our USA n after clearing the floor quest. By then, we''ll have a major power boost and more exertion over people.'' ¡­ Not just this Sanctuary Area, but many other Sanctuary Areas received attacks. These attacks and the intensity of this invasion were determined by Antis Expedition Leaderboard. Since the Unfettered Kingdom''s sanctuary area had the highest contribution thanks to the Unfettered Guild and Heavenly Melody, their invasion was going to be the toughest. "Erix, will there be one more?" Rin frowned as she looked at the portals. Both of them were floating as well because they had to take action a few times. Half of the people had exhausted their Spirit Force, causing theirbat power to basically reduce by 40-50%. s¡­ Everyone saw the portal further dividing, turning into ten smaller portals. [Final Wave in five seconds.] ---- [Author Note: Hello, readers :D. I hope you all enjoying and sitting tight because there''s still so much to journey xD, but i am here with a news today. [Phantom Lord: First Throne of Horrors] -- This is my WSA book, and although I am confident that everyone who has read till this chapter of my Supreme Couple book will surely like Phantom Lord, but this rests on you. Give it a try, and see if it bes your cup of tea ^_^ Happy reading, have a good day. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 357: Stupendous Domains! During the final wave, Erix and Rin had to act many times to save some people and buildings as Antians were wreaking havoc. Of course, they received more invasion than the rest because Erix and Rin had the highest contribution to the Antis Expedition Leaderboard. But in the end, everyone survived the final wave and defended the sanctuary area. Many people were stuck with moderate to severe injuries, but it was a win as no life was lost thanks to Erix, Rin, and Aria. Aria''s army of Animated Spirit was aplete package of offensive, protective, and supportive due to its versatility, helping many. "It looks like there''s no reward at the end," Rin said before she shrugged. "Well, it doesn''t matter. Let''s go back to our Domain Creation." "Yep. They can handle the aftermath," Erix nced around once before he and Rin teleported back to their Blessed Ind and sat below the Dreanox Tree. After recovering their Spirit Force to full, the duo readied the potions for consumption during their Domain Development and closed their eyes, entering deep focus. Once again, they arrived in the Cosmic Arcane Layer and went as deep as they could before pouring Prana into their domain, causing theyer to begin working its magic source and develop their domains. ¡­ Time passed as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours¡­ After five hours, it was nearly 11 O''clock in the night. However, their Domain development was going smoothly. Progress: 99%. The duo were in theirst session. At the moment, Erix''s Domain was a sight to behold. Amidst the vast ins of ck-grass with golden tips, there were floating inds and chaotic whirls of dark purple, portraying a world of disaster. However, each ind had exotic metals growing, making this chaotic world colorful and shiny. The whirls were destructive and potent, containing the ultimate powers of his chaos concept. But that was not all. The most stupendous phenomenon in Erix''s domain was the vast array of stars in the sky, containing every single one of his powers and permeating his domain with might unknown to Erix. However, Erix could feel they were derived from his knowledge of magic and saw lots of utilizations of those stars. Erix knew exactly what his Domain was capable of, and when he imagined the possibilities, he almost lost his focus. This step of developing a domain only happens once in everyone''s lifetime, so Erix had to remain careful. Domain could upgrade and transform, but only at specific points in the path to power. Meanwhile, Rin''s domain was a ck sea, but with blood-red forest that was half underwater and half over the water. Her world was lively in a sense as crimson red lights containing her concept powers and elements roamed around while dark red and blue lightning clouds covered the sky, roaring with lightning every second. Those de-lights of various shapes and colors roamed in the sea, forest, and sky, bearing deadlines, and also a medium that Rin could utilize for her moves. The most prominent phenomenon was the flow of time and how it was different at various spots, affecting everything, but still changing constantly. Fast, slow, frozen, various flows! Both Erix and Rin were thrilled beyond limit as they sensed the power within their domain building up, but they remained focused. In the end, theirst session finished early, leaving them with 3k Spirit force. [Congrattions. You have sessfully developed your Domain.] Both of them got a notification and opened their eyes before another notification greeted them. Not just them, but everyone! [Domain leaderboard has been opened.] [Domain Leaderboard] Rank 1: Rin¡ªTwilight of Dark Crimson¡ªSS-rank Domain. Rank 2: Erix¡ªLands of Lively Doom¡ªSS-rank Domain. "SS-rank? So there''s SSS-rank?" Rin raised her eyebrows before she felt slightly irritated. "Tsk, I don''t like it that we didn''t develop SSS-rank Domain," Erix clicked his tongue and took out empty potion bottles. Rin wryly smiled. Since nothing could be done about it, the duo didn''t waste time on it, and finished storing their ''magic sweat''. "Let''s inspect the core and see what quality perks we got," Rin grinned. Erix nodded in response. Both of them focused on their Domain''s core in their Origin Region. [Lands of Lively Doom] _Domain¡ªSS rank. _Arcane Layer Buff: +120% increase in Magic power and Magic control upon domain activation. _Spiritual Buff: Spirit Power +100%. _Elemental Boosts: ¡ª> me: 80%. ¡ª> Death: 80%. ¡ª> Space: 80%. ¡ª> Life: 80%. ¡ª> Metal: 80%. ¡ª> Nihilir: 80%. _Concept Boosts: ¡ª> Punch: 80%. ¡ª> Chaos: 80%. ¡ª> Devorex: 80%. _Domain Abilities: ¡ª (Not yet created) [Twilight of Dark Crimson] _Domain¡ªSS rank. _Arcane Layer Buff: +120% increase in Magic power and Magic control upon domain activation. _Spiritual Buff: Spirit Power +100%. _Elemental Boosts: ¡ª> Wind: 80%. ¡­ Rin''s domain perks were exactly the same as Erix''s. "Domain Abilities. That''s the main thing," Erix narrowed his eyes while a grin appeared on his face. "It''s time to cook, Rin." "World Boss is starting in an hour," Rin chuckled. "We''ll create our Domain Abilities after that." "Those people we fought in Abyss must have shit Domains," Erix said with a thoughtful expression, "At least,pared to our Domain." "True," Rin nodded with a grin. "If they had a Domain like ours, we would have died a thousand times over." "Lilith also said that it could take multiple days to finish, but we did it rather fast, no?" Erix confused muttered. "Not even a day." "True, but it doesn''t matter," Rin shrugged and leaned towards Erix beforeying her head on hisp and stretching her limbs. "We''ll ask Lilith when shees here," Rin grinned. "She said they would take a month or two," Erix said. "It''s been a month already, so one more month at most." "Yep." "After recovering, let''s have some Arena Combat with our domains," Erix said as he rubbed Rin''s head while smiling. "We can try to create Domain ability before the World Boss event." "We can try, alright. Either way, we''ll rack even more points in today''s World Boss," Rin grinned. "Wait, the world boss won''t enter our subspace after we use Domain, right?" Erix frowned. "I don''t think it will happen. The Domain only activates on a targeted will of a living being." "Yep. Then¡­" Erix and Rin eximed at the same time as they remembered Lilith using her domain outward. "Let''s quickly learn how to do that," Rin got up and started meditating. "Yep," Erix nodded. "To use the power of our domain in daily World Boss events or other such events, we''ll have to learnDomain Burst." ¡­ A domain meant two major benefits one time duringbat for a limited time. One benefit was having a boost in all their powers thaty in the domain''s foundation. The Cosmic Arcane Layer, the source of Magic in Grand Primal Cosmos, uses its own power to develop one''s Domain based on the powers one inputs in one''s domain core. Erix and Rin developed an SS-rank domain¡ªa feat exceptional enough that even Lilith was not expecting them to achieve it. Even she had an S-rank domain in Royal-order rank, and that was generally considered peak for those in Royal-order. During each Rank-up after that, people could have a single chance of improving their Domain, and they could have a higher quality of it with their hard work and way of life. The sole factor that determined one''s quality of Domain was how deep one could go in the Cosmic Arcane Layer. After all, the closer they were to the source of magic, the better quality of development it would give to them. But¡­Only and only one''s willpower, potential, experience, and such characteristic type factors determined how far one''s consciousness could go in the Cosmic Arcane Layer. Erix and Rin got SS-rank, and they hadn''t just realized how exceptional this feat was. Meanwhile, Lilith''s n was to get her Domain to SS-rank in Empyrean-order. Her chances were not 100%, but she was fairly certain to achieve it. In the Kanx Abyss, Lilith sat on a chair in a pce hall facing Lily, and Maleina. It had only been a month, but Lilith, the Dark Queen''s name was ringing far and wide in the Kanx Abyss. After all, she had just finished off a top powerhouse at the peak of Empyrean-order four days ago, taking her first revenge. When this big power was brought to dust with its master dying, a shock spread across the Abyss. Koraka, the Gray Blood Saint, died. It would be exaggerating to say that Empyrean-order powerhouses were invincible in the Kanx Abyss. However, those who had reached Peak and were preparing for a breakthrough could be said to be nearly invincible in the Kanx Abyss. They had various means to save themselves and were at the peak of power allowed in the Kanx Abyss. Despite that, a peak powerhouse died, killed without a hint of doubt. But he was just the beginning. "Lady Lilith, you have spent the past month solidifying your powers and improving, but isn''t the next target too soon?" Lily asked in concern. "If we wait any longer, and she breakthroughs, I''ll lose this chance," Lilith firmly said. "But to increase my chances, I''ll take a day." "I have already improved my Spirit Power to the next realm, so I can begin my 2nd improvement of the domain. If I can get it to SS-rank, then I won''t have trouble killing her." Lilith narrowed her eyes. "She is the strongest on my list, and I would like to finish her off first. After her death, the rest will remember me, and know that I''ve returned. Not as Scarlett they killed, but as Lilith, the Dark Queen!" "They will indeed pay for it," Lily coldly nodded. "Maleina and I''ve gathered information on others too." "Good. I''m going to meditate and begin my domain refining." Maleina hesitated for a moment before saying, "But since our Domain also improves in this attempt due to our progressed power, it''s not 100% certain that Domain will upgrade in rank for greater perks, right? "That''s right," Lilith smiled. "But sometimes, you just know that you are going to achieve it. I am at the point where I am certain to achieve an SS-rank domain." "Nothing can stop that." Chapter 358: Soul Awakening! "Phew, we finished on time." Erix and Rin stood up, stretching their arms. "Roughly ten minutes until it starts," Rin nodded as she took out her U-card and contacted Isabe and Aria. Meanwhile, Erix called Sangle spiritually with his connection. Isabe was nearby with Aaron in the Sakura mansion, so she arrived quickly with Aaron while Aria was on the way. Everyone soon gathered in a minute before Erix told Sangle to move in a random direction while he asionally teleported Sangle to cross some distance or check out some area. The world was still in shambles, with 90% of thend upied by monsters, field dungeons, and ruins. Within ten minutes, Erix and others crossed half of the world with Sangle and arrived in the Easton continent, at the sanctuary area where Leishun''s Thunder Peak guild was situated. The world boss also spawned as a huge barrier covered the sanctuary area, creating the veil. Erix and Rin vanished from the eagle''s back and arrived before the giant. Without hesitation, both of them consumed all of their Prana and activated Domain Burst, projecting their Domain outward. Immediately, the waves of their powerful aura spread, shocking everyone. The giant boss was a big wyvern with bio-tech modified wings and and tail, stretching a hundred meters long in size and raining destruction. It saw Erix and Rin with their spherical domain covering them and attacked them, but before that, Erix and Rin appeared before it and released their fast skills to deal damage. In Domain Burst, one''s domain size depended on their Spirit stat. Its spherical size would be one''s spirit stat divided by 10 in radius. Erix''s spirit stat was at 2189 divided by 10 was 218, so his Domain''s spherical size was 218 meters. Rin''s spirit stat was 2071, so there wasn''t much difference in her domain sizepared to Erix. Most importantly, they were hurling their terrifying attacks with their auras that scared everyone towards the Bio-chem Wyvern boss, dealing devastating damage! Meanwhile, Isabe and Aria were also attacking while Sangle and Aaron stayed at the corner within the barrier. Even if they mistakenly die in the barrier during World Boss, they would get revived. ''Master Leishun, why are these two here again? Didn''t theye here just six days ago?'' ''Go fight them if you feel dissatisfied,'' Leishun snorted as he eyed the duo with envy. ''Boss Lei. They also got fucking Domains already, while most of us haven''t even met the requirement for them. Look at their attacks. We ain''t getting much in today''s world boss.'' Leishun sighed. ''I''ve been trying to form my domain for six days, but I''m only at halfway of the darn progress,'' he clenched his fists. One''s speed in Domain development depends on one''s Spirit force. After all, it required spirit force for all the process. People could begin their domain development as early as 500 Spirit power, but many Royal-order didn''t even have that much spirit power yet! In the end, the world boss event ended with an up for others as Erix and Rin racked up a whopping amount of contribution, finishing the world boss within a mere five minutes and making a new record. After finishing the World Boss event, everyone returned to Phoenix City after an hour. It took 10 minutes to reach there, but 1 hour to return because the squad raided some Field Dungeons for fun on the way. ¡­ Erix and Rin''s next goal was to awaken their Soul. Arriving back at the Blessed Ind, everyone sat under the tree. Isabe also arrived after putting Aaron to sleep. "Aria, so how do we awaken the soul?" Erix asked. Aria rubbed her chin for a second before saying, "Hmmm¡­The simplest way is to trigger the soul awakening." "How do we trigger it?" Rin asked. "That¡­Amu triggered my soul awakening with Amu''s own soul power¡­Oh!"Aria eximed and said. "Maybe I can also do that?" "You can do that?" Isabe was startled. "Hmm, people should have sufficient potential gathered in their unawakened souls first. Only then does trigger awakening work," Aria said. "If they don''t have enough potential, they will have to wait for the surprise awakening." "Everyone usually awakens their soul in Royal-order once their potential is unleashed," Rin thoughtfully said. "So, for the automatic awakening, people need to risk their life and death." "We''ve done it many times, but instead of our soul potential increased," Erix grinned as he remembered as well. "I remember the workings of Mystic Root. Lilith said that this type ofte soul awakening is only for those under Mystic Root''s areas." "In other parts of this cosmos, people can awaken their soul fairly early, at Supra-rank. However, since we awakente, our potential is gathered, and we get a bigger boost," Erix said. "I see¡­" Isabe and Aria nodded. "I think we should do trigger awakening," Rin wryly smiled. "I don''t think we''ll encounter a true life-and-death moment anytime soon here." "True," Erix nodded and grinned at Aria. "Aria, do it to us." "Okie!" Aria gave a thumbs-up and got up. Turning to Isabe, she said, "Be-sis, let me check your unawakened soul too. If it meets the requirement, I''ll do trigger awakening for you too." "Isabe indeed needs trigger awakening," Erix said with augh. "She still has one chance of her special limited skill, so it will also take time for her life and death-situation to appear." Isabe wryly smiled nodded, "Yep. Aria, I''ll leave it to you." "Ok, let me check," Aria walked behind Isabe and put her hands on her back before closing her eyes. After a few seconds, Aria opened her eyes and smiled, "Be-sis already met the requirement fairly long ago. Her potential is good, hehe. Ok, let''s go to the garden terrace and do it." ¡­ Sakura Mansion had five big floors, with the sixth floor being a garden terrace. After arriving there, Erix, Rin, and Isabe sat cross-legged in front of Aria with their eyes closed. "Once the soul awakening triggers, you will have to remain focused and conscious until the awakeningpletes," Aria said. "I''ll begin with Erix." Chapter 359: Isabellas Concept Inside Erix''s origin region, his unawakened soul was the most obscure wisp of white. Aria''s consciousness arrived as she carried her own soul energy and gently nudged Erix''s unawakened soul, filling it with her pure and gentle soul energy. Immediately after that, Erix''s unawakened soul brightened with faint golden sparks. Aria quickly left and left Erix in his soul-awakening state, causing a mysterious aura to appear around him. It was his soul power. Afterward, Aria did the same to Rin and Isabe one by one. "Done," Aria brightly smiled as she looked at Erix, Rin, and Isabe with a white aura containing golden sparks surrounding them. After half an hour, Erix opened his eyes and shed with faint golden, oozing out a spirituality of his soul power. ''I feel great!'' Erix said to Aria in mind with surprised eyes. ''It feels like¡­my mind and thinking is more clearer.'' ''I feel high right now¡­'' [Congrattions. You have sessfully awakened your Soul. You can now use unassigned stat points to increase your Spirit and Soul stat. Killing beings with awakened souls will absorb a bit of their pure soul essence as well, increasing your soul power.] [You can use Soul energy to boost your spirit sense, skills, and physical body. Boost depends on your Soul power (Soul stat), and consumption of Soul energy on the said medium.] ''So much boosts.'' ''Hehe, soul awakening is also a major boost to one''sprehension power, especially to those who already had higherprehension,'' Aria internally chuckled. ''Mhmm, I can already feel it,'' Erix nodded, his eyes looking over his status. [~Erix~] _Race: Hybrid Zombie _Rank: Royal-Order _Level: 221 _ss: Death Reaper-X _Life Heart/Death Heart: [100%/100%] _Vigor Force: [2000/2000] _Stats: 420 unassigned. ¡ª> [ Strength: 5000 + 2000 + 1150 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 5000 + 2000 + 150 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 5000 + 2000 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 2189/ Spirit Force: 21,890/21,890 ] ¡ª> [ Soul: 1039 / Soul Energy: 10,390/10,390 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-S / Magic power: 5000 + 2000 / Prana: 50,000/50,000 (+20,000) ] Continue your saga on m|v-l''e -NovelBin _Talent (2/3): Vigor Force, Undeath Living. ''I got 1039 soul stat,'' Erix raised his eyebrows. ''I guess that''s good.'' ''I have 2740,'' Aria grinned. ''I''ll catch up,'' Erix teleported Aria on hisp and hugged her. ''Just like how I caught you now.'' Right after that, Rin''s aura also surged and she opened her eyes, feeling thrilled, dreamy, and high. ''Wow, this is great!'' ''I know right,'' Erix grinned. Rin turned to Erix and Aria as she grinned, ''We must have some fun after this¡­ah, this soul awakening is best high.'' ''Let''s wait for Be to finish. We''ll go to the bedroom after that.'' ''My soul potential is just a bit behind yours, eh? But we can use stat points to boost Soul and Spirit now!'' Rin got the notification as she eximed in shock. ''Haha, yep.'' ¡­ Meanwhile, changes were happening to the Antis Expedition Leaderboard. More people entered the Antis Expedition after the initial 121 people as they reached the 40k Power level requirement. Erix and Rin didn''t go to the expedition today, but Isabe went with the Unfettered Fate guild members for 2-hour and climbed in ranks. Every other top powerhouse finished their daily 2-hour expedition, but Erix and Rin didn''t bother about it today because of Domain Creation. When many top powerhouses saw their names with no changes in contribution after 12 O''clock, they knew Erix and Rin didn''t go. But this also meant that the next day''s invasion from Antians wouldn''t be as intense as the first one. ¡­ Isabe opened her eyes with her aura surging and took a deep breath of refreshment and a natural smile on her face. She also felt super good,fortable, and high as her Soul Awakening finished. "Let''s go and take some rest now," Erix got up and said with a thoughtful expression, "We''ll begin our Expedition early morning at seven. I''ve informed our guild about it, so I''ll go and inform Heavenly Melody about this." "Alright," Isabe nodded with a smile as she looked at Erix. Her eyes shed slightly, but her thoughts didn''t surface for anyone to see. Erix teleported away, while Rin, Aria, and Isabe went downstairs. Isabe entered her bedroom on the 4th floor where Aaron was sleeping while Rin and Aria were in the biggest bedroom of the mansion on the 5th floor. "I''m going to light an incense this time," Rin grinned. "Double high, haha." "Oh, that one?" Aria raised her eyebrows before her eyes shined. "That was very good, yep." After lightning weed incense, both girls giggled at each other andy naked on the bed with a nket covering their pristine smooth figures. Erix soon arrived after talking with Sameira and Kenshin, teleporting directly into the bedroom. Looking at Rin and Aria seductively leaned on the bed''s rest, with their nket covering everything except for their juicy breasts and stopping right after their nipples, Erix''s dragon immediately sprang up as a wide smile appeared on his face. "Raring to get eaten, eh? Hahaha." Erix''s clothes vanished as his sculpted-looking figure with lean muscles and slightly brown skin with an oily hue made him look sparkling in Aria''s and Rin''s eyes, his eyes and look making them hungrier. "We are going to eat you," Rin grinned. ¡­ ''No¡­'' Isabe squeezed her eyes shut, but her body shook asionally. "Mama¡­" Aaron groggily opened his eyes due to Isabe''s movement. "Nothing, dear," Isabe quickly used her gentle soul energy, the newfound power she acquired to calm Aaron and put him back into his deep sleep. But she got up and walked into the bathroom before removing her clothes and turning on the shower. ''Why is it giving me more trouble than usual?'' ''Could it be because I awakened my soul?'' Isabe sighed as she looked at her Concept''s source in the origin region. The one troubling her was none other than her own power born out of her desire and thoughts, as those were the things that awakened one''s concept. Her concept awakened roughly half a month ago. She already knew the rtionship between Aria, Rin, and Erix and also knew about their adventure in the Abyss as they told her a month ago. The impressive power of Erix and Rin awed her and also invoked desires in her. In her eyes, no one was more impressive than Erix and Rin, and this was clear as day for everyone, but she was close to them, and she¡­wanted to be more than just their ally, especially after seeing them having fun all the time. It began when she thought about how it wouldn''t be a problem even if she loved Erix. This thought got stronger every day, and her longing and desire also increased, but she suppressed them because she didn''t know how to address all that. However, those suppressed feelings, thoughts, and desires took shape, manifesting into her concept. [Yearning¡ªConcept] _Realm: Sigma -- Intimate Call ¡ª> Intimate Call: Interacting with the one you love will increase your spirit power by 50% for a certain amount of time depending on your state of mind. Your love will increase the more you interact with the one in your heart. _Effect(s): ¡ª>The stronger your yearning for someone, the more potent your Magic power will be. ¡ª> Your skills are 10% to 50% more potent if they are used on your loved ones. Isabe bit her lips, and her eyes became watery under the shower. "What do I do?" Isabe''s voice was lumpy as she leaned against the below her shower letting her mind and body soak. But in her heart was a fire burning that was not going down. ''I can''t handle it anymore¡­'' Her yearning, especially after already finding Erix, Rin, and Aria''s intention to have fun tonight made her slightly crazy again, but it was more than she expected. The concept''s power was also influencing, and since her soul awakened, the yearning also increased in her high state. She was closest to her wild desires at the moment and they were trying to burst out. Chapter 360: Desires and Yearning, Determination Isabe took a few deep breaths to calm herself, but her eyes were whirling, and her body was reacting. Biting her lips, she looked at her spotless figure, and two curvy, perky big breasts blocking the rest of the view below. She turned off the shower, dried herself with a bit of Mana to vaporize the water, and left the bathroom. After wearing a gown, she left her room went to the upper floor silently, and stood before Erix''s room. Her eyes shed with spirit power, and she condensed her spirit energy before moving it through the door''s gap. Inside the room¡­Aria was on top of Erix, with her breast in his mouth as he sucked it hard and his hands wrapped around her back. His dick was inside Aria''s pussy as Erix moved his hips crazily while sucking her breast, making Aria moan and scream. Rin was lying naked beside the duo. Erix pumped his load into Aria and made her climax as she screamed with pure bliss. When Isabe saw Erix''s cum dripping out of Aria as she got up and saw his dick, Isabe felt a throbbing and burning sensation in her heart. She saw him teleporting between Rin''s legs as he spread them and inserted his dick inside, causing Rin to open her mouth and roll her eyes backward at the rapture with the thrust. Isabe''s legs turned weak, and she sat on the ground, leaning against the door. Her hand made its way towards her crotch area, and she started rubbing her pussy, trembling with her eyes closed. In her closed eyes, she was still watching everything happening in the room with her spirit sense, Imagining herself embracing Erix and loving him, enacting upon her desire and yearning. ''Erix¡­'' However, her magic power suddenly spiked due to her concept activating, and she immediately paused her movement. Her beat a thousand times faster, and her face turned red, but she soon internally sighed in relief. ''Phew, they didn''t sense it.'' Isabe saw that Erix, Rin, and Aria were still busy in their y. Discover hidden stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin With a red face, Isabe closed her eyes again and continued while watching them. She soon climaxed for the first time after a long while and trembled in catharsis. ¡­ After several hours, the morning dawned and groups gathered. Since Heavenly Melody Guild and Unfettered Fate Guild were going together in the expedition, the other guilds quickly prepared and followed them inside. Nobody had made any progress in the expedition the previous day. They just killed monsters to earn Orbs of Lost Ancient in the vast forest before the streaming passages. Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Kenshin, and Sameira also arrived in the streaming passages right after entering the Merfinn Tribe''s portal. "It''s time to explore further and kill some Merfinns," Erix said as he looked at the group. "Can you look at where these passages are going? Because I can''t do that. It''s interfering with my sense and tracing of spirit energy," Kenshin said. Erix shook his head, "I also can''t trace their ends, surprisingly. The space is bent and rough around them, so Space Mapping is not working properly." "So, we have no other choice but to enter the stream and see where they take us?" Rin looked at the chaotic water streams in the ocean with her arms crossed. "We only have 2 hours here, so let''s just go." "Yep. Protect yourselves and enter," Erix said with a grin as he was the first one to move and enter a water-streaming passage. Everyone also covered themselves in their respective strongest energies, and entered the same stream passage as Erix, flowing with the terribly fast flow of the streaming water into an unknown territory. Erix watched the scenery change from thick chaotic swirls of deep waters by some magic power that the water streams cut through before arriving in an underwater volcanic surface. ''The water is hot here.'' Erix was surprised as he experienced heat and sawvatic patterns on the surface. Thisvatic ocean bed was spewing out blobs ofva that dissipated their heat in the ocean and turned into solid chunks. Erix saw mountains, hills, metallic-looking trees, and nts along with green ones¡ªall magical and infused with Prana. Behind him, he saw the stream vanishing abruptly after arriving in this area in an unnatural way. Rin and others soon spewed out from the stream one by one and looked around curiously. However, it wasn''t long before they were greeted by a herd of monsters that came ragingly from behind a mountain range. All of them were like sharks with glowingvatic patterns and granite-like teeth, horns, and coating over them. ''Thirty-four monstersing at once. Each of them is over 60k power level, and the strongest is 90k.'' ''Let me kill the 90k one,'' Isabe said with a determined expression, startling Erix and others. But after getting startled, Erix chuckled and said, ''Alright, go.'' Isabe bit her lips and her aura surged as she locked on the Shark. Her mind shed Erix''s face and smile, increasing her yearning as her Magic Power started getting potent. Aside from Kenshin and Sameira, Heavenly Melody now had 8 members over 40k Power level, with a few crossing 50k. Unfettered Fate guild had 13 members over 40k Power level, with a few crossing 50k as well. Of course, not including Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe. Aria was not using her Animated Spirits, but using a different style. She had mysterious jelly-like weapons around her, and a magical jelly armor also covered her. These weapons had eyes and even mouths, and they looked like transformed versions of her Animated Spirits. With hermand, she attacked, healed, and defended, and she herself focused on tougher Gr Sharks to use her newly created skills. She held a machine gun and released condensed bullets of frost on the Shark for direct attribute advantage and killed them. Sometimes, she used a giant hammer to crush a shark, and sometimes, she used a drills-shaped attack. Each of those Animated Spirit Weapons was powerful enough tobat against the Sharks. Meanwhile, Isabe also used the Ice attribute,preparing a powerful skill in the shape of a spear while she blocked an attack. ''It''s tougher and bigger. I need more.'' Isabe gritted her teeth and dodged a glowingvatic fang projectile of the shark while the Ice field around her strengthened the spear she reinforced the skill''s power even more. ''I''ve learned many magic formations. I can do it.'' Isabe''s Ice spear turnedrger, with entric magic patterns appearing on them as she used what she learned from Erix and Rin, and created an entirely new formation and magic application for this attack. Erix and Rin were watching and saw how Isabe''s spear transformed, surprising them. ''That looks great.'' ''Yeah.'' Even the weakest shark was 20 meters long and fairly big. The one that Isabe faced was 38 meters long. She took onest attack head-on, injuring herself slightly, but also prating the icy spear boosted by her Soul energy, spirit force, and concept into the Shark. It pierced into the shark''s mouth before exploding into frost that froze the shark''s movement instantly before beautiful frost spikes emerged from its body, creating an icy flower. The shark was alive, but it was dying as it was not able to prevent the icy flower from absorbing its Prana and weakening it, while also getting intense frostbites internally that froze its control and body''s circtions. In the end, the shark shattered like ss while the icy blue flower turned dark blue with faint gold and white sparks. Isabe narrowed her eyes as she controlled the icy flower towards another shark with a 48k Power level and killed it, gaining another Orb of Lost Ancient. Chapter 361: Destruction Progress ''That was awesome, Be.'' Erix eximed in surprise with a big grin. ''That''s right. We knew you cooked something, but that was freaking awesome,'' Rin grinned and said. ''You have to teach that to us.'' Isabe showed ''V'' gesture at them with a big smile and said, ''I was able to do that thanks to you two. And, of course, I''ll teach you this formation.'' ''How did you get its inspiration?'' Erix curiously asked. ''Umm, It''s because my Concept''s working that I got this idea,'' Isabe replied with a faint tinge of red in her cheeks that quickly vanished as she normally smiled. ''I see.'' Isabe continued with herbat since there were still 7 Sharks alive. But suddenly, everyone sensed more presenceing into the area behind them, though the people inbat didn''t dare to get distracted. However, Erix and Rin turned around as they raised their eyebrows. "You all¡­" Seeing all the Royal-order powerhouses of Phoenix City belonging to various guilds, the duo was surprised. "Haha, how could we miss this chance to go with you on the expedition?" Ronaldo said with a grin. "That''s right. We knew you would be progressing further, so when people saw you entering the portal, every guild quickly gathered for the expedition party." "After asking the Moondawn Elves in the hub, we also entered the Merfinn Tribe''s portal gate, but were stumped as to how to proceed further," Kan said with a wry smile. "In the end, we jumped into one of those magical flowing streams and arrived here." "Suit yourselves then," Erix shrugged. "The Protection Scheme is on, and the price is the same." Everyone nodded. By then, the rest of the 7 sharks were also killed by the group as everyone gathered. Instead of sides, the group went towards the mountain range where those sharks came from. Erix was already seeing a brand new territory behind the mountain range, but when everyone crossed it, they saw it. A huge ocean bed with a big crack like a crevice. Twenty kilometers away from them, two kilometers deep in that crevice were buildings and structures. Everyone quickly suppressed and conserved their auras. "Looks like Merfinns live there." "If that''s the case, then there should be other territories of Merfinns around this area," Rin said as she looked around to see hills, mountains, and strange forests made of metallic and soft nts. "Let me see the requirement of Power Level to go in this area," Erix said before he vanished from his spot and entered the crevice. Immediately, he got a notification. [Requirement to enter: 100,000 Power Level] Erix saw that and immediately returned. "Let''s search around and kill monsters we encounter while looking for Merfinn tribe''s other areas." Each guild parted into their own groups and went to search in different areas. However, it wasn''t long before more people arrived. The Antis Hub was a central point where people from other areas of the world could gather together. The ns of various areas had also constructed their stores and stalls to sell their specialties, so it wasn''t long before people from other areas of the world heard about Phoenix City entering the expedition. As more people arrived, Aria sensed their presence before Erix and Rin also sensed them in the same area where other streams ended. Meanwhile, Kan and three group members found a territory 170 kilometers away from the crevice. ''What the hell? We need to have a 150,000 Power level for this area? Boss, let''s quietly and quickly get away. My balls are getting cold.'' Barkha internally sneered. She was right behind Ronaldo, so she sneakily slid her hands toward his crotch area and grabbed his ballsy area. ''W-what the fuck!'' ''I was just checking if your balls really went cold. Thought I should heat them.'' ''Alright,ds. Calm and quiet. We are leaving before those Merfinns holding those strange triadentse here and discover us.'' ''Those tridents are different from the tridents of Merfinns who invaded us. These must be elite Merfinns.'' The group quickly made some distance before contacting Erix with the U-card. [Kan: Erix. Can you briefly expand your spirit sense range to full and mark our location if you are not too far? Just twenty kilometers to our west is a territory with the suggested requirement of 150,000 Power level.] Discover more stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin [Erix: Stay there for a bit. I am heading to the west.] Erix quickly crossed seventy kilometers with a teleport blink and arrived back at the mountain range where they found the crevice. He expanded his spirit sense to full and discovered many presences of people. He located Kan''s group and marked their spot. [Erix: Done. You can return now.] Right after Erix put away the U-card, it immediately rang again. [Khalil: Erix, we found a territory in the southeast area from the crevice. The suggested requirement is 55k.] [Erix: Good job. Stay there while everyone gathers.] ¡­ The territory that Khalil and his group located looked like a thick forest but with structures and buildings in it, with multiple bubbles that isted some spots in the forest to remove water from those areas. [Merfinn''s Forging Forest. Suggested requirement to enter: 55,000 Power level.] Ten kilometers away was a big group of nearly a hundred people. The top powerhouses were all present along with Erix, Rin, and others from Phoenix City. Erix and Rin went ahead first while using Domain Burst, disying two big different scenery around them in a sphere as chaos ensued in Merfinn''s Forging Forest. [Laishun: Are any of you close to developing your Domain?] [Amir: I''ll get mine in a couple of days. I am only focusing on that.] [Koshal: Same.] [Yelwon: Same, but we shall see who has the strongest domain.] [James: Let''s go. Those two already went inside deeper while ignoring the small fries for us.] After creating chaos in the territory, the rest of the people attacked as well, beginning a huge war between hundreds of Merfinns vs roughly a hundred people. People leveled up and got stronger amidst the intense war, but Erix and Rin were bored. The enemies were not formidable enough for them. The boss of this area only had a Power Level of 120,000, so it died with a single attack. [Congrattions onpleting the challenge. Destruction Progress: ¡ª Army: 12.9%, Overall: 5.2%.] In the end, two hours soon passed by right after the war ended, and everyone disappeared. Chapter 362: Dumbfounded Tower Master After exiting from the Antis expedition and hub, Erix, Rin, and Isabe went to the nearby Labyrinth Tower. After arriving there, Isabe went to challenge the 14th Floor while Erix and Rin went to the 20th Floor. The trio had awakened their soul and received a boost to their overallbat prowess. Rin and Erix had their domains, so they were confident about beating the 20th Floor. The moment they arrived, Tower Master''s voice rang in their heads. ''Mhmm, not bad. Let''s see if your Domains are good enough.'' ''SS-rank domain is not good enough for this floor?!'' Erix raised his eyebrows, his thoughts louder. ''Tsk, I knew it.'' Rin clicked her tongue. ''Wait, wait, what? You two developed an SS-rank domain?'' The shocked voice was Tower Master confused them. ''Uh¡­yeah? But if there''s SS-rank, then there''s SSS-rank,'' Erix shrugged before grinning. ''Welp, it doesn''t matter. We''ll still beat that Nyx the Eclipsed Hollow Knight.'' ''That''s right,'' Rin snorted. Both of them challenged the floor and pressed ''Yes'' before vanishing. Meanwhile, the Tower Master appeared on the 20th floor for the first time, revealing an appearance akin to a genie, but instead of blue, it was ck with beautiful runic blue patterns. ''The minimum requirement to finish this floor is utmost hard work and built-up talent for those with A-rank Domain and less than 1000 Soul power.'' Tower Master rubbed his chin. ''They had over a thousand soul power and enough spirit power, but domain¡­.'' ''Do they really have an SS-rank domain?'' Tower Master decided to properly observe their battle and vanished, splitting his consciousness into two and watching both battles simultaneously. Erix and Rin, both had activated their domain, andbat forms, and were in full focus as the blood-red sea and the gigantic strange tree that emerged from the sea became their stage against Nyx. Nyx''s sword shed against Rin''s des, both turning into lights as they shed against each other and their attacks. Their domains were shing against each other as well, but Rin''s domain was winning and she had a higher boost. On the other hand, Erix''s miniature Erasure Void Rods were faster and Seven Gauntlets Fiesta released punches upon punches, troubling Nyx and suppressing him. Both of them were gradually overwhelming Nyx as the battle went on, clearing Tower Master''s doubt. ''They really developed SS-rank Domain based on the boost they are getting. What is it that drove their wills to that far and strong that they reached that deep in the Cosmic Arcane Layer?'' Tower Master felt curious. He knew these two had powerful wills, but the factors that decided how far one could go in the Cosmic Arcane Layer also depended on other characteristic factors. ''Maybe their desires and ambitions fueling their strong willpower led them that far?'' As the Tower Master watched the battle, it soon ended after roughly seven minutes. Erix and Rin were injured at various ces, and despite them being stronger, it wasn''t like danger was zero. They could clearly feel death grazing past them whenever one of Nyx''s attacks struck them and they barely defended or dodged. Both of them returned to the 20th floor with their injuries healed and energies recovered to full. Notifications rang as they got two rewards¡ªFloor reward, and special quest reward. 1 x Ticket to the Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. ¡ªFloor reward. 1 x Fortune Ride Token of Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center¡ªa reward for defeating 20% stronger Nyx than usual, and having a Power Level below 150,000. Fortunately, developing Domain didn''t contribute to increasing Power Level in evaluation, and the increase that Erix received in Power Level after awakening his Soul wasn''t enough to push him past the 150k mark. ''You two really got SS-rank domains. What were you thinking during the whole process?'' Erix and Rin tilted their heads. ''What do you mean?'' ''I mean¡­hmm, what is your strongest desire and fear?'' Hearing that question, Erix and Rin looked at each other before they burst outughing. ''Strongest desire is rted to fear,'' Erix grinned as he and Rin held their hands tightly. ''The strongest desire is of course to get as strong as possible, to reach every realm out there and get to the peak on this path to power,'' Rin said with a big smile. ''But¡­we want to reach there together, and for that, we can''t get behind one another,'' Erix lovingly looked at Rin. ''Yep. We must get to the top together. If not together, there''s no point. So, we will work our hardest and our wills won''t back down to anyone else on this path to the peak,'' Rin said with resolve and determination burning in her eyes. ''Now, onto the next Floor,'' Erix said with augh. Tower Master was stunned, but he finally knew the secret to their strong willpower and desire that led them to develop SS-rank domains. Tower Master could feel those two loved each other to death, so if one of themgged behind, it would be devastating because both of them were power-hungry and desired to be at the top¡­but together! ''They are lovers and rivals that run after the same ambitions and desires, but they must be together at the top¡­.haha, this rivalry in love is putting more pressure on them than anything else!'' Tower Master nodded with a hearty smile. ''This resonance is fascinating indeed. But they haven''t stepped into the true world yet¡­I wonder about their future.'' Tower Master was curious and wondered about their future. Until now, only these two gave him such curiosity about how they would develop and their fate, but he didn''t like it. ''I am confined here while they will leave soon. Better not think much about them,'' Tower master sighed. ¡­ Meanwhile, Erix and Rin cleared the 21st Floor. [21st Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Army of a thousand Red Lizardians. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 180,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental crystal (Advanced Elements only) This wasn''t hard despite them having a lower Power Level than required. "We are getting Advanced Elemental crystals now. Babe, do we go to the next floor or use our mysterious reward?" Rin asked. Erix took out the ticket to Cosmic Treasure Arcane Center for a moment before he decided to call Tower Master. "Hey, Tower Master. What do you think will maximize the benefit of this reward?" Chapter 363: Liliths Revenge Tower Master appeared in front of them for the first time, surprising them with his muscr balloon genie form. "Call me Zerol. I overlook all Labyrinth Towers on your," Zerol said with a smile. "A genie, eh? Can you tell me how you became a genie or were you born like this?" Erix curiously asked. "I was born like this, hahaha. Genie is a cosmic race and we live in Sprites, which are different types ofs than this one. Ours are more gaseous and spiritual. You can''t live there." Zerol smiled, "At least, not with your current level of power." "Interesting. How did you end up here?" "To make it short, I did something, broke something, and was jailed. When your received Mystic Root''s influence and manifested Labyrinth Towers, I became the Tower Master of your world." Zerol waved his hand, "Enough about me. Regarding your question''s answer, you can use the ticket right now and then use the other reward once you go there. Using this power has little to do with your power as it''s all about luck." Erix and Rin nodded. They guessed as much from the reward''s name, but it was better to ask and see if they could get some benefits. "However, as you do not know how luck works in this grand primal cosmos, I suggest you find that out and then use the reward," Zerol smiled. "How?" Rin raised her eyebrows. "Hehe, why don''t you tell us if you know?" Erix grinned. Readtest stories on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin Zerol smiled and said, "I shall give you an example." "A man is walking on the road while looking at his phone. Suddenly, a bird shits on him and he curses out loud, ''Damn my rotten luck,'' and continues walking." "However, another person walks on the same path, but he notices several white spots on the ground while looking at his phone and pauses before looking up, only to see a few birds sitting on cables." "He passes by the spot and avoids getting shitted on him," Zerol said beforeughing. "This is how luck works in the cosmos. To a certain extent, it is up to you to generate your luck." Erix and Rin''s eyes glinted and both of them adopted a thoughtful expression. "That was a good one," Erix nodded. "Yep," Rin smiled. "Then darling, how about we just clear the floors until we can''t? We''ll use this ticketter." "Yeah, let''s do that." "Good luck," Zerol grinned. Erix and Rinughed at that and nodded before they went to the next floor. After they disappeared, Zerol muttered, "Maybe¡­they can free me from my fate. But first, they''ll have to break away from Mystic Root''s influence." ¡­ Kanx Abyss¡­ "Who is that Lilith?! She killed three top powerhouses one by one." "I heard she is the Scarlett Princess, but I don''t know who is Scarlett Princess." At the moment, the whole Kanx Abyss, especially the Core Domain, was in shambles at the destruction of three top Empyrean-order powerhouses. But the remaining three finally found out Lilith''s true identity since she revealed it in a subtle way that only they could understand when she killed thest Empyrean-order powerhouse. Inside the core domain''s Miracle ss Food Pavilion, a top-ss restaurant in the core domain''s central region. Inside sat Execution Lambo, the old man who oversaw the auction where Erix and Rin bought the mysterious statue that granted them the Mark of Paradox and ess to the Patron Realm. Aside from him, there was a middle-aged woman and a middle-aged man as well. "She is Scarlett," Lambo calmly said. "And we three are her next targets." "Damn it! Didn''t we kill her as well? How did she survive?" The busty woman with green hair hissed through her teeth, feeling irritated. "She died for sure. There''s no doubt about that, but the soul was not killed," the dark silver-haired man said with narrowed eyes. "We ambushed her parents while they were breaking through. Our leader died with them, and then we destroyed her entire Crimson Demon n," Execution Lambo said in a calm voice. "Her thirst for revenge will not let us go." "But why is she so powerful?! How did she catch up to us so quickly?" the woman asked with a frown. "As far as I know, the only reason she could get such a power would be due to her Bloodline, the talent of her source, and the boons she extracted after removing herself from Mystic Root''s influence." "She killed the strongest of us, so we have to stay together and kill her," Execution Lambo coldly said. "There''s no escape from this Abyss until we break through, and we don''t have time until that happens." "Hmm, how abou-" The silver-haired man''s speech came to an abrupt halt as the trio''s expression changed drastically, and a chill suffused in their VIP room. *BOOM!* Lilith arrived in her ck robe with crimson patterns, destroying the Pavilion without any regard and creating a barrier around the trio. "Did you think you could kill me if you were together?" The familiar, yet unfamiliar cold voice caused them to feel deathly chill, especially after knowing that three people stronger than them died. Two died just yesterday. But before they could do anything, Executioner Lambo disappeared and a Domain point appeared. The silver-haired man and woman attacked the barrier that Lilith put up, but their first attack didn''t do anything to it. "What the hell?!" "It was fast, but she expended all of her Prana on this barrier and half of her Spirit force and soul energy," the silver-haired man said while grinding his teeth, his aura bursting out. "Use Domain Burst and break it!" Both of them burst out with their full power and attacked the barrier, creating cracks in it. ''This bitch¡­why is this barrier so powerful?'' However, before they could release another attack, both of them felt a weak aura and a strong aura appearing, familiar and filling them with dread. ''So fast?!'' Executioner Lambo''s limbs were cut off, their ends burning with creepy blood me with ck spots that prevented him from recovering. On the verge of death, Lilith dealt a finishing blow to him, exploding his body to pieces before her crimson eyes turned to the other two. "Your turn." Chapter 364: Using Slaves Erix and Rin cleared up to the 24th Floor. The 25th Floor''s requirement was 200,000 Power Level. Even though they could try and use a chance, they decided to end floor clearing for now. From the 21st Floor to the 24th Floor, they got 4 Advanced high-grade elemental crystals. Erix could use those crystals to progress in the only Advanced element affinity he had¡ªMetal. Meanwhile, Rin had two advanced element affinities¡ªLightning and Blood. She had already decided to prioritize Lightning. Since these were ''High-grade'' elemental crystals, they could be helpful until one reached the 7th realm in elemental affinities. Low-grade elemental crystals could help progress up to 3rd realm. Medium-grade elemental crystals could help progress up to the 5th realm. High-grade elemental crystals could help progress up to the 7th realm. Finally, Peak-grade elemental crystals could help progress up to the 10th realm. The next realm after the 10th realm was called Elemental Awakening, but it was a big barrier, and depending on people''s hard work and talent, it could take decades to hundreds of years to reach that realm, without fighting for resources and opportunities. ¡­ Erix and Rin returned while Isabe was already preparing food. It was almost noon, and Aria was also returning with good news. On her way back to Phoenix City, Aria saw a group of four people in their mid-thirties struggling against an Open Field Dungeon in a park, but they were on the verge of beating it. However, she noticed another group sneakily approaching them and paused. ''Are they nning to wait until they finish, kill them, and steal the loot?'' Aria pouted. She didn''t like that. Flying down, she silently appeared behind the sneaking group of six people. Two girls and four boys¡ªthree of them were in their mid-twenties, and the other three in their early twenties. Aria was behind them, but none could hear or notice her until she let out a soft cough. Instantly, all of them were startled and turned around, their aura revving. "Don''t do that," Aria crossed her arms with a stern expression. "What?" the girl in her mid-twenties asked and pointed her dual guns at Aria. She had recently broken through to Royal-order. "Don''t ambush those people after they are done fighting in the field dungeon. Why don''t you fight on your own? That way, you can improve as well." "Why does it concern you? You¡­you are an elf from a some n, right? Fuck off," one of the young men scoffed. "That''s right. You can''t hit us first, but we can hit you first and that might cost you your life," the second girl who was in her early twenties coldly said to Aria with narrowed eyes, pointing her dagger at her. The only reason they were behaving like this was due to them not being able to inspect Aria, and they also couldn''t feel any powerful aura from her. "So you will still ambush them?" Aria pouted. "Go away," the royal-order girl waved her hand. "Fine, I''ll give you a little punishment," Aria cutely snorted and created a big liquidy faint green slime animated spirit. The moment it appeared, the six young people were startled by its aura and then shocked. "I can''t attack you, but I can trap you," Aria smiled. " The slime jumped and the group watched as it was going tond on them. They tried to run, use skill to dodge, and escape from this but failed because strong vines from the ground had suddenly rooted them on the spot. *Plop* In the end, the giant slime trapped all of them inside, causing them to float in the liquid. Aria smiled and said, "Don''t worry. You won''t die there, but will have to stay trapped for half an hour." The five of them were scared this time as no matter how much they tried, they couldn''t even do a little damage to the slime. All of the attacks were nullified the moment they were released. Aria flew up and continued towards Phoenix City in a jolly mood. After arriving there, she saw Erix and Rin sitting at the dining table with Aaron and talking with him while Isabe was almost finished preparing dishes. Aria''s presence was undetectable by others, so she sneaked inside and appeared behind Aaron. ''Shhss¡­'' Aria gave a signal to Erix and Rin as they couldn''t help but chuckle. Aaron was confused, but then he suddenly felt two fingers poking him in his waist on both sides, startling him as he shouted and jumped up. "Hahahah¡­" Aaron pouted and turned to Aria, "You win." "But I will win next time! I am getting powerful, humph." Aria grinned and ruffled his hair before sitting on the empty chair beside Rin. "Alright, time for dinner," Isabe arrived with a bunch of tes floating around her. She put them on the table and sat down beside Aaron before everyone started eating. "I have a good news!" Aria announced with a smug smile. "I can now craft Tier-6 potions and Tier-6 pills!" "Hehe, I also created a special pill that only I can create because of my Bloodline," Aria took out a jade-green pill with cloudy dark green patterns. "It looks so magical," Aaron curiously said. Everyone looked at the pill and inspected it. [Jade Spirit Pill] _Tier: 6 _Grade: Rare. _Effect: Consuming this pill will boost spirit energy by 25% for half an hour. "What?! A pill that boosts spirit energy?" Erix, Rin, and Isabe were shocked. Even the Moondawn Elf n couldn''t create a pill of this effect. "This is not a perfected version," Aria said with a wry smile. "But once Iplete it, we''ll need some proper Tier-6 ingredients." "The dungeons of Tier-6 ingredients are increasing, but not much. We''ll have to monopolize this stuff," Erix said before biting on a meat bun. "Yeah. This pill can increase ourbat power a lot," Rin grinned. She thought of something and asked, "Aria, Be-sis, you two will begin training after eating, right?" Both of them nodded. "I need to practice more to concoct legendary-grade Jade Spirit pills," Aria said as she pumped her fist with determination. "I have a few elemental crystals, so I''ll use them," Isabe smiled. "Me too," Aaron grinned. "I am going to train with Daniel and others. I can''t beat him yet, but I will soon!" "Alright, then Erix and I will scout around for Tier-6 Alchemy ingredient dungeons." ¡­ After eating, Erix and Rin went to the central za where some ves were stationed. It was empty at the moment, so the ves were training. Erix had stationed some ves here to upgrade people''s U-card. "We earned over fifteen thousand low-grade Prana stones, haha," Erix said with augh. "Rin, we canplete the first stage. Let''s do it after finding some dungeons." "Yep," Rin nodded. "Also, how about we send those thousands of ves to scout for dungeons in the wilds?" "Most of the people are not venturing out, so many dungeons gates that spawn every day are not even attempted by people," Rin wryly smiled. Erix''s eyes glinted, "That''s a good idea. To make them work, we can give rewards to those who sessfully find a dungeon." The duo flew back to the Blessed Ind and went behind the normal mountain range where the roughly three thousand ves were living. "We should also check if they progressing as instructed," Erix narrowed his eyes and called everyone out with a wave of spiritual energy. Some of them were already outside and were training, but most of them were in small groups to progress in various sub-sses. Their job was to improve in Alchemy, Magsmithing, Mystic Cooking, and Rune Scribing. Rune scribers were few, but they could inscribe objects with runes to give them various effects based on their magic knowledge and their level of Rune Scribing. Not everyone had a sub-ss, so those who didn''t have became assistants in practice. The ves also trained daily in the various elemental biomes of this Blessed Ind. They were alive, so they also wanted to get stronger. After checking their progress, Erix and Rin were not satisfied. "You all are cking," Erix coldly swept his nce at the herd of people. Everyone shuddered. Nobody had forgotten the scene they saw when Erix and Rin arrived at their alliance in the city and killed the leaders. Moreover, they had ess to leaderboards and notifications like others so they knew that the ones who enved them were extraordinarily powerful. "It''s fine. You still have time to show your worth," Erix said with a grunt. "Because if you are useless, we don''t have any reason to keep you alive." This death threat was way more effective than before. The ves had lived here for over a month and had adapted to this lifestyle while bearing hope. If Erix and Rin pushed them too much when they first enved them, some of them might still rebel and ept death, but it would be a waste of a worker. "From today onward, all of you have a new activity. You can go out and take some apocalypse air that you all missed for a while," Rin said with a sharp smile. All of them were surprised as low murmurs spread in the herd. "However, those ve cors you have is not for show. I hope you remember that," Erix said in an icy voice with a cold smile. "Your job is to explore the wilderness and ruins of cities and other areas to find dungeon gates." "More specifically, we want Alchemy dungeon gates, but you can also find all types of dungeons and explore them." "Your job is to clear the dungeons and bring back resources," Rin sharply said, "And don''t even think about escaping. Erix smiled and casually added, "Escaping from us is futile, but some of you can try for the sake of trying. But I can assure you¡­their heads will be hung here once they do." "I am initiating mass teleporting now, sending half of you into the ruined Phoenix City, and the other half into the forest. You can directly talk to me by infusing in your ve cors if some trouble arises," Erix said. All ves started talking and their expressions brightened, while some of them didn''t want to leave, but nobody had any choice in this. Rin loudly snorted by infusing Prana and making everyone silent before she said, "You are not allowed to attack other people, but others trouble you without reason, you can contact us via that cor." "Now go and work hard for rewards. As for what rewards you will get, that''s a secret." The ves were surprised at the mention of rewards since they were not expecting rewards. Erix finished preparing a big magic formation for teleportation that lit up below them. Half of them disappeared first as he sent them to the ruins of the city. After two seconds, he sent the remaining half into the wilderness behind the Labyrinth Tower. "So, what will be the reward?" Rin rubbed her chin. Erix wryly smiled as he also hadn''t decided on that. "Forget it. We can think about the rewardter. For now, we should to go some dangerous area that have be hazardous with magic after the apocalypse. There might be some powerful dungeon gates there," Erix said. Rin shrugged. "No harm in checking those areas out. Let''s go." Chapter 365: Dungeon Day, What did you see? Erix and Rin flew away from Phoenix City towards the southern frost regions. As they flew over Targon city, Erix chuckled, "People made a solid base there, eh?" The military headquarters was wholly different than before, upied by a single guild. Of course, Erix and Rin didn''t bother visiting it and continued their way towards the south. After flying for a while, the atmosphere started getting colder and colder. The green scenery slowly changed into white as the clouds hid the sun, and snow rained on. Soon, the snowfall turned into a blizzard as Erix and Rin arrived at and of high mountains, trees, and mutated monsters. It wasn''t long before the duo sensed a dungeon gate''s energy from afar within their sensing range. Flying down, they saw a herd of fifteen Royal-order wolves a kilometer away from the dungeon. They were ganging up on two ten-meter tall snow bears that were stronger than the wolves, but their chances of winning were low due to outnumbered and low disparity in power. The monsters here were stronger because no humans ventured here to hunt them. They just internally killed each other and evolved, progressing faster than areas visited by humans and ns. Erix and Rin killed all the Tundra Darkfrost wolves and the Snow w bear before going to the Dungeon Gate to inspect it. [Dungeon: Hell''s 3rd Layer Unbound] _Type: Survival Wave/Material _Requirement: ¡ª> Level 250+ ¡ª> Power Level: 70,000+ _Tasks: ¡ª> Survive for 1 hour. ¡ª> Kill 10,000 Demonlings within 1 hour. _Rewards: ¡ª> 5 x Tier-6 random material boxes. ¡ª> 2 x Tier-6 Alchemy Material crates. ¡ª> 1 x Random Tier-6 Skill scroll. "Not bad, but I hate survival dungeons," Rin clicked her tongue. "Do we really want to waste 1 hour on this?" Erix rubbed his chin for a second before shaking his head, "We know this location, so let''s put this off for now and find other dungeons." "Yep." The duo flew deeper but didn''t bother killing monsters. Even if they didn''t kill monsters here, the Antis expedition had stronger monsters and those Antis tribes as well. They gave higher experiences for level up, but not magic cores which were required to increase one''s magic power. However, Erix and Rin didn''t need magic cores since they already had max foundational stats of Royal-order lifeform rank. Soon, they encountered another dungeon gate. [Dungeon: Dark Blizzard King''s Cave] _Type: Boss Kill / Random Exploration _Requirement: ¡ª> Level 280+ ¡ª> Power Level: 90,000+ Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l''e|-NovelBin _Tasks: ¡ª> Kill 1000 Monsters. ¡ª> Kill Dark Blizzard King. _Rewards: ¡ª> 1 x legendary-grade Tier-5 weapon. ¡ª> 1 x random-grade Tier-6 item. ¡ª> 2 x Tier-6 skill. ¡ª> 2 x Tier-6 Random material crates. "This one is good. Let''s do it," Erix said. "We''ll clear it quickly." "Alright. It''s gonna be boring, but whatever," Rin wryly smiled. After entering inside, they arrived in an open garden with ice and dark attributed trolls, each having over 80k Power level. Erix yawned and snapped his finger, causing all trolls to enter Space Limbo where they were obliterated into dark purple motes with his Nihilir Space res that he could conjure in Space Limbo. This attack was pinpointed with his space power and handy to kill weaker monsters. He just had to target everyone within his Spiritual Mystic Eye''s range and consume some Prana. Since monsters in Dungeons had low chances of dropping cores and didn''t give any experience, the duo didn''t even bother to check them for cores. After killing the trolls, they moved into the huge castle before them and continued killing all monsters with ease. In just a few minutes, they reached the Boss area. Rin waved his hand, releasing a Chronace sh crackling with dark red lightning and killing the boss in an instant. The portal to exit appeared, and they also received the reward at once. After leaving the dungeon, they went deeper and found another dungeon gate. In the end, they cleared five dungeons before arriving at the vast ocean and decided to return back. "Might as well clear the survival dungeon since we here. It''s at least giving us the needed reward like material boxes, and most importantly, Alchemy material crates," Erix said. "Yeah," Rin nodded. As they flew back towards the dungeon gate, Rin suddenly got an idea, "We can just train in that dungeon actually since we don''t need to kill those weak monsters ourselves." Erix took half a second to understand what she meant andughed, "Good idea." ¡­ The duo entered the survival wave dungeon, arriving on a sealed-off floating ind, with thick jungle. [The first wave will start in 10 seconds.] However, Erix and Rin just sat down cross-legged after creating two barriers. These barriers were not defensive, but offensive. Erix made the barrier of Nihilir with full focus on the Dismantle aspect to annihte monsters that pass through it while Rin made the barrier of her Chronace Flow to slow monsters and shred them with des of Dissolution Flow. They didn''t bother using other powers in this and just made the barriers simple since these monsters were too weak for that. The first wave arrived, bringing in demonlings of Royal-order with 50k Power level. The moment they touched the barrier, all of them turned into ashes. "Hahaha, I think it would be good if we regrly find powerful survival-type dungeons," Erixughed as he saw monsters dying. "We can train and get easy rewards." Rin nodded with a grin. The duo leisurely sat cross-legged and entered meditation. They had just earned those Advanced high-grade elemental crystals from the floor, so they started training without further ado. The next wave of Demonlings arrived, stronger than before but all the same before the barriers. One hour soon passed, marking the end of today''s journey. [Congrattions. You have sessfully survived for one hour.] "Yeah, right. It was very hard," Rin chuckled. "Let''s open the reward and leave." The duo opened the crates and other rewards. "The skills are nice as well. Even if we don''t use them, our knowledge slightly increased," Erix grinned. "It''s good." "Mhmm," Rin nodded as she looked at the skill scroll. ¡­ They arrived back at the Blessed Ind and it was only 7 in the evening. Aria needed more materials, so they visited the Moondawn Elf n to give her materials. "This is a good ce indeed," Erix nodded as he looked at the big open pavilion with a peaceful and fragrant atmosphere. A pond was outside with bamboo and other trees in arrays, creating a serene scenery¡ªperfect for practicing Alchemy in peace. Moreover, there was no one except for Aria in the pavilion. She was basically a VIP elf in this Moondawn Elf n. "Since you are here, how about you have a feast with us?" the middle-aged n leader of the Moondawn Elf n asked with a smile. He was a tall and lean-figured individual. "Nah, we''ll be returning," Erix said as he looked around in this n area. "But you can show me your Alchemy tools. I want to look at them." "And what''s up with him?" Erix narrowed his eyes as he turned in the direction of a closed wall. The n leader turned in the direction and his eyes slightly shifted. ''How did he discover that bastard? Evendy Aria can''t do that.'' "Is that formation supposed to hide that ce?" Erix chuckled. "It can''t block my space vision." "That''s a core practice area for our talented elves, Mr. Erix," the n leader wryly smiled while his face slightly turned embarrassed. "As for that man¡­he is my son. I''m sorry you had to see him in such a state." Rin was confused. "What did you see?" However, Erix realized something and his expression darkened. Chapter 366: Promise To Kill, Choice "So he is your son¡­" Erix coldly uttered. ''Babe, what is he doing?'' Erix didn''t tell her, but just grabbed her hand and shared what he saw with her. A momentter, Rin''s eyes widened. A secondter, her face turned frosty. "Aria," Rin called out, disturbing Aria from her practice. "What happened?" Aria got up and looked out from her open pavilion, watching Erix and Rin with the Moondawn Elf n head. "We are leaving," Erix said. "I''ll get make you the best Alchemy tools possible with my crafting and arsenal of exotic metals." Turning to the Moondawn elf n head, Erix continued, "Now would you show me all the tools?" Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin "I-I apologize for my son''s behavior. Please, forgive us this time," the Moondawn Elf n head quickly said while sweating bullets. Aria packed her stuff and arrived beside Rin. ''Rin, what''s going on?'' Rin sighed and proceeded to tell Aria what they saw while Erix icily said to the Moondawn elf n head, "I told you not to think anything about Aria." "She is mine. She is ours. Even if she is an elf like you," Erix''s fist clenched. "I feel like killing your son, right now. But I will not do that." The n head''s body shook. His eyes showed a mix of anger, fear, and other emotions. "Father!" Everyone heard a shout and saw an Elf man looking in his twentiesing out of the sealed wall as if passing through it. He looked at Aria first, his eyes showing obsession and then he looked at Erix, showing clear hostility. "If you are such a big shot, why don''t you attack me, huh?" "Shut, Relvin! Shut your mouth!" The n head quickly blocked the view between his son and Erix as he stood with his back slightly hunched and smiling apologetically at Erix, Rin, and Aria, "Forgive my foolish son''s behavior. H-He is immature and acting out of impulses." However, Erix and Rin became increasingly angry while Aria was startled after hearing from Rin about what they saw. Erix and Rin had anger, but not fiery anger. It was a cold anger. They were aware that acting out of hot-head would be very disadvantageous for them in this situation. "Heh, I am not going to stop," Relvin said in a mocking tone. "I will jerk off to her every day. I also have imaginary nude paintings that I created." ''Father, let me provoke them. If they attack right now, then we can still win. Call the other senior elders right now.'' ''Y-You bastard!'' the n head was anxious and had a very bad feeling, but this was his son, and the situation was getting dire as he saw Erix and Rin shooting cold daggers at his son with their eyes. With no other choice, he called his brothers, the other two Empyrean-order powerhouses of the Moondawn Elf n. ''That trash needs to die, darling. He is taking us as idiots,'' Rin''s eyes crackled with lightning. ''Yes. But we have to do it carefully here.'' "Very good," Erix coldly uttered before he snapped his finger, causing Rin and Aria to teleport out of the n, a few kilometers away. Erix turned his head towards the n head and icily smiled, "You have two options. First, kill your son right now and save yourselves from doom." "Second¡­I don''t need to tell you that, right?" Relvin snorted and arrived before Erix, standing between him and his father, just half a meter away from Erix. "That''s a very dangerous space you are standing at," Erix narrowed his eyes. The n head''s lips trembled. ''The situation has no saving now?'' A small part of him even wanted to kill his own son''s stupidity, but he also knew this situation stemmed from his carelessness and softness. Two powerful auras arrived in the backyard and felt the tense atmosphere as they frowned. "n head, I know what you are thinking," Erix''s eyes went past the trash before him and pierced into the n head''s eyes. "Just because¡­." The n head''s eyes widened. "NO!" Erix''s eyes glinted silvery, causing Relvin to push into the Space Limbo before Nihilir wisp wrapped him in dark purple mes of extreme power. "-you are standing close to me and him¡­doesn''t mean you can be affected if I act." Relvin''s body in Space Limbo soon turned into sparkling motes that vanished, going past his father''s body, but not being able to touch it due to parallel space Limbo movement. "NOOOO!" The n head''s eyes turned red as he shouted, his destructive aura attacking Erix and an explosion urred at Erix''s position. The dust settled in, but Erix stood there, unharmed. Since there was no Empyrean-order native powerhouse from Earth, the Empyrean-order from ns couldn''t take the initiative to harm others. Only if the other party harmed them would they be able to retaliate normally. Of course, this rule would vanish as soon as a single native of Earth reached Empyrean-order. "W-Why?" The other two Empyrean-order elves were shocked and the whole Elf-n was rmed as another elf saw what happened. Relvin was a Royal-order powerhouse. Someone with 86k Power Level. However, he overestimated himself and his father while underestimating Erix''s means to kill someone without affecting others. He was hoping to let Erix''s power affect his father as well and that meant that his father would be able to act against Erix. Indeed. Erix was currently no match for the Moondawn elf n head. This Empyrean-order had a power level of 244k. However, Erix didn''t n to affect him even the slightest bit with harmful intentions, nor physically. "Why did you do that, Mr. Erix?!" One of the Empyrean-order powerhouses asked. Meanwhile, the Moondawn elf n head''s knees fell on the ground with a thud, his expression nk. Erix ignored him and turned to the other two Empyrean-order powerhouses and other Moondawn elves that were gathering. Some already adopted hostility towards Erix as everyone knew what happened. Their young heir died! Relvin was killed in front of his father! "I told you that Aria will not be a part of your n. She herself said no very clearly," Erix narrowed his cold eyes. "But that trash still harbored intentions towards her." "He provoked us, so I killed him. As for your entire n," Erix swept his nce at every elf as he said, "If you want this n leader, then I promise you that I will kill every single one of you." "I will not kill now because I am not powerful enough. But I will do it in the future. That''s my promise." "But you still have another choice. The right choice." Erix''s cold eyes and words pierced their souls. "Bastard! I will kill you the moment someone reaches Empyrean-order from your world!" the Moondawn elf n head ragingly shouted at Erix. Erix scoffed. "Nobody is reaching there before I, Rin, and Aria. And when we do, you will not be able to do anything to us." "You will know the difference in our power, and we will hover your n like death at that time with only two choices before you," Erix said, ignoring the n head and looking at the rest of the elves. The other two Empyrean-order powerhouses clenched their fists, but their expressions wereplicated. They were here for over a month. They had seen the power and talents of Erix, Rin, and Aria. Erix looked at them and coldly chuckled, "It seems that you know what awaits in the near future." "Choose this ipetent n head who couldn''t teach his son. If you make this choice, your n will be buried here," Erix ruthlessly said. "I will leave no Moondawn Elf alive." "You all got this chance to rise again in this world, but if you want to waste it, you can make the choice of choosing your n head and I''ll erase your n." Every single elf trembled upon hearing that. "But if you want to live and thrive. Abandon this fool," Erix said, turning his head to the n head. "You cane for revenge when the restriction disappears. I''ll kill you at that time." The n head''s face was ashen, eyes red and rolling tears as he knelt with his head touching the ground. ''My son¡­'' Nobody was speaking. They could only listen. "Your choice will either shape or destroy your life. Make your choice," Erix said before he vanished in the next moment, leaving the entire n in a deathly silence. Chapter 367: Crafting, Expose Erix caught up with Rin and Aria soon after teleporting away from the Moondawn Elf n. "Relvin is dead," Erix informed. "Good," Rin humphed. "I knew he was after me, but I thought he gave up," Aria pouted. "But now I know. If he had enough power, he would have really forced himself." Erix nodded. "I also gave an ultimatum to that n. Good if they make the right choice. But if they decide to go against us, they''ll be the first n to be erased." "Hehe, I already learned everything I needed," Aria grinned. "Now I just need ingredients and tools to make the best pills for us." "There are other ns with specialties in Alchemy," Erix said, thinking for a moment. "Alright, you two return first while I check out some ns'' Alchemy tools so I can craft them." ¡­ Erix knew some ns who sold potions and pills aside from the Moondawn Elf n in the Antis hub. One of them was the zot Demon n, and they were basically the Moondawn Elf n''spetitor. However, that n was allied with the Night Star Guild, and their guild leader was Amir¡ªcurrently ranked 6th in the World Leaderboard. To reach the zot Demon n''s location, Erix had to cross 7000 kilometers northwest, into the Southwest area of the Westin continent. Experience new tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin Erix didn''t hold back and flew through Space Limbo while teleporting vast distances, arriving there after half an hour. zot Demon n had a powerful Bloodline that gave them attributes of me and Blood, and also a special attribute-concept of me that could evolve based on their individual progress in the Bloodline realm. If the Moondawn Elf n had special potions thanks to their Bloodline that enhanced nts, then zot Demon had special potions thanks to their special me elemental power used to create Potions for power boosts and direct offensive-use potions. Erix and Rin were already famous throughout the world and were top ns who were allied with other top guilds, so when Erix arrived at the zot Demon n, they readily showed hospitability. Amir and his guild''s core members also arrived, curious about his reason andter surprised at knowing that he hade here to scan the tools. In the end, Erix stayed there for half an hour to scan their zot demon n''s Alchemy Tools before leaving. ¡­ After returning to the Blessed Ind, he saw Rin and Aria in meditation while holding an Elemental stone under the Dreanox Tree. He didn''t disturb them and went to the volcanic area in the Blessed Ind to start forging and crafting the Alchemy tools. "Boss, you are crafting things?" A few guild members were in the area meditating, and two of them were fighting using the Arena function to improve. "Why are you fighting here all day? Go and kill stronger monsters if you want to improve," Erix said. "Arena function is good no doubt, but challenging stronger monsters can also improve you and also give you resources." "Boss Erix, people are trying toprehend and awaken Exotic elements after you told us about it. Do you have any tips? We are trying, but it''s not working out much," one of the men in histe twenties said with a wry smile. "True. I am trying tobine, Water, Earth, and Magma, but no progress," a long pony-tail woman said with a wry smile. "It''s like we are wasting time." "We told you about it, but it''s not easy," Erix ruefully smiled while shaking his head. "You all haven''t finished the 10th Floor of the tower yet, so do it and get Insight Scroll as the reward. For now, that''s the only thing that can give you a solid chance to awaken an Exotic element." "Don''t waste time on it without Insight Scroll and get powerful enough to beat the 10th Floor." After talking with guild members for a few minutes, Erix started crafting the Alchemy tools. Unfettered Fate guild had 50 members already, and most of them had 40k Power Level, though not everyone had reached the Royal-order rank yet. Still, they were talented and worked hard to improve, speedily getting closer to the breakthrough. The Blessed Ind was superiority helpful in regards to various training for all people thanks to the exotic and versatile biomes area. The one thing many people looked forward to was the Unfettered Fate guild beginning their recruitment. Erix held 4 recruitment in total, but he was not done yet. The guild had a limit of 150 people, but only 50 slots were filled. Many people were working hard to power up and join the Unfettered Fate guild, preparing and doing their best for the next recruiting tournament. ¡­ Erix was done crafting all necessary Alchemy Tools and more. The most important were cauldrons, and he crafted seven, all with different exotic metallic structures. He also crafted a Metallic table with space storage drawers to store ingredients so Aria could store them orderly in different drawers and take them out with ease. Aside from that, there weren''t many things except for tablets, pots, and simr minor items required to prepare individual ingredients. Since Alchemy required refining and purifying ingredients first before using them and proceeding to craft potions or pills, those pots and tablets were necessary. Magic formations were essential in Alchemy just like how they were essential in Magsmithing. Those pots and tablets could be set ording to Aria with her magic formations to process and refine ingredients. Looking at the set of tools before him, shining in the night and sparkling, Erix grinned. "Wow, they are so beautiful and way better! Erix heard Aria''s sweet voice from behind before he felt her arms wrapping around his neck and her soft but plump breasts pushing his back as Aria happily hugged Erix. Rin nodded with a grin, "They look and feel way better than what those ns have." "Hahaha, of course. They don''t have as exotic base material as I have," Erixughed. "Aria, tell me if you want some modification on cauldrons or some particr elementalbination cauldrons." "Hehe, nope. These are the best already," Aria giddily said. But suddenly, the expected and inevitable notification rang. [Antis Invasion will begin in five seconds.] "This one is from yesterday''s expedition," Rin chuckled. "We didn''t go, so it''s fine. The waves will be way weaker." "Mhmm, I also want to rest a bit," Erix stretched his arms. "Okie," Aria grinned and gently rubbed Erix''s temples, "Rin and I will go and look over today''s defense." "Yep," Rin nodded. ¡­ Erix went to sleep, and the big portal appeared. However, Rin and Erix didn''t go to the Antis Expedition yesterday, so the overall attack on Phoenix City was not crazy enough for Rin to take action. Aria''s Animated Spirits were enough to keep everything safe while the rest of the people fought the Antians and sessfully defended themselves. Just like that, a usual day for everyone passed by once again. Night arrived, and half of the people ate and slept. Erix, Rin, and Aria began their passionate battles in the Sakura Mansion''s top floor''s super king-size bedroom, getting high and having fun. Isabe as usual was outside of their bedroom, watching them and steaming off. The question was, how long? ¡­ Time passed by as minutes turned into hours, and hours into days. Fifteen days passed by in the blink of an eye. The night was high, and moans were unrestrained in the bedroom. Isabe was outside, her fingers in her pink cave and her other hand squeezing her plump breast, watching Erix crazily pounding Rin and Aria one by one. However¡­Isabe had gone too deep by now, and her desires were thoroughly solidified. Erix, Rin, and Aria daily had passionate battles and Bloodline explorations during the night. Since all three of them were pioneers of their own Mythical-grade Bloodlines, they had to dive deeper and shape their bloodline source to progress and let their Bloodline eventually manifest their new abilities based on their source powers and experience. ¡­.. "Mfgh¡­" Isabe let out a muffled groan as she climaxed after much trying. But she was craving real love from the one she longed for every day. Lost in longing and climax, Isabe leaned against the wall, her eyesplicated as she stopped observing inside and drooped her head down. Time passed as she remained nk and absent-minded to suppress her emotions, but¡­for how long? ''I want to love him and also get his love like those two¡­'' *Tiip, tiip..* Isabe''s eyes blurred as tears dropped and fell on the floor, feeling mentally strained. *k.* But the door behind her suddenly opened, startling her. She turned around and saw Erix, standing with his hands at his waist and his eyes looking at her. "Be. Stand up." Erix had worn a simple robe over his body and stood with a in expression that didn''t tell what he was thinking. Isabe stood up and faced Erix, her mind whirling in chaos. She didn''t know what to think, let alone what to say at the moment. "You have been pushing yourself too much recently. Your power level has increased at fastest rate than others, and you are also not resting enough," Erix calmly said. "I also know what you have been doing here every night." Isabe''s heart raced and a feeling of doom enveloped her. Chapter 368: To Erix, To Rin "E-Erix¡­I¡­" Isabe stood up, her face crimson, and her hands balled into fists while grabbing sides of her gown. Erix took a step forward, leaving only a palm''s distance between them as he looked straight into her shaking, but ardent eyes. "Be, I''ve watched you in various intensities during this month. You acted differently, recklessly, but tried to hide it, and still failed." Isabe''s chest heaved up and down, and her face drooped. Erix calmly held her chin and raised her head, "Look at me." Isabe''s eyes saw his face, utterly calm but having a hint of a smile. "I will give you one chance to speak your mind, so answer me, Be." Erix put his hands on her shoulder, slightly tightening his grip, "Why did you do all this?" Isabe''s eyes directly streamed uncontroble tears at that, "Because I wanted to impress you! Because I love you and wanted you to look at me!" "I-I am tired of pretending¡­I¡­don''t want to separate from you, Rin, Aria¡­" Isabe''s lips trembled. "I want your love¡­the same love you give to Rin and Aria. I want a man, and every bit of me wants that man to be you!" Erix''s facial muscles twitched, but he still couldn''t prevent a wide and wild smile from spreadingon his face. "Say no more." His right hand went around her waist and his left hand behind her back as he pushed her towards him and nted his lips on hers. Isabe felt a jolt as her entire body trembled. The umted longing and desire burst at Erix''s touch on her body and his kiss, causing her mind to release such a strong current of bliss that she went nk. Isabe fainted, and her conscience went adrift. Erix chuckled and slightly bent before he carried Isabe in his arms and gently nudged her consciousness with his spirit energy to wake her up. Isabe slowly opened her eyes and saw Erix''s face up close and his hands behind her, carrying her up. "You fainted even without letting me speak," Erix grinned. Isabe''s face was beat red, her voice barely audible, "Sorry¡­." Erix smiled, "Do know what I think about you?" He didn''t let her speak and continued, "You are an amazing mother with a strong will." "You are someone who can keep us in line if we ever go astray. We''ve always believed that. Rin and I." "You are an important and core member of our group, our guild. A pir." "To see you fall for me so strongly¡­" Erix smiled widely, feeling his heart heating up. "I now want you to be my woman." Isabe''s heart felt like thousands of horses were running on it. The first man that ever made her heart race was Erix after her husband. That first instance happened not from her falling for Erix, but from her wild instinct that sought a male. She was with him all the time until he and Rin died and descended into Abyss. But even after he left, the scent that she absorbed while staying with Erix didn''t allow her heart to move by any other man. It was not like she wanted to be alone. People even suggested she get a husband for her, a dad for Aaron. Many single mothers and fathers had partnered after finally settling in the Sanctuary Area. But even though she never considered Erix actively, she had actually only considered him. After Erix and Rin returned with Amu, and how Isabe saw Erix getting another wife, Isabe''s desire and her hidden feelings started surfacing, she fully realized that and started harboring feelings for him¡­ultimately leading her into his situation. She wanted to love Erix and wanted love from him out of her pure and wild female instincts that sought a male. "Just as you want to love me, I will also love you," Erix''s body and his spirit also desired and craved for her. Isabe could feel that from his hold, his words, and his intense eyes as he looked at her. Unable to hold back, she immediately wrapped her arms around Erix while she was in his arms and kissed him passionately. "Pew, pew¡­.way to go Be-sis." "Aah," Isabe was startled hearing Rin''s voice and saw Rin looking at her from the bed while lying on her stomach, and her chin resting on her hands on the pillow. "You both knew¡­?" Isabe asked, her face entirely flushed. Erix and Rin, who always admired Isabe since their first encounter found out about everything fifteen days ago and since then, they have been measuring. Both of them concluded that they wanted Isabe, from their depth of heart and desires. To Erix, it was his heart and wild instincts seeking Isabe''s love after finding her feelings and intense desire of love towards him, and how they came. To Rin, she wanted Isabe because the one she admired, loved as a sister, and respected made her man fall for her after showing such intense feelings for him. There was no way that Rin wanted to make Isabe someone else''s woman after knowing that! And must she stay lonely after showing such intense love for Erix and suppressing it silently? No. She must be her man''s woman and her sister forever! Rin also had the same feelings towards Aria, Lilith, and Lily. They must be her man''s women for they loved him and she also loved them as sisters and believed them worthy. Rin''s grin was cheeky as she looked at Isabe from the bed. "You are not going anywhere, nor going to be someone''s woman after all that, alright?" Isabe''s face was red like a tomato, but her heart warmed with an intense feeling of bliss. "Mom¡­where are you?" The sudden voice of Aaron startled the trio. "¡­let''s not show Aaron all this for now," Erix said with a wry smile. "To be honest, I want Aaron to consider me his big brother when he grows up." Isabe gently smiled and said, "You are a boss-like brother figure to him, and I also want his rtionship with you as it is. This is better. " Rin chuckled, "He will understand when he grows up." Chapter 369 : The Bliss Wind rustles and sun rose in the sky, marking the beginning of a new day. Isabe finally slept peacefully after a month as she let out all her feelings at night and got her love reciprocated. Erix, Rin, and Aria were meditating under the Dreanox Tree. Isabe went out after a quick shower and wearing a pink-orange dress, looking gorgeous as usual with her mature yet innocent vibe. Aaron was still sleeping and was growing every day, especially due to daily physical and magic training. Isabe arrived outside and sat down with Erix, Rin, and Aria. "Let''s start," Aria said with a grin and grabbed Rin''s and Erix''s hands. Isabe was also between Rin and Erix on the other side, so she also grabbed their hands. A secondter, everyone''s consciousness arrived in the Limitless ne. After 1 hour and 30 minutes of focused training in the Limitless ne, it was time for the daily breakfast for Isabe''s Mystic Chef cooking practice and tasty food for others. The other guild members were busy with their training as well. Some also cooked food at other ces since they had Mystic Chef sub-ss. Although everyone could stay up several days without sleeping, and even go hungry, butck of food proved bad. They were powerful, so they also needed potent food ording to their physical stats, enough to provide for their powerful bodies. When Isabe started cooking in the kitchen, Erix, Rin, and Aria were chilling under the Dreanox Tree after intense their Limitless ne session and talking about their improvements, techniques, and other things. "I''ll go check up on Isabe," Erix cracked a grin as he stood up. Rin knowingly smiled and said, "I''ll fill up Aria about it in 3D." "Haha, alright." Erix left, leaving Aria confused. "What are you talking about?" Rin grabbed Aria''s hand and decided to show her what happened in her mind. ¡­ Isabe was humming merrily while cooking multiple dishes at once on three stoves, each having a single dish. But suddenly, Erix appeared behind her, gently pushing him forward. His right arm went around her waist before his palm touched her stomach while his left hand went around her bust resting right below her breasts. Isabe felt a current at the familiar touch and her heart raced. She saw Erix''s head above her shoulder. Isabe turned her head and as if in an instinctive understanding, her lips touched Erix''s before both of them were in a passionate kiss. She felt Erix''s hug tighten and felt something stuff on her butt, but it only made her more aroused. "We''ll go on a trip after eating," Erix smiled before kissing her neck lovingly and grinned. "let''s finish cooking. I''ll help." "Mhm," Isabe happily smiled. "Thank you¡­for everything." ¡­ Everyone started eating after a while and at the near end, Erix said, "Rin, Aria. You two will handle the guild today. I''m taking Isabe for a trip." Aria giggled, "Happy trip." She looked at Isabe and caused her face to turn red. "Be-sis is gonna ride to heaven," Rin mischievously snickered. "Stop it, you two," Isabe pouted with a flushed expression. "Hahaha, you''re shyness will be gone next time we meet in the bedroom," Rin chuckled. ¡­ "Where are we going?" Isabe curiously asked as she flew alongside Erix, their hands locked. Erix teleported once every few seconds with Isbae, cutting distances as he moved towards the north. "We are going to a beautiful ce," Erix grinned. The sun was left behind as the duo entered the night part of the world, arriving at a mountainous area. One particr mountain was taller than the rest. Erix teleported with Isabe to its peak, taking in the beautiful scenery. Fresh greenery, no monsters, and a peaceful environment of the night sky with glowing stars. Erix''s n was to have a loving time with Isabe and make her happy. The peak was big. Erix cleared a 50-meter radius of the area before creating a circr crate and smoothing its surface with Geocrust Metal, coating it. "Be, can you fill it with hot water?" "Ok." Isabe poured water into the crater and heated it, creating a hot spring pool. Erix also decorated the ce, creating metal poles and glowing yellow-golden chandelier-looking metal orbs on the poles around the hot spring pond. The atmosphere and the mood changed. "Be," Erix held her hands while warmly smiling. "I want to love you. To let you experience my love for you through my actions. Will you let me?" "Mhmm," Isabe nodded, her eyes misty and loving as she looked at Erix. "Me too¡­" Erix kissed her, grabbing her waist and pulling her while he sent both of their clothes into his space storage. Isabe put her hands around Erix''s waist as they continued the kiss. "Come," Erix walked towards the hot spring pond while holding her hand and entered inside. He sat down first while Isabe stood before him, looking at Erix who gently pulled her down and made her sit before him. Isabe felt Erix''s dick sliding up as she closed in, resting upward at her stomach while he kissed her intensely, sending a shiver of pleasure in Isabe. She closed her eyes, feeling the bliss she longed for drowned in this man she considered his. Erix could feel Isabe''s emotions through the kiss of her touch, making him feel warm and increasing his heat. Erix passionately kissed her lips and then her neck as she slowly moved downwards while Isabe raised her head up, her eyes closed in the moment of pleasure and bliss. Her hands caressed his head and back, soaking in his presence. "Erix¡­I love you...I love you¡­" Erixughed in pure joy and pecked her lips, saying with a big grin, "I love you too. You are my Isabe now." "Mhmm, I am yours," Isabe nodded and kissed him while wrapping her arms around his neck, her plump breasts squeezing on his chest. Soon, the kiss turned passionate as Isabe moved slightly to the side while Erix''s right hand gently squeezed her breast. Isabe moaned and Erix moved his kiss downward before putting one of her breasts into his mouth. "Aanh¡­" Isabe could feel Erix''s stiff meat rod throbbing as he sucked her breast and fondled one with his hand, giving her pleasureful currents. She started feeling an itch below, her arousal increasing with each second. Erix was also intensely aroused as he sucked her big yet tender and curvy breasts with alluring pink nipples. His throbbing meat rod was getting hotter and hotter as his euphoria increased with his love. Isabe moaned, her eyes closed as she surrendered herself at the filling pleasure and climaxed just from that. Her body trembled and her eyes half opened drowned in pure love towards Erix that fueled her pleasure. Erix paused and looked at her, his fiery eyes locked onto hers that told him all he wanted to know. He nted her lips on hers, pulled his waist back, and controlled his meat rod before precisely entering the pink world of Isabe. Erix''s meat rod tore open the path to her soul as he physically and mentally entered, his soul in hers. "Aaanhh~" Isabe moaned with no hesitation and let out her natural response. Erix released a breath before his head reached hers and began a passionate kiss while his hips moved. Isabe''s body trembled and her hands tightly wrapped around his neck as she felt intense waves of pleasure. The meat read that her pussy wrapped tightly sent jolts at every passionate thrust. The water sshed around while Erix thrust his cock every second in a rhythm, his tip kissing her womb while her insights tightly squeezed around her meat rod, giving it the heavenly massage that caused him divine pleasure. Isabe trembled, her insights gushing again as she climaxed. She moaned loudly and unrestrained while Erix felt her pussy''s insides trembling as she climaxed. Erix let out a muffled groan and pulled Isabe into his chest, tightly squeezing her before¡­.not waiting anymore and releasing his load as well. Isabe moaned loudly as she felt a bomb of ecstasy exploding in her, infusing bliss in every fiber of her being. Her arms squeezed around his chest, and her nails dug into him while she trembled involuntarily as Erix was releasing his hot white load inside her. Promptly activating the special skill, Erix nked his mind in this bliss again as the hotpot of pleasure that mixed in Isabe''s pussy turned into a stream of energy before entering her body. She quivered, her pussy tightening again and fully wrapping Erix''s meat rod. Erix released a breath and grinned before he started moving his hips again. "Aaanhh!~" Their night had just started. Chapter 370 : Cosmic Pirates Erix and Isabe spent four hours on the mountain peak in a leisurely and passionate time. The past 24 hours of Isabe were happiest from her ascended state. She was not just a mother. She was also a powerhouse of Royal-order lifeform rank, a powerful Mage, and¡­a woman with a man. Her life was filled, her mind was cleared, and she began living in the present for the future after this night. ¡­ Erix and Isabe returned to the Blessed Ind after another hour of traveling. The scenery and sun changed as they arrived at the orange sky where the sun was slowly drowning. It was past six in the evening and everyone was busy as usual in training or something else. With Erix and Isabe''s return, all powerhouses gathered into a party and prepared for the daily expedition. Resources were necessary and people needed more items like Elemental crystals, ingredients, Item evolvers, and such things to improve. The leaderboards were changing every day as people got powerful and improved. The past 20 days brought many changes already, and it showed in the expedition. More and more people broke past the 40k Power Level and started entering Antis. The main progress of the Antis expedition was handled by the Unfettered Fate guild due to the overwhelming power of Erix and Rin which made it easier for everyone to progress. They''ve also targeted two more tribes in the past twenty days because they couldn''t progress much further in the Merfinn and Baiandron tribes'' areas. As such, their recent expedition targets were the Tarocto and Aquarill tribes. Naturally, the retaliation of the Antis tribe also increased and casualties appeared at almost every Sanctuary Area, even in the Phoenix city. Although only barely ten people died in Phoenix City, the number of deaths was higher in other areas. In total, roughly a hundred thousand people had died at the hands of Antians and 99% of those people were weaker and only 1% of casualties were from the proper guilds. After all, during the Antis invasion daily, the only saving grace of people¡ªSanctuary Area¡ªwas disabled, leaving everyone extremely vulnerable. But this daily danger, also made all people get stronger with a newfound resolve and fear. The sense of safety that the Sanctuary Area gave people made most of them rx and slowly lit up the desperation fires once again. If they wanted to survive, they would have to continue getting stronger. That was how Mystic Root''s system worked on worlds under it. Indifferent, ruthless, and only rewarding talent, hard work, and whims of luck. ¡­ Kanx Abyss, the hub of Unbound Star cosmic faction. Inside the Cosmic Portal Hall, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina stood with a staff member of the cosmic faction¡ªa long ponytail blond-haireddy with brown-red draconic horns and a tail. "Yes, I got the coordinates. It''s the human race popted that recently entered under Mystic Root''s influence." Lilith nodded. "As you know, it''s under Mystic Root and no native there has reached Empyrean-order yet, so your actions will be restricted by rules and consequences if you break them." "I am aware." "Alright. I am connecting the portal to an unpopted area there." "Thanks." The staff member walked to the side and pressed some buttons on the terminal to the side. "Before you go, can you tell me if you are going to such a backward ce for business or something else?" the draconicdy curiously asked, her eyes shing a glit. "We are just going there for a new adventure," Lily chuckled. "Eh? Why go to ces under Mystic Root for adventure? There a whole cosmos out there," the draconicdy wryly smiled. "Don''t worry. We are not the Cosmic Pirates if that''s what you are worried about," Lilith chuckled. The draconicdy faked a cough and said, "It would be wrong to say I am not doubting you. You are famous or rather infamous here in this Kanx Abyss, and given your strength you should be at the rest of the Cosmic Expanse and not under Mystic Root''s areas which are just growing ces in the cosmos." The draconicdy looked at the trio with scrutiny. "Our Cosmic faction is rankedst and I have seen people who join here and target a random growing under Mystic Root and go there to settle and build their forces." "Some groups use extreme methods to kill a lot of people to nurture others and take them while some enve the entire with nning and staying by Mystic Root''s rules." It was clear that this draconicdy thought Lilith, Lily, and Maleina were going to do something simr since they were going to a ce where it would be easy for them to utilize their powers and knowledge to build forces. Lilith''s name was ringing too loud recently and her power was recognized throughout the Kanx Abyss. After killing six powerhouses eighteen days ago, she spent the next eighteen days disying other feats and getting even more powerful by going to every dangerous ce in the Kanx Abyss. She cleared all other people responsible for her n''s downfall as well, and she didn''t bother hiding it to make it fast, causing her name to spread. And now, it was time to return to their dearest and begin their new journey. "Do you sympathize with people of those worlds that get targeted by such groups?" Lilith asked with a faint smile. The draconicdy''s jaw clenched, "I was a human once, from a distant like the one you are going to. It was targeted by the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom." "It''s a floating space continent that constantly travels and often targetss under Mystic Root. They gradually control the entire, dividing guilds and ruling everyone. Those who don''t obey are enved, sold, and exploited. They deliberately created such an atmosphere." "They do whatever they want and if someone opposes their atrocities, they be a target. They make sure strong guilds are spared and get benefits at first while treating others badly to create a conflicting atmosphere...in the end, they basically rule everything and exploit everyone." "People lose empathy and only think for themselves. Those who escape are gone, and those in their clutch see hell while living," the draconicdy gritted her teeth. "I hate these pirates to the bones." Lilith and the other two were surprised. ''Lady Lilith, are there really such organizations?'' ''There are, though I haven''t heard about Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom.'' The draconicdy sharply said. "If you are going to do that, I will inform Cosmic Bounty Hub. There are many people who don''t like those pirates and will band together to kill and loot them." "Don''t worry," Lilith wryly smiled. "We are not associated with any pirates. You are also free to keep your look on that." "Why are you going there then?" "We are going there to reunite with our family," Lily grinned. "You can take it that way." It wasn''t wrong. Lilith''s family was gone a long ago. Lily didn''t even know her parents since she was raised as an assassin since young age after her kidnap and finally died when she was barely adult, causing her to descend into Abyss and meet Lilith, beginning her new life with Lilith. Maleina also had no rtives alive. As such, the trio''s family was indeed none other than Erix, Rin, Aria, and Amu. "Fine," the draconicdy nodded. "I''ll keep a lookout there until it reaches thest phase of Mystic Root." "Up to you," Lilith faintly smiled and stood before the portal. Lily and Maleina standing at her sides. The draconicdy nodded, "You can enter now." At that, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina entered the portal. Chapter 371: Amus Shocking Discovery, Trouble Brewing ''I wonder how are they doing?'' Maleina smilingly wondered as the trio arrived in a space bubble with chaotic space outside after entering the portal. ''We''ll see them soon,'' Lily grinned. ''I''m getting excited,dy Lilith.'' Lilith smiled, her eyes showing anticipation, eagerness, and excitement as well. The trio saw the scenery changing before them in rapid lights for a couple of seconds before it stopped. They saw a desert with a sandstorm out of an oval-shaped portal before them. Their exit was ready. Explore more at m,v l''e-NovelBin The trio emerged from the portal that appeared on the desert, sessfully marking their presence on Earth. "So how do we find them?" "I''ll have to expand my spirit field to the maximum so I can capture their presence or they recognize my spirit presence from my spirit field," Lilith said, getting thrilled and eager to find Erix, Rin, and Aria, and meet people they know here. "We''ll find them soon once we encounter some natives," Lily grinned. Maleina nodded, "Erix said they are in Phoenix City of Central continent, so if we ask some people, they can give us a general direction." ¡­ ''Hmm? That spirit presence felt familiar. It was very big and had an attribute of awakened spirit power¡­'' Amu sensed a familiar spirit presence passing by, but it went fast and Amu couldn''t afford to expose itself, so the slime stayed silent in its spiritual form that had essentially hacked the barrier of the Rek''Lo Zerian n. Amu''s focus went back to its mission. ''They are talking about the formation. Humph, I knew it was a malicious one,'' Amu thought while watching the meeting room of the n. In the meeting room, the elder Zerian demons, two Empyrean-order, and a bunch of Royal-order sat while their young n lord¡ªLeiro, sat with a nk expression, unable to direct any decisions. "Elders, we have finally prepared tools and resources for the Rekkart Devour formation and can enact it anytime." "We only have a single chance, so we must choose carefully. If we fail, we won''t be able to create another Rekkart Devour formation." "To make it worthwhile, we''ll need the sacrifice of at least 10,000 people, but for an ideal situation, 20,000 people is best. The stronger they are, the better." "About the Blue Maw Pirate kingdom''s deal, we are supposed to activate the signal stone in exchange for the resources they gave. Since we finished the formation, shouldn''t we contact them?" "We can also do that after we finish using Rekkart Devour formation properly." Leiro''s eyes shook. ''This is wrong.'' "Elders," Leiro spoke, attracting everyone''s attention. "What is it, young lord?" "We can still grow without risks by following the proper steps here," Leiro said while clenching his fists. "We should not trust that Blue Maw pirate kingdom." "There''s no other choice," the first elder said. The tall bald Zerian demon elder sighed and added, "Young lord. This is how Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom works. They gave resources to multiple ns because they knew one of them would be picked up by Mystic Root and get sent to a newly progressing under it." "We happened to be that n, so we have to follow their instructions. We epted their help because we didn''t want your father and mother''s sacrifice to go to waste." "You must understand, young lord." "We can''t think about others when our own people''s survival is at stacks. For our glory to return, we have to do this to get stronger and return back to our ancestral ce." "Yes, young lord. If we betray Blue Maw, they''ll eventually find us and when that happens, we won''t be strong enough to survive their punishment for breaking the deal." Everyone started speaking in support of their main n. Nobody wanted to take the slow way and listen to Leiro. His eyes once again dimmed and he didn''t say anything. Meanwhile, Amu was confused. ''What the hell are they talking about? I thought they just built that malicious formation to boost their power with sacrifices, but they are cooking something else too?'' Amu scratched its imaginary butt. ''Blue Maw pirate kingdom? What''s that? Why do they want toe here?'' ''Whatever. I should return first and give them information. Since I''ve marked this n''s barrier, I can find its location no matter how much they travel around,'' Anu snickered and silently left just as it silently infiltrated. Amu left the n''s territory from underground and emerged above amidst a sandstorm. ''Humph, do they think moving their n territory constantly under a sandstorm will prevent others from finding them?'' Amu was angry and flew towards the Phoenix City. Meanwhile, Lilith went in another direction, to the East instead of North, and missing Phoenix City by arge error. They crossed an ocean and arrived on the Western continent. Lilith''s speed was fast and her spirit sense''s range was massive, so it wasn''t long before they encountered a Sanctuary Area and descended. The moment they entered, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina felt an irresistible mark ced upon them like everyone who enters a Sanctuary Area. "I think this is some sort of safe area," Lilith said and snapped her finger, conjuring a dark red ming orb between Lily and Maleina that exploded immediately. "Attacking others won''t work here," Lilith smiled while Lily and Maleina were startled at the sudden explosion. However, they were surprised to find that Lilith''s attack did nothing to them. "Who are you?" Naturally, it wasn''t long before the powerhouses in the Sanctuary Area approached them. The leader was a brown-skinned muscr man with a ponytail and 6''1 feet of height¡ªLeader of the Asura Fang guild, Kai ke¡ªranked 14th in the World Leader with 62k Power Level. He rose fast in the past twenty days, showing his talent and entering in the top 15 from the top 50. ''Such a strong presence¡­'' Kai looked at Lilith with furrowed brows. ''Two humans and one demoness?'' "We want to know the general direction of Phoenix city situated in the Central continent. We''ll be on our way if you can point that out," Maleina stepped forward and politely said with a smile. ''Phoenix City? It''s that crazy couple''s ce,'' Kai was surprised. Chapter 372: Reunion, Perfect Timing "General direction¡­" Kai looked in the east direction and said, "If you go straight in this direction, you''ll enter the central continent." "Phoenix City is in the slightly north area of the continent." Lilith looked in the east direction as pointed by the other party, and nodded. "Thanks." In the next second, Lilith absorbed Lily and Maleina into her shadow before vanishing. She disappeared from Kai''s spirit radar in a second. "I wonder if these three are going there to cause trouble?" Kai wondered while rubbing his chin. "Haha, it would be good if they do that." "We can have some time to catch up if it happens." "Enough. Let''s go back to our training." ¡­ Meanwhile, Amu already arrived at Phoenix City and called everyone. It was eleven in the morning. Erix and others had just returned from Antis Expedition when Amu called them spiritually. Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria sat at a table while the somber slime floated in the center with its body covered with ten eyes all around. "I saw everything and heard everything," Amu said. "A disaster ising." "Pff¡­this look is too funny," Erix was first to burst outughing. Rin and others also couldn''t help butugh. "Come on, man! I am trying to make a mood here," Amu shouted. "Cough¡­Alright, continue," Erix coughed and adopted a serious expression. "What did you see and hear at that Rek''Lo Zerian n?" Everyone suppressed theirughter. "First, they spend many days creating formation rune orbs. I could tell it was a malicious one since it had effects to suck a living thing''s every essence and matter before going through a few more processes for some benefits that I don''t know." "The formation is massive," Amu''s multiple eyes narrowed together. "It can cover our Sanctuary Area easily, which means that this formation''s target is a Sanctuary Area. Not ours, but another and I don''t know which." Everyone frowned. "If they use this formation during Antis Invasion when Sanctuary Area''s protection is off¡­" Rin muttered, her eyes glinting. "Listen to everything first," Amu said. "This formation is not to be underestimated because the materials they got are superior. At least Tier-7 to Tier-9." "Even Empyrean-order powerhouses can''t resist its effectspletely. I don''t know how it will work and what kind of other things and attacks they have in the formation, but they are confident in their n from their tone." "But there''s one more trouble that I can''t assess," Amu sighed. "Because even this n was fearful of them." "Who?" "The one who gave them these resources to create their formation in exchange for calling them to this by using a device to give them this''s location coordinates." Erix and others were indeed shocked at this information. "This n called them Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom," Amu said. "And I don''t know anything about them, but it''s safe to say that once they arrive here, things will get messy." Erix got up, his expression frosty. "We have to do something." "I got their location live, but our chances of winning against them are not high," Amu frowned. "Moreover, they only need a single second to activate the device and give that Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom the location of this." "I think¡­we can''t prevent that from happening," Amu slowly said. ¡­ Two minutes ago¡­ "There they are," Lilith''s smile widened. "Their Blessed Ind''s aura was easy to recognize." Lilith immediately sensed Blessed Ind she detected it on her radar. ''Let''s surprise them, Lady Lilith.'' Lilith, Lily, and Maleina already had ess to Blessed Ind so the barrier didn''t stop them as Lilith arrived and entered inplete stealth, reducing her presence to null and entering a tall tree''s shadow before traveling via shadows towards Erix and others. However, when she saw them in a serious mood, Lilith paused and heard Amu. "This n called them Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom¡­" ''What? Why are they talking about that?'' Lilith was startled and when she heard what Amu said next, her expression turned somber. Lily and Maleina were in her shadow pocket, but since Lilith shared her senses with them, the duo also heard everything. ''Lady Lilith, this is a big trouble.'' ''If theye here¡­'' Maleina already felt fear. "Then it''s good we arrived here on time." Erix and others heard a familiar voice out of nowhere and they soon saw Lilith appearing behind Erix. Erix immediately saw Lilith''s picture in his mind when he heard the voice and turned around. "Darling~ Did you miss us?" Lilith''s smile was a shape of allure and charm while her eyes told him she missed him a great deal. The moment Erix opened his mouth, Lilith leaned forward and kissed him, wrapping his arms around his neck for a passionate kiss. After a few seconds, Lilith moved back and looked at others while smiling. Lily and Maleina also emerged from her shadow to her sides. "Master," Maleina bowed while Lily happily arrived before Erix and kissed him. "Hahaha, perfect timing indeed," Rin grinned. "We have information about Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We can''t stop them froming here, but we should still clear out those vermin." "Right," Erix grinned. "Amu, send me the location. I''ll teleport us." "That prince is against this, so I think we can keep him and others who support him alive," Amu grinned. "And make that n our subordinate n." Nobody had any problems with that, not even Isabe who nodded, "Do gather other Rin''s parents and n leaders for a meeting?" "A meeting is necessary and so is our control," Rin''s eyes glinted coldly. "We''ll have to move forward with our n now that Lilith, Lily, and Maleina are here." "Alright, I am sending you to Heavenly Melody guild," Erix nodded at Isabe. "We''ll return after settling with the Zerian demons and stop their formation n." Erix sent Isabe to Heavenly Melody guild while he initiated a long-distance teleport based on the general direction of the desert. Two secondster, everyone disappeared from the Blessed Ind and arrived thousands of kilometers away. From there, Erix initiated swift teleports, crossing 50-100 kilometers every second, and soon arrived right on top of the Zerian demon n. Lilith snorted, clearing the massive sandstorm with a shockwave and creating a calm dessert in a few seconds. "So they are under there, eh? Are they rat demons? Because they act like rats and do things like rats," Lily snorted. Chapter 373: Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom, Fate of Zerians "Yep, they are below there," Erix snapped his finger and initiated one more teleport, arriving under the ground in a cavern with sand rivers and sand flowing from various passages into various spots through the barrier. Behind the barrier was the territory of the n. It was a dark brown sandynd with dark brown structures and glowing yellow lights. "This barrier is tough," Amu said. "But with enough power, we can make a temporary hole to get inside." "Leave it to me," Lilith smiled and stood before the barrier. Her Super Exotic Element activated as a ck circr mark started spreading on the barrier before dark red and dark gold patterns appeared akin to some magic circle. A secondter¡­ *BOOM!* The Zerian demons felt tremors run through their n as their defense barrier was pierced through, creating a human-sized circr hole. Meanwhile, the elders, two guardian elders, and Leiro the young n lord were still in the meeting room, deciding their target. They felt the tremor and expanded their senses, immediately finding the bold infiltrators. Outside, Lilith, Erix, Rin, Lily, Aria, and Amu arrived at an open square in the middle of their small n territory which only had roughly 30 houses, 1 pce, and a few other professional structures. "Two Empyrean-order only?" Lilith pursed her lips. "They are small fry. Do I restrain them or kill them?" "If we can control them, that would be great," Rin grinned. "We''ll need more ves for our n anyway." "Alrighty, honey," Lilith chuckled. ¡­ The Milky Way Gxy was situated at the edge of the post-trauma cosmos, only recentlying under Mystic Root''s influence. Mystic Root''s influence in the cosmos was on individual cosmic bodies with inhabitants. It would only set forth an evolution path and a system to run it on the it discovered and deemed weak. Suchs were called Gravels by cosmic pirates, who roamed around to find suchs to enve people and exploit them along with Mystic Root''s influence. Far away from Earth, tens of gxies, and millions of lightyears away was a floating ind with a giant blue digital g on a mountain''s highest peak. The dark blue g had a ck beastly maw drawn on it, with terrifying fangs and teeth. It was glowing brightly in the eternal darkness of the cosmos to several lightyears. 1000 kilometers long and 600 kilometers wide, this rectangle space ind was none other than Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom. The most prominent structure on this floating ind was the 10,000-meter-tall dark blue crystal pce with other decorations and structures of exotic wood, metal, and stone. In the council meeting room of the Pce, a shoulder-length dark blue-haired man sat on a throne-like seat. He looked in his fifties, with an aloof expression and rxed posture, wearing a pair of ck sunsses covered by a couple of his blue hair locks. Before him was a table where ten seats were filled up by eight people, ranging from looking in their teens to an old man with a long white beard. Four humans with naturally developed bloodlines, two vampires, one elf, one dwarf, and the old man with a long white beard, but only a single big eye and mouth on his face¡ªa demon of Triton bloodline. Naturally, it was not wise to judge the age of these people by their looks. All of them were in Reverend-order, including, the head of the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom¡ªKrillom King. "Krillom, we got the coordinates from Zerians. Who is going there to conquer the and its people this time?" "One more coordinate shoulde in several days and I am going there, so leave me out of this," a young man looking in histe teens with spiky glowing yellow hair said. "We will be going to Axis realms after a year and we''ll need more manpower to extract resources and in the form of baits. The number of ves we need is a minimum of one million. All must be Royal-order and above." "A hundred thousand Empyrean-order are required as well and we only have 1 year left," Krillom King narrowed his eyes. "This Earth and another one that''sing to our hand are our only poultry farms for now." "So don''t mess up andplete the minimum required goals. We''ll remain stuckhere if we can''t secure resources from Axis realms." "Rowen of Green Light is after us as well, so at least four of us will have to stay here," a man wearing a cowboy hat and a cigarette in his mouth said. "Boss, select two people among us and send them to Earth." "Goldie and another can go to the second." Krillom King nodded, "Bill and Rani will go to Earth. Take 1000 Empyrean-order beasts and 500 Empyrean-order ves." Everyone was surprised. "Those many units?" "I don''t want any mess ups, so keep the under control and make it progress," King Krillom looked at Bill and Rani as he narrowed his eyes. "Especially your direct subordinates. Don''t let them mess up things." "Understood." "You''ll need a month to reach there, so assemble your ship and depart right now." ¡­ A giant ship flew up from the space ind. It was eight hundred meters tall in size, 1.4 kilometers in length, and 1 kilometer wide, housing an entire city inside the ship. The ship''s front released a beam that struck space a kilometer away and opened a massive wormhole. It entered inside and began Faster Than Light (FTL) travel in a subspace bubble¡ªonward to the Milky Way Gxy, Earth. ¡­ Meanwhile, the Zerian demons were rounded up nicely. The n territory''s square was filled up with 132 people sitting. Couples, elders, kids, young adults. The two guardian elders at Empyrean-order lifeform rank were restrained with ease by Lilith. They were sealed, stuck on a tree each. "Who as the formation''s rune orbs? Take every single one out in the next five seconds or I''ll kill one person every second," Erix coldly uttered as he looked at all Zerian demons. "They will take it out," Leiro as he bowed and stuck his head on the floor. "Please don''t hurt others." "I know your n wants its Bloodline to continue and prosper," Lilith said, her eyes cold and narrow, "but unless you abide by our conditions, none of you will get to live to see the sun tomorrow." "First, the Zerian n will be direct subordinates of the Unfettered Fate guild," Rin said. Lilith waved her hand, creating a piece of paper with entric patterns on it. The patterns soon vanished, leaving the paper empty. "I''m sure you''ve heard of selfw contracts. I''ve already ced our intention in it, so you must willingly ept the condition and sigh it with a drop of your blood." Lilith sent the paper forward and added, "Do this so we can trust your alliance. If you don''t listen to us five people''smand, betray us, our people, or harbor harmful intentions towards us, you''ll lose your magic source from the origin region. This is the consequence." "That''s just make us ves!" the fat guardian elder shouted. "Pff, you think we''ll make you our masters?" Erix sneered. "Prove your worth to us and you''ll get freedom because freedom can bring your potential better." "But if that potential is not help to us, you will remain ves." Leiro bit his lips and stood up. The situation hade to this, so he had to steel himself and take a stand for what he thought was right. "Everyone," Leiro faced the n members and spoke with resolve and firmness. "Those who do not want to be ves will die and those will ept these conditions will live." "Blue Maw Pirate kingdom ising," the bald slim guardian elder spat with bloodshot eyes. "Do you think you can match them?" "Lilith, those two won''t be helpful. Kill them please," Erix icily looked at the two guardian elders. *Snap* *Chree* Both of their bodies exploded before their flesh and blood turned into ck ash and vanished as if corroded by death itself. "Sigh it to live as a ve with a chance to gain freedom." "Refuse and say goodbye to your life." Leiro walked before the floating contract paper and pricked his thumb before putting it on the paper. "I ept. For my bloodline, I refuse to die even if I have to live like a rat." "Don''t worry. We won''t treat you badly," Rin snorted. "Just do work for us, eat, sleep, train, and enjoy." Leiro turned around to face his n members and bowed. "Please, everyone. Do not forsake your life." ¡­ In the end, the rest of the members agreed, willingly epting the intention and conditions of the contract. Afterward, Erix and others took all valuable resources and treasures of the n before telling Leiro to transport their n territory near Phoenix City. Chapter 374: The Expansion (1) Outside near the Deanox Tree, an oval-shaped makeshift wooden table with exquisite appearance had twelve people sitting around it, with more chairs empty. There were other people standing as well, two each behind their respective guild leaders. Isabe, Sameira, Kenshin, Khalil, Yagun, Regina, Charles, Kan, and four more guild leaders were at the table, waiting for Erix and others to return. "So can you tell us something about this meeting aside from that n?" Regina asked in surprise. She was the guild leader of the Rose Throne guild. "Can you tell us how you got the information while we wait?" a middle-aged slim man curiously asked. He was Charles¡ªthe guild leader of SkyKnight guild. "You''ll know soon," Kenshin snorted. " just wait and talk about how you are doing these days. Barely hanging at top 50?" Everyone dryly chuckled. Isabe wryly smiled and said to everyone, "Today might not be a pleasant day for many. You are here for a specific purpose, so all I can tell you is to have patience and think wisely about the matters that will unfold." Yagun Mubei clenched his fists under the table. ''Father, why don''t we try that method too? We can look for people from other areas. Who will find out if we coborate with the Heimd n? They told us about it because they want to do it.'' His father who stood behind him internally grunted at his son. ''We can''t do that carelessly. I am waiting for an opportunity that can distract the Unfettered Fate guild further. If Erix and Rin find out our intentions, they won''t spare us so shut up and don''t mention it or even think about it until I say.'' Suddenly, everyone felt a strange force nearby and then multiple auras under the tree as Erix, Rin, Aria, Lilith, Lily, Maleina, and Amu emerged from a portal with Erix''s long-distance teleport portal. "Good, we can start it right away," Erix smiled upon seeing everyone sitting at the table. Soon, Erix, Rin, Aria, Lilith, and Lily sat at the five empty chairs while Maleina stood behind Erix and Amu sat on the table, its tens of eyes looking at everyone. Everyone finally found out why there were five more chairs empty. ''Honey, who are those three women?'' Sameira asked Rin. Rin gave a chuckle to her mother internally and said, ''The one sitting beside me is Lilith. The most powerful among us right now and most likely on the Earth too. She is our sugar mommy.'' ''W-what?'' "Everyone, today is a very important day," Erix began speaking. Meanwhile, Rin replied to her mother. ''I mean, she is my sister just like Aria. The one beside Lilith is Lily and she is also the same. Yeah, that''s right. It''s the harem. But the one behind Erix is our maid.'' Kenshin nced at Sameira. ''Is it what I think it is?'' Sameira nodded with a weak smile. ''That woman has nearly the same horns as our daughter. Their bloodline should same,'' Kenshin said. ''And she feels most powerful, even more powerful than Erix.'' ''She is.'' Meanwhile, Erix just finished telling them about a part of the Zerian n''s intentions that Isabe had already told to Kenshin and Sameira. "We have neutralized the Zerian n, so they are not a threat anymore. Instead, they''ll be a subordinate n of Unfettered Guild," Erix said before his expression slowly turned severe. "However, this meeting has another purpose." "Zerian n is not a threat, but they have called someone that will be a threat to everyone in our world," Erix said. Everyone was surprised. Isabe nodded at Sameira and Kenshin. She didn''t tell them about the threat because even she didn''t know the intensity of the threat. She told them that they would know soon. "But before we tell you about it, you all have a choice to make," Rin smiled, but it looked ominous due to the choice of words and her tone. Erix nced at every guild leader and said, "From now on, every guild will act as a subordinate guild of the Unfettered Kingdom." "But," Rin immediately spoke after Erix finished, "You will have automation of your guilds, but we''ll have a hierarchy and a ranking for extra resource allocation and priority selection for various things." Everyone was shocked. "In short, those with potential and work hardest will get more resources and help." Erix smiled. "No nepotism. Only merit." "W-why? Aren''t things good as they are?" "That''s right. Boss Erix, can you tell us about the so-called threat first?" Lilith''s eyes glinted and her lips stretched a devilish smile, "The threat that''sing will directly give you a taste of despair...unless you be our subordinate and progress steadily." "So this is only a bad choice for those who make the wrong choice," Erix smiled before he connected his spiritual sense to Sameira, Kenshin, Khalil, Kan, and Regina. Their faces became surprised after a second upon hearing Erix''s thought message. "Those who didn''t get my spiritual message just now, stand up please, "Erix calmly gestured with his hand as his spirit force gave the people pressure as seven guild leaders stood up. They nced at each other briefly before turning to Erix, evidently confused. "Make your choice," Erix said. "Leave if you don''t want to be subordinate guild." They gulped as if in sync. "Are you serious?" Yagun Mubei asked with a grim expression. "You have three seconds," Rin snorted. Sameira and Kenshin nced at their longstanding rival family''s head, who was Yagun Mubei''s father, and only saw his indifferent face. ''This bastard is scheming something,'' Kenshin duly noted. ''Yep,'' Sameira scoffed. ''I think we should get rid of him and this n already.'' Before the three seconds passed, six of the seven agreed to be subordinate guilds. "Is that your final choice?" Erix asked. He was not looking at ck Swan''s leader, but the father of that leader. "We will be your subordinate guild," Yagun Mubei''s father said after releasing a sigh. ''Father?!'' ''Shut up. We can agree verbally and join them. This is better than outright rejecting them.'' Aria tugged Erix''s robe from below the table. ''That bald guy is hiding it well, both of them harbor negative intentions towards us.'' ''Should I mark them with my spirit gaze so we can keep an eye on them? But you have to get us out of Sanctuary Area for that.'' ''Do it,'' Erix''s eyes glinted and he controlled the Blessed Ind, moving it out of Sanctuary Area in the next second and continued moving the Ind towards the Moondawn Elf n. "Fine, sit down," Erix said to Yagun, but everyone was confused as to why the Ind was moving. It also made Yagun''s father jittery because they were officially in danger. ''Yagun. Keep calm and act like a mutt. Don''t fucking offend them because if you do, neither Erix nor Rin will hesitate to remove us. We are fucking ants right now. Remember that.'' "Why are we traveling?" Regina confusedly asked. Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelBin "To expand the Unfettered Kingdom, so we can stand against what''sing," Rin said and gestured at Lilith with his open palm at her. "Lilith will tell us more about it." "You can easily imagine the vastness of the cosmos after experiencing so much, so I''ll cut to the core," Lilith smiled. "There are manys like this that receive the influence of Mystic Root so people can get stronger like what''s happening in this world." "But there are also organizations in the cosmos that target growings and their evolving poption. They make them ves, take them away, and force them to work for them." "One such organization ising here. Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom. I don''t know when they will arrive here. It could be ten days or a month, depending on the distance, but they will be here sooner thanter. That I can guarantee." Everyone was utterly startled at this sudden bomb of information. ''You guys are not making it up, right?'' Sameira asked. ''Of course not, mom. We are actually in a pinch now,'' Rin wryly smiled. ''That''s why we have to make Unfettered Kingdom as big as possible and make people work for us in such a way that everyone benefits and progress faster.'' ''We''ll be dominating ns and guilds alike and pool extra resources and everything of theirs. All top rankers and people with potential must rise faster. If we don''t unite and create a big bubble of at least one million people, it will be hard to resist them.'' ''How do you know so much about them?'' Kenshin asked in surprise. ''Lilith knows about that organization and she told us that we''ll need to speed up. Since she know how they work, she made a n.'' Lilith was telling everyone about the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom and how terrifying they were. "Thews of Mystic Root will prevent them from aplishing their goals directly, but they wille with manpower and resources to do their bid," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "If they seed, you can forget about the word ''Freedom''. It will no longer exist for you." Everyone''s faces looked as if they were having trouble processing this. "Do you have¡­any proof?" Charles hesitantly asked. Erix raised his eyebrows, "Do you think we need to lie to you? We have 3000 ves and you know that." "If we want to make you obedient, we can do that in another way," Rin coldly snorted. "But we need to unite and work in such a way that benefits everyone." "In short, we are your only hope," Erix grinned, his eyes glinting as everyone suddenly felt a chill. "Do you know that Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom will try to ally themselves with the strongest guild and people?" Lilith chuckled, "They actually try their best to recruit the strongest guild and people, treating them as equal because they respect power and potential. That''s how this organization grows." "So¡­who do you think will they choose?" At that moment, everyone indeed realized why Erix said that Unfettered Kingdom was their only hope¡­to prevent a bleak future. Chapter 375: The Expansion (2) "So that''s the case," Kan calmly nodded. "Fine. You are the most powerful among us and also have the most universal knowledge. We shall join you for a better future." Erix nodded with a smile. "Although we are expanding our Kingdom rather forcefully, I respect some of you, and that will not change my general attitude unless you earn my contempt by doing something unsightly." Erix nced at Yagun and his father as he finished speaking. "That means breaking rules we set will get your heads off," Rin smiled. "That''s basic, right?" Everyone nodded with slightly unnatural smiles while Sameira and Kenshin internally chuckled. "So are you going to add more guilds right now by traveling on this ind?" a guild leader in his thirties asked. "No, are you an idiot?" Erix was speechless. "Get up and give your guild position to someone else." "W-w-what?" "Do it now. Give it to thatdy behind you," Erix looked at the familiar figure behind the red-beared guild leader of Libration Throne. Thedy had dark orange hair and had some changes since he saw herst, but her hair, face, and eyes were very simr. She just looked more beautiful due to reaching the Royal-order lifeform rank. "Do it now," Rin snorted. "You can remain vice guild leader. Your strength is also weaker than the two behind you." The ones behind him were none other than Toshin and Lena. Their daughter was also in the group behind. ''It seems that they recognized us,'' Toshin released a sigh. ''Mhmm,'' Lena smiled and looked at Erix and Rin before nodding, "Thank you." The red-beared middle-aged man gave up his position while ruefully smiling. Lena sat down, and Toshin subtly nodded at Erix and Rin with appreciation. Since it was going to be a hierarchy based in the Unfettered Kingdom, a higher position meant better benefits. "If you can''t prove your worth and potential, you will be cast aside from priority and hierarchy," Erix sharply said before he paused the ind. "We''ve arrived at the Moondawn Elf n." "The Moondawn n will be a subordinate n and we will add more subordinate ns," Erix said as he stood up and waved his hand to create a spiritual square box, to which he would ry whatever he sees to its four surfaces, making it a makeshift TV. "Watch and ry it to the ns that are in alliance with you as well. Everyone must work under a single entity that is the Unfettered Kingdom to the betterment of all," Rin sharply smiled. A secondter, Erix, Rin, and Lilith disappeared from the table. The Moondawn Elf n''s territory in the jungle once again weed presences through their n barrier, alerting them. "Why are they here again so early?" "Didn''t say that we''ll get more time." The Moondawn elves began grouping as they gathered at the n''s square. The two Empyrean-order elders arrived first and saw Erix, Rin, and an unfamiliar individual with them that caused their danger senses to ring with rm. Lilith didn''t hide the potency of her aura. Both Empyrean-order could see that and knew that it was game over. "Weren''t you gonna wait until you breakthrough to Empyrean-order?" one of the elders weakly smiled at Erix. "No need anymore," Erix inly said."Make your decision, so we can act ording to that." "We already made our decision, but you will not find the previous n head," one of the elders said with a sigh. "Against the survival of the n, he stood no chance. But since we made our decision to be your subordinate n, he escaped, and¡­we couldn''t stop him." "You let him escape," Rin narrowed her eyes and snorted, "Fine. He cane at us anytime to receive his death. We''ll reunite him with his son." "Begin moving your n territory near Phoenix City''s sanctuary area. I want your n to be there as soon as possible today." ¡­ Afterward, Erix moved the Blessed Ind back to Phoenix City and entered Antis Hub. Since the hub had people from various parts of the world, it was the best ce to meet with all top rankers and guilds. Moreover, it was easy for them to gather. Erix and others just arrived and the top rankers and guilds started entering one by one. After all, it was a new day and if Unfettered King entered Hub, it meant that they were going to do an expedition, and¡­it was best to do an expedition together for the best safety, progress, and rewards. Soon, everyone above 40k Power Level gathered in the huge hub. The total number of people reached 539. That was how much people progress in one month and twenty days. From 121 people at 40k Power level to 539 people at 40+ Power level. The top 50 had a 60k+ Power level. The top 20 had a 70k+ Power level. The top 10 had up to 80k Power level aside from Rin and Erix, who were around 160k power level. "We are not here for expedition, but to announce something important," Erix said attracting everyone''s attention and startling them with the surprise. The gang of Phoenix City stood with Erix and others at the front, facing hundreds of people and the top rankers before them. "What''s the matter?" Yelwon asked as she raised her eyebrows. "A cmity is approaching and it will be here soon," Rin said with a somber expression. "Its name is Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom..." The hub turned silent as everyone listened to the information given by Rin and Erix, telling them how they got the information and the level of danger that was about to arrive. Enjoy more content from m-v l''e|-NovelBin Erix and Rin didn''t want to stretch things, so they also swore a spiritual oath that whatever they said to them was true. If it was false, their magic source may self-destruct. The moment they finished the oath and nothing happened to them, the atmosphere in the hub turned heavy. "You told us such bad news¡­." Koshal narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean that you are going to do something about it?" Erix waved his hand, taking out 250 rings as they flew toward top rankers and guild leaders. "This ring will activate upon using Prana and open a portal that leads to a portal outside of Phoenix City''s sanctuary area," Erix said. "The n we have is simple," Rin smiled. "You can stay at your locations, but each Sanctuary Area will have a position of Baron that will look over the guilds and manage them." "I want all of you to be part of Unfettered Kingdom and grow together at a rapid pace by working together." "Our world has changed so much, but we haven''t explored the new changes fully because of people cooping up inside Sanctuary Area and taking things easy," Erix sharply said. "From now on, everyone will have to work for their life and progress." "If not, only hell will await you. We have to spread this dire news to everyone in the world," Rin''s eyes glinted, her voice bringing a seed of doom with a flicker of hope. "The peace they are experiencing under the protection of the Sanctuary Area will notst long. If everyone wants to live a decent life and not ve for others, then they must be part of the Unfettered Kingdom." Chapter 376: The Expansion (3/3) It had been five days since the grand meeting at the pub, and from that day, things started changing all over. With Erix making travel from one Sanctuary Area to another a walk in the park with his portals, a hugework and essibility was built. People from every corner of the world could go anywhere, from a Sanctuary area to the extreme north, to the Sanctuary Area in the south by just walking through the portal. During the following days, a boom in general progress ensued. Resource trading rose sky-high with people all over the world being able to trade resources from different areas. People got ess to unknown and undiscovered areas with events and dungeons that Mystic Root would regrly manifest all over the world. Phoenix City''s living area transformed in twenty days, bing five times as big as before. Moreover, Phoenix City''s Sanctuary Area''s range automatically increased to 15 kilometers in diameter area due to the increasing poption that lived in this big area. It was a sort of World hub since Erix had built Transport Hall. The hall had 25 big portals, and he also set up a simple board to connect any of those portals to 300+ other portals leading to other Sanctuary Areas on the. People could just press a button, for instance¡ª[38-Fraska City], and the portal would change its coordinates to the portal of Fraska City''s portal. Each Sanctuary City had a Duke and multiple Barons assigned for the management of resources and information, but since they were just top rankers, the actual managers were staff under them. Those people did not want to risk too much like others and live a slow, normal life. U-cards became a necessary item that almost everyone was using formunication and storing misceneous things that their mystic Inventory didn''t allow to store. Since Prana-stone mining events were regr, people could buy U-cards, and that caused the Unfettered Fate guild to get lots of low-grade Prana stones. Progress in Antis was going something with people getting tons of rewards, and more and more people entering Expedition every day. A total of 58 ns joined the Unfettered Kingdom, each forcebeled under them as they became the subordinate ns. They also needed resources to grow their ns, and since they were not natives, they couldn''t ess Events that gave most resources, giving them no choice but to rely on natives. The unfettered Kingdom had a bigwork, management, and increasing poption. Those ns couldn''t get a better ce and deal than Unfettered Kigndom to earn resources and sell their specialties. A total of 100 ns had arrived on Earth. Half of them already joined the Unfettered Kingdom, with more joining daily after seeing the progress. Overall, it was as Erix and Rin promised¡ªeveryone was progressing faster with better management of events, resources, and schedules for various quests. The staff that handled indoor activities were those who didn''t want to risk their lives too much, so getting those rxed jobs of staff was ideal for them. ¡­ [Prana Vein Event 2.0 will start in one hour.] "2.0 again? Hahaha, it looks like we''ll be getting more Medium-grade Prana stones regrly." "ve Battalion 3 and 4 are free, so they''ll participate in this event. Tell them to prepare." The moment the Event was announced, the Event Department in the Unfettered Kingdom promptly reacted. Since it was ten in the morning, the barons and dukes were on the Blessed Ind, training at the various exotic elemental areas. Aria, Rin, and Lily were under the Dreanox Tree. Aria needed some help in crafting a new potion, so Rin and Lily were helping. The trio heard the Event announcement, they but had stopped going to regr Events for obvious reasons and used their time on more important things. Isabe was also helping, but since it was almost noon, she went to cook food. Suddenly, Erix and Lilith arrived above the Dreanox Tree, with Erix showing slight exhaustion and injuries. They were sparring high above in the sky and just finished it. "My turn," Rin grinned. Erix and Lilith descended near Aria''s Alchemy table. "Come on," Lilith smiled at Rin and enveloped her in shapeless shadow before both of them vanished high above. Meanwhile, Erix walked towards Aria and Lily at the table. Putting his arm around Lily''s shoulder, Erix looked towards the two cauldrons with a strange aura whirling inside them, Erix asked, "How''s the progress?" "Shss, she is in deep focus. Don''t disturb her," Lily elbowed Erix''s stomach. Aria was indeed in deep focus with her arms facing both cauldrons as she controlled the flow and energies of ingredients inside. ''Fine.'' Erix bit Lily''s snow-white ears, causing them to turn red as she blushed. ''What are you doing here?'' ''I fought a hard battle with Lilith, so now I need a sweet battle from you,'' Erix grinned and teleported with Lily to a natural high-grade hotspring that recently developed on the Blessed Ind''s southwest area. *Ssh* Both of them fell into the water, and their clothes vanished. Lily''s white figure with big twin peaks and pink cherries was tightly held by Erix from behind as he rubbed her breasts and kissed her neck while under the water. But both of them sensed a presence outside. "It''s Yelwon and Serina, " Erix chuckled and swam up with Lily as both of them saw Yelwon and Serina sitting cross-legged on two stone boulders forty meters away. "Howe you two are together?" Erix asked. "Nothing much. Serina was already here, and I joined to meditate," Yelwon inly answered. "Do we leave from here?" "No need, "Erixughed and waved his hand, creating a barrier around the hot spring that prevented them from seeing through it. "I can''t believe I once traveled with him," Serina wryly smiled as her blushing face slowly returned to normal. "I didn''t know this white-haired beauty was also his woman." Serina was the 21-year-old daughter of Lena and Toshin, soon to be 22. She was more talented and a hard worker as she had Lightning, Fire, and Light affinities. She awakened Light and Fire naturally and then awakened Lightning with advanced Elemental crystal and used her Insight Scroll toprehend an Exotic Element mix of Fire x Light x Lightning¡ªSrion element. In short, she was one of the promising powerhouses of the Unfettered Kingdom. "Are you envious of his women and want to be his?" Yelwon asked with an amusing expression. "I already see many having a crush on Erix and getting hopes just because he got multiple women." "If I had a chance, I would have tried to be his girl," Serina grinned. "When I first met him, he and Rin were reliable and promising. They just had a different vibe and aura than others, but I didn''t think they would reach this high." "So¡­well, it would be wrong to say that I am not envious," Serina chuckled. "He is also super hot and strong, haha¡­Literally the most powerful than any man here, so of course." "But what about you?" Selina curiously asked Yelwon. "Me?" Yelwon raised her eyebrows and looked towards the pond as a glint passed through her eyes. "I am not envious of his women. However, I wouldn''t mind getting his seeds so I can give birth." "W-w-what?" Selina was dumbfounded and thought she heard wrong. "Are you serious?" "I don''t want to be anyone''s woman," Yelwon snorted before a faint smile spread on her face. "However, I do want to give birth, which I can''t do alone, so I''ll need seeds of someone talented and superior." Selina weakly smiled and looked at Yelwon''s bomb figure. "Well, I can''t think like that, but given your figure and beauty, I think many are after you." "That''s why I am at third rank in the World Leaderboard," Yelwon scoffed. "I am strong, so those who desire me can''t get me¡­unless Erix, but he is not one to force someone." Selina nodded. She had heard and seen cases of strong men forcing women, and even some strong women powerhouses who forced men for their bidding. "But I want someone strong in all areas and loving," Selina muttered. "Like him." "Are you a virgin?" Yelwon nced at Selina. Selina''s face flushed as she nodded, "Yes." "Then don''t taste a dick yet. Focus on getting more powerful. There''s a vast world out there and many strong people. You can find someone to loveter," Yelwon said before she closed her eyes. "Alright, back to training." Selina wryly smiled hearing that and also closed her eyes as she returned to meditation training. Both of them had an Advanced high-grade Elemental crystal in their hands as they went back toprehend and make progress. Meanwhile, after Half an hour of quick and intense fun, Erix and Lily returned. Rin and Lilith were still sparring. Since Erix took an hour, Rin would also take the same amount of time to train with Lilith. However, Aria''s face had a pout and a slight exhaustion as she sat before her Cauldrons, slumped. "Aw, what happened to my cutie?" Erix asked as he and Lily arrived under the Dreanox Tree. Erix sat before Aria and gently pinched her puffy cheeks. "I failed again," Aria said, her arms crossed and her mood frustrated. "This pill is hard to make even with my current spirit power." "You''ve been doing this for three hours," Lily wryly smiled. "Take a break, Aria." "Yeah, let''s go take a break," Erixughed. "I''ll make you feel happy again,e." "Mhm," Aria nodded as she raised her arms. "Carry me." Erix booped her nose and carried her like a princess before teleporting away. Yelwon and Selina heard one more ssh and opened their eyes only to see Erix and Aria. "Sorry, you continue," Erixughed as he created a barrier around the hot spring again. "It looks like he is horny today," Yelwon snorted and closed her eyes. Selina wryly smiled and also closed her eyes as she returned to training. Chapter 377: True Path Begins Labyrinth Tower¡ª30th Floor. [Congrattions, you have reached the 2nd realm in the mastery of the Life element.] Just as Erix and Rin emerged on the floor afterpleting the 30th-floor challenge, Erix''s aura burst out with life power. "It was about time," Erix said with a nod. He had been focusing on the Life element past three days. Making it stronger directly boosted the passives and talent powers of his Bloodline since they were based on both the Life and Death elements. "I am also close to a breakthrough in my Blood affinity," Rin said as she stretched his arms. "Should we go for the 31st Floor? We won''t beat it though." "True, let''s leave for now," Erix nodded as he looked at his status. [Erix] _Total Power level?¡ª> 185,119. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 2885 points. -Soul: 2239 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª>Unique-type Mythic Grade: 14,495 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Metal¡ª4th realm: 8000 points. ¡ª> Death¡ª4th realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Space¡ª4th realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> me¡ª5th realm: 5000 points. ¡ª> Nihilir¡ª3rd realm: 30,000 points. ¡ª> Life ¡ª 2nd realm: 10,000 points. -Concepts: ¡ª> Punch¡ª3rd realm ¡ª Hollow Puncture ¡ª 30,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos¡ª2nd realm ¡ª Chaotic Evolution: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Devorex Metal¡ªMetal Factory¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. "I just need to get my Nihilir to the 4th realm, but given that it took me almost two months to get my Death and Space to the 4th realm even with resources, I''ll need a month," Erix rubbed his chin. "Do you think that Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom will arrive in the next five days?" Rin wondered as she looked at her power level status. "We are not strong enough to face them if theye." Discover exclusive tales on m,v l''e-NovelBin [Rin] _Total power level:?¡ª>187,596. _Evaluation: -Stats: 2500 points. -Spirit: 2767 points. -Soul: 2194 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Unique-type Mythic-grade: 14135 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Lightning¡ª5th realm: 10,000 points. ¡ª> Wind ¡ª 5th realm: 5000 points. ¡ª> Time¡ª3rd realm: 15,000 points. ¡ª> Chronace¡ª3rd realm: 30,000 points. ¡ª> Blood ¡ª 3rd realm: 6000 ?points. ¡ª> Death ¡ª 4th realm: 20,000 -Concepts: ¡ª> Crimson Onyxbolt¡ª2nd realm: 20,000 points. ¡ª> de¡ª 3rd realm ¡ª Severing de: 30,000 points. ¡ª> Chaos¡ª2nd realm ¡ª Chaotic Stream: 20,000 points. ¡ª> Speed ¡ª1st realm ¡ª 10,000 points. "Darling, you need a new Concept as well," Rin grinned. "I''ll decide on one soon," Erixughed. "I got a few options, but I need to think. I am working on a powerful skill, so if can execute it, It''ll open a new path and will help me make a choice on which Concept should I go for." "Mhmm, since we are done here, then let''s inform Lilith," Rin smiled, her eyes gleaming eagerly for something. "It''s time." "Yep." On the other hand, the giant ship of Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom led by Bill and Rani, the two Reverend-order would reach the Earth in five days. They were also bringing with them a force of 1000 Empyrean-order Beasts and 500 Empyrean-order ves to bring doom to the poption of a. ¡­ "This process is simple, yet slightly risky. Don''t be careless and you''re good," Lilith stood before Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Sameira, and Kenshin. The jolly slime Amu left to y with kids and look around before Lilith began speaking. Amu was already outside of Mystic Root''s influence. "You all used your unassigned stat points, right?" Lilith asked. "If not, then use them now because after breaking away from Mystic Root''s influence, they will disappear." All five of them had reached the max level of Royal-order lifeform rank, level 299, so they had a thousand or more unassigned stat points, which they all added into Soul stat, making their soul powerful. Erix and Rin had already used them before going to the Labyrinth Tower, making their Soul power reach 2239 and 2194, respectively. "Done," Sameira nodded. The others also nodded as they finished assigning points. "Good. Now enter deep focus and clear your mind. Just only let my voice enter your consciousness," Lilith said. "To sense Mystic Root, you''ll have to find something that doesn''t belong to you in your Origin region. You have to make it surface and that will require your most focused and clear state." "You must have full control over your powers, and each of your fibers. Point your senses towards yourself." Everyone entered a deep focused state, their consciousness shutting down everything external and their senses only permeating within themselves. Usually, they would use deep focus and infuse their consciousness into a singr objective with a medium and train. For instance, training using an Elemental crystal toprehend the element''s profound power and master them. This time, they must target themselves. "Put aside all powers and attributes that belong to you and make them vanish. The thing left would be the Mystic Root''s Mystic Rune that would be connected to your soul and body and everything you got through it." Lilith continued. "Once you find that Mystic Rune, try to destroy it with your spirit force and soul forcebined. You''ll be faced with a will battle from Mystic Root once you do that." "As long as you win, Mystic Root will leave you alone, recognizing your determination to begin your path without its support." Lilith sat down on a chair and expanded her senses outward while leisurely eating berries while the others began the process of breaking out of Mystic Root''s influence. Seconds turned into minutes, and soon an hour passed. Everyone''s aura was silent, but all of them were having an intense battle internally at the moment. Erix and Rin were on the verge of finishing their battle as they remained in full force with their indomitable wills. Soon after a few minutes, both of their aura burst out and notifications rang in their heads. [Mystic Rune termination. Congrattions on breaking out of the gravel ne bounds.] [Killing monsters by your hands will not make them disappear and drop loot.] [Your ss source has been terminated. Please select one out of three options to convert the umted ss powers that you earned into¡ªMagic Essence to increase your Magic|Spirit|Soul stat, Growable Specialized Item based on ss, or a Specialized Skill Rune.] [You will no longer level up and gain stats from monsters after killing them.] [Your learned passive skills have been removed but if you have already learned them and made their skill runes, you''ll retain the effects as they are yours.] [Your auto-learned Active skills in slots have been removed.] [Your auto-learned Talents in slots have been removed.] [You can no longer equip or use items that are dropped from monsters.] [Good luck in your endeavors. Your true path begins now.] "So that''s it, eh?" Erix opened his eyes after reading the notifications. "What did you choose in exchange?" Rin asked before she grinned, "I chose Magic Essence. No need for an item or skill. Haha, it was a good decision to max level up our ss. Thanks to daily Antis expedition and invasion, we managed to use tons of skill creation attempts to build our arsnal of skills and skill embryos." "Yep, skill embryos are good," Erix nodded as he eagerly rubbed his hand, "I can''t wait to get knowledge on more advanced magic after going to more advanced worldster." Erix also selected that option as he acquired a surprising amount of Magic Essence. [As you had X-rank ss, you have acquired 5000 Magic Essence.] 5000 Magic Essence basically meant 5000 stat points! Since Rin had also upgraded her ss to X-rank half a month ago, she also acquired the same amount. They could either spend that on Spirit or Soul. After all, those two stats were far from reaching the limit of their lifeform rank. Soon, Aria, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin''s auras also started bing vtile as their battles ended in graduating from Mystic Root''s influence. "Congrattions. Now you are just like the rest of the cosmos, stepping into the true path of power," Lilith smiled. And right after that, Erix got a surprising notification from the Blessed Ind. [You have met the requirement to reveal the rank upgrade requirements of Blessed Ind.] "Check it," Lilith smiled at Erix as if she already knew that Erix would receive the notification from Blessed Ind after breaking out of Mystic Root''s influence. "You knew it?" Erix was surprised and also informed others as they curiously. "It''s an upgrade notification of Blessed Ind." "After you left, I asked Granny May," Lilith grinned. "The owner had to break out of Mystic Root''s influence to reveal the upgrade requirement." "If the situation goes bad against Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom, our sole means of safe escape would be this Blessed Ind," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We have to upgrade it, so that it can get new functions that will allow it to travel in outer-space and ess wormhole transport." "Space travel on ind?" Sameira was startled. "Hahaha, sounds like the best adventure vehicle," Kenshinughed. "Indeed" Erix nodded, slightly excited at hearing those functions. He opened the Blessed Ind''s panel to quickly check the requirements. "Let''splete them as soon as possible," Aria excitedly said, eager to see vaster and more colorful worlds. "This..." Erix felt slightly stumped as he looked at the upgrade requirement and shared it with others since they were partial owners of the Blessed Ind assigned by Erix. Chapter 378: New Functions and Features, Threat Incoming [Blessed Ind: Unfettered Isle] _Evolution Rank: Spiritual Magic Land. Discover exclusive tales on m,v l''e-NovelBin _Features: ¡ª> Mind Drive, Pirs, Topography, Barrier-Pool. _Functions: ¡ª> Recovery Aura, Growth. _Upgrade conditions: ¡ª> The assigned Pirs must break out of the Mystic Root''s influence (Completed) ¡ª> 10,000,000 Soul energy infusion (0%). ¡ª> 100,000,000 Spirit force infusion (0%). "So we only need to infuse soul energy and spirit force?" Erix felt strange at the conditions. "I was expecting something moreplicated, but this is simple." "Good for us," Rin grinned. "Let''s begin it right away." "I''ll call others so they can provide Spirit force while we infuse soul energy," Isabe said. "Yep, let''s begin it right away," Lilith nodded while her eyes faintly shone. "It seems that we just need to release our spirit force and soul energy in the atmosphere of the ind, and its core will automatically self-infuse them." "Let''s call some Empyrean-order powerhouses who have their souls awakened from ns so we can speed up," Kenshin said. "I''ll send an announcement to all Tier-1 U-card holders," Isabe nodded and sent an announcement via her U-card to the top rankers and powerhouses of ns. Meanwhile, Erix and others released their soul energy for Ind to infuse and entered meditation to recover without wasting time. The top 20 were already on the Blessed Ind as they were practically living here to progress faster. Hearing the announcement, they begin releasing their spirit force. All residents of the Blessed Ind who released their spirit force got a notification from the Blessed Ind about the progress as well, making it easier for everyone. "So this ind is going to upgrade?" Amir was surprised and wondered, "Don''t tell me it''s going to be even bigger?" "It''s going to bring more benefits, that''s for sure," Koshal wryly smiled. "It''s been 25 days since that meeting," James said with some doubt, "Is that Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom arriving here or not?" "I don''t care about it," Gabriel said with a lightugh. "It''s a better idea to remain in this single entity Unfettered Kingdom. What do you say, Yelwon?" "Focus on work," Yelwon inly said. "If you emptied your spirit force,start recovering and stop talking." Every top powerhouse was at different locations on the ind, and they talked with each other via spiritual chat, but only for a bit before they focused on finishing the task. More people started arriving on the Ind and joined in finishing the task. Empyrean-order powerhouses who had their souls awakened also started arriving one by one and joined inpleting the task. Half an hourter, Lily also arrived from her investigation. Appearing like a mist and materializing to her physical appearance beside Lilith, she said spiritually to Lilith, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Sameira, and Kenshin. ''It''s as we predicted. Some ns want to use crooked methods to get stronger, and the ck Swan guild leader''s father is the one gathering them.'' ''That bastard never learns,'' Kenshin internally grunted. ''Erix, the trash has gathered into a pile. All we need is to clear it.'' ''I already know about their hideout and identities,'' Lily sneered. ''We can leisurely go there after upgrading the Ind.'' ''Good work as always, Lily,'' Rin chuckled. ''Come, join us now that your work is done,'' Lilith said. ''Yes.'' ¡­ After four hours, 100 million spirit force''s target was met due to many people pouring their spirit force. And due to the help of Empyrean order powerhouses of various ns who had awakened the soul, the 10 million soul energy target was also met after two more hours. [Blessed Ind upgrade initiating.] "Let''s see how it goes," Erix grinned, thrilled. The others were also eager to know what kind of upgrade would happen. Since Erix, Rin, Aria, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin broke out of Mystic Root''s influence and gained 5000 Magic Essence in exchange for their X-rank ss sources'' removal, they had a lot of Soul energy and they contributed the highest alongside Lilith and Lily. After all, everyone spent all 5000 magic essence to boost their soul stat and spirit stat as that was the best investment option! Lilith told them that a higher soul was absolutely necessary toprehend more advanced powers and progress in higher realms of their existing powers. As such, Erix and others were at the absolute peak of the Royal-order lifeform rank at the moment. Each of them had reached 5000 foundational stats in Strength, Agility, Stamina, Health, Spirit, Soul, and Magic. Lily and Maleina were already at the peak of Royal-order half a month ago in the Abyss as she had broken out of Mystic Root''s influence a month ago with Lilith''s guidance, so they also had 5000 in Soul stat, hence a 50,000 pool of soul energy. Erix and Rin still had around five-six hundred Magic Essence left while Aria had 2.1k Magic Essence left. To use them, they needed to break through to Empyrean-order lifeform rank. As of now, their body and source have reached the limit of their lifeform. However, they stillcked high-grade Prana stones and some amount of medium-grade Prana stones toplete the first stage of the breakthrough process. Lilith, Lily, and Maleina couldn''t bring anymon resources from Abyss to Earth and whatever they had in their storage ring was automatically removed as per Mystic Root''s rules to prevent disruption in progress. s¡­one more disruption wasing. ¡­ [Blessed Ind Upgrade Processpleted.] After five minutes, everyone on the ind got the notification. [New Features: Antimatter Barriers, FTL Space Travel, Wormhole Jump, Cosmos Map.] [New Functions: Growth Spurt, Specialized Area-1.] [Antimatter Barrier: Uses 10,000 Prana per second to increase normal travel speed while allowing the ind to pass through physical obstacles as long as the Antimatter Barrier is active.] [FTL Space Travel: Consumes 100,000 Prana per second to travel faster than light in space. FTL limit: 350,000 Kilometers per second.] [Wormhole Jump: Creates a wormhole for the Ind to jump in and cross a distance of 20,000 to 50,000 lightyears. You can jump randomly or with coordinates to a specific point within 50,000 lightyears distance.] [Cosmos Map: Shows cosmos map for ease of travel. It automatically expands as Blessed Inds travels or when data is inputted of an area to it. Current Map coverage: Milky Way Gxy, Red Bean Gxy.] Everyone was reading the function, and Erix passed through the Cosmos Map, immediately opening it. In the next second, a big hologram-type image appeared before Erix. It showed the Milky Way Gxy with countless lights and looking white and faint blue. Beside it was a bean-shaped gxy with colorful lights, but mostly red as it looked red-yellowish. The Milky Way Gxy had an indicator on it [Your location] and Erix zoomed in a few times to find the Earth. "This Map is crazy," Erix said with augh. "Unfortunately, it''s not a live map," Lilith wryly smiled. "If it was live, we could detect everything." "Is a live map of a such scale even possible?" Sameira wryly asked. "It is," Lilith grinned. "I''ve heard that higher upgrades of Blessed Ind can activate live maps of a certain distance around it. Just like our spirit sense where we expand it to know every aura and thing within our range, the Blessed Ind can also do itter." "Yeah, that sounds possible," Sameira nodded as that made sense. "This Growth Spurt is so nice," Aria said. "We can boost the growth period of resources and develop high-tier ingredients quickly." "That''s good indeed," Rin nodded. [Growth Spurt: Provides necessary environment and conditions to resources in Specialized Areas to increase their growth. Once per month.] [Specialized Area-1: You can assign 1-kilometer squarend at any spot on the Blessed Ind to make it a type of Specialized Area. Only one. Current options: nt-based Specialized Area, Ore-based Specialized Area.] "We don''t need an Ore-based Specialized Area because I already have the best one," Erix said with augh. "And now that we have a nt-based specialized Area, we won''tck some limited resources to make important pills." "But before that, let''s first take care of the trash," Kenshin got up and cracked his fingers. "True," Erix grinned. "This gives us a nice excuse topletely loot those ns. How dare they try to use crooked methods? Humph." "They have secretly gathered around two-thousand people from various ces that are not under us and held them captive," Lily coldly said. "I''m sure they are nning to make a magic formation using their ns'' methods and use them as sacrifices." "Send me the location," Erix blinked beside Lily with an instant teleport and held her hand. Lily immediately sent the location of the gathering to Erix. "Amu, look over things here. We''ll return shortly," Erix said before he teleported away with everyone. ¡­ Meanwhile, Mystic Root''s medium on the Earth sensed something. That medium was none other than Tower Master of Labyrinth Towers. But he was not in full control as well. It was the Mystic System that was directly connected to Mystic Root. Zerol looked at the warning of Mystic System and frowned. "They targeted this?" Mystic Root influenced everything it took under itself, so when a foreign entity targeted something of it, mainly the worlds it was progressing, it would also interfere in its own way, but not in a way that would directly stop the invaders. It didn''t consider feelings of others and only worked in its own ways andws. "It looks like things are going to get hectic," Zerol''s eyes glinted. "And this will bring a good, desirable chance indeed." And since Mystic Root detected this, the changes began on Earth...beginning with an announcement that went to everyone. [Important Announcement:...] Chapter 379: Drastic Changes [Important Announcement] [Antis expedition will give double rewards from now on, and everyone''s stats and powers will be boosted by 100% during Expeditions.] [If you fail to finish Antis in five days, Antis will be unleashed on Earth with extra force.] [There will be one Prana Vein event every day from now on in order. Low-grade, Medium-grade, and High-grade.] [Mystic Shop''s 10th level is unlocked for those who have crossed the 20th Floor.] While these announcements dropped, Erix and others had just subdued and killed the main powerhouses of the gathering. A total of four ns and two groups of native humans were involved. They kept some alive as Erix nned to take them back to their respective ns and guilds and kill them there before putting an option to be subordinates of the Unfettered Kingdom. "What''s with these sudden changes?" Erix raised his eyebrows as he read the notification. The others were also confused regarding these sudden notifications as they read them. "Hmm, If something can suddenly cause Mystic Root to bring some changes, it means that a foreign entity is going to interfere with its work," Lilith fell into thought for a moment before she nced at others. "It means that the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom''s force will be here soon." "I reckon it''s five days since Mystic Root gave us five days to finish the Antis," Rin narrowed her eyes. "Let''s finish this quickly then and start working to get stronger. Resources are gonna pour in the next five days," Sameira said. ¡­ Erix and the group went to the four ns that were thousands of kilometers apart and forced all of them toe under the Unfettered Kingdom and confiscate their resources and items. With Lilith''s presence, their Empyrean-order powerhouses didn''t dare to do anything. After all, everyone treasured their life more than their treasures. "None of them are above Tier-6 items," Isabe wryly smiled. "We can just put these items on Treasure Pavilion. It''s good if we add more items there so Tier-1 citizens can work harder to earn them," Aria said with a smile. "Yeah, that''s better," Erix nodded. After finishing and arranging everything, it was time to begin the Antis Expedition. The top rankers and regrs were eager and excited as they had already gathered in the Antis Hub and were waiting for the main group of Unfettered Kingdom. "We''ll be back in two hours then," Erix nodded at Lilith, Aria, Lily, and Maleina before he teleported away with Rin, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin. The core members of the Unfettered Fate guild were also already at the Hub after the big announcements. Erix and others arrived and saw hundreds of people in the hub, with many ns and their stalls at the entrance space. "Before we go in, do you want to know why we got such sudden changes?" Erix asked as he walked to the central table and sat down with Rin, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin. "Why?" Leishun curiously asked. "Because the Mystic Root detected a foreign entitying here," Rin smiled. "The Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom. I know many of you were skeptical, but these changes are because of the trouble that''s on the way here." "And it willnd on our world in five days," Erix added. "Now without wasting more time, let''s begin. We''ll get a big boost in power once we begin the Expedition so I expect us to reach 40% overall progress in this one run." "We''ll destroy all the locations that we have marked in all six tribes¡ªFrom 120k Power level to 180k Power level areas," Erix sharply said and stood up. "We will destroy them all in two hours." Everyone shouted, creating a loud rumble in the Hub before Erix and the gang moved towards the first Tribe portal door and entered, followed by over five hundred people. ¡­ Meanwhile, the Blessed Ind was covering the entirety of the expanded Sanctuary Area after it upgraded, so Lilith moved it slightly away. After all, the Blessed Ind''s size expanded to a 15-kilometer radius, bing a massive floating ind with exotic biomes of elements and nature. While Erix and others were in the Antis Expedition, Aria, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina were managing and arranging things on the Ind. First, Aria chose an area she felt was best to grow Alchemy ingredients and transformed it into a Specialized Area. Since this particr area on the Blessed Ind had biomes of life and nature, it was a good ce to grow general high-tier resources for Alchemy. "It didn''t change in appearance, but the atmosphere and energies in the air became so strong," Aria eximed in surprise. "Things will grow very fast here." "Yep," Lilith smiled. "Since the Specialized Area only covers a 1.5-kilometer radius ofnd on the Ind, let''s level it properly and make the soil better to nt the seeds and resources." "Yes!" Aria immediately. "I''ll start from there." Aria flew towards the tree-filled area and started cutting them. Maleina also started helping Aria. "Lily, can you go and arrange all ve Battalions and the Unfettered Battalions?" Lilith turned to Lily and said. "This Antis expedition will bring big progress, and if progressing in Anstis causes more resources to sprout on Earth, we''ll have to collect them fast." "Understood," Lily nodded and vanished like a mist. ¡­ Kraktor Tribe territory, Swamp Forest. *Boom!* This whole swamp forest had swampy water with strange magic properties that reduced everyone''s vision and spirit sense range. A big facility of the Kraktor tribe was here, with the requirement of 180k Power level or above as a warning to proceed ahead. However, with a 100% boost in everyone''s power, this became a piece of cake. Erix and Rin were the embodiment of destruction. They had 185k and 187k Power Levels respectively, so with a 100% power boost as their stats and everything increased, their current Power Level was a whooping 360K+!! At the boss area, Erix and Rin faced a giant ck three-meter-tall humanoid with a hammerhead shark-like head but pitch ck with glowing blue patterns on their body. There were two of them, each holding a huge runic de that matched their size. Their arms and muscles were most prominent among all the tribe as they boasted powerful physical progress, with their Bloodline''s power also boosting them. These were the Kraktor Tribe members. Each of them had a 220k Power level, but unfortunately, their death was sealed today. "Alright, you can make the attempt now," Rin grinned as she froze those two Kratons into her Chorance Field, slowing down Time within the field and removing offensive aspects to prevent injuring them. "What''s your current mastery of Time maniption?" Erix curiously asked while looking at the two Kraktos. "Haha, one second to one hour for those two," Rinughed. "It will take one hour for their one-second act to finish." "But I can''t slow down Lilith," Rin pouted. "Her spirit force breaks my Time Field instantly." Erix nodded while a majestic ck longbow appeared with dark purple and dark silver patterns. "Well, she is way stronger, especially after her spirit power''s transformation." "Will that really work?" Rin curiously asked as she saw Erix pulling the bowstring without an arrow. "It should, it must," Erix''s eyes glinted, his aura red, and his spirit force burst out. His eyes became still, locking those two Kraktors as his targets as he activated his Punch concept. In the next second, Erix released the empty bowstring while two dark silver walls appeared behind both Kraktos. ''Puncture Arrow.'' Silently, two gaping holes appeared on both Kraktos'' bodies. They shimmered with dark purple mes and burned intensely, preventing them from recovering. It was as if those dark silver walls released something that made those holes when Erix released the bowstring on the other side. "It works, but¡­" Rin rubbed her chin before she suddenly realized, "So you want to fill the w with a new concept and make it even more powerful with it?! Erix nodded as he put away the bow and healed both Kraktos with his life power. "I need to be able to do without a bow and with all of my powers first before I decide what new concept I want." "If I use my Punch concept on the Bow and activate it with those space walls, the Puncture I aim certainly happens just like now, but that''s not going to help us against stronger opponents," Erix narrowed his eyes. "I want to make this a deadly instant cast that can catch a stronger opponent off guard and cause a fatal injury. Since my physical prowess applied by the Punch concept can be emitted in energy form thanks to the Punch concept''s 2nd realm power, this skill has a high potential." Rin nodded as she smiled and wrapped her arms around Erix''s neck, "I didn''t think your Punch concept could go in this direction, but your idea is awesome, darling. Let''s make it happen." "Yep," Erixughed and kissed her. "I''ll practice this after returning. The expedition is going to end in a minute anyway." "Mhm, let''s return." Continue reading stories on mvl ¡­ As everyone left the expedition one by one after the two-hour buff was over, the Antis Expedition Leaderboard refreshed. [Antis Expedition Leaderboard] Rank 1: Erix ¡ª 543,289 points. Rank 2: Rin ¡ª 532,870 points. Rank 3: Isabe ¡ª 244,830 points. Rank 4: Kenshin¡ª 234,828 points. Rank 5: Sameira ¡ª 232,729 points. Rank 6: Yelwon¡ª 224,638 points. Rank 7: Koshal¡ª 224,320 points. Rank 8: Amir ¡ª 213,820 points. Rank 9: Jax ¡ª 198,793 points. Rank 10: Gabriel¡ª 193,729 points. Everyone in the hub soon received notification of their Expedition''s reward, making them overjoyed. "We also got double rewards in this!" "Let''s fucking go! Double drops inside and double rewards here too!" "Now we just need to hope we get some good items from the chests and orbs." But everyone didn''t stay in the Hub for long as Erix shouted, his voice reverberating, "Get back on the Blessed Ind and do your exchanges there. Since we made a lot of progress this time, more resources should be spawning at the moment on various parts of the Earth." "Once you are finished with the rewards opening, get ready to set out in the assigned groups. Complete the regr tasks and bring resources, and you''ll be allowed on the Blessed Ind," Erix finished speaking with a smile and left first while the others quickly followed and left the Antis Hub. Chapter 380: Mystic Shop, Breakthrough (1) The powerhouses readily used a bunch of Elemental crystals and other readily usable resources for power up after finishing their daily tasks assigned by the Unfettered Kingdom. The best ce to train was Blessed Ind, but not everyone was allowed on it. Only those whopleted the Unfettered Kingdom''s tasks of bringing resources and working daily were allowed. This way, Erix, Rin, and others only needed to spend time on the Blessed Ind to focus on getting stronger. The Alchemy Pavilion under Aria''s leadership was progress well. All fifteen members of Alchemy Pavilion were handpicked to be girls and women who had no families or rtives so they could stay on the Blessed Ind and be a valuable core force of Alchemy for the Unfettered Kingdom. Aria feltfortable helping them spiritually since they were females, so she also made them stronger with her unique advanced spirit power and bloodline traits. They could craft Spirit Jade Potions already, but Pills were a bit far for them. However, Spirit Jade Potions were already valuable and were the most expensive items for others to buy since they were the only ones who could recover spirit force quickly. Lilith hung out with Erix and Rin more, mostly inbat and training. She was the only one stronger than them and gave them tough challenges, so they could improve. Lily was also strong, almost on par with Erix and Rin in terms ofbat power. She was a silent assassin, going full throttle on this path. In the end, the day soon ended with Erix practicingbat with Lilith all day to make his crucial breakthrough in creaking the skill and deciding the concept. Rin and Lily practiced against each other to hone theirbat as well for some hours before going back to using Elemental Crystals to progress. Aria finished her daily 1-hour ss in Alchemy Pavilion, she moved their location to the Specialized Area-1 so they could look after the ingredients and practice in a better environment. Isabe also didn''t waste time on useless things. She only prioritized training and spent daily time with Aaron, who only met her and talked to her during breakfast and dinner. The kid was getting bigger and stronger, spending more time outside with other kids and having fun. Sameira and Kenshin were also training near the Dreanox Tree, following their own path to power with conviction and progress. The members of the Heavenly Melody guild were fullybined with Unfettered Guild members as all of them became part of the Unfettered Battalions, making it easier for everyone to move and progress. In the end, the day passed by quickly as the night arrived. Antis Invasion began in the evening, and everyone fought back for half an hour before it was over. The poption of Phoenix City had reached 1.1 million during the past 25 days as people woulde here from portals daily and settle down. Still over 2 million people were scattered across the globe. They had settled down in their areas and many were reluctant toe here, wanting to live in their own bubble that would soon burst. The unfettered Kingdom didn''t bother persuading them toe to Phoenix City. It was up to their choice. A choice that could shape their future or destroy it. After the Antis Invasion, Erix, Rin Aria, Isabe, Aaron, Lilith, Lily, Maleina, Sameira, Kenshin, and Amu went to eat dinner in the Sakura Mansion. Lilith and Isabe prepared the dinner quickly together as both of them were Mystic Chef. Suddenly while eating, everyone heard the daily World Boss announcement. Your journey continues on mvl "Let''s not do World Boss anymore after today," Rin said with a wry smile. "We already have so many Mystic Coins since we haven''t spent any after returning here." "But we are going," Kenshin said with augh. "The new and max tier of the shop opened. They got expensive items, so we need points." "Mhmm," Sameira nodded as she started eating faster. "They are giving good resources. You three should check it outter." "Alright," Erix nodded and turned to Isabe. "How many you got?" Isabe checked and said, "One million and six hundred thousand." "That''s enough to get the important items," Sameira nodded. "Erix and I both got close to three million," Rin chuckled. "Let''s check the Mystic Shop after dinner." Aria, Lilith, Lily, and Maleina were not natives, so they couldn''t earn Mystic Coins nor ess the Mystic Shop, making this matter irrelevant to them. After dinner, Aaron went to sleep while Lilith, Aria, Lily, and Maleina sat near a small pond Aria made half a month ago near the Dreanox tree to talk and rx for a while. On the other hand, Erix, Rin, and Isabe went to Labyrinth Tower to ess the Mystic Shop. ================== Note: You can only buy one item per list. To buy another, you must refresh the content. Bnce: 2,994,483 Mystic coins. Shop Tier: 10 (Max) 1. 100x high-grade Prana stone: 50,000 Mystic coins. 2. Insight Scroll: 1,500,000 Mystic coins. 3. Blood Null Realm Stone: 2,000,000 Mystic coins. 4. Peak-grade Advanced Elemental crystal: 1,000,000 Mystic coins. 5. High-grade Advanced Elemental crystal: 500,000 Mystic coins. [ press ] [ press ] [ Exit ] "Hmm, Insight Scroll is good, but what is that Blood Null Realm stone?" Erix wondered as he looked at the most expensive item. He didn''t know what it was, and the other items were not worth buying. Rin and Erix personally had Prana energy even more potent than high-grade Prana crystals¡ªso the called ''Magic Sweat'' or in official terms, Prana Essence, that one could only produce when developing their Domains and going deep enough in the Cosmic Arcane Layer. Isabe also stored Prana Essence since she managed to go deep enough into the Cosmic Arcane Layer and developed an S-rank Domain. In the end, none of them actually bought anything since they saw unique items that they were not aware of. Isabe was tempted to buy Insight Scroll, but there was a Legendary Bloodline orb as well, and she could only buy one with her points, so she decided to consult with others first. The trio exited one by one at different times, all going back to the Dreanox Tree and asking Lilith, the most knowledgeable one, about the information about those items. "Rin and Erix, both of you should buy that Bloodline Realm Stone," Lilith wryly smiled. "That''s going to help explore the potential of your Bloodline. It''s very hard to progress a Mythical Bloodline, and you can only do that after breaking through to Empyrean order due to the requirement of high physical and magical capabilities. Or else, you won''t be able to handle your own Bloodline." "As for Isabe¡­" Lilith fell into thought for a moment before she smiled widely. "Isabe, you can go ahead and buy the Insight Scroll. For your bloodline...I have a better idea." "You are all at the peak of Royal-order and also have enough resources for the first stage of the breakthrough process, so let''s finish that this night. Those who don''t have any Bloodline will automatically manifest theirs once they enter Empyrean-order, so Isabe should do that first," Lilith said. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 381: Breakthrough (2) Empyrean-order breakthrough Process: First step:- Arcane Spirit Pond Expansion. Second/Final step:- Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree. The first step had three stages of the process. First Infuse 10,000 low-grade Prana stones, then 5000 medium-grade Prana stones, andstly 1000 high-grade Prana stones into their Arcane Spirit Pond to expand it to its limit. Everyone had already finished with the first stage of the first step, so they started the second stage process. Isabe distributed 5000 medium-grade Prana stones to each before everyone started absorbing them into their Arcane Spirit Pond. The first stage increased one''s Prana capacity by 10,000 Prana. The second stage increased one''s Prana capacity by 20,000 Prana. The third stage increased one''s Prana capacity by 30,000 Prana. Lily and Maleina had already finished Arcane Spirit Pond Expansion in the Abyss, so they began the Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree process, but this was a challenging one toplete. ¡­ After fifteen minutes¡­ "Done," Erix opened his eyes as the pile of 5000 medium-grade Prana stones before him was gone. Rin, Aria, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin were also done one by one in the next minute. "Rest for five minutes and stabilize the expansion of your ponds," Lilith said. "Since you all have the Prana Essence from developing the Domain of S-rank, then use that in ce of high-grade Prana stones." Pausing for a bit, Lilith added, "Using Prana Essence will make your foundation stable, so that''s the best option and what most Royal-order who have managed to develop S-rank domains do. Don''t think about saving it." "Oh and use it moderately because Prana essence is higher quality than high-grade Prana stones." Everyone nodded and took out the ss tubes they had filled with Prana essence, the so-called ''Magic Sweat''. "It''s fast," Erix raised his eyebrows. "My Arcane Spirit Pond instantly absorbed and infused it and expanded with an even better foundation." "Yep," Lilith smiled. Everyone eagerly began emptying the tubes. Erix and Rin had 10 liters of Prana Essence since they went deeper into the Cosmic Arcane Layer and produced more Prana Essence in their development of the SS-rank Domain. Aria, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin had around 5 liters of Prana Essence during their development of the S-rank Domain. In fact, the top 13 in the Domain Leaderboard had all S-rank Domains except for Erix and Rin who had SS-rank Domains. After a few minutes, everyone finished the 3rd Stage as well and they sessfully expanded their Arcane Spirit Pond to the limit. Each of them had over 100k Prana capacity now and that meant that the maximum output of any of their skill increased drastically. For instance, if Erix used his Erasure Void Rodes at 80k Prana cost previously at full power, he could now use it at whooping 140k Prana cost! A higher capacity of the energy pool increases the potency of skill executions a lot! "Good, now the second and final step is the one that will require some effort," Lilith said before she began exining. "This will test the limit of your Magic Control and Focus. You must control the entirety of your Prana in Arcane Spirit Pond and evenly pressurize it. Your ultimate aim is to condense all of your Prana into a crystal by pure magic control." Lilith narrowed her eyes, "The smaller the crystal, the better." "Why?" Rin curiously asked. "Does it give some benefits once we break through?" "Yep," Lilith nodded with a smile. "You''ll know once you break through. Anyway, after condensing that crystal, you have to bury it in the center of your Arcane Spirit Pond surface and infuse Spirit Force in it until it grows into a tree. This is easy. The hard part is the first one." "Haha, let''s see how hard it is," Erix grinned and closed his eyes. His facial muscles rxed, and he entered deep meditation before focusing the entirety of his consciousness on the big filled-up arcane spirit pond in his Origin Region. The others also followed and began. Lily and Maleira were already trying that, but this step could take days upon days if one didn''t have the right state of mind and control. If one got irritated with failures, it could even lengthen further. Erix was controlling all of his 140k Prana at once, trying to evenly pressure every part from all sides of it simultaneously and condensing it. Naturally, he was bound to fail as the bnce was disrupted after thirty minutes and all of his hard work went to naught. The others also failed before him and resumed. Since this also consumed mental stamina as it required high constant focus and control on Prana, it was exhausting. Lilith watched them and saw asionally frowns on their faces, indicating that they just failed and had to redo. ''Erix, Rin, and Aria should finish first. Lily might be next,'' Lilith internally mused based on her understanding. She nced at Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin, ''They had good skills that tested the limit of their Magic Control, although not as crazy as Rin and Erix, so they should be able to do it in a day as long as they don''t lose their minds over failures.'' Erix and Rin always wanted to use skills that tested their limits and always crazily practiced a lot, so their Magic Control was highest among others. Lilith knew it would still take Erix and Rin half a day to at least seed in condensing the crystal, so she got up and looked around the expanded Blessed Ind. "Hmm, there are many exotic ingredients, veggies, and fruits," Lilith muttered before she got an idea. "I guess I should also try to make a breakthrough in my Mystic Chef path." As such, Lilith went around the Blessed Ind to collect edible ingredients she could use as spices, seasoning, topping, and cooking. There were many powerhouses back on the Blessed Ind, practicing at various spots in meditation. Suddenly, Zoe arrived with a hurried expression on the Ind after failing to contact Erix and others with U-cards since they were in deep focus. Lilith sensed her and swiftly arrived before Zoe before Zoe could disturb others. "Lady Lilith," Zoe was surprised to suddenly see before her and turned to Erix and others. "I tried to call them, but it seems they are in deep meditation." "Yep," Lilith smiled. "So what''s the matter?" "There''s a fight happening between two Battalions," Zoe wryly smiled. "A guy was flirting with another guy''s wife and it escted big. I don''t even know the truth and both sides are telling different stories." "Which Battalions?" Lilith raised her eyebrows. "It''s the 11th and 13th Battalion which are a mix of rank 10th to 20th rank guilds'' members. Since they are under us, Unfettered Kingdom will have to resolve it," Zoe said with a sigh. "Lead me there," Lilith''s eyes shed as she smiled. "We''ll deal with the troublemakers." ¡­ In the city''s entertainment district, many Battalion members were rxing since they had just finishedpleting tasks and gathering resources. In one particr area, two groups of twenty people were facing each other. It was impossible to harm someone or get injured in the Sanctuary Area, but hitting someone and pushing someone would still take effect. Spitting someone too. Cursing too. As such, conflicts were bound to happen. Chapter 382: Breakthrough (3), The Evolution Approximately a thousand kilometers to the northeast of Phoenix city, there was another destroyed city and a Sanctuary Area near it with a poption of roughly one thousand to three thousand people. They basically used this ce as a temporary stop point and base to clear dungeons and farm monsters in the surroundings before returning to Phoenix City. But some people lived here as well. They lived here to avoid something, and that something varied ording to people. After all, there was nock of stupid people. Many have made mistakes and enemies by being assholes, impulsive, and foolhardy. If their enemies found them, it would be over. "Damn it. Should I go or not¡­" This small Sanctuary Area had Erix''s portal leading to Phoenix City as well for fast travel. At the moment in deep night, one man was standing outside of the portal house in which the portal resided. He was contemting whether to go or not because he also had an enemy in the phoenix. A big enemy. "Hey, Lenak. What are you standing there for?" Lenak, previously Kenal, turned around to face two guys in their mid-twenties. "Nothing, I was just thinking about something," Kanel said with an awkward smile. "Anyway, we are going to a new dungeon, right? Let''s go." ''Fuck it. Those two might kill me with a passing thought if they see and recognize me,'' Kanel thought as he looked at his limited special skill: Desperate Dog. ''I''ll have to survive.'' After all, he could only revive one more time after dying since he already died twice before and used up 2 chances. ¡­ Time passed and night soon turned into day as the sun broke up and rose high. Erix and others were still in the same position, trying to condense Arcane Spirit Crystal. Eight hours had passed since they began trying and at the moment, Erix and Rin were infinitely close to achieving the goal. Both of them were in ultra heightened focus as they had already condensed their massive Prana amount into a football-sized crystal. They were steadily shrinking it every minute and progressing. They were in a singr focus zone, aplete nket of everything other than their target. So much so that even if they were beaten, hurt, and thrown around, they wouldn''t break out of this zone if they did not want to. [Simr to when Haganezu Hotaru in Demon yer entered the zone when forging Katana but a notch higher.] They''ve been shrinking it for the past two hours, so it meant that having an ultra focus for more than 2 hours was absolutely necessary after experiencing numerous failures if one wanted toplete this step. In the end, one more hour passed before Erix and Rin shrank their respective Arcane Spirit Crystals to the palm-sized and that was the maximum limit. They even tried further, but it wasn''t shrinking, indicating that they had achieved the best result. Without further ado, both of them brought their Arcane Spirit Crystals to the center of their Arcane Spirit Pond. Its surface was littered with entric patterns of magic based on what they carved when they first manifested the Arcane Spirit Pond. It had grown to ten times its previous size, but the patterns had automatically expanded based on their foundation. The crystal stuck to the center of their Arcane Spirit Pond and was buried inside before the whole pond brightly glowed with a faint white and golden hue. ''Finally¡­'' Erix and Rin opened their eyes and took a deep breath. "Good work," Lilith smiled at them as she was sitting just a few meters away from them on a long rest chair. "Now we only need to infuse spirit force into the crystal to grow Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree," Rin grinned. "How long will it take?" Erix asked. "Not much," Lilith chuckled. "Also, since you have awakened your soul, then use soul energy and spirit force in equal amounts together. It will be better this way." "Look forward to your evolution with this breakthrough," Lilith added with a grin. "We''ll only get up after finishing it," Rin closed her eyes as she didn''t want to lengthen it more. Erix was the same as he also entered meditation. Both of them started infusing spirit and soul energy in equal amounts at the center of their Arcane Spirit Pond where the crystal was situated. The whole pond''s patterns shone as they steadily infused 1000 spirit force and soul energy every second and in just a minute, a mysterious crystal sapling gradually grew. They emptied their reserve of Spirit and Soul energy and spent 20 minutes in meditation to recover both to full before they emptied it again in a minute. The sapling grew a meter tall. 3rd round. The sapling grew into a two-meter-tall young crystal tree with a few branches. The tree faintly glowed with white gold sparks. 4th round. The tree grew to three meters tall with several branches. Its trunk became thicker and more robust with mysterious patterns. 5th round. The tree grew four meters tall and its empty branches sprouted crystalized golden leaves in this round. 6th round. The tree fully matured and they couldn''t infuse spirit or soul energy into it anymore. It grew to be a massive five-meter-long and six-meter-wide tree due to its exotic crystal branches with white-gold sparks and golden patterned leaves. Their entirety of Magic Power was surging the moment theypleted the final step and matured this Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree. Lilith''s eyes shed as she saw their auras changing. She transported both of them away from the rest and took them five kilometers away in a small open grassy in on the Blessed Ind. Erix and Rin opened their eyes but they knew that something big was going to happen. Their empty pond shattered, leaving only the Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree and a brown-golden soil below it in their origin region as their source of Power. The atmosphere around them turned chaotic their Magic Power started increasing, straight from the source of magic in the grand primal cosmos, the Arcane Cosmic Layer. Their spirit power also surged as the tree glowed and absorbed pure spirit power from the source of the grand primal cosmos'' spirituality, the Spiritual Land. As they were progressing into a higher lifeform and evolving, the above two processes were happening, giving them Magic and Spirit Power as a sort of reward from the Grand Primal Cosmos. If they were under Mystic Root''s influence, they would have gotten a reward from Mystic Root instead. But it would''ve been lower than getting it from the Grand Primal Cosmos. Aside from that, they were also changing physically in fundamentals. The Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree''s root beneath the soil glowed and directly affected their physical bodies, triggering their Bloodline and connecting with it. Their every single cell and fiber evolved and broke limits, increasing their potential. Most importantly, their racial source evolved as well ording to their Bloodline, which was one of the main features of entering the Empyrean-order. "It''s happening," Lilith eagerly waited as she watched and sensed the changes in the duo. ''Since I was already in Empyrean-order when Erix evolved my Bloodline after manifesting his bloodline, I didn''t achieveplete racial transformation, but Rin should achieve it.'' Of course, Lilith would have it once she breakthrough to Reverend-order, though that was going to take a bit of time and she nned to do it together with Erix, Rin, and others. It wouldn''t hurt her to take her time since she could power up in other ways meanwhile. Chapter 383: Breakthrough (4/4), Regalons! Erix and Rin felt their physical bodies powering up as they could feel all micro changes in their body driven by their Bloodline source connecting to their Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree. A new type of trait was manifesting, a sort of talent power due to this evolution after the breakthrough. After ten minutes, their breakthrough finally finished with newfound powers and overall power up. Both of them open their eyes, feeling fully refreshed and lucid like never before. All of their exhaustion was gone, and they were surging with power! But in this process, Erix lost his talent, Vigor Force. Since his entire physical body changed fundamentally, the talent rune that he had learned and was deriving the method of converting Stamina into Vigor Force was lost. He would have to learn the true art of Vigor, the expression of physical power in his way, much like the rest of the powerhouses. Aside from that, Erix and Rin looked almost simr to their previous self, but they subtly looked refined and regal in an unrestrained sense. Their robes made of energies with exotic and aesthetic patterns enhanced their looks. "Congrats," Lilith said as she let out augh. "Take a proper look at yourself and get surprised." Erix and Rin were in a strange transcendent state during the process of breakthrough and only subtly felt the surge of power, but not in detail. "Whoah, Erix and I are the same race now?" Rin eximed in surprise and joy. "Haha, we both got evolved Bloodline thanks to him, of course, we''ll be following his race," Lilith grinned. "Although I''ll have to wait to be a Regalon in my next evolution process since my Bloodline evolved after I was already in Empyrean-order." "I see," Erix nodded as he looked at Rin''s status. "Haha, this is great. We are the same race, but since our bloodline variations are different, you got a different talent aside from the racial talent." Rin nodded with a bright smile and squinting eyes as she was happy. [~Rin~] _Race: Regalon _Bloodline: Ourous Regalon Demphire (Mythic-1) _Rank: Empyrean-Order. _Regalon Heart: [100%/100%] _Magic Essence: 488 ¡ª> [ Strength: 7000 (+2400) + 350 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 7000 (+2400) + 800 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 7000 (+2400) ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ (+2400) ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 7000 / Spirit Force: 50,000 / 50,000 ] ¡ª> [ Soul: 5000 / Soul Energy: 50,000 / 50,000 ] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-SS / Magic power: 7000 (+2400) / Prana: 110,000/110,000 (+24,000) ] _Talent: Regalon Drive, Ouros Core. Her Spirit and Magic Power increased by 2000 during the breakthrough because of her foundation and the process of the breakthrough was perfect. As for Strength, Agility, and Health, they increased because of her racial awakening and evolution of lifeform in the breakthrough. Erix also received the same increment to his stats. "What does Nexer Core do?" Erix curiously asked. "It''s rted to blood," Rin said as she showed the detail to Erix and Lilith. [Ouros Core] _Rank: Mythic. _Type: Talent. _Effect: You have an extra organ that creates 100 Ouros Bloodcrystals. When you get injured during battles, your Ouros Bloodcrystals will activate and heal you while giving you a significant boost in physical stats based on the active Ouros Bloodcrystals. (Max 100%-200%boost upon ). _Note: Requires a set amount of high-energy food daily to maintain Ouros Bloodcrystals. "Holy shit, 100% to 200% boost?" Erix was dumbfounded. "This is the peak quality of Mythic-rank talent," Lilith was also surprised before she wryly smiled, "Even my talent gives 150% max boost even though it''s also Mythic rank." "Hehe," Rin grinned. "But you''ll have the same quality power-up as us next time we all breakthrough." "Yep. We''ll also have to upgrade our Bloodline to peak Mythic rank during our journey in the Empyrean-order rank for best development," Lilith nodded. "Our new talents are also quite awesome sound but will have to know the actual effects after trying it," Erix said as he looked at this status. [~Erix~] _Race: Regalon. _Bloodline: Undeath Aurelion Regalon (Mythic-1) _Rank: Empyrean-order _ Regalon Heart: [100%/100%] _Magic Essence: 563 ¡ª> [ Strength: 7000 + 2400 + 1150 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 7000 + 2400 + 150 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 7000 + 2400 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: ¡Þ ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 7000/ Spirit Force: 70,000 / 70,000] ¡ª> [ Soul: 5000 / Soul Energy: 50,000 / 50,000] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-SS / Magic power: 7000 + 2400 / Prana: 110,000/110,000 (+24,000) ] _Talents: Undeath Living, Regalon Drive. Both of them acquired the racial talent¡ªRegalon Drive, after this evolution and it was indeed quite awesome. [Regalon Drive] _Type: Talent. _Rank: Mythic _Effect: You can convert any single living organism by refining it with your blood and forcefully transform it into a Regalon Drive¡ªA unique and new lifeform that only you can create due to the Regalon blood of your race. Lilith was not surprised, but shocked. "Racial talent giving such a power is rare. It''s the same as Dragons making Draconians, but this is on a different scale," Lilith said, her eyes showing intense curiosity. "Let''s try this on some monster and see what is a Regalon Drive." Suddenly, all three of them felt Aria''s aura changing. Lilith quickly said, "Erix, teleport Aria here lest her breakthrough disturb the others." Erix snapped his finger and Aria appeared right before him in her cross-legged sitting position. "I did it!" Aria said, thrilled as she felt the power surge of breakthrough iing. Everyone waited for ten minutes before her aura stabilized. Aria''s figure looked the same, but just more beautiful and cute. Especially since her energy outfit disappeared during the process for a minute, her big melons with erect pink cherries and peachy white skin with a shapely figure became gloriously visible, causing Erix''s pole to stand up. "I became so strong!" Aria eximed in shock as she inspected her newfound powers in detail. "My race also changed, eh?" "You also used all of your Magic Essence," Erixughed as he squeezed Aria from behind. "Of course, you get strong after spending all of that." "It''s tickling," Aria softly giggled with her cheeks flushed red. [~Aria~] _Race: Etheria Elf. _Bloodline: Etheria Antia Soulspirit (Mythic-1) _Rank: Empyrean-order _Etheria Heart: [100%/100%] _Magic Essence: 0 ¡ª> [ Strength: 7000 + 2400 ] ¡ª> [ Agility: 7000 + 2400 ] ¡ª> [ Health: 7000 + 2400 ] ¡ª> [ Stamina: 7000 + 2400 ] ¡ª> [ Spirit: 10,590/ Spirit Force: 105,900 / 105,900] ¡ª> [ Soul: 6500 / Soul Energy: 65,000 / 65,000] ¡ª> [ Magic affinity: Rank-SS / Magic power: 7000 + 2400 / Prana: 110,000/110,000 (+24,000) ] _Talents: Soulspirit Veins, Etheria Form, Lifegiver. Chapter 384: Regalon Drive! (1) After Aria was done, Lily also finished and broke through. Erix teleported her nearby as well. Lily''s breakthrough to the Empyrean-order also gave her the evolution of her race and the blooming of her natural human bloodline. Half an hourter, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin also one by one finished the final step and began their breakthrough process. In the end, only Maleina was left but she also finished with her breakthrough an hourter. *** [Jason: All of them broke through one by one, hot damn!] [Leishun: Did you craft any good weapon, Jason? They are even more useless now if you don''t know.] [Jason: Shut the fuck up, Leishun!] [Yelwon: Koshal, when are you going to break through? ] [Koshal: I''ll begin reluctantly in the morning. I wanted to gather more resources for others, but since they broke through, we shouldn''t lengthen.] [Amir: Since it''s known that developing an S-rank domain can also give Prana essence that can be used in ce of high-grade prana stones, I''m making sure as many members of my guild develop an S-rank domain.] ¡­ On the other hand, Erix and others gathered near the Sakura Mansion as they checked out their new arsnal of powers. Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin manifested their unique Bloodlines as humans. Of course, they manifested Legendary-grade Bloodlines, but they could strive to evolve to Mythic-grade during their journey in Empyrean-order. But Lilith had a different n for Isabe''s and Lily''s Bloodline evolutions. Sameira and Kenshin left after assessing their powers and sparring with Erix, Rin, and others. They wanted to clear some Tower Floors since they received a big power boost. "Darling, what if we use Regalon Drive on one of the Aria''s Animated Spirits?" Rin wondered. "That sounds like an idea," Erix grinned and turned to Aria who merrily smiled and nodded. "Interesting," Lilith chuckled. "You should indeed give it a try." Aria soon conjured one of her strongest Animated Spirit¡ªInforce Dragon. It was a mature dragon 20 meters long with 35 meters of wind span, bearing the power of me, Wind, and Wood. Aria had meticulously designed a few types of dragons with some of their particr aspects enhanced. Inforce Dragon was an Offense-type Animated spirit as Aria had given its structure ways to use wind and wood incent to boost me since both of those elements had aspects that could boost me further. [Inforce Dragon] _Attack: [5/5] _Speed: [5/5] _Defense: [2/5] _Skills: Inferno Burst, Windfury Zoom, Charcoal st, zing Beam, and three more. All of the skills used all three elements with me anchoring them and using the other two elements. "Rin, why don''t you try first?" Erix said while he also called Sangle spiritually, calling it here. "Alright," Rin rubbed her palms and also made cuts before she pointed her palms at the dragon, pouring out her blood actively. Erix, Lily, Aria, and Isabe stood aside and watched as Rin''s blood prated into the Inforce Dragon. *Roar!* The dragon roared as strange ck, red, and dark gold vein patterns started appearing on it. Soon, it was caught in the strange ethereal mes of the same three colors. Rin narrowed her eyes as she focused on the dragon and inspected the change. She was surprised to see that her blood was directly and fundamentally transforming this animated spirit. At the moment, her Regalon Heart was activated in a strange way due to the innate talent working as her Regalon blood refined the Inforce Dragon. The dragon''s wings wrapped around it and it glowed ck, red, and dark gold with entric patterns of energies that wrapped around it, ultimately creating a cocoon. "Is this going to take long?" Erix asked while rubbing his chin. "Nope, I can feel it," Rin said, her eyes glowing as she started feeling a strange connection with the cocoon and whatever that was in the process of creation inside the cocoon. "Five minutes," Rin added. "That''s the rough estimate before we see my Regalon Drive." Five minutes passed by in the blink of an eye while everyone curiously observed the constant changes happening to the cocoon. In the end, the cocoon became a ck hard shell with solid dark gold and red entric patterns after five minutes. "It should finish soon," Rin said and the next second, a crack appeared on the cocoon. As the cracks progressively widened around the cocoon, everyone waited with bated breath as to what woulde out of it. *Crackk* Suddenly, the upper part of the cocoon burst open as a shining five meters long and half a meter width of de emerged! The ck de had sharp and straight, but chaotic red and dark gold patterns as it released a crackling sound. The entire cocoon was soon sted as a strange entity appeared before everyone, causing their eyes to widen in marvel. "What is this?" Aria eximed as she covered her mouth. Her Inforce Dragon was nowhere to be seen! "Looks dangerous," Erix cracked a grin. The others couldn''t help but nod in agreement at his words. It was a five-meter-long sword with half a meter width of the de, but that was just the upper part of the Regalon Drive. The sword was the head and instead of a hilt, it had wide dark gold bony wings spanning ten meters with red, green, and blue patterns. Below the hilt-wings, the sword was connected to a¡­throne. Yes. It was a majestic ck crystal throne with red, blue, and dark gold regal patterns. But this throne had two legs and it walked towards Rin while gradually shrinking before its sword-head bowed forward. "Master." Enjoy exclusive chapters from mvl "Hot damn!" Erix was dumbfounded. Sangle also titled its head, confused and amazed both at this strange creature. Everyone was also startled to see it suddenly speak and they couldn''t see its mouth! "It has interesting structural power," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "And I can''tprehend its internals fully." "It got a seat, so Rin sitting on it will trigger something, right?" Aria wondered. "It should," Isabe muttered with a nod. "It feels powerful." Suddenly, Rin burst outughing, ovee with thrill as she just finished reading the details of this Regalon Drive and what it was! "You guys, look at this," Rin shared the detail with a big grin. [Regalon Drive¡ªDragon de Throne.] Chapter 385: Regalon Drive! (2), Power! [Regalon Drive¡ªDragon de Throne] [_Quality: 86%] [_Stats]: ¡ª> Strength: 11,000 ¡ª> Agility: 10,400 ¡ª> Health: 8,500 ¡ª> Magic: 11,000. ¡ª> Spirit: 10,500. ¡ª> Soul: 10,500 [_Power Inheritance]: ¡ª> Affinities: Chronace, Blood, Death. ¡ª> Concepts: de, Chaos, Speed, Crimson Onyxbolt. [_Regalon Transformation]: ¡ª> Sword and Armor of Regalon Crimson Tempest. "I want to see how strong this is on its own and then when it transforms," Rin said, her eyes glinting with excitement. "Let''s see how it fares against my army," Aria said with an eager smile. She also wanted to see this Regalon Drive''s power. "It''s crazy that it inherit your powers," Lilith said with a wry smile. "This is on the same level as dragon''s draconian transformations of other races, but with a twist because this is more like a personalized weapon for an individual than race and way more powerful because it directly inherits the owner''s power." "We can only keep one Regalon Drive under us, but I could feel it during its creation that its creation depends on our current state of mind, powers, and the target," Rin said before shemanded her Regalon Drive. The Dragon Sword Throne flew up as it pped its exotic wings, shooting up in the sky at once and floating before the 1000 animated spirits consisting of five types of Dragons. Ariamanded her Animated Spirits to do their best and destroy the target before them. All the dragons swiftly flew at breakneck speed and surrounded the Dragon Sword Throne who silently floated before releasing their attacks. "Kill them all," Rin gave her order. Instantly, a temporal storm formed around the Dragon Sword Throne as all iing attacks slowed down significantly. Its exotic wings glowed before it vanished, stretching a sheen of dark silver light that swiftly traveled around at lightning speed, its sword releasing destructive shes. The dragons flew around and tried their best. The defense-type dragons used defense skills around everyone, but the Dragon Sword Throne cut every dragon''s defense mercilessly at lightning speed whenever it passed through, instantly deleting them from existence at the overwhelming power utilizing Rin''s elements and concepts. The top powerhouses on the Blessed Ind were dumbfounded at the sudden battle in the sky. "What the hell is that strange thing?" Leishun asked with his mouth wide agape in shock. "So powerful?" "A sword head and boney hilt wings attached above that badass throne?" James narrowed his eyes which glowed green in envy. "It seems they got a new power after the breakthrough and it''s crazy." "The potency of its aura and the powers it is using¡­" Amir frowned. "Its speed and power are also above us." "It''s like a second Rin," Yelwon nodded, her eyes shing. "Powerful." The Dragon Sword Throne released some makeshift skills of its own, conjuring a spiral storm of dissolution flow, crackling with dark red lightning and pure destruction of des forming within as several hundred dragons instantly died. "Alright, this is too one-sided. The Regalon Drive is like an extension of yourself" Erix said with augh. Rin nodded, thrilled. "I wonder how powerful will it be when I equip it andbine it with me?" "I am too weak, that''s why. I am learning a dangerous concept, so just wait," Aria pouted, her cheeks puffed. "I''ll also create a strong Animated Spirit that can contend with your Regalon Drive, humph. My Bloodline''s new talent can do it." Everyone chuckled. "Of course, you can do it," Rin grinned as she ruffled Aria''s head. "But for now, I need to spar with someone," Rin turned to Lilith as her face cracked a grin. "Alright," Lilith was also filled with excitement as she transformed into herbat form, bing the fearsome Dark Queen as she adorned her dangerously gorgeous ck queen dress with beautiful patterns. Six colorful and entric crystals appeared around her, oozing out different exotic powers she weaved into their formations that allowed her to execute her super skills. "That''s more like it!" Rin cheered as she saw Lilith in herbat form after a long time. Both of them flew up in the sky before stopping a hundred meters. Rin''s Regalon Drive appeared behind her before she sat down on it. "Let''s begin." The Dragon Sword Throne glowed and turned micro energy membrane as It enveloped Rin. A secondter, a burst of spark released from Rin as she appeared covered in a majestic ck battle dress. It was metallic, looking dragon-scaled patterned along with red, gold, and dark green crystalized patterns that glowed. A sword also floated, beating a pitch-ck de with a temporal formation carved on it, glowing with dark gold and red patterns. Rin''s stats increased by 50% t! It was a direct boost. Lilith''s eyes shed as she sensed Rin''s aura explosively increasing as she equipped her Regalon Drive. "I don''t need to hold this sword," Rin grinned as the sword floated, acting and exerting the same physical force on it without touching it. ''So this is how Erix felt when controlling his weapons at full force without touching them, eh?'' "You start," Lilith smiled as she floated with her arms crossed. "Be careful," Rin grinned. "This sword is not a joke." Rin held her Raibor Power Slime katana in her right hand while her empty left hand stretched forward. The Regalon Crimson Tempest sword pointed its de at Lilith, its patterns faintly glowing as Rin infused her Prana, spirit force, and soul energy in it. Lilith was ready, though she didn''t erect her defense beforehand. "Rin, take your time to adjust." Rin nodded. The sword glowed as she controlled its structure and energy flow, channeling her skills execution. "Wonderful," Rin sighed in satisfaction. "Lilith, you''ll have to awaken Regalon Drive to know how it feels to control one." In the next second, the Regalon Crimson Tempest vanished from its post, crossing 100 meters in an instant while drawing a destructive red-gold lightning line across the sky. It pierced through Lilith''s stomach, though she broke down like a mirage and appeared behind Rin with a dry smile. "That was fast, honey. I had to exert everything." *Crackle!* "Right?" Rin chuckled, while Lilith''s eyes shed as she felt the sword right before her. ''She mastered it?!'' Lilith was startled before she felt a clear pain and a burst of energy striking her. The red-gold lightning of dissolution flow also streaked along with the sword''s path behind Lilith, striking her at light speed as such was the nature of lightning and its speed mixed with time. A powerful and jarring st urred as Lilith was shot several hundred meters away before she stabilized and burst outughing. "That was wonderful!" Lilith''s eyes sparkled. She was uninjured because of her swift defense deployed by her super skill, but she was finally caught! "She caught her," Erix muttered. "She did," Aria nodded. Lily wryly smiled, "Well, it finally happened." "So strong¡­" Isabe was dazed and her fists were clenched. ''I want to be that powerful.'' ''Monsters as always,'' Maleina smiled. Up until now, whenever Rin and Erix sparred with Lilith, they actively could never catch Lilith ornd a surprise attack on her. Even though Erix could teleport, he also could never catch Lilith. Whenever they attack, Lilith would nullify their attacks with her own attacks. Ultimately, they could never force out her defense. It was just that difference in their raw stats and techniques. However, Rin finally caught Lilith andnded her attack against Lilith''s defense! Two colorful lights streaked across the sky, ringing loud booms, and jarring space-shredding sounds apanied by shing of exotic powers of Rin''s and Lilith''s skills. This spectacle was visible to everyone in the city and on the ind due to them fighting high in the sky and the phenomena of their sh painting massive pictures. Everyone was painfully reminded of the huge chasm between those limited figures sitting at the top of the Unfettered Kingdom and the rest of all. "They are a goddamn relentless force. Who the fuck can match them?" someone spoke in resignation, and it resonated with many. But some limited few ones only felt the fires within them burning more and more while watching them. ¡­ Enjoy more content from mvl After the Rin and Lilith finished sparring in ten minutes, they descended. The result was obvious. Rin lost. There was still a part difference in power that Rin and Erix both had to fill before catching up to Lilith. "Now then, what should I make my Regalon Drive?" Erix rubbed his hands as his eyes slowly went to Sangle. "I called you beforehand to show you how Regalon Drive is made and its power," Erix faced his beastpanion and smiled. "Do you want to be my Regalon Drive?" Erix understood that the Quality disyed in the status of Regalon Drive was the quality of refinement. Rin''s refinement was not perfect since it was her first time doing it but he observed the whole process and knew how to do it perfectly. Sangle looked at Erix and understood his intention. It brought its beak down and rubbed on Erix''s cheek gently. "That''s my boy," Erix grinned. "Don''t worry. If you want to return to normal, I can do it too." "You can revert it?" Lily asked in surprise. "Yep," Rin nodded. "My Regalon Drive''s refinement was not perfect, so I''ll make another one." "Darling, you begin yours. Let''s see how it goes." Everyone stood aside as Erix began. "You might feel some pain, but I''ll try to reduce it." *Whistle!!* Sangle sharply whistled and proudly looked at Erix with determination as if saying it would bear any pain! "Hahaha, alright! Since you are determined, I''ll make sure that you evolve perfectly into my Regalon Drive!" Erix''s eyes lit up with fire and a big grin upon seeing Sangle like that. Erix cut off the tip of his index finger with a space de made of Space Matter and started pouring out his blood. Chapter 386: Regalon Drive! (3), Nihilrend Voidflame Talonar Erix''s blood prated into Sangle''s body and spread throughout, beginning the refinement of Regalon Drive. Soon, Sangle also turned into a mystical ck cocoon, with exquisite dark gold, red, and green patterns. During the process of turning into the cocoon, it shrank to 3 meters tall and 1 meter diameter in area, adopting an egg shape. "I can''t wait to see whates out of it," Aria said as she looked at the beautiful yet majestic patterned cocoon. ''Regalon Drive¡­''Erix narrowed his eyes. He knew that the transformation depended on him and the target, and he had tried in his way to direct the evolution. *Crack* First crack, second crack, and then the cocoon entirely dispersed into motes revealing a dark purple scaly feathered eagle with a throne on it. It also had a crown on its head and two long dark silver horns with dark gold patterns. Its mouth also had a unique and deadly ck beak, sparkling dark gold eyes, and its talons were sharp dark gold metallic with purple patterns. *Caw!* It screeched sharply, the majestic patterns on its body glowing. Its feathered tail''s end was spread like a hand fan, glowing with sharp dark silver feather des pulsing with Nihilir power through the purple patterns. There was also a hazy dark purple me lit up above its crown. Everyone was amazed at its magnificent appearance and the majestic throne on its back. [Regalon Drive¡ªNihilrend Voidme Talonar] [_Quality: 100%] [_Stats]: ¡ª> Strength: 11,000 ¡ª> Agility: 11,000 ¡ª> Health: 11,000 ¡ª> Magic: 12,000 ¡ª> Spirit: 11,500 ¡ª> Soul: 11,000 [_Power Inheritance]: ¡ª> Affinities: Nihilir, Metal, Life, Death, Space, me. ¡ª> Concepts: Punch, Chaos, Devorex. [_Regalon Transformation]: ¡ª> Mortiferum Sovereign Robe and Vorterend Voidferrum Quill. ''If this really went ording to what I wanted, then I hit the jackpot,'' Erix thought, his eyes shining as he focused on the Regalon Transformations. "Quill? You mean the quill of writers?" Rin raised her eyebrows, surprised. "That''s my weapon and I envisioned it," Erix grinned. "Wait till you see its power and how it works." Explore more stories at mvl "We should also go to the Antis then," Isabe said, eager to test her newfound powers against solid targets. "We can go ahead and fight the big bosses of the Antis." "Fine, then Aria, Lily, Maleina, and I will go to the Cosmic Faction''s hub," Lilith smiled. "In fact, I was contacted for a Field Mission, so this is a good chance to explore the newfound powers." "Yes!" Aria''s eyes brightened. "I never went to a Field Mission before." Erixughed and said, "Then off you go. Field Missions are dangerous, but can help you progress." "I have a lot to explore," Aria grinned. "I''ll be a lot more powerful when we return." "This Field Mission willst for two days," Lilith said as she nced at Erix and Isbe before turning back to Erix. "While we are away,you have a task at hand for Isabe." "Buy Blood Null Realm stone. That will help you explore your bloodline and allow you to find the way," Lilith added. Erix cheekily smiled and pulled Isabe into his embrace from the side, "Don''t worry, leave it to me." Isabe shyly smiled before saying, "I also held off long to clear the 20th Floor. I will finish it now and defeat Nyx." Rin chuckled and nodded. "Yep. You are below the 150k Power level, so tell Zerol to give you his special quest. You have improved so much in all areas, so you can do it." "Mhm," Isabell happily nodded as she looked forward to it. "Then my turn once we return," Lily rubbed her palms as she licked her lips and winked at Erix. "You are the progenitor Regalon, so it''s up to you to figure out how to do it." "Don''t worry," Erix proudly smiled. "I''llplete it with perfection and make sure you two be Regalon." "Umm¡­can I also be one?" Maleina hesitantly asked with her head down. "Only if you are fine with it." "Well, you are our head maid," Rin grinned. "Thank you," Maleina bowed. She knew her ce and frankly, she was satisfied with her life as a part of this group as a maid. "Alright, we''ll be going ahead then," Lilith said with a nod. "See you after two days." ¡­ Lilith, Lily, Aria, and Maleina left. After entering the Labyrinth Tower''s base floor, they went to the Unbound Star cosmic faction''s door and entered inside. On the other hand, Isabe called the Dukes and Barons, notifying everyone to be ready for today''s Antis Expedition. "We''ll go once Kenshin and Sameira return from clearing the Labyrinth Floor. Be, why don''t you go and swiftly clear it as well?" Erix said. Kenshin and Sameira went to clear the 20th Floor for the special reward of Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. "Mhm, then I''ll return shortly," Isabe nodded and flew away towards the Labyrinth Tower. "Since we have nothing to do until Mom and Dad return, show me your Regalon Drive''s power," Rin said in anticipation. *Shrill!* Talonar screeched, bubbling with power and excitement as well since the eagle wanted to try its new power. "Master, let''s fight. I, Talonar, shall defeat everyone." Erix and Rin heard the clear-cut hoarse, but strangely young voice. "Woah, look at you," Rin crossed her arms as she looked at the Talnar. "New name, new look, and new personality, eh?" "Hehehe," Talonarughed joyfully. "I can feel master''s power through me with a powerful connection. I want to fight." "Alright, let''s spar until it''s fine," Erix grinned. "Although I am going to change my Regalon Drive, we can still practice the synergy of powers using Regalon Transformation," Rin nodded as she looked at her Dragon de Throne. "Master, I shall be of use to you until then," Dragon de Throne bowed. Since it was made of a lifeform created by Aria with low potential in terms of development since it was just newly born, its personality was entirely devoted to Rin. "Let''s start," Rin grinned and sat down on the throne. Erix also jumped up and sat down on top of Talonar''s thrones. Both of them were enveloped in lights resembling their powers before they get-up changed. Erix adorned a regal and majestic long ck robe with a fancy shoulder extender and a cloak. The patterns on his robe were not thick, but their artistic cements and design depicted a domineering look on Erix. A dark purple feathered quill also appeared before Erix, iid with metalized dark blue, silver, and vibrant green micro-patterns. They pulsed and glowed along with a wisp of hazy dark purple me with metallic silver sparks on the quill''s end. Chapter 387: Regalon! (4/4), Ultimate Weapon of Erix, Incoming Threat Erix held it, feeling its power and unlimited possibilities as thrill infused in his being. ''Nihilir, Metal, Devorex, and Life. As I am now, my consciousness can readily allow me to instantly replicate everything I''ve made before and magic formations, allowing me to create makeshift skill artifacts with this Quill.'' "I can feel it too," Rin wryly smiled. "You really cooked a crazy thing that can perfectly utilize your powers." "Come on, give me a taste," Rin flew up high, holding her Raibor Power Slime in her right hand and Crimson Tempest Sword in her left hand. Erix also flew up before his arm blurred as he shed it horizontally while holding the Vorterend Voidferrum Quill, leaving an ethereal liquid line from the quill''s point that soon took the shape of a metallic dark gold staff with entric purple patterns. ''Nihilerum Staff,'' Erix''s eyes shone. ''Show me your power.'' However, Erix and Rin suddenly frowned as both of them sensed a powerful aura from far away in the sky shooting right towards them. "Darling¡­" Rin narrowed her eyes. "It''sing for us and directing aura from far away," Erix nodded. "But we are in the Sanctuary Area, so¡­." His lips parted into a wide smile while his eyes shed as he disappeared and exited out of the Sanctuary Area. "I''ll go give a greeting to whoever it is that''s so raring." "Then I''ll be here preparing the execution of my most powerful attack," Rin''s aura burst out. "Ready to aid you anytime." Because the aura that was directed at them felt as strong if not stronger than Lilith. Erix held his Nihilerum Staff, infusing his Prana, Spirit force, and soul energy and using the specialized power of the staff he designed. He had an exotic arsenal of metals thanks to his Devorex Metal concept, each with high synergy and conductivity with his affinities, and utilized his concepts through it. And he had his arsnal of magic formations that he created and could create more based on various ideas, enhancing aspects of his Elements and Concepts to extremes. In short, Vorterend Voidferrum Quill was the ultimate weapon for Erix, who could now create exotic weapons with this Quill as it could utilize his arsenal of exotic metals and powers as long as he held it in his hand! "Go," Erix stretched his hand that held the Nihilerum Staff at the side as it entered Space Limbo and lit up in destructive dark purple me with dark silver and ck sparks, reeking of pure destruction. The aura was out of range, but since the target deliberately directed the aura at Erix and Rin, Erix sent the staff following it. Fifteen thousand kilometers high above, a man with long exquisite wooden orbs and pale blue skin was flying down, wearing a robe that oozed out a powerful aura and a round spectacle covering his eyes, which was an artifact that allowed him to direct his spirit sense in linear direction as he observed Erix and Rin. Read exclusive adventures at mvl ''These two are the strongest on this. Let''s see how they fare.'' But suddenly, the man felt something and swiftly covered his body with a barrier. s, the Nihilerum Staff emerged from the space right before him and struck his barrier. But to his shock reflected clearly in his eyes, the Nihilerum staff broke down on his barrier, dismantling it into pieces before proceeding ahead and prating his body in the next millisecond. ''This¡­'' Spitting out blood. He felt a destructive power coursing through his body and quickly burst out with his full power. ''Death''s corrosive aspect at maximum, the concept power that made a hole in my body¡­.space element''s spatial tears condensed to aid the corrosion of death¡­'' ''The blend of utter destructive aspects ofbust me and life negation death confined and condensed into space restriction designed to explode and progress further into destructive chaos?'' The man analyzed all the powers that Erix designed in his Nihilerum Staff within microseconds before his eyes showed a wry expression. ''I guess I''m fucked.'' *Boom!* Nihilerum Staff exploded and was entirely consumed since it was a one-time item and Erix''s newly made one-time item attack masterpiece. The man was obliterated as a destructive and colorful sphere covered him, which even tore the space of Earth, creating a vacuum before it swiftly mended and everything turned silent. *** "My clone died," Bill burst outughing as he mmed his right hand on the chair''s armrest. "What? So fast?" Rani was dumbfounded. "I mean, it was lowered to Empyrean order and limited power, but it was your clone. What the fuck happened?" ''I guess there is a Super Exotic Element mixed in that, and he geared its aspects towards utter destructive in that staff,'' Bill thought as he recalled the sh before he turned to Rami and grinned. "Well, we can expect one monster there at least. He had a unique life aura and a solid and efficient way of skill arsenal." "Oh yeah, I lost two artifacts. Make me two more," Bill added. Rani''s eyes shed. "So you are saying there''s an Empyrean order who one-shot killed your Empyrean-order clone?" "Correct. I could prevent getting myself one-shot death, but that guy used Space Limbo well enough to hide his attack and I was focused on them," Billughed. "Still, that attack would''ve left my clone at death''s door even if it survived." "Anyone from our Empyrean-order subordinates that can contend him?" Rani asked. "Easily. Karatov and Cheeta can wipe the floor with him and so your top two subordinates as well," Bill chuckled. "Of course, I am just assuming his power based on his one attack that received." "I see," Rani nodded. "Well, it''s all good if he and his force listen to us. Otherwise, we don''t have much time to progress things like before." "Those who don''t listen need to be erased," Bill nodded. "But I''ll try my best to make him my subordinate. It''s rare to see monsters like him on emerging gravel worlds." Chapter 388: Blissful Time, Progress After half an hour, everyone gathered in the group and began the Antis Expedition. The Unfettered Kingdom basically had all top powerhouses as the army of nearly a thousand parted into three groups ording to Power Level and entered Antis Hub. The top group consisted of all powerhouses above 100k Power level, which only numbered 14, not including Erix and Rin. The other two groups were just responsible for handling minor areas of six tribes, dwindling their poption, destroying basic structures, and most importantly¡­ killing the monsters in the exotic underwater seas to get rewards. While the top group of 14 people handled higher-level areas, Erix and Rin went ahead of them in the same areas to clear tougher threats and big bosses as they deemed fit. They left some challenges to others since nothing in Antis was considered tough to them. Since everyone received a 100% boost in overall power during the Expedition, the progress of Antis was rapid. Rin and Erix with such a boost were practically invincible and basically used Expedition as a sort of practice. The bosses had trump cards and extreme niche powers, so Erix and Rin had fun with some challenges. They had destroyed the Merfolk Tribe entirely yesterday, and today, they already destroyed the Tarocto Tribe while there was still half an hour left. As such, Erix and Rin hurried to the Baiandron Tribe''sst area and destroyed it while leaving the leftover areas for other people. Three days left until the Antis''s countdown finishes. If they failed to destroy the three more tribes within the next three days, Antis would flood over the Earth, with more of theming. ¡­ After returning, everyone took an hour of rest at their various fun and rxing ces or activities in the big city, while Erix, Rin, and Isabe returned to their private area on the Blessed Ind. Since the poption and size of the Blessed Ind increased, there were more structures as Erix allowed people to live based on their contributions to the Unfettered Kingdom. Kenshin and Sameira''s mansion was just two kilometers away from Sakura Mansion, but for other people, they were farther away in various areas of exotic biomes. "You two rx and rest while I go and make our lunch." "Thanks, Be-sis. I''m super hungry," Rin grinned. "Same," Erixughed. "You did fight a lot today since your contributions shot up so much," Isabe chuckled. "Wait a bit, I''ll make a sumptuous feast quickly." Isabe flew to the Sakura Mansion while Erix and Riny under the Dreanox Tree to rest and chill. "I can''t wait for the main rewards of Antis. The daily reward are bing useless for us," Rin said as she snorted. "It better give us something good in the final reward." "Aside from general reward that were mentioned, I''m sure we''ll get the best reward as top rankers in contribution," Erix said as he looked at the main reward panel. _Rewards: ¡ª> Resources will bloom all over the Earth as people clear the challenges of Antis. ¡ª> After defeating the King of Antis, the chains will break, and a location known as the World Council will emerge for native people to contend for the ownership of the Earth to ascend to the cosmic scale and proceed towards broadened horizons. ¡ª> Individual rewards based on contribution. ... Isabe cooked food in half an hour and called also Aaron from the training area three kilometers south where kids were learning. Everyone started eating and soon finished. Aaron left right away after telling Isabe, Erix, and Rin about the fun he had and showed how much stronger he became. Afterward, the trio arrived in the big bathroom with a round pool to have a bath and rx. The water reached up to one''s chest once they sat inside and the water was also enchanted by Amu, making it beneficial to their body since it sped up digestion and decreased fatigue faster. Rin walked in first and jumped into the pond before she released a sigh of contentment, "This feels good." Find your next read at mvl Isabe walked to the edge of the pool before walking down and resting. Erix finished lighting up an incense and walked towards the pool. "This one was made by Lilith recently. Let''s try it." "It smells so good," Isabe took a breath from her nose, feeling light-headed and rxed. "It''s from a Tier-6 weed and ingredients," Erix grinned as he arrived at the pool''s edge and put the incense box with two incense sticks nearby. "It''s so good, darling," Rin closed her eyes as she floated on the water. "Alright, I''m taking a nap." Erix walked into the pool and sat inside beside Isabe before stretching his legs forward. "Be, you wanna change your sitting position?" he asked with a cheeky smile as he elbowed Isabe. Isabe''s cheeks slightly turned red, but she stood up with arrived before Erix with her back facing him. She proceeded to sit down, but Erix''s meat rod sprung up and he grabbed his dick, positioning it such that right as Isabe sat down, it entered her pussy, causing her to exim in surprise, but she still sat down properly, pushing it to her pussy''s end. "This is good," Erixughed and pulled Isabe''s back to his chest while his hands started kneading her plump, big breasts and nipples. "The incense is potent too," Isabe muttered with her cheeks flushed, feeling Erix''s hot cock twitching in her pussy and making her feel arousal. She rxed back and enjoyed thefortable massage on her breasts by Erix''s masterful hands. Erix was also rxed and just enjoyed massaging Isabe. The weed incense enhanced their peace andfort with its effect. Rin was already sleeping in peace while floating on the water just several meters away from them. After a few minutes, Erix and Isabe both couldn''t hold back in the intimate position and incense effect. Isabe rubbed her clit while her head turned as she nced at Erix, her eyes were drooped, but looked seductive and asking for it. Erix nted his lips on her hips while his dick in her squeezing pussy throbbed stronger, increasing her arousal. Isabe bent her knees and pulled her legs backward to sit in a W-sitting position. Using her feet, she moved up and then down subtly, causing friction in her pussy as she felt Erix''s dick throbbing more. Erix didn''t hold back anymore and did a simple space discement around Isabe, causing Isabe''s body to rotate as she faced him with his dick still inside her, her juicy and plump breasts with soft and cute erect pink nipples right on his face. Seeing her red and aroused face, Erix kissed her and wrapped his hand at her waist, and started moving his hips regrly while her breasts rubbed on his face and he enjoyed them. The water slightly sshed as his dick mmed her squeezing pussy''s end, sending waves of pleasure to both each second. "Mmhf..." Isabe released a muffled moan and Erix also started using his other hand to knead to fondle her juicy breasts. It wasn''t long before the first outbreak urred. "Aaanhh~ I-I aming¡­" "I...Aaaanhhh~" Isabe''s body trembled and she climaxed, her eyes rolled upward in bliss and pleasure as Erix''s dick rammed into her pussy constantly. Erix also released a groan of pleasure as he released his load, but didn''t stop moving. Their orgasm liquid turned into energy and got absorbed into Isabe''s body. Erix looked at Isabe''s plump jiggling breasts as she was straightened up due to the climax and readily put one of her breasts into his mouth and started sucking while moving his hips. "Aaanhhh~ M-More¡­harder." Erixughed and increased intensity, "You said it, not me." Sucking her breasts wildly and fondling her other one with his hand, Erix increased his hips speed as his raging cock thrust into the contracting tight pussy of Isabe as she received non-stop jolts of pleasure, moaning and high in the spirit due to the weed incense. The sound of water sshing increased along with the asional moans. Erix savored her juicy breasts. They were like the softest water balloons, taking various shapes as he suckered them and squeezed them while his tongue munched around her erect and soft pink nipple. He just couldn''t stop, his focus entirely on sucking her breasts ravenously and ramming his dick into Isabe''s pussy, feeling euphoria. Meanwhile, Isabe surrendered to the pleasure, leaving herself to her role as she received continuous exaltation of pleasure from Erix as she drowned in the sea of bliss. Chapter 389: Isabellas New Concept, Last Visit? After a passionate hour, Isabe floated on the water, her long orange-purple hair spread out. She had dozed off with a peaceful smile, her mind in the realm of bliss. But the sshing of water didn''t stop because Erix and Rin had started their passionate battle on the other hand. ¡­ Another hour passed, and the trio left the bathroom feeling refreshed and energized. "Let''s finish our next tasks," Erix stretched his arms and snapped his finger as the trio disappeared and arrived outside of Labyrint Tower. Entering the Mystic Shop, Erix and Rin bought the Blood Null Realm stone each while Isabe bought Insight Scroll. After buying it, Isabe received a notification. "So we can only buy one Insight Scroll?" But she understood why. This item was an op item after all, and also had a high price. ''Mhm, Mystic Root must also have a limit on what it could give as rewards,'' Isabe wryly smiled. After putting away the Insight Scroll, she looked at the other rewards after refreshing the shop by using 50 Mystic coins just to see what other items level 10 had. ''Blood Null Realm stone is costliest it seems.'' But Isabe didn''t need the Blood Null Realm stone in the first ce since her Bloodline was going to be transformed by Erix soon after exploring and leveling up his bloodline using the Blood Null Realm stone. Isabe left after taking a look, but Erix and Rin also refreshed the shop once but decided to buy something additional as they had bnce. Bnce: 994,433 Mystic coins. Shop Tier: 10 (Max) 1. 100x high-grade Prana stone: 50,000 Mystic coins. 2. Insight Scroll: 1,500,000 Mystic coins. 3. High-grade Water Attribute-Concept Crystal: Abyss Blue Water: 1,000,000. 4. Ares: g of War-Concept Skill learning chance x 1: 1,200,000. 5. Nebulus Dune Attribute scroll: 500,000 Mystic coins. Erix refreshed one more time but didn''t find anything worth buying. ''Better just save until I get 1,500,000 and buy an Insight Scroll.'' Rin also came to the same decision as she didn''t feel it was worth buying anything other than Insight Scroll. ¡­ Under the Dreanox Tree¡­ "I''ll use Insight Scroll after Antis because once I use it, I''ll be immovable for several days," Isabe said. She added with a determined and resolved expression, "For now, I feel like I am very close to awakening my 2nd concept. The picture is clear in my head, so I just need to focus and give it my all." "Awesome, haha. I can''t wait to see your new concept," Rin said with a grin. "Mhmm, You called it Harmony, so let''s see what effect it brings," Erix nodded with a smile and took out his Blood Null Realm stone. "We also don''t know how long it will take once we use Blood Null Realm stone, so only I''ll use it first." "Alright," Rin nodded. "Then I''ll go and clear a Tower Floor." ¡­ Erix and Isabe sat under the Dreanox Tree and entered meditation. Isabe was empty-handed and full of focus as she was determined to awaken her second concept as she felt she was very close to it. On the other hand, Erix held his Blood Null Realm stone and activated it by infusing a bit of his Blood Essence. It activated and vanished, but Erix knew where it went. In the next moment, Erix focused his consciousness on his Bloodline region, arriving in a ck space that contained a pulsing round orb with life and death powers intricately whirling together. All of his Bloodline powers were in the orb. The Blood Null Realm stone also appeared beside his Bloodline''s source orb and made a connection to it. ''Let''s start.'' Without further ado, Erix began. He infused his consciousness into the Blood Null Realm stone, which acted as a medium to help Erix explore his Bloodline and upgrade it, based on his own powers. Erix wanted his Bloodline to have more attributes, and he deemed Nihilir best for the next step, focusing on upgrading his Bloodline by adding Nihilir powers. The Blood Null Realm stone started filling up with Nihilir Essence. Erix didn''t know what powers and upgrades his Bloodline would have. All he could do was to infuse Nihilir Essence and as much as his understanding of Nihilir into Blood Null Realm stone to begin the upgrade. While Erix was doing his work, the Blood Null Realm stone was already affecting his Bloodline''s source orb, refining and upgrading his Bloodline based on his actions on the Blood Null realm stone. ¡­ Five hourster, Isabe''s aura turned mysterious, and a strange force manifested around her as she opened her eyes in pleasant surprise. "T-This¡­." An overjoyed expression appeared on her face and the effect of her concept instantly affected the surroundings, causing the Dreanox Tree to gently move. Not just it, but the other nts, flowers, trees, and even the running river changed demeanor, and nature''s sweet sound echoed from them as if everything was harmonized. ''I did it!'' Isabe clenched her fist, her face glowing up with a big smile. [Isabe] _Total Power level?¡ª> 121,559. _Evaluation: -Physical: 7000 points. -Magic: 7000 points. -Spirit: 7000 points. -Soul: 7000 points. -Bloodline: ¡ª> Unique-type Legendary-Grade: 4,559 points. -Affinities: ¡ª> Fire¡ª5th realm: 5000 points. ¡ª> Water¡ª5th realm: 5,000 points. ¡ª> Earth¡ª5th realm: 5,000 points. ¡ª> Wind¡ª5th realm: 5000 points. ¡ª> Magma¡ª4th realm: 8,000 points. ( Fire x Earth ) ¡ª> Crystal/ss¡ª5th Realm: 10,000 points. ( Earth x Fire ) ¡ª> Ice ¡ª 4th realm: 8000 points. ( Water x wind ) ¡ª> Fog ¡ª 4th realm: 8000 points. ( wind x water ) ¡ª> Lucid zephyr ¡ª 3rd realm: 12,000 points. (Exotic Element: Crystal x Magma x Wind.) -Concepts: ¡ª> Yearning ¡ª 2nd realm ¡ª Intimate Call: 20,000. ¡ª> Harmony ¡ª 1st realm: 10,000. "If I use Harmony in the way I visualize, I can increase the potency of my all skills," Isabe muttered, her eyes shining and thrilled. "I have to design skills that I got ideas about and do synchronized harmony." Your next read awaits at §Þ?? Suddenly, a voice entered her ears. ''Of course, you did it. Haha. Congrattions on your second Abstract-type concept.'' A faint mirage of a captivating woman appeared before Isabe, with long ck hair and wearing a in but gorgeous ck robe that didn''t hide her curves. "Tenerbia," Isabe was surprised. "It''s Tenebria," Tenebria dryly smiled. "S-slip of the tongue," Isabe''s cheeks turned red, but sheposed herself and whispered, "Erix is in meditation. Let''s not disturb him." "Don''t worry," Tenebria smiled and waved her hand, creating a barrier around her. "Now good?" "Don''t worry," Tenebria smiled. "He won''t be disturbed with just us talking." "Mhm," Isabe nodded and smiled. "Long time no see. What brought you here? And what do you mean by Abstract-type concept?" "Your concept type. Like Erix and Rin have action-type concepts Punch and de, and also an Abstract-type concept Chaos," Tenebria chuckled. "Well, I am interested in how you''ll develop your Harmony concept because it has many possibilities in offensive and supportive areas, but it''s up to your own idea and development of it." "As for why I am here," Tenebria waved her hand and took out a medallion carved with the shape of a five-pointed star, with a strange symbol in the middle. Isabe didn''t know the symbol, but when she saw it, she automatically knew that it meant "Unfettered" because it radiated that intent. "This medallion can open a portal that leads to Bamboo Lantern Sanctum if you infuse Prana. I will be there until my Ascension and won''t be able to make contact with you all like now." Tenebria''s expression turned somber, "This is not going to have a happy ending because the onesing here already have their ns and know how to aplish them by any means." Isabe frowned and asked in concern, "You know about them? What should we do?" "That is up to you. You will have several options, and I am also giving you all an option with this," Tenebria sent the Medallion towards Isabe. "Bamboo Lantern Sanctum is a cosmic dimensional ne of a higher realm. You can visit it anytime because that ce will soon have something that will also benefit you if you meet requirements," Tenebria smiled and continued. "Aside from that, you can infuse spirit force in the Medallion and get the next level of Way of Unfettered. Since you all reached Empyrean-order, I can give it to you." "Why do you help us like this?" Isabe curiously asked. Tenebria chuckled, "I also have a selfish request, but I can''t present it to you. Just take it as I am betting on you all to meet certain requirements in a certain time frame. If you fail, I won''t invite you for that, which I can''t disclose, so you just take it as the generosity of my whims." "But if you pass, then I will invite you all, so we can benefit together." Isabe was surprised but knew that Tenebria finished what she wanted to say. She smiled wryly and said, "Understood, but if you say this to Erix and Rin, they''ll just make sure to ovee the challenges." Tenebria chuckled and said, "I know. But first, you all have to get out of the trouble that''sing here in your way. I''ll be going now, and we will only meet in the near future if you use the Medallion. Otherwise, I don''t know. It may take a long time or forever, haha." Isabe smiled and nodded., "Thank you for everything." She chuckled and added, "And don''t worry. We will meet you in the future or at least you will hear about Erix and Rin''s names far and wide I believe, so you cane to us, haha." "Why not yours too?" "Me?" Isabe shook her head and blissfully smiled. "I am just content and happy being with them in this group, and for that, I''ll do anything." "You remind me of my past self a bit," Tenebra wryly smiled. "Alright, I shall leave now. Good luck and all the best in your endeavors." "You too." Chapter 390: Harmonys Power, Bloodline Upgrade Rin returned half an hour after Tenebria left. She arrived on the Blessed Ind and was surprised to see Isabe practicing with elemental instruments. "What are you trying, Be-sis?" Rin curiously asked. "Is it rted to the Harmony concept?" Isabe had practically created a small orchestra with twelve instruments. Three violins, three cellos, two trumpets, and two drums. "Yep," Isabe excitedly smiled. "I awakened Harmony Concept and I am creating an offensive skill that utilizes it." [Harmony¡ªConcept] _Realm: Alpha. _Effect: If you can create harmony with any medium(s), the potency of the effect you produce through those mediums is boosted by 50%. Rin read the concept''s effect, and her eyes shone as she immediately realized the potential of this concept. "Oh yeah, Tenebria visited here," Isabe said and took out the medallion. She proceeded to tell everything she heard from Tenebria and informed Rin. "I see. Well, we can think about thatter," Rin shrugged. "For now, we''ll focus on other things." Isabe nodded and handed the medallion to Rin, "Lastly, this medallion also has the next level of Way of Unefttered. We can acquire its scroll in our origin region after infusing spirit force in it, so we can learn and progress in 3rd level from it. I already got it." "That''s awesome," Rin grinned and took the medallion before infusing spirit force. An Ethereal scroll appeared that showed the method of the 3rd level of Way of Unfettered spiritual art: Steller Spirit Well. Afterward, Rin looked at the instruments and eagerly said, "Can you show me Harmony''s effect? I am curious." "Yep, I just finished setting up the skill. This is basic but effective," Isabe grinned. "Let''s go up." She flew up along with her instruments. All instruments were made with Lucid zephyr element, Isabe''s Exotic Element. They looked beautifully crystalized with aesthetic flowing wind patterns and zing red-orange symbols, both pulsing with magic. After both Isabe and Rin flew high up, Isabe began using the instrument at once. The drums sted, violins and cellos rang sharply, and the trumpets''s big bell released a shockwave. All of that happened at once, as they sounded much like an orchestra with Isabe controlling the magic formations in the instruments. Find more chapters on §Þ?? However, the atmosphere shook and the instruments started glowing. Isabe''s expression was focused, some sweat even appearing on her forehead and face as she executed this move. After five seconds, she adjusted the instruments enough as they harmonized and beautifully rang. ''Now¡­'' Isabe''s eyes glinted as she executed the attack. At once, the harmonious sounds transformed as Isabe released the attacks through instruments. The cellos and violins released crystalized zephyr des with higher wind and heat aspects, the drums released shockwaves of micro-crystalized zing sparks with condensed power that exploded powerfully and the trumpet''s big mouth released sted with a straight vortex of Lucid zephyrir element of pure destruction with crystalized wind shards whirling in them that contained explosive powers condensed with them. Those attacks had harmony between them, which increased all of their attack power by 50%! Rin was surprised as she saw the destruction unleashed by the instruments amidst the sound of the orchestra! "This is awesome!" Rin grinned. "Let''s create more of your skills that can utilize Harmony. They can be so powerful!" "Mhmm," Isabe nodded and waved her hand, dispering all instruments except for violins and cellos. She created two more violins and two more cellos additionally. "If I y like this, they also receive Harmony''s boost as long as I manage to harmonize them," Isabe controlled the Cellos and Violins as they started ying and released destructive des of Lucid zephyr element. "This element has powerful defensive and offensive capabilities," Rin nodded. "Since you can condense a great deal of power in the crystals the structure of this element can go two extreme ways of defense and offense." "Yes," Isabe smiled. "One of its aspects is speed-rted too because Wind, Crystal, and Magma have transformed into each other, so the wind''s flowing can bebusted and boosted and I can further condense them in crystal to release its burst." "Yeah, you created wings based on that," Rin nodded as she remembered the wings Isabe showed in Antis Expeditionst time. "Yep. That same aspect ratio can be used as a support to boost my attack," Isabe smiled. "Alright, let''s cook some skills for harmony," Rin rubbed her hands with anticipation. ¡­ Meanwhile, Erix finally finished his Bloodline upgrade and exploration thanks to Blood Null Realm stone! In his Bloodline region, his Bloodline orb had a string released from it and that string created another node to it, lightning up like a wisp with dark hazy purple me with silver sparks! His exploded outward while Rin and Lilith both felt a thump in their heart and their blood! Since both of them were connected to Erix via Bloodline, they clearly felt Erix''s Bloodline changes! Lilith was fighting giant titans on some due to the Field Mission, but she still felt it despite the distance. Meanwhile, Rin was practicing with Isabe for two hours at a fiery biome area on the Blessed Ind when she sensed it. Both of them also sensed Erix''s aura and returned to the Dreanox Tree. The rest of the people who were training on the Blessed Ind also felt the overwhelming Bloodline aura of Erix that permeated everywhere. "Let''s fucking go," Erix''s eyes brightened as he felt the newfound power within him. [Undeath Aurelion Regalon Bloodline] ¡ª> Unique-type Mythic-grade Bloodline. _Level: 2 [ Reach its 3rd level by progressing your Bloodline''s realm.] _Perks: +2000 all stats + 30% of fundamental stats. _Blood Essence: [ 1456 ] _Skills: ¡ª> Undeath Aurelion Crown-Lvl 2: Increase stats by 150% of fundamental stats and grant you Paradox Spectrum Heart ->Paradox Spectrum Heart: increase your death power and life power at an increasing rate. -> Cost: 1 Blood Essence per minute. ¡ª> Paradoxical Pulse: Summon an eclipse dome in arge area where allies marked by the user receive a surge in vitality while also harnessing the paradox of creation and annihtion to unleash devastating damage over a wide area to enemies in an instant. Effect: Deals damage equivalent to 300% of Magic and Physical stat + boost by Spirit and Soul to enemies within the area of effect in a single instant. Allies marked within the area receive a buff that increases physical recovery of all types by 50% for 30 seconds. -> Cost: 10 - 50 Blood Essence. _Note: Explore and progress in your Bloodline''s realm to manifest new skills based on yourprehensive potential and experience. Chapter 391: 30th Floor, Bista the Star Smoke "How''s the boost after the upgrade?" Rin asked as soon as she and Isabe arrived at the Dreanox Tree. "Great!" Erix said with augh. "Extra 1000 stat points on top of 10% t increase." *Whistt* Talonar released a cry while sleeping on the Dreanox Tree''s branch in a smaller size. "Master, I got powerful too." "So Regalon Drives automatically grows along with us? That''s great," Rin grinned and took out her Blood Null Realm stone. "Alright, I''ll also begin now." "Then I''ll go challenge and clear the floors. How many did youplete this time?" Erix curiously asked. "Finished till 35th Floor," Rin showed a victory gesture with her hand while grinning. "That was tough, but a good reward." "What is it?" "You''ll know when you go there," Rin chuckled, keeping it a secret. Erix and Isabe wryly smiled. "I also need toplete floors now that I also created skills with Rin to utilize my new Concept," Isabe said with anticipation. "Oh, you did it? Haha, great. Show me some skills and then we''ll go to the Tower." "Mhmm," Isabe nodded with a merry smile. "It will be evening soon, so let''s finish everything and have dinner." Rin chuckled and said, "Antis Invasion won''t be of much threat now that we destroyed three tribes." "Yep." ¡­ Isabe and Erix had a sparring for twenty minutes, which also allowed Isabe to further refine her skills. "Let me upgrade your weapon and armor," Erix said as he looked at Isabe''sbat outfit. "I can make them way better now since my Devorex Metal finished production of a Metal that can be a medium for your Lucid zephyr, haha." "It''s done?" Isabe''s eyes shone. "Yes! It will increase my overall power a lot, hehe." "Yep. You know I made a big breakthrough in my Magsmith Forging, so my speed and expertise increased drastically," Erix grinned. Isabe took off her armor set before giving it and her staff to Erix. He took thirty minutes to evolve and refine her armor set, which was a longbat dress-robe and it looked even more beautiful now with the new Tier-6.5 Metal Lucid zephyr Ore. Herbat dress looked like a crystalized embroidery robe with light green and orange patterns, looking amazingly beautiful on her with her long orange-purple wavy hair. After finishing it, both of them went to the Labyrinth Tower. Arriving at the Tower''s base, both of them first arrived on the 21st Floor where Isabe was going to continue. "Finish this fast," Erix fondly smiled and pulled Isabe towards him before wrapping his hands at her waist. "We are going to have a long night after this because I am going to turn you into a Regalon." Isabe''s smile blossomed and her cheeks turned pink as she nodded. Erix gave a kiss to her and then disappeared, moving to the 29th Floor. Experience tales with §Þ?? Isabe took a deep breath and turned serious, her eyes filled with resolve as she looked at the floor challenge portal. [21st Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Army of a thousand Red Lizardians. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 180,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: 1 x High-grade Elemental crystal (Advanced Elements only) ''Advanced elemental crystals,'' Isabe grinned. ''With the new weapon and armor, this should be very easy.'' She had gotten Advanced elemental crystals from Orbs of Lost Ancients asionally and managed to make her Advanced elements reach high, but the 21st to 29th floor gave them as well and it would increase her power a lot once she used them and made more progress. Without further ado, she challenged the floor and vanished. After the 21st Floor, each Floor''s Power Level requirement increased by 5000, but it wasn''t necessary to reach the level required to finish it. People could use a weapon and an armor set for boost and higher power, though Potions and consumables were not allowed. Meanwhile, Erix looked at the 29th Floor''s challenge, which had a 220,000 Power Level requirement and vanished as well. Previously before they broke through to Empyrean-order, both Erix and Rin failed a chance in this floor''s challenge, but it was no longer difficult. Erix wiped the floor with 1000 Hybrid Trolls without breaking a sweat andpleted the challenge, acquiring a high-grade Advanced elemental crystal. "Let''s see what this floor got for us," Erix eagerly teleported to the 30th Floor, which was a boss floor and a special one like the 20th Floor where people were allowed to Skip it due to abnormal difficulty. ''The reward should be exceptional then,'' Erix read the status, but seeing the reward caused him to raise his eyebrows. [30th Floor.] [Challenge]: Defeat Bista the Star Smoke. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 225,000 ¡ª 250,000 [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: nk te of Empyrean Visage. ''This is confusing. It seems that I''ll only know what it is after getting it.'' Without wasting more time, Erix challenged the floor and vanished. In the next second, he found himself amidst a strange environment with stars and glowing celestial bodies at a far away distance from him. A strange pressure bore onto him and the air was non-existence. Erix heard a monotone voice in his head a secondter. [This is the same realm as the general outer space of the vast cosmos. Adjust yourself ordingly and prepare. You have 10 seconds.] ''Interesting.'' Erix felt strange in the space, but he could also feel a mysterious energy permeating all around him. It was trying to prate him and interfering with his normal flying, but he fixed it by creating a veil of Prana around his body. ''No wonder Lilith said that Empyrean-order can''t travel through space,'' Erix wryly smiled. ''The pressure and this strange energy hardened the more we moved and required constant consumption of Prana. In real outer space, there''s probably more interference from other objects, so it''s not practiced to travel in space without a spaceship.'' One had to be a Reverend-order to efficiently travel in space. Moreover, distances were too fast in space and the Empyrean-order still was not powerful enough to traverse long distances, along with less safety. ''I''ll have to make this efficient,'' Erix focused and refined the veil of Prana, making it such that the consumption perfectly matched his natural recovery of Prana. ''Good,'' Erix nodded to himself as he finished seven seconds and observed around. ''If I had Space element at 5th realm, I could''ve done better.'' Ten seconds passed and Erix felt a mysterious aura manifesting ten kilometers away from him. It was a giant gaseous smoke sphere with glistering red, blue, and golden sparks. ''Lengthening fight here is not good. I guess I''ll finish this faster using Blood Essence,'' Erix grinned. ''Bista the Star Smoke, eh? Come on. Show me what you got.'' Chapter 392: Well of Doom, Zerols Plea Erix looked at the iing starry smoke and used his Domain without wasting a second, targeting the presence he sensed inside the giant harbinger of starry smoke. [Lands of Lively Doom] _Domain¡ªSS rank. _Arcane Layer Buff: +120% increase in Magic power and Magic control upon domain activation. _Spiritual Buff: Spirit Power +100%. _Elemental Boosts: ¡ª> me: 80%. ¡ª> Death: 80%. ¡ª> Space: 80%. ¡ª> Life: 80%. ¡ª> Metal: 80%. ¡ª> Nihilir: 80%. _Concept Boosts: ¡ª> Punch: 80%. ¡ª> Chaos: 80%. ¡ª> Devorex: 80%. _Domain Abilities: ¡ª Well of Doom. Bista the Star Smoke also used his domain the moment Erix targeted him. In the nk space, two giant domes shed against each other. One was a vast in of ck grass with golden tips, floating inds, and chaotic whirls of dark purple, portraying a world of disaster yet lively abundance with each ind having exotic metals growing, making this chaotic world colorful and shiny. The whirls were destructive and potent, containing the ultimate powers of his chaos concept while the stars high above were colorful and vtile, radiating with intense energy. Erix controlled the phenomena of his domain, increasing his power and wielding his own exotically shaped powers in his domain. shing against him was a misty domain with tendrils of ck and silver glowing like countless stars everywhere, hiding the presence of Bista such that Erix couldn''t find him. ''Interesting, but¡­Your domain feels weaker,'' Erix grinned and waved his hand, conjuring a giant chaotic vortex that was five hundred meters in diameter. Inside the vortex was an entric array of formations that utilized all of his elements and concepts. The shape of fists flowed chaotically within ayered fabric of space in the vortex, the tens of thousands of punches crashed against each other and formed into new ones. Each one with an exotic metal medium that also chaotically evolved with his Chaos concept when they shed and turned into new, more powerful, and chaotic versions! This was Erix''s highest mastery of attack that he could only execute in his Domain. Well of Doom! It was so powerful that Bista the Star Smoke''s domain was breaking down as the Well of Doom hurled forward vertically as if a circr maw that devoured and destroyed everything. The power of Nihilir was most abundant in each of the punch projectiles inside as they shed and chaotically evolved before striking anything foreign that entered inside. Bista the Star Smoke released his attack as well. It was a single ck arrow that was a hundred meters long,with dark silver and white sparks on it. That arrow entered into the Well of Doom, but it was dismantled and annihted in an instant in the vortex, its energy being used by Erix''s Chaos concept''s workings! Two more arrows arrived while the Well of Doom already won the bout of the domain, shrinking Bista''s domain by half. The additional arrows couldn''t do anything to the Well of Doom as it continued. ''Bye-bye,'' Erix cracked a grin and snapped his finger, detonating his Well of Doom as he applied Chaos concept''s power to it and caused all energy inside to be vtile. *BOOOOM!* The explosion covered tens of kilometers of radius, including Erix within it as he felt the chaotic waves of energies that resulted from his own elements'' chaotic evolution in the explosion. After all, he had used 100,000 Prana¡ª60,000 spirit force¡ª60,000 soul energy in the execution of Well of Doom! Bista the Star Smoke¡­.was totally annihted right after the explosion! [Congrattions. You have sessfully defeated Bista the Star Smoke andpleted the 30th Floor.] Erix vanished from outer space and arrived back on the floor hall. Right as he arrived, Erix saw his reward manifesting before him. [Congrattions. You have acquired nk te of Empyrean Visage.] A brownish creamy matter materialized with vein-like patterns on it. It soon turned into a head-shaped thing, but no face on it. [nk te of Empyrean Visage] _Special Item. _Requirement: Empyrean-order. _Effect: Pouring soul energy and Prana in the visage will construct a clone that will share 50% of your overall powers, with you being able to share consciousness in both bodies. ¡ª> Vital Transfer: You can choose to direct the damage you receive to this clone. The clone has a lifespan of 10 years, but its vitality structure is the same as yours. ''Interesting. If I can share consciousness, then I can give it trivial tasks after putting a wisp of my consciousness in it,'' Erix raised his eyebrows in surprise at this reward. It was very useful! Erix started pouring soul energy and Prana into it without further ado. He only had to add 50,000 soul energy and 50,000 Prana before feeling a solid connection with the visage as it started to transform. The visage was made of an exotic item of high grade procured by Mystic Root and Erix could feel that it was receiving power from somewhere else since he was connected to it. He also felt a strange scanning on himself. Five minutester, apletely naked Erix stood beside the real Erix, both looking strikingly the same with a shredded and lean muscled physical body and lively red eyes with ck patterns in pupils. There were two bodies, but only one Erix. Since his mind, consciousness, and such were of an evolved lifeform with both his soul and spirit stat having 8k, simultaneously living two lives was not difficult. Erix wore energy clothes on his other body and he moved both of them to the 31st Floor afterward. With two of them, it would be way easier to defeat the next floors! ''With this, Rin should have reached higher than the 35th floor or she simply stopped?'' Erix remembered that Rin didn''t say she failed at the 36th Floor, but only said that she finished the 35th floor. Rin indeed finished 35th and then stopped because she went around to check the things and also a new type of training for her soul, which took her several hours before she returned to the Blessed Ind. ¡­. Erix looked at the 31st Floor''s challenge and looked at the reward, but it confused him. [31st Floor.] [Challenge]: Kill 500 Necrotic Swamp Wyverns. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 230,000. Find adventures on §Þ?? [Chances]: 2 [Reward]: ¡ª ''What''s going on?'' "Zerol, what''s up with this? Why I can''t see the rewards." Zerol the Genie appeared before Erix and promptly answered with a smile, "You broke out of Mystic Root''s influence and this reward was only supposed to go to those who are still under it, so it''s canceled for you." "But don''t worry. It''s not like you will not get any rewards," Zerol added with a chuckle. "You should know that you also cannot level up anymore, thus not gaining any stat points to improve your stats. From now on, you will have to train your physical body in an orthodox way, refining it with exotic phenomena and Body Arts." "Yeah I know," Erix grinned. "So what''s the reward of this floor?" "The reward is random, but it will be one of the five categories. Elemental - Spiritual - Soul - Physical - Conceptual. It could be anything thates under these five broad categories, but it will be a consumable item." "Not consumable like a healing potion, but consumable like Elemental crystal, some high Tier spiritual ingredient, and such." "I see," Erix raised his eyebrows while nodding. "Alright, I''ll begin then. Thanks for the information." "Wait," Zerol quickly said. "I gave Isabe an additional quest like you two before she cleared 20th Floor. And I can also specify a reward for the floors for you all." "Oh?" Erix narrowed his eyes. "That''s interesting, but I doubt you want to do this for free." Zerol sighed and nodded, "Of course. As you know a big force ising here and that''s why Mystic Root adjusted the development of this. Because of this, there''s a chance that I can gain freedom." "ording to my contract, I still have to stay under Mystic Root for around a hundred years," Zerol wryly smiled. "I don''t want to remain bound for a hundred years more. If I manage to escape, then Mystic Root won''t trap me again because that''s how it works." "How can you get freedom forcefully then?" Erix curiously asked. "Even if your gets out of Mystic Root''s influence after bing a cosmic from gravel, I''ll just get transferred to another ce, but¡­If someone destroys the bindings while I am here, then I can be free," Zerol said with glinting eyes. "Of course, it''s not easy to do, but the force that''sing here has enough power to do it." "What bindings? You mean Labyrinth Towers?" Erix was speechless. "Exactly," Zerol nodded. "You can''t destroy it, I know. But Reverend-order powerhouses can destroy them. Even still, it will take them a considerable size of formations and energy to do it and I don''t think they would do this without any benefits in return." "I am also useless to them," Zerol weakly smiled. "So what do you want me to do?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "Make a deal with them. I am not useless, but you will be immensely useful to them." Erixughed out loud while shaking his head. "We can talk about thister when theye here. No use discussing this now. As for specifying rewards, you can do that if you want to," Erix grinned. "I am going to the next floor now." "I will do it," Zerol said with a firm nod. "I also specified rewards for Rin because I''ve learned enough about you two. I''ll help you first, so please consider helping me." "Alright. I like that attitude," Erix smiled and nodded. "We''ll definitely consider this, but everything is based on the guests that areing here." "I know," Zerol nodded. "You can go ahead. I''ll give you the best reward possible, the same as people under Mystic Root''s influence receive." "Thanks." With that, Erix challenged the floor and disappeared. Erix and others broke out of Mystic Root''s influence so they wouldn''t receive rewards like others and it was randomized, but with Zerol''s help, they would still receive the best floor rewards like others under Mystic Root! Chapter 393: Floor Clearing Erix cleared the 31st Floor without breaking a sweat, finishing it within merely five minutes. [Congrattions. You have acquired an Insight Trial Tablet.] Erix saw a white square tablet manifesting before him. [Insight Trial Tablet] _Type: Special. _Grade: 1 _Effect: Infuse any element or concept you want to gain insight on in the tablet to initiate a trial of that element /concept. The trial will be designed to allow you to get more insight into the element/concept you infused in the tablet, with progress depending on your capabilities. _Note: You canbine neutral Insight Trial Tablets to increase their grade and quality of trial. ''Interesting,'' Erix''s eyes glinted. ''This reward is good.'' Suddenly, Zerol appeared and said, "This is the best series reward of 30s floors. You can use them individually, but I suggest that you save them and use them bybining at least two or three Insight Trial Tablets. Doing this will make you progress faster than using the tablets individually." "Cool," Erixughed and nodded. "Alright, I shall do that." "You will get seven more Tablets, so a total of eight. You canbine and requantify them for higher effect as you see fit." "Got it." Erix moved to the 32nd Floor. [32nd Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Colony of Arbourer Spiders. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 235,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: Insight Trial Tablet. Erix also cleared the 32nd Floor without any hups. The clone just made his life easier because it wielded all of his powers, allowing him to use all of his skills and reserve of Prana, Spirit, and Soul¡­.however, at 50% of the originals. But even if the clone only had 50% of the stats as Erix, it was still powerful due to Erix''s arsnal of powers! ¡­ Erix continued and reached the 35th Floor after half an hour, which had a different reward. [35th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the Wyvern King Zan. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 250,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: Jackpot Slots Ticket x 1. "What''s this reward?" Erix asked, surprised. Zerol arrived and chuckled, "This is a luck-based reward. You can use the ticket to summon a slot machine and earn a reward based on your luck." "Interesting. I am not much of a fan of this, but what can I do?" Erix shrugged and challenged the floor. Erix arrived in a huge forest with thousands of meters tall trees and even bigger mountains further away from the forest. In the sky, Erix sensed a powerful presence closing in from the direction of the mountain range. He soon saw a hundred-meter-long red-scaled Wyvern with a giant wide wingspan even longer than its body. The me-shaped patterns on its body and scales shone before it roared and immediately rained thousands of condensed red-orange beads in the area where Erix was standing. *Boom¡­ Boom¡­ Boom¡­ Boom¡­ * The intense chain of explosions ranges, rattling the space itself and actually causing it to distort such that Erix couldn''t teleport. ''Cool. A powerful and destructive enough power can indeed make the space distort and unstable,'' Erix''s eyes glinted as he was surrounded by a protective barrier of Nihilir that destroyed the me power of the explosions. But he only stayed for a second before flying up at his fastest, using Space matter to create a clean field around him at the cost of consumption of Prana since it endured the explosion of power. In the next second, the Wvyern felt Erix''s movement and streaked like a me towards him like a meteor. Erix reacted swiftly, conjuring Erasure Void Rods around him and executing Dimensional Chaos Punch by throwing his fist forward. He also used his clone to execute the same set of moves. [Dimensional Chaos Punch] _Attributes: Metal, Nihilir, Death, Chaos, Punch, Devorex Metal. _Effect: A punch that encloses an area of space around the target before hitting and initiating chaotic destructions within it to destroy the targetprehensively. The meteor turned Wyvern was instantly trapped within the dimension field of Erix''s punch and exploded, rattling and distorting space. But Erix''s punch projectile exploded as well, bursting into dark purple sparks as it dismantled the Wyvern''s defense before the effects began, negating the life within it with Death power while the Life aspect in the punch also helped it by sucking the life it. The Wyvern had powerful Vitality so it didn''t die instantly with the two Dimensional Chaos Punch, but Erasure Void Rods readily pierced into the wings, limbs, chest, and head of the Wyvern before exploding, creating seven holes as the already injured Wyvern instantly died. Erix was struck by the Wyvern''s attack as well and was struck back but the barrier nullified all the damage. Even if Erix was injured, his toughness was far higher than Wyvern''s. [Congrattions. You havepleted the challenge.] Arriving back on the 35th Floor, Erix saw a ticket materializing before him. Erix didn''t want to save this ticket, so he infused Prana into it and used it. The ticket turned into sparks before conjuring a half-body-sized slot machine before Erix. There was also a small chart hanging to the side that disyed the lowest to highest rewards. The slots only disyed numbers from 1 to 9 in three sections. The reward was based on the sum of all three numbers. The highest was 9-9-9 and the lowest was 1-1-1. ''Let''s see,'' Erix rubbed his palms a couple of times before he pulled the lever. The slot machine lit up with colorful LEDs and light designs as the numbers started spinning. Zerol appeared nearby and started watching as he said, "I can''t affect this by the way." "Yeah," Erix nodded. After waiting for a second, he pressed the stop button. *Trink* 9 The first slot showed the highest number 9, causing Erix''s eyes to shine. *Trink* 9 "Woah?" Erix was surprised. "One more." *Trink* 3 "¡­" [Congrattions, you have acquired the Intent-type skill scroll¡ª War Cry.] [War Cry] _Type: Intent-skill. _Concept: Roar _Cost: 5% of Spirit force and 5% of Soul energy. _Effect: Release a roar that affects spiritually marked allies within 1 kilometer to increase their tenacity and physical attributes by 20% while the unmarked living beings will have their spirit force''s potency and physical capabilities reduced by 5-15% for 10 seconds. _Note: Intent-skills'' effectiveness depends on the difference in the Spirit and Soul power differences. "Intent-skills¡­I heard we can make them once we go through Spiritual transformation," Erix muttered. Lilith and Aria had reached a higher realm of Spirit power, so they were capable of creating them, but Erix and others hadn''t reached there yet. "Indeed. However, you get an Intent-skill rune, so you can still execute this skill," Zerol said and grinned, "Well, you can use this skill''s rune to learn and gather knowledge. Spirit transformation requires a powerful trigger and based on my knowledge and observation, you and Rin won''t be able to do this anytime soon." "Huh?" Erix was surprised. "What kind of trigger?" Zerol shook his head. "The kind of trigger is different for everyone, but the basis of it is suffering and endurance. You need a trigger that pushes your mental limit and breaks it." "Well, if you go outside of the, there are indeed life-threatening and such trigger-inducing ces for one to reach a higher realm in Spirituality, but the death rate is 90% in those because stupid people think they can do it, and fail to endure the suffering and dies." "It''s all about the mind and the situations, your mentality, and circumstances that trigger it." "I see¡­" Erix nodded in understanding. "It seems that there''s no use thinking much about it." "Onward to the next floor." Erix disappeared and arrived on the next floor. [36th Floor] [Challenge]: Defeat the 300 Demon Fairies. [Minimum Power Level Required]: 255,000. [Chances]: 1 [Reward]: Insight Trial Tablet. Chapter 394: Toughest War, Never Fall! Erix continued to clear the floors until he reached the 40th Floor. But he didn''t continue and returned to the Blessed Ind as he already spent a bit over 2 hours in the Labyrinth Tower clearing the floors. Evening descended and the Antis invasion arrived in full force of the three tribes in the Phoenix City, Unfettered Kingdom. The scale of this invasion was bigger than any other, surprising Erix and Rin. Everyone went on full alert because the invasion was a spread-out fight from the start. The number of Aquarill Tribe, Cetarim Tribe, and Kraktor Tribe members numbered a million from the start! Erix and Rin burst out with their domains at the fastest possible when saw the number of portals. Erix sensed the presence of the enemies while they were in transport, so he immediately told Rin, Aria, and Isabe about it. All the top powerhouses and elites in the top 100 leaderboards went all out. All of them were part of the Unfettered Kingdom. The number of people in the tered Kingdom has reached 1.3 million! This scale was too big and protections of Sanctuary Area had been turned off, so this big army could do damage if Erix and others didn''t move at the fastest! Erix and Rin went all out, but the number and scale were too big, so they couldn''t kill all of them at once. They also had tougher powerhouses at 200,000 Power level, so Erix and Rin were upied by at the start. Fortunately, the difference in power had increased and Amu also decided to help this time to protect people, using its extraordinary power at higher realms and niche attributes of life and spiritually managed to save many people. The powerhouses in the Unfettered Kingdom had increased due to concentrated resources and many other benefits that sped up everyone''s progress in training, leveling, and such. The rest of the top powerhouses in the top 100 and even if the list in the leaderboard extended to the top 10,000, all of them were present in the Unfettered Kingdom. Everyone fought and gave their all, sticking to their role and not stopping or giving. Those specialized in healing and adjacent areas focused on that Those who specialized in pure offense, control, and such prioritized their targets. Those who specialized in defense, support, and such stuck to their roles and saved everyone while they fought. The first wave already had that many enemies, so the second and third wave had more. The battle turned to desperate times as well with everyone getting exhausted. But Erix and others at the top brass had already prioritized Alchemy heavily, both in special branch and general branches in the city. The ns of various races under the Unfettered Kingdom had to work for their living and resources, which only the Unfettered Kingdom could do. In exchange, they were required to give their full support and expertise of their ns to the Unfettered Kingdom! The human poption of 1.3 million in the Unfettered Kingdom had not a single one that was idle except for kids! Everyone was required to at least learn a trading upation like Alchemy, Magsmithing, Mystic Cooking, Jewelists, and such...for their own living, resource benefits, protection, and progress of the Kingdom. In those, Alchemy and Magsmithing were at highest and most important with Unfettered Kingdom''s 70% of the poption being them! The potions and pills were abundant in storages and stations in the city, so during the battle, those with lowbat power but high trading skills proved immensely useful. This poption was also the working staff of the kingdom and the essential poption that ran it. They progressed slowly but lived peaceful lives with their families and progressed like civilians while serving the Unfettered Kingdom that protected them and improved their overall lifestyle. Everyone had their own choices and freedom on how they wanted to develop and progress in their life. Everyone had amon sense of working together and rising because of the apocalypse, so the umbre known as the Unfettered Kingdom was the best ce for the best future. The battle went on for two hours, but not a single casualty appeared! Erix''s Radiant Lifeban Tree had given fruits each month, and Aria had been making special potions and pills of them. Erix, Rin, and none of the others had used these special potions and pills because they were never needed before. However, this invasion was brutal and Erix didn''t want a single casualty in the Unfettered Kingdom! Erix, Rin, and Isabe were determined to have no causalities, and pulled no punches in using the resources and items they had saving, upgrading, improving, and saving more! Erix''s new intent-skill was surprisingly very useful as his war cry also increased morale of others as they felt their physical strengths surging and enemies weakening. The constant warfare and management of the Unfettered Kingdom was superior! The nonbatants even started using corpses and cores of Antians because they were powerful and useful, turning them into makeshift potions with teamwork and producing them during battle. These potions and consumable items forbat support like bombs and one-time-use weapons of Antia''s own corpses proved useful support. None of them were idle for the whole three hours of battle and winning against the invasion! After the battle was over and the portals vanished, the battles at various spots came to an end one by one and silence started increasing. After one minute, everyone was silent for two seconds before load uproar and cheers echoed, causing storms of winds high in the sky and changing weather! The adrenaline rush of higher lifeforms coursed through in them, with Erix and Rin no exception as everyone cheered. "Unfettered Kingdom will never fall!" Everyone roared. "Never Fall!" "Never Fall!" "Unfettered Kingdom will never fall!" At this moment, everyone in the Unfettered Kingdom had reached a new level of spirituality in this moment of victory that emerged from every single one of them. Chapter 395: Myth Emergence: Atlantis-Victory! After the invasion was over, everyone was in a good and party mood because no one died, and celebrated with feasts and drinks in groups. Everyone fought together and did indeed well! Erix, Rin, Isabe, Sameira, Kenshin, Zoe, and other core members of both guilds also had a big feast in the name of dinner and had fun for a few hours after the invasion. The other top guild leaders who were Barons and Dukes of the Unfettered Kingdom held their own groups on the Ind at various ces with their guild members. The night soon descended and the world boss arrived as usual which became an indication to end the festive time. Since most of the powerhouses were here and one world boss was like an ant with this situation, people usually used teleport hall and traveled to any of the 250+ Sanctuary Areas to defeat the World Bosses there, which was usually their previous location before moving to Phoenix City under the Unfettered Kingdom. Unfettered Kingdom''s portals and the U-cards had be essential tools. After the world boss was over, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Amu, and Aaron returned back to the Blessed Ind at 1 AM deep in the night. Aaron fell asleep immediately with Amu. "I''ll also take a sleep today," Rin said as she stretched her arms. "You two can have fun and turn Isabe into a Regalon, hehe." Erix stood up and pulled her before kissing her lips, "Good night." "Good night," Isabe nodded. Rin left and went to sleep while Erix and Isabe remained outside at the table. "Let''s go to a snowy area," Erix said as he pulled up Isabe and pressed her hips from behind Isabe felt Erix''s sleeping meat rod. Isabe nodded with a pink blush on her cheeks. In the next second, both of them vanished with Erix''s teleport. **** From 1 AM to 7 AM, Erix and Isabe were in the northeast snowy region of the globe. The night was the longest and wildest for Isabe without a doubt. In various positions and intensities, she took Erix''s meat rod pounding with little breaks, and climaxed a lot while Erix poured his load into her and shaped her Bloodline, evolving it with his and forming a cocoon at seven in the morning! Erix looked at the cocoon before looking at the rising sun and stretched his arms and legs. He went into a makeshift hotspring pond and leisurely rested there while waiting for Isabe to finish her Bloodline evolution process. As a superior Bloodline, Erix could evolve others to be his race, much like how Zombie could turn others into zombies, Vampires could turn humans turn them into vampires and such. At a higher lifeform with expanded capabilities, it wasn''t hard to convert one race to another, especially if it was weaker. In Isabe''s case, it was more like evolution than conversion as she became a Regalon from a Human. After five or so minutes, the cocoon cracked and shattered, revealing naked Isabe with her pristine spotless skin, long wavy light purple-violet hair, two juicy breasts with pink nipples, and crystal clear eyes with lucid golden-brown pupils. Her eyshes fluttered before she turned around and saw Erix standing right behind her as he teleported from the hot spring pool. "Perfect," Erix smiled and kissed her before pulling her forward, his dick sliding beneath herher region while her juicy melons pressed onto Erix''s chest as Isabe wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let''s do one more¡­" Isabe said, her face flushing, but eager. "I feel so powerful and energized." "Hahaha, alright!" Isabe moaned in the next second as she felt Erix''s meat rod entering her from below and striking her deepest part as a jolt of pleasure coursed through her in her newly evolved and refined body. ¡­ After an hour, both of them went back to the Blessed Ind and the day continued as usual. Erix, Rin, and Isabe spent an hour and thirty minutes within Limitless ne for daily training, making progress before leaving and arranging the Antis Expedition party again. Two hourster, everyone returned after destroying two tribes of Antis and acquiring abundant rewards! Two more days were left, but they would be able to destroy Antis tomorrow and win this big event! After the expedition, the usual training time andbat time for the top rankers began after a short break. Time passed and night arrived. The invasion of thest remaining tribe began and it was arguably less intense than yesterday''s invasion. One hour after the world boss, Lilith, Aria, Lily, and Maleina also returned from the Field Mission of Unbound Star cosmic faction. Coincidently, they actually met with some members that Erix and Rin knew from their first Field Mission! Tessa, the dwarf siblings Kaja and Dinda, and Shifa the lioness! Upon their return, Aria first went to the Labyrinth Tower to clear the floors and get rewards. She was excited because she improved a lot in two days and watched a lot of new things. Unlike Lilith, Lily, and Maleina, Aria could participate in Labyrinth Tower since Mystic Root had given her that privilege despite being no native because she was born in the Abyss. The night passed with everyone either training or having asional breaks as dawn broke and a new day began. Last day for Antis. Erix, Rin, Isabe, Lilith, Aria, Lily, and Maleina entered Limitless ne before Erix, Rin, and Isabe went to Antis Expedition while Lilith, Aria, Lily, and Maleina focused on other things as they stayed on the Blessed Ind. "They should be here tomorrow," Lilith muttered as she sat in the chair at the Dreanox Tree. Aria, Lily, and Maleina were using their Elemental Crystals to power up a few meters away. Lilith didn''t have resources that could help her since she had reached the 7th realm in all of her elements and was only focusing on making the concepts reach there. A cartoon-like ck eye with a tail and horns conjured before her as it flew up and up toward outer space. Lilith felt that it wouldn''t be long before they arrived. She was sure about them arriving tomorrow, but they could also arrive early and she knew that they would take action immediately without wasting time. ''Sanctuary Area should be safe, but it''s impossible to be holed up in it. Moreover, if they have Reverend-order powerhouses, they might be able to do something about this barrier.'' Lilith narrowed her eyes. ''Will Mystic Root expend its energy outside of its principles to save people?'' Chuckling wryly, Lilith shook her head. ''That''s impossible.'' She knew Mystic Root wouldn''t do anything of such. It was a cosmic wonder and was indifferent towards everything else except for its work and principles that governed the direction of its work. ''But it took actions to change the progression and events of the world upon sensing theming here, so if they arrive here and take drastic actions which they will, Mystic Root will definitely do something.'' ''Something, but I don''t know what it will do.'' Lilith sighed and cleared her mind before she focused and began her training after sitting cross-legged as well. Two hours passed by soon and a huge announcement rang worldwide. [Congrattion. You have sessfullypleted the event Myth Emergence: Antis!] [The chains have broken. This can have an owner and can be modified.] [World Council has been constructed at the center of Ocean Sanat. Natives can contend in the World Gauntlet to fight for the ownership of the and shape the world.] [World Gauntlet will begin when votes to begin it have been cast by the top 100 in the World Leaderboard.] [If the votes be 50+, the World Gauntlet Tournament will begin after a day.] Erix and others in the Antis Hub also heard all the notifications. But this was not all! [The rewards will be issued based on everyone''s contribution to the Antis Expedition.] [Those not in the top 100 leaderboards of Antis Expedition will also receive rewards based on their contributions.] [Congrations to the top 10 in the leaderboard of Antis Expedition. You can directly participate in the finals of the World Gauntlet Tournament.] [Antis Expedition Leaderboard] Rank 1: Rin ¡ª 3,643,289 points. Rank 2: Erix ¡ª 3,532,870 points. Rank 3: Isabe ¡ª 1,644,830 points. Rank 4: Kenshin¡ª 1,434,828 points. Rank 5: Sameira ¡ª 1,432,729 points. Rank 6: Yelwon¡ª 1,324,638 points. Rank 7: Koshal¡ª 1,224,320 points. Rank 8: Amir ¡ª 1,213,820 points. Rank 9: Jax ¡ª 1,198,793 points. Rank 10: Gabriel ¡ª 1,193,729 points. [The rewards will be issued after an hour.] [Leishun: Damn, I am ranked 18th] [Amir: Hahaha, youzed around more than others.] [Mary: I wonder what those two will get? The difference is so big in points.] Everyone left the Antis while talking and discussing with others. Many people directly flew towards the Sanat Ocean in the southeast of the globe to check out the World Council. "I feel something strange going on in the Blessed Ind," Erix muttered. "Let''s return to the Blessed Ind first." Erix, Rin, and Isabe returned to the Blessed Ind while Zoe, Leon, Sameira, Kenshin, and others from two guilds went to the Sanat Ocean in groups. After meeting up with Lilith, and others, Erix said with a smile, "This Ind wants to be the core of this." "I can feel this desire of the Blessed Ind. But we have to upgrade it one more time for it and I have to be the owner of this for that." Everyone was shocked and surprised to hear that. "Who else but you is going to be that?" Rin grinned. Chapter 396: Taking Possible Measures "It''s not an upgrade requirement, but something else. Check the Ind''s status window and you''ll know," Erix grinned. Rin, Isabe, and others were pirs, so they could check it. [Blessed Ind: Unfettered Isle ] _Evolution Rank: Spiritual Magic Land-2 _Pirs: Rin, Isabe, Aria, Lilith, Lily, Sameira, Kenshin. _Features: ¡ª> Mind Drive, Pirs, Topography, Barrier-Pool, Antimatter Barrier, FTL Space Travel, Wormhole Jump, Cosmos Map. _Functions: ¡ª> Recovery Aura, Growth, Growth Spurt, Specialized Area-1. _Upgrade Requirements: ¡ª>¡ª _Integration Expansion: ¡ª> Be the owner of the and begin integration of the ind with it if you wish to. "There''s no need to wait, Erix," Lilith narrowed her eyes and sharply smiled. "Tell everyone to vote today, so we can begin the World Gauntlet Tournament tomorrow." "Let''s go and check out the World Council," Lily smiled."Most of the people are going there to see it, so you can also announce it there." Isabe, Aria, and others nodded. "Alright, let''s go." ¡­ Soon, everyone flew towards the Sanat ocean in the southeast of the globe and arrived there to see a massive circr structure spanning two kilometers in radius made of some sleek and exotic marble stones with carved designs. At the center of this circr structure was a majestic white throne with golden and ck designs and carved patterns. The circr structure had an array of pirs at the edges that supported it and a huge tform surface despite being surrounded by the ocean. Erix sent an announcement in the U-card. [We shall begin the vote right away so the tournament can begin after 24 hours.] After sending the announcement, Erix interacted with the World Council and started the voting process. A notification sprung up before everyone. [Vote to begin the World Gauntlet Tournament: Yes ¡ª No] Everyone in the top 100 World leaderboard saw the notification. [Jason: That guy finna be the Ruler of this world.] [Amir: Don''t dwell on useless stuff. No one else can take that position.] [Yelwon: Who is still left?! Finish the voting.] Everyone soon finished voting and when the vote exceeded 50+, the notification rang. [World Gauntlet Tournament will begin after 23 hours and 59 minutes.] ¡­ Erix created a portal at the corner of the World Council that directly led to Phoenix City and arrived back at the Blessed Ind. Most of the people still opted to fly instead of using the portal to do an adventure and explore some ces to find dungeons or events. "The reward will still take over forty minutes to arrive," Erix spoke as he sat on a chair under the Dreanox tree and others also took their positions at the round table and sat on chairs. "After getting the rewards, how about we go use our Cosmic Arcade Tickets?" Rin said with a thoughtful expression. "Since only Isab, Aria, you, and I have the tickets, we should go there and return¡­ possibly before the Blue Maw pirate kingdom''s group arrives here." "That would be the best," Lilith nodded. "Leave right after getting the rewards." "Lilith, can a Reverend-order powerhouse break this Sanctuary Area''s mystic barrier?" Erix asked, his expression heavy. "Not by using their personalbat," Lilith shook her head before she wryly smiled, "However, they must have capabilities and items to create a formation that can break it." "That''s troubling," Isabe furrowed her brows. Aria pouted. "That''s not good." "These Sanctuary Areas save lives and prevent them from dying and also revive people during World Boss when it is activated with Veil¡­" Lilith said and paused for half a second before she continued, "All of that requires Mystic Root''s powers, but I am not sure if Mystic Root will reintact a Sanctuary Area if it breaks once." "Moreover, we don''t know how much force the Blue Maw pirate kingdom''s group is bringing with them, and we have no idea how they would execute their n to acquire ves," Lilith shook her head. "We can''t make any major ns or moves. Most of what we do will be inly useless if they decide to be aggressive," Lilith added with a dryugh. "In the worst case, we''ll just have to run away if the difference in power is too big." "But this Integration of with Blessed Ind might give us a way," Lilith added with narrowed eyes. "Erix, you said you encountered someone before, but did he see the blessed ind?" "We were high above the Blessed Ind, so he might have seen it," Erix doubtfully nodded. "But I can''t be sure." "Yep," Rin nodded. "His focus was on us, and I don''t know if he recognized the Blessed Ind properly." Lilith sighed in relief. "Then it''s fine. Blessed Ind''s outer barrier acts as a sort that hides its signature presence, so he must have seen it as a normal floating ind with a barrier formation on it." "But if the Reverend-order powerhouses inspect it carefully, the cat will be out of the bag," Lilith wryly smiled. "Is it a trouble if they see the Blessed Ind?" Aria asked. "Most likely, yes," Lilith nodded. "But only if they have a way to snatch the Blessed Ind from Erix. Since Erix is the owner, he can also trigger self-destruction of the Ind and they should know it. To acquire this cosmic treasure that can grow to big heights, they need to have a proper n." "We can''t say if they have it or not, but we should still camouge this ind," Lilith suggested. "Yes, we should camouge it," Maleina nodded with a firm expression. "As far as I remember, the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom itself is on a massive Blessed Ind that''s upgraded multiple times." Everyone was startled. "Maleina''s world was annexed by them, so she knows," Lilith nodded. "Yes, but I don''t think they wille here with their main base," Maleina said. "This doesn''t require that much attention. But we should still hide the presence of Blessed Ind and prevent them from finding out." "Let''s do it right now," Erix said as he stood up while the floating Blessed Ind started moving towards the other side of the Labyrinth Tower where it was all the wilderness. "We''ll ce it here and also remove the barrier, what do you say?" Erix asked. "Barrier is fine," Lilith smiled. "It gives protection and privacy, and acts as a proper camouge once I create a formation around it." "We''ll create a formation around the ind to hide it further," Lily said. "We won''t need to camouge once the Ind integrates with the, but it will still help us if theye here before the tournament ends." "Yep, then let''s create the formation while waiting for the reward. What do we have to do?" Rin asked. "Erix, produce Tier-6 or higher materials of multiple types of your choice. I need 100 kilograms of them," Lilith said, a glint passing through her. "I might as well create a Hybrid Formation that can act as a camouge and attack both. For attack, I can only use it once, but we can use it to injure and obstruct a single Reverend-order for some seconds." "Seconds?" Aria weakly smiled. "Yes, darling," Lilith chuckled. "We don''t have higher-tiered resources to make a stronger formation." "I have four different Tier-7 materials too," Erix grinned. "Should I produce just Tier-7?" "And we are forgetting some leftover materials from Zerian ns," Rin coldly chuckled. "They were making a pretty big formation with materials ranging from Tier-7 to Tier-9.They should have some." "We have emptied them, so let''s search the warehouse and ask for other ns if they have some high-tiered materials " Isabe smiled. "You and I can handle that." "Yep," Rin nodded. Suddenly Amu appeared before Lilith and grinned widely, "Don''t forget about me. I have some materials and knowledge of formations too. You got any formation recipe or you were just nning to construct a makeshift one?" "Makeshift one with the knowledge of an Empyrean-order formation," Lilith wryly smiled. "Alright, then let''s cook something better," Amu said with a prideful smile. "I''ll take out the materials I have." The slime became ten times bigger like the size of a two-story house and opened its mouth before releasing a bunch of materials and resources. "Thank you, Amu" Aria smiled. "Alright, then let''s get to work," Erix grinned and sat down cross-legged while spewing out materials. "Take these while I produce more." Lilith, Lily, and Maleina left with the materials from Amu and Erix while Rin and Isabe went to take exotic materials from the big warehouse of Unfettered Kingdom where they had stored things taken from ns. Mainly the ns who were evil and didn''t want to follow a proper path. Erix remained under the Dreanox Tree and produced Metals while Aria used her Animated Spirits to help move the materials and listen to Lilith''s instructions so she could put the formation gs around the Blessed Ind using her Animated Spirits as per orders. Lilith and Amu mainly assessed the materials and refined them into formation gs while brainstorming about the formation. Everyone got as busy as bees and started working. In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed by. Erix produced 100 kg of Metals and arrived at the edge of the Ind where Lilith and Amu were working. "Lilith, you can order the top powerhouses of the Kingdom to help with the formation after we four leave," Erix said. "Nah," Lilith shook her head. "Just put an announcement and empty the blessed Ind. Lock it off for everyone other than the Pirs." "That''s right. Aria''s Animated Spirits are enough manpower," Amu grinned. "Alright, then I''ll kick out everyone," Erix said with augh. Soon, everyone who had be Advanced Citizens of the Unfettered Kingdom and was allowed to live and train on the Blessed Ind received a notification in their U-card. [You will be kicked out of the Blessed Ind in the next five seconds. It will be locked off until further notice to do some important maintenance.] Afterward, Erix targeted all living presence on the Ind and snapped his finger, randomly teleporting all of them en mass as they arrived at various empty areas in the wilderness and city. He basically teleported all of them randomly within a 15-kilometer radius around the ind. Soon, fifteen minutes also passed by and the announcement of rewards began along with a surprise! Chapter 397: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (1) [Congrattions. The following is the first reward of Antis Leaderboard..] Rank 1¡ªRin¡ª5 x Mystic Apex Golden Treasure chests. Rank 2¡ªErix¡ª4x Mystic Apex Golden Treasure chests. Rank 3¡ªIsabe¡ª3x Mystic Apex Golden treasure chests. Rank 4 to 10 ¡ª 1x Mystic Apex Golden treasure chest. Rank 11 to 50 ¡ª 3 x Mystic Apex Silver Treasure Chest. Rank 51 to 100 ¡ª 1 x Mystic Apex silver treasure chest. Rank 101 to 500 ¡ª 2 x Mystic Apex bronze treasure chest. Rank 501 to 1000 ¡ª 1 x Mystic Apex bronze treasure chest. "Seems like a new type of treasure chest." "Wish I had gotten golden. What kind of rewards would be on those treasure chests?" Everyone was talking and enthusiastic as many opened their treasure chests upon getting them in their inventories. But the notification continued after two seconds. [Everyone will get Mystic Credits ording to their contribution ranking in the Antis Expedition Leaderboard. You can use Mystic Credits in the Mystic Treasure Store which is avable in every Labyrinth Tower.] [Congrattions to the top 100. They can buy free items based on their ranks.] Rank 1¡ªRin¡ª3 x Free items ¡ª 1,000,000 Mystic Credits. Rank 2¡ªErix¡ª3 x Free items ¡ª 9,000,000 Mystic Credits. Rank 3¡ªIsabe¡ª3 x Free items ¡ª 8,000,000 Mystic Credits. Rank 4 to 10 ¡ª2 x Free items ¡ª 5,000,000 Mystic Credits. Rank 11 to 100¡ª1 x Free item ¡ª 2,000,000 Mystic Credits. This marked the end of rewards. Many people rushed into the Labyrinth Towers while many were still opening their treasure chests and checking each other''s rewards in their groups. "We can check out the shop and rewardster," Erix said as he took out the Cosmic Arcade Ticket. "Let''s use this item first." Rin, Isabe, and Aria nodded. "Go ahead," Lilith said. "We''ll also finish this formation as soon as possible." Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria infused Prana in their tickets, which caused strange energy to envelop their body. In the next second, they vanished. ¡­ Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. It was a vast floating continent with exotic structures, wholly equipped with advanced sci-fi and magic technology. Just like Mystic Root, this floating continent known as Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center was one of the seven wonders of Grand Primal Cosmos. It had a will of its own and a set of principles. If Mystic Root influenced smaller worlds and interfered to speed up their poption''s evolution, then Cosmic Treasure Arcade was as its name suggested. It was an Arcade center at a cosmic level and it gave away tickets to various events and Mystic Root to invite people to y. Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria arrived before huge open gates and a toll booth to their left where a humanoid man with an elephant head and a big belly sat while reading a newspaper. "I can''t do anything," Rin raised her eyebrows. "I mean, we can''t use powers here." "True," Erix threw a punch with all of his strength, but he could only exert physical strength like he was back to a mortal. "It seems that everyone''s powers are suppressed to a certain level here," Isabe said. "Let''s go that man," Aria said with a grin as she looked at the elephant-headed beastfolk with big eyes. "He looks cute." The elephant man looked at the group and its big eyes blinked. "Wee, dear yers. May you have lots of fun in the Arcade Center and forge your new destiny." "Forge new destiny?" Erixughed. The elephant man went back to reading the paper and ignored them as if weing people was his only job. "Let''s just go inside," Rin said while looking at the big futuristic structures and also the presence of people inside. The four of them passed through the gate, and right after that, they heard a yful voice. [Wee. You have gained 1000 Arcande Points. The only currency that works here is Arcade Points. You can use them to y games win rewards and even earn more Arcade points. Once your Arcade points turn zero, you will be kicked out.] The four of them were surprised and also saw 1000 written in neo-pixel texts above their heads. It wasn''t even going away. The four of them walked towards the huge circr building called Arcade Hub. It was also the first build and nearest building after they entered the gate. "That robot is so big," Aria said as she looked at the kilometers-tall Gundam-like robot far away. "There are many things inside past this building and huge area," Isabe said with a nod as she was also amazed while looking around. The four of them arrived at the hub''s door. It was empty outside, but they could sense many presences inside. The moment they stepped their feet inside after the magical ss sliding door opened, they saw hundreds of people in a hall as vast as five kilometers in diameter! However, this hall had a single huge central desk at the center, and many small exotic gates stationed at various spots. People were going anding out of the gates before going to the central desk. "Let''s go to the desk. We''ll understand more there," Erix said. Everyone else nodded as they felt the same after looking around. After arriving at the central desk, they faced one of the staff. Before Erix could say anything, thedy with white-pink bunny ears smiled and presented a stone tablet before Erix. "Please put your palm here and get ess to the Arcade Rune. You can ess the list of all games from it and other functions using it." "Oh, alright," Erix nodded and put his palm on the stone tablet. It shone and materialized a card before Erix. [Arcade Rune card] _Owner: Erix. _Bnce: 1000 Arcade Points. _Game List: [10,000 Games] Rin, Isabe, and Aria also put their palms on the stone tablet one by one and acquired their rune cards. "We can filter the games by their genre," Erix raised his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling. "There are many genres here." "Ten thousand games," Isabe weakly smiled. "Well, let''s pick one for a starter." Chapter 398: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (2), Robot Wars! "Can we go to that robot game?" Aria asked with puppy eyes. "I am interested in that too," Rin grinned. "Let''s go there." "Found it," Erix nodded as he showed the screen to Rin, Isabe, and Aria. [Hyper Gctic Robot Wars] _Genre: Action, War, Massive Scale, Robots, PvP. "There," Rin''s eyes shone, and she pressed on the game. In the next second, a blue light was released from the card on the floor. [Follow the line to reach the gate of the Hyper Gctic Robot Wars game zone.] "Let''s go!" Aria said with excitement and walked ahead. Everyone followed the blue line and soon arrived at the robotic gate with colorful lights and robot parts as gadgets and features around the big gate. A middle-aged man exited from the gate and nced for a second at Erix and others while walking away. The squad entered through the portal gate and arrived at a slightly colorful hall with colorful life-like statues of various robots on the three sides. The only side that didn''t have robot statues was right before them and it disyed a massive two-kilometer-tall and wide ssy screen several hundred meters away from them. "This is crazy!" Erix almost shouted as he looked at the whole futuristic robot set in this hall! His inner fanboy of robots was bursting out. Rin and others were also amazed and felt anticipation to try this out. "Game board," Erix pointed to their left just a few meters away and saw a board showing the information of the game. [Hyper Gctic Robot Wars] -How to y? ¡ª> Pick your robot at the y Desk in the center of the hall and enter the game by paying 10 Arcade Points. ¡ª> Each monster you kill grants you 1 Robot Treasure point. ¡ª> Each yer robot you kill grants you 1 Arcade Point and 10 Robot Treasure points. ¡ª> If you killed 5 yer robots and 50 monsters, you can go to Hyper Wars Realm and earn the Top Treasures that the Hyper Gctic Robot Wars game has to offer to capable yers. "Sounds simple enough, but also demanding on skills since we are not allowed to use our powers," Rin grinned and rubbed her hands. "Let''s go, let''s go. I can''t wait." "Haha, that''s right," Erix nodded with augh. "Where''s Aria?" Isabe noticed that Aria vanished. "Come on, you three! Why so slow?" Aria shouted with a pout as she already went ahead to the center desk to select her robot. The others soon arrived there and put their cards in a slot before a digital screen list of robots appeared. "Damn, there are 1000 robots and we can only select one," Rin was speechless. "This is torture," Erix wryly smiled. "It would be fun if we could have multiple robots and switch them." "I selected mine," Isabe said with a smile, shocking Rin and Erix. "So fast?" "En," Isabe nodded and chuckled, "Well, each robot has its own specialties and a set of skills. They are roughly on the same level, so it all depends on the synergy between the robot and pilot." "Yep, but the tough part is selecting," Erix looked at the list of robots with cool names. "True, I want to try many," Rin pouted. "I selected mine too!" Aria said as her screen disyed a slender green robot with a female figure, wearing a vine-like outfit, and a golden crown on her head. It showed her area of specialty in a graph and a list of her five skills, which was the robot''s skill set. [Viridescent Vibrant Nova] _Level 1 [ Kill to level up and unlock more skills] ¡ª> Attack Weapon: Dual Siphon Pistols. _Skills: 5 _Skill-set [5/5] ¡ª> Attack: Siphon Cannon Shot. ¡ª> Movement: Vine Grapple. ¡ª> Defense: ckwood Aegis shield. ¡ª> Control: Dizzy Star Spores. ¡ª> Utility: Life Drain Dew. "We have a skill set and it seems we''ll get a skill that could be any of five types if we level up," Isabe said as she read basic information about the robot rules. "This looks fun," Aria nodded smilingly, eager to y. "Alright, we should hurry and select one too," Erix dryly chuckled. "True. We can''t be bothered to check the skills of all robots. Let''s just look at their appearance and names," Rin said with a chuckle. "We''ll select the ones most badass sounding to us." "Exactly," Erix grinned. Both of them looked through the list of robots, mainly looking at their appearance and names. After all, they could see what specialty robots had based on those two things. After a minute of looking through, Rin selected her robot. "Alright, I''ve got mine," Rin grinned as she looked at the slender ck-red robot with four-de arms instead of normal arms. [ck Star de Demon] "I also got mine. The Prime Ripple Dominator," Erix said, his grin big and eyes raring. "Let''s go." The four of them walked towards the portal in front of the big ssy screen which disyed ongoing wars of robots and insectoids. As they entered the portal, they arrived inplete darkness as a panel of rules appeared. [Game Rules] 1. Working together to kill monsters is allowed. 2. PvP is initiated only between two people when one of them attacks the other. Once it is on, the two are invulnerable to all other robot yer''s attacks and skills, but can be hurt by Insectoid Monsters. 3. Each minute, you will lose 1 Arcade Point. [You will enter the battlefield after five seconds.] "What? Lose 1 Arcade point each minute?" Erix raised his eyebrows. "So ying games also requires Arcade points." ''Welp. I just need to kill more than 1 robot yer every minute,'' Erix grinned ferociously. Rin, Isabe, and Aria also read the rules. Five seconds passed and all of them arrived at various spots in the huge gctic battlefield with many colorful lights flying around. Erix looked at the digital screen before him and felt his limbs entering inside liquid-like cold butfortable slots in the robot''s cockpit. Prime Ripple Dominator was not a slim robot like Rin''s but like a boxer with proper chest shape and limbs with dark blue, red, and ck patterns with dark gold linings. ''Let''s get the hang of skills and movement first,'' Erix looked at the wide screen in front of his eyes. He checked the vision range around, the senses sensors, and started testing basic functions and controls. ''Damn, this is awesome!'' Chapter 399: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (3), Fun Game! [Prime Ripple Dominator] _Level 1 [ Kill to level up and unlock more skills] ¡ª> Attack Weapon: Left-hand cannon gun, right-hand gauntlet. _Skills: 5 _Skill-set [5/5] ¡ª> Attack: Ripple Smash. ¡ª> Movement: Mirage Dash. ¡ª> Defense: Burst Spewer Shield. ¡ª> Control: Sticky Slime st. ¡ª> Utility: Neb Ripple Field. Erix learned all the skills and looked around on the vast battlefield. In the distance, insectoid monsters emerged from the cosmic terrain, their grotesque forms illuminated by the neon hues of the battlefield. Erix''s eyes narrowed as he spotted a group of them converging toward him. ''Come on,'' Erix grinned and his Prime Ripple Dominator robot flew forward while he pointed his left-hand cannon gun at the converged group and released his control skill: Sticky Slime st. The gun released a giant blob of orb, shooting straight towards the five Mantis-like giant insectoid monsters. Four of them jumped away in time, but one was struck by the orb that exploded into a sticky stter that spread all over the monster. It couldn''t properly move its limbs and fly with its wings afterward, giving Erix enough time to shoot normal cannon shots from his cannon gun to kill the monster. But the other four monsters naturally wouldn''t leave him alone. Two of them waved their scyth-like arms and released sharp de projectiles from his left and right while the other two dashed towards the Prime Ripple Dominator from behind. Erix swiftly used his movement skill: Mirage Dash, as he appeared one kilometer behind, dodging the projectiles and also arriving right before the two iing Mantis insectoids. His right-hand gauntlet shone and surged with energy as Erix used the robot''s attack skill: Ripple Smash! Throwing the fist, it crashed into space as if some invisible wall appeared instead of the insectoids that were just ten meters away from him. But that punch that seemingly struck the invisible space wall created mysterious web-like cracks that released destructive ripples in front of Erix in a wide area of 100 meters! The two Mantis Insectoids were shredded into pieces when those ripples hit them. ''Each skill has a ten-second cooldown, so I have to be careful,'' Erix narrowed his eyes and dashed behind again, before dodging a projectile and shooting cannon shots, killing the 3rd Mantis Insectoid. He then killed thest one as well and finished his first battle. But he soon felt a powerful aura approaching him and turned his head in that direction to see a fiery red robot holding a long sword and a shield dashing toward him. Erix cracked a grin. He could see 4 above the robot, which meant that the yer in that robot had killed four yer robots already! "Let''s dance!" the zinger me Warrior shouted, the yer''s voice slightly hoarse, but young. Erix flew forward as well, all of his skills were ready. The first attack was released by zinger me Warrior robot, swinging his sword and releasing a projectile of a fiery phoenix that shot towards Erix. Erix could feel an intent lock onto him as he realized that this attack tracked its target. Without hesitation, he used his movement skill: Mirage Dash, and closed the distance between him and the zinger me Warrior. The enemy was surprised, but he swung his sword first. Erix grinned, ''good job.'' The Phoenix wasing at him from behind, which was obviously the enemy''s attack skill. Erix could also defend, but he didn''t and instead used his movement skill to close in the distance and arrive before the enemy. The enemy initiated the first attack out of panic or hurry upon seeing Erix closing in and this was what Erix wanted! Erix used his defense skill: Burst Spewer Shield behind him against the Phoenix while executing his right punch to use his attack skill: Ripple Smash! His defense skill was not pure defense, but off-defense. Upon getting struck by an, it would explode and release a powerful shockwave in a ten-meter area in front of the shield after two seconds. The range was small and he had to be in the enemy''s range if he wanted to utilize his defense skill''s potential to max. That''s why he closed in the distance. Erix saw the iing normal sword sh of the iing, executed his defense at his back, and released his attack skill at the front. Obviously, his attack skill was more powerful than the enemy''s normal me sword attack! *Boom!* The Ripple Smash reduced the robot''s HP by 30% and Erix also directed his shield towards the enemy after it defended against the phoenix. However, zinger me Warrior didn''t make a mistake again. His reaction was fast and he immediately used his left-hand shield against the shockwave. But Erix was a martial artist, and he also used it via his robot! Executing a roundhouse kick, he smashed the zinger me Warrior''s shield aside while aiming his cannon gun at him at just a few meters of distance. "Fuck," the zinger me Warrior robot''s yer cursed and a burst of me released from behind it as he used his movement skill and smashed into Erix. He had no other choice but to intercept Erix''s cannon shot and also damage him. However, Erix used his utility skill immediately: Neb Ripple Field. A dark blue and ck barrier-like field appeared around both robots and released mysterious ripples from all directions. This skill affected both the user and the enemy. It randomly disabled one limb of the robot, so if a skill required that particr limb, it was also disabled! Erix''s right hand deactivated, rending his Attack skill: Ripple Smash, unusable. On the other hand, the enemy''s left hand deactivated, which rendered his defensive shield and the skill attached to it unusable! Erix was more acrobatic and punched the zinger me Warrior before gunning it with his gun it suffered more damage, while the zinger swung his sword as it shone, intending to use his Phoenix attack skill again as ten seconds passed. ''I was waiting for it,'' Erix grinned and readied his gun quickly before shooting his control skill Sticky Slime st. Right as the zing me Warrior''s phoenix manifested and released, the Sticky Slime st skill''s orb struck it and exploded. This sh caused the Phoenix to explode right there and then, creating a thick cloud of smoke that impaired both robots'' visions. Erix had a long-range attack so he instantly released his cannon shots. The already injured and almost broken zinger me Warrior saw his HP reaching 0 as he released a shout but vanished in the next second. [You have acquired 1 Arcade Point and 10 Robot Treasure points.] [As you have killed a yer, you have reached level 2.] [You have gained a new attack skill: Vortex Ripple st.] ''Sounds cool,'' Erix switched his Attack skill from Ripple Smash to Vortex Ripple and flew toward a group of Insectoids that wasing at him from a few kilometers away. ¡­ Meanwhile, Rin, Isabe, and Aria also defeat their first monsters and robot yer challenges. They were at different parts of the battlefield in space and continued fighting their way. The damage done to their robot was also healed gradually and it would heal faster if they killed monsters, indicating that these were the unwritten rules and features. Moreover, the obstacles in space like asteroids,s, neb smoke zones, and such could be used strategically to win, making this Robot Wars an exceedingly fun and thrilling game as Erix, Aria, Isabe, and Rin were having blood-pumping pleasure in this game fighting with others! Chapter 400: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (4) Isabe''s robot turned out to perform well in a Neb Smoke Zone, so she stayed there and camped to kill monsters and yers with ease. Aria roamed in an Asteroid Belt because it synergized well with her robot''s movement skill and control skills. As for Rin, she was just like Erix and roamed anywhere while killing monsters and challenging any yers she encountered. The requirement to ascend to Hyper Wars Realm was 5 yer robot kills and 50 Insectoid monster kills. Erix and Rin killed 13 robot yers and over a hundred Insectoid Monsters in 20 minutes. As such, they spent 7 Arcade Points since 1 was used every minute, and they could only gain 1 after killing a robot yer. Both of them were defeated after 20 minutes but earned a ticket to the Hyper Wars Realm. Meanwhile, Isabe and Aria managed to kill 5+ robot yers and around a hundred Insectoid Monsters in 20 minutes before getting defeated as well. Erix and Rin arrived back at the game hall and received a notification. [You may change your robot if you wish to. Your level will reset, but you can keep your skill set. If you select a new robot, you will also get extra skills ording to level to put together a new skill set.] [You have 5 minutes of break time, but you can enter early anytime.] "Do you want to?" Erix asked as he looked at Rin. "Nope." "Same." Erix and Rin didn''t want to change their robots and kept their current robots after changing their skill set a bit. Isabe and Aria also arrived a minuteter and changed their skill set before the four of them entered and arrived in the Hyper Wars Realm. Unlike outer space, Erix and others arrived on a with exotic biomes all over. Lavatic, frosty, biting winds, blizzards, forests, and such different areas with extreme weather that interfered with robots littered this battlefield. Four of them were once again separated and appeared at different locations. Erix arrived in a forest area, but this was a bad location for him. He didn''t have any disadvantages if he fought here, but he had no advantages either. ''No advantages means it''s a disadvantage if a robot like Aria''s robotes here,'' Erix narrowed his eyes and flew away without hesitation. Rin arrived in the blizzard area, but also didn''t stay there and flew away to another area, hopefully, a barrennd. Meanwhile, Isabe arrived in a strange forest that had giant trees with giant wooden fruits. Each tree had theserge fruits attached to their branches and they often exploded before raining a corrosive liquid that reduced a robot''s HP if struck. She quickly changed her area and arrived in a blizzard area nearby from which Rin just left. ''Perfect,'' Isabe looked at the raging blizzard and snow all around, but this was what she wanted since her Robot''s eyes granted her better vision since she had a control skill, Mist Dome, that created a dome of mist in arge area where everyone entering inside would have their vision reduced while Isabe would have her movement-speed reduced. On the other hand, Aria settled in a ck forest which had little to no vision due to dark clouds that loomed over the forest. The rules of Hyper Wars Realm were a bit different and all of them could read that, which was why they first decided to leave their current zones and find suitable zones. [Hyper Wars Realm] -> A Boss insectoid will be dispatched to each robot yer every minute. -> Everyone will randomly teleport to another location every two minutes. -> Arcade Points won''t be consumed every minute while you are here. -> Killing a robot yer will only grant you 10 Robot Treasure points. -> Killing the boss insectoid will grant you 100 Robot Treasure points. -> You can get ess to a Special Treasure Shop if you kill 3 Robot yers and 3 Insectoid Bosses here. Otherwise, you can spend your Robot Treasure points in the normal shop in the game hall. ¡­ "3 Robot yers and 3 Insectoid bosses, eh?" Erix floated above and littered with hundreds of water ponds that often released water streams toward robots to damage them and reduce their HP. But this area was better for him because it was open and his skill set had a passive utility skill: Dark Veil, which would blind him and his opponents both for ten seconds. However, he reduced his handicap with his movement skill: Rippling Clones, which produced five clones around him and he could change his position to any of them. The clone could also explode and spread a ripple, which Erix could use to determine the positions of others, making Dark Veil a perfect synergy skill to use with Rippling Clones! It was this way of building their skill set that one could have higher winning chances and fighting capabilities! Rin, Aria, and Isabe had also built their skill set with skills that could synergize and improve their winning chances with increased capabilities! All of them didn''t encounter any yer robot at first and only killed random Insectoids that were unique to each biome for two minutes before an Insectoid Boss materialized a kilometer away from them in the same area. They managed to kill the boss and leveled up, gaining a new skill and continuing their game! It was truly a blood-pumping action and strategy game as they constantly changed their skill set to match their strategy to defeat others. Everyone was having loads of fun without any rest as they moved around, fought, and sometimes even escaped from others to continue and y. In the end, Aria was the first one to lose, but she only lost after killing 4 yers and 5 insectoid bosses! The next one to lose was Rin as she was unfortunate enough to encounter a robot that was an extra bad match against her right after she randomly teleported to another location. She still killed 5 yers and 7 insectoid bosses before that. Afterward, Isabe lost after killing 5 yers and 8 Insectoid bosses. And finally, Erix ended his journey after killing 7 yers and 12 Insectoid bosses. By the time he arrived at the special Treasure shop, Aria, Rin, and Isabe had already finished their treasure shopping and were waiting for him. Erix looked at the holographically solid treasure shop in the darkness around him after he lost and looked at the treasures that caused his eyes to shine. ''This is some real hot shit treasures!'' He looked at this total number of Robot Treasure Points and his excitement rose. ''I can buy one from the expensive ones, alright!'' Chapter 401: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (5) [Special Treasure Shop] -Bnce: 2732 Robot Treasure Points. | Items | ¡ª [ Total list of items (click here to open) ] 1. Stardust Valkyrie Prime Robot nurturing chip ¡ª 1500 RT points. 2. Space Vessel: Cosmic Mirage ¡ª 1000 RT points. 3. Robot Dimension Summon Card: Apex-grade chance ¡ª 2000 RT points. 4. Robot Dimension Summon Card: Prime-grade chance ¡ª 1500 RT points. 5. Yellow Death Prime Robot nurturing chip ¡ª 1500 RT points. [ Refresh shop: 100 Robot Treasure Points. ] ¡ª [ Exit ] Erix checked the total list of items, but the upper limit of the item''s price was 2000 RT. As such, Erix bought the Apex-grade chance Robot Dimension summon card without hesitation. He didn''t waste points in refreshing the shop because it was expensive and he judged the value of items based on their price since everything looked unfamiliar to him as he had no knowledge of what those items could do. And so, most expensive = best in this case. Of course, he also ruled out possible useless items. He didn''t want the 1. Item because he didn''t like that robot''s name and the thing seemed troublesome as there was ''nurturing chip'' written. Space Vessel sounded like it was a sort of spaceship, but he had Blessed Ind which was countless times better than whatever it was. The no. 5 item was also a robot nurturing chip, so same reason as the no. 1 item''s reason. Most optimal remained the most expensive. After buying it, Erix didn''t press refresh and pressed [ Exit ] to leave. As Erix appeared directly outside and felt Rin, Isabe, and Aria''s presence, he also heard a yful robotic notification. [You can use your Robot Treasure Points on the normal shop or continue to y and gather more.] ''Nah.'' One time was enough. Erix walked towards Rin, Isabe, and Aria who were standing before one of the rows of small tables which showed the normal robot shop for people to spend their Robot Treasure Points. Erix arrived before a table and looked at the shop. "Erix, what did you buy from Treasure Shop?" Aria asked with curiosity. "I bought a robot summon card that cost 1500 RT points." "Same," Isabe chuckled. "Eh, I bought the same thing, but it cost 2000 RT points," Rin grinned. "The Apex-grade one." Chapter Stay: "We all bought the same thing, so what did you buy?" Aria asked while grinning. Erix was dumbfounded before he burst outughing. "We all bought the same thing, lol." Rinughed, "So you also bought the Apex-grade chance summon card. Perfect." "Since Erix is here, let''s finish buying from this," Isabe smiled. "I don''t have much to buy anyway. The items are cheaper here, but I could only buy two." ''Let''s see what we have here,'' Erix also turned his head to the front and looked at the shop items. [Popr Item]¡ªArcade Traversing Badge ¡ª 100 RT points ¡ª If you have Arcade Points, you can consume 1 point to return to your world and use it again toe to Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. After using it once to return ande back, the badge will disappear. "Alright, we have to buy this Arcade Traversing Portal," Erix grinned. "If we want to get the full benefit of this, we can''t just spend all the points at one go." "True. We all bought an Arcade Traversing Badge," Rin nodded. Erix then looked at other items and rubbed his chin. This shop had 50 items presented at once, and all of them were around 50 or 100 points. No items went over 200 Robot Treasure points. In the end, Erix bought four items. -[Gravity Watch]: Increase or decrease gravity by 100 around you. ¡ª 40 RT points. -[Lancelot''s Wrath Spear Module]: Peak Empyrean-grade Weapon module. ¡ª 200 RT points. (Erix only bought it because it was the most expensive on the list of 50 items.) -[Outfit Designer GX9]: Insert fabrics of your choice and Prana to weave clothes to your style ording to your mental visualization. ¡ª 100 RT points. -[Mystic Echo 33X]: A spatial loudspeaker with pro max dimension sound to y any music and make it reach up to 100 kilometers in the surroundings. You can also release sound based on your mind waves. ¡ª 120 RT points. Erix basically emptied his bnce of Robot Treasure points by buying these four items. These items were fun and basically gadget items. He bought what he liked. "Let''s go and y the next game now," Erix said to the trio after he was done. "We already decided on where to go," Aria yfully smiled. "Yep. Just follow us, darling," Rin grinned. "What did you select?" Erix was surprised. "Surprise is more fun, let''s go," Isabe winked with a smile. ¡­ After returning to the vast game hall¡ªnay, it should be called Game in since it was five kilometers in radius wide with a thousand game gates spread over it! The girls led Erix as they followed the blue line, but didn''t tell him about the game''s name. After speedily moving three kilometers, they finally arrived at the gate. "Damn!" Erix eximed with his mouth wide open as he looked at the gate. "Hahaha, this is the game where we shall also win," Rin grinned. Erix gulped. His eyes caught the intro of the game and he was dumbfounded. [Pleasure Pavilion] -> Enter the special Pleasure Fairy Room for 1 hour and fight a passionate battle with your partner. Your powers will be unsealed while inside. The more pleasure in the thirty minutes that is absorbed by the Pleasure Fiary Room, the more Super Pleasure points you can gain and buy exotic and special items by using them in the shop. -Note: Privacy is guaranteed. You select the option to record o -Note: You can also select the option to show your activity on the game room''s screens. ¡­ Erix, Rin, Isabe, and Aria entered inside and saw that if one entered multiple opposite-sex partners, the reward points would be multiplied. The cost to enter once was 50 Arcade points, but when they saw the shop and the items inside, they decided to y this game. ''This is going to be a battle, alright. I only have 1 hour,'' Erix wryly thought. The squad entered their private Pleasure Fairy Room, and the time immediately started. Erix truly fought a battle where he went all out in the next 1 hour, raising a total of 5037 Super Pleasure points. In the end, they bought one of the most expensive items in the shop¡ªYin-Yang Primordial Pleasure Art¡ªwhich cost: 5000 Super Pleasure points. Afterward, the squad returned back to the Game in and started looking for the next game to y. After spending five minutes checking and discussing, they finally decided on the game and arrived at its gate, which had the aesthetic of fancy wooden ships and their designs along with a magical flowing river stream on the gate''s border. [Pirate Rulers: Endless Conequest] -Only a team of 5 can enter this game. You can team up with other yers in the Game Hall. -Upon registering your team and choosing your pirate ship, you can enter the game, loot inds, defeat other pirates, and gain fame to win. Once you gain a certain amount of fame, you can move to the Throne of Pirate Ruler tournament to gain more fame and ess to a special shop. "This game is a team game and also sounds fun," Erix grinned. "Given that we are in this cosmic arcade center, our expectations will surely break," Isabe chuckled. "Let''s go, let''s go," Aria said and entered inside. Rin, Erix, and Isabe also entered inside and arrived in a mysterious open ce under sunny weather on a sandy ind! It was all sands, water ponds, and rivers around them with paths that led to to shop area, central registration booth, and the game entry portal. The squad went to register their team, naming it the same as usual. Unfettered Pirates! Afterward, everyone looked at the list of 1000 ships which made their head spin on which to select. After five minutes, they finally selected their ship and entered the game entry portal. After a brief darkness, everyone found themselves on their selected ship''s deck, which was docked on an ind that was empty, but had strange presences as if they were real but not real. A secondter, the rule chart also appeared. [Rules] - You can finish puzzles and kill monster groups on various inds to earn fame. Each monster grants 10 points of fame and solving puzzles grants 100 points of fame. -Engaging in battle against a pirate group will make you invulnerable to other pirate group''s interference. -Defeating a pirate group will grant you 1000 points of fame. -You can acquire special abilities from Checkpoint Ind by using fame. -Once you reach 5000 points of fame, you will be transferred to the Throne of Pirate Rulers tournament. "Rules are simple, alright. Our powers are sealed and our physical power is at peak Mortal-lifeform rank, so we have to move carefully and use the abilities of our fantasy pirate ship," Erix grinned, excited and thrilled as he looked at the vast ocean. The others were also excited as they looked at this scenery of colorful sky with phenomenons, each phenomenon indicating an exotic ind below it. "Captain, what are the orders?" Isabe chuckled. Erix grinned and jumped behind the steering wheel before saying, "We are going to that red my skull phenomenon." "Rin, pull up the anchor. Aria and Isabe, lower all the sail! We are going there at full speed." Erix looked at the ship''s status and its abilities andughed. ''This is going to be fun.'' [Pirate Ship: Whispering Tempest] _Level: 1 (Reach 100 Fame to reach level 2). Chapter 402: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (6) [Pirate Ship: Whispering Tempest] _Level: 1 (Reach 100 Fame to reach level 2). _Stats: ¡ª> Attack skills: Thunderst Cannons. ¡ª> Defense skills: Storm Field. ¡ª> Movement skills: Vortex Fan. ¡ª> Utility skills: Storm Summon. "100 fame to level 2. This won''t take long," Erix grinned. "Let''s go to that ind and finish off some monsters." The ship sailed forward on the fast flow of the ocean. Erix used Vortex Fan immediately after getting a straight passage towards the destination ind. Chapter Experience: A dark blue lightning fan manifested underwater, causing the surrounding waters to crackle with lightning. The fan spun and the ship instantly zoomed forward at the speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Rin and others had to swiftly grab something or the speed would''ve flung them. "Erix, at least give a warning beforehand." "Sorry. I didn''t expect it to move this fast, haha. Anyway,dies. Grab your weapons from the armory on the 1st hull floor. We are reaching the ind soon." Rin grabbed a sword, Isabe grabbed a shotgun rifle, and Aria picked up two pistoles. After the ship arrived at the ind, they docked it by dropping the anchor while Erix also went to pick up his weapon. After looking at several options, he decided to pick up two chakrams. ''These will be deadly here.'' The squad left their ship and entered the ind. Right as they left, a strange barrier appeared around the ship. No other pirate or phenomenon could touch or break the ship if no yers were inside. Erix and others went into the jungle on the ind and soon started encountering monsters. Giant Razor Ants! Ten ants surrounded them swiftly and the battle began. The Giant Razor Ants scuttled forward with razor-sharp mandibles clicking menacingly. Erix took the lead, swiftly twirling his chakrams with a quick flick of his wrists as they moved forward in a crescent shape, slicing three ants'' heads as they separated from their bodies. The razor-sharp discs sliced through the air and intercepted the ants from the other three directions before they could reach the rest of the crew. Right as the ants were paused and the chakrams returned to Erix, Rin lunged forward with her sword, parrying the attacks of the ants skillfully before swiftly slicing an ant. Isabe positioned herself strategically and took aim with her shotgun rifle, sting off an ant''s head quickly. Only two seconds had passed and five ants were dead. Of the remaining five, two were immediately killed by Aria she gracefully danced around the ants before firing her dual pistols with precision on the two ant''s heads at close range. The three ants targeted Aria, but Isabe dashed forward and sted her shotgun to kill one ant. Another one was killed by Rin throwing her sword right at its forehead while thest one was sliced into two with a throw of chakram by Erix. The first wave of monsters died, and the Unfettered Pirate group gained 100 fame. [Your ship has leveled up. You have gained a treasure chest.] A golden treasure chest adorned with gems appeared before the group, making them surprised. Erix went ahead and opened it, causing faint colorful lights to shine out. Rin, Aria, and Isabe arrived and surrounded the big treasure chest as they looked inside. Shining, colorful, modern weapons! [Tesser Heat Katana] -Description: A thaumaturgy-based energy de capable of slicing even ind rocks. -Effect: ¡ª> Increase your movement speed by 10% while holding the katana. -Durability: [100/100] (Item will be destroyed once durability falls to 0) "This is mine," Rin grabbed the katana. The treasure chest had five more items! "I''ll take boxing gloves," Erix grinned and grabbed the red metallic boxing gloves with golden linings like some futuristic gadget. "I''ll take the spear," Isabe grabbed the ssy crystal spear with red and blue patterns. "Then this is mine," Aria grinned and grabbed theser rifle gun with three modes of shooting. Aria shot at a boulder as a constantser burst released and melted the rock. "Woah!" "This is a big boost indeed," Erix nodded and punched the air, causing winds to form in a small area. "These gloves have the effect of gathering wind around me if I continue to punch and I can control that amount of particr wind, haha. This is gonna be fun to use." "We still have an energy shield," Rin said. "I don''t want to hold on to it because I''ll only focus on attack." "I''ll take it," Isabe said as she grabbed the shield. "I can wield a spear with one hand and hold the shield with the other. If we need it, then I can rush over swiftly for aid and expand the shield." "Good," Erix nodded and then took out thest item¡ªa brown teddy bear with full body armor. "Aria, this is yours," Rin grinned. "You''ll be cute and you also need it, so you can shoot your rifle, which requires both hands." "Okie!" Aria entered inside the brown teddy bear armor, with only her face visible. "Wow, these hands feel like they are mine, and it''s also cool andfortable in the armor." Aria grabbed the rifle with bear hands and since it was a big futuristic rifle already, the bear''s index fingernail couldfortably pull the trigger. This armor gave a certain amount of physical defense and immunity to water and ice attacks. "The next level up will happen at 500 Fame. We need to kill 20 monsters. Let''s move." The group went deeper into the ind, fully equipped with the new powerful gears. However, they got powerful gears for a reason when they arrived in an open area with a cave attached to a hill, a new wave of monsters emerged from them. Giant Earth Beetles! Even though there were only seven of them, the battle still took time to finish because they were tougher and didn''t die in just one attack. Everyone coordinated and attacked their weak spots to kill them. It took them a whole two minutes to kill all of them. The group acquired 70 fame by killing monsters. "Let''s go in that cave," Erix said as he walked towards the cave. "We might find a puzzle here." After everyone entered the cave and walked through a dark passage for a minute, they arrived in a huge cavern illuminated with crystals attached to walls and ground. "There are four statues, three fountains, and the creepy altar in the middle with a grotesque mix of multiple monsters." Rin nodded and added, "This does look like a puzzle." "Let''s look around and see what is it about." The group looked around the cave for ten minutes and inspected the anomalies. Afterward, they spent five minutes solving the puzzle and finally seeded. Chapter 403: Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center (7/7), Fun Pirate Adventure! Returning [You have gained 100 Fame.] The puzzle was solved and the altar in the middle shone before the grotesque monster turned from a statue to a living monster. Everyone worked together and killed this strong boss monster after five minutes. It was too tough and deadly, so they had to fight with caution. Killing it granted them 300 Fame. They onlycked 230 Fame to level up, but got 300 at once and slightly filled up the bar to the next level as well, which required them a total of 1500 fame, and the group was almost a thousand fame short of it. Another treasure chest appeared before them, but this one was different. The items inside were for one-time use only. A smoke bomb that could envelop an area of fifty kilometers! A foam bomb that could create a jumping foam tform within a meter radius upon impact. One could jump over a hundred meters or more by using that, making it a sort of versatile prop. There were six more items with various uses and everyone grabbed two each, hanging them around their belts that came with their pirate outfits. After getting ready and recovering their stamina in a few minutes of rest, the group went back on the same path they hade here and returned to their ship. Pulling the anchor and lowering the sails, the pirate group resumed their adventure. But it wasn¡¯t long before they were caught up in a giant whirlpool, hanging at the edge and going downwards. Not just them, but the whirlpool was moving along the ocean and catching other ships. They couldn¡¯t even escape. "We try to stay at the edge!" Erix shouted amidst the storm and heavy winds as he handled the wheel to control the ship while Rin and others constantly adjusted three big sails of the ship to keep it at the edge of the giant whirlpool. Experience more on NovelBin.C?m Erix tried to use Vortex Fan, but when the ship reached the edge and was about to escape the giant whirlpool, a sudden water wave mmed the ship back into the whirlpool, causing Erix and others to get pped with a strong water wave. "Damn!" They were really in a stormy situation at the moment and barely managed to stabilize again. Everyone realized that this whirlpool wouldn¡¯t let them escape until it wished so. Since a few more ships were dragged into this strange whirlpool that prevented them from escaping, those ships inevitably came close to each other at some distance. And this only entailed one thing. Battle! Five ships trapped in the whirlpool, circling around at the edge by riding its current and fighting each other! Only 1v1 was allowed, so the Unfettered Pirate group soon met a pirate with a sun g with a devilish skull imprinted in its center. "The g unlocks at 3rd level, so they are a level higher than us," Erix said, his eyes glinting with thrill. "Don¡¯t hesitate to act on your ideas if you get one. We are not going to lose this soon!" "Aye aye captain," Rin grinned and readied the Foam Bomb. "I feel like this can do the trick, but we have to drop it precisely and in such a way that ites right under the ship." Erix¡¯s eyes shone. "I got the idea. One of you handle the wheel and leave that bomb to me. When theye near us after this circling, I am going to jump in the water." "What?! How are you going to resist this raging ocean?" Everyone was shocked. "Hahaha, with my gloves of course! I can still keep my head and arms outside while going with the whirlpool¡¯s flow, so I can punch in the air to gather the wind around me and control it enough to prevent myself from getting sucked down." Erix put a wooden rod in the steering wheel. "The steering wheel doesn¡¯t need much touching because I¡¯ve set it such that it would spin on this part of the edge around the whirlpool as long as you keep adjusting the sails ording to the wind." "If sails are not just adjuted with these crazy winds, we¡¯ll get pulled down the whirlpool slowly." "Let¡¯s do this!" Aria shouted with excitement. "They areing," Isabe looked through the binocrs and spotted their enemy, the Devil Sun Pirate group. "We¡¯ll get close to each other with roughly ten meters of distance between us in¡­three to four minutes." Everyone got ready and raring to sh! ¡­ In the end, Erix and others reached 5000 Fame after four hours of fun and fighting in inds and against other pirate groups on an ocean with exotic phenomenons and inds! Since they reached 5000 Fame, they were directly transported to the Throne of Pirate Ruler tournament. This tournament was simpler, but had non-stop fighting! It had three levels and three different-dimensional oceans! On the first level, one had to defeat three pirate groups and earn 3000 Fame before moving up to the 2nd level. Erix and others reached there after an hour. They also reached the goal of earning 5000 Fame and managed to ascend to the third level as well after fighting for another hour. With their level 10 Ship and arousal of skills and items, the group arrived on the final level and fought with many pirate groups. Some escaped, while they also escaped from some. They spent a total of four hours on this stage and earned 9580 Fame before they were destroyed and ended their game! The group earned a total of 22k Fame and also appeared in the leaderboard of the game, ranked 7th rank! "Alright, we should be able to buy the most expensive item with this much Fame," Erix grinned as he looked at the shop area. "True. Also, let¡¯s end our first visit to the Arcade here," Isabe said with a thoughtful expression. "We¡¯ve spent eight hours, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if the Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom arrived anytime now." "Yep," Rin nodded. "Let¡¯s leave after buying." Aria nodded. The squad went to the shop area and four of them looked at the one screen and the items disyed on it. After looking at the items, everyone¡¯s eyes shone. "Doesn¡¯t this look like it can also help us from trouble?" Aria said, pointing at an item. "This one too." "Damn, it was worthwhile toe here, alright!" Erixughed out loud. "We can buy two items out of the highest category items. Let¡¯s choose." Chapter 404: They Are Here They bought 2 items from the Pirate Treasure Shop, both impactful and exotic! Before leaving, they also checked the details of Fortune Ride token, which was the additional reward they got along with the ticket to this Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center. Fortune Ride token turned out to be a game token, but not just any game in there. Instead, it was a token of 3 special games collectively known as Fortune Games. They could use that token to y any of the three games once because only those with the token could y them. The token could be brought if it randomly appeared in one¡¯s shop, or someone could luckily get it, but the chances were low. Still, it was said that everyone got at least one Fortune Ride token during their journey of spending their 1000 Arcade Points. Only those at Empyrean order and lower could enter this cosmic wonder because items there wouldn¡¯t benefit people at Reverend-order and above. Mystic Root and Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center were the same in that regard. Mystic Root also only influenced people until they reach the peak of Empyrean-order while Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center didn¡¯t allow people above Empyrean-order to enter. After finding out details of the Fortune Ride token and other facts, the four of them disappeared by using their Arcade Traversing badge and appeared back in the same spot from where they had used the ticket. Lilith and Amu had finished the formationpletely as they only worked on this for the past nine hours. Most people had no idea why the Unfettered Kingdom did this, but they didn¡¯t concern themselves with that. They were living better than ever under this Kingdom and they could see a bright future ahead. The next day descended soon and the World Gauntlet tournament began. Erix, Rin, and other top powerhouses had the final round pass, so they didn¡¯t fight at first. The rules and rounds were dictated by Mystic Root and all the rounds until the final round were finished by noon. In reality, everyone knew that this tournament was just a formality. They could fight each other and have fun, but no one was aiming for the Ruler position. That position was already filled in everyone¡¯s mind. In the final round, the 15 finalists fought by going all out and fighting each other to death in every round to determine a winner. After all, they were going to get rewards based on their ranking and the reward seemed amazing. Aside from the champion bing the World Ruler, rank 2 to rank 5 would get a position from the four positions aside from World Ruler. As such, everyone was fighting by going all out, though Rin¡¯s and Erix¡¯s opponents didn¡¯t even try to fight back because they couldn¡¯t. All of them died in the blink of an eye in every round. In the final round, Rin and Erix fought against each other without holding back. Everyone witnessed the true power of Rin and Erix in this battle. But they were constantly progressing and improving every day, evident from the deep chasm between their Power Level and the rest. In the end, Erix won the battle. As the tournament came to an end, everyone heard an announcement while the World Counsil¡¯s center changed. [World Council shall officially begin.] [Congrattions. This¡¯s shackles have been broken. You may rule and progress it further.] The ruler¡¯s throne emerged from the ground. It was a dark gold throne carved with dark green, ck, and red patterns that made the throne demonically majestic. A demonic skull with two horns was imprinted on the resting back part. "That looks like it¡¯s tailor-made for me." "True." A secondter, two other smaller thrones to its left and two to its right emerged from the pristine white gold floor adorned with aesthetic patterns. [Please sit on your respective thrones to activate your world¡¯s new core.] Erix sat on the central throne, feeling its cool and soft cushion as he nodded, "It¡¯sfy." Rin and Rin¡¯s mother, Sameira sat on the two thrones left to Erix. Kenshin sat on the right throne, but 5th ce in the ranking was not Isabe¡¯s. It was Yelwon as she sat on the throne. Thousands of people looked at them while sitting on the seats in the surroundings. This World Council stadium had 100,000 seats, so most of them were still empty. "Nah," Yelwon shook her head and stood up. "It¡¯s awkward, so I would like to give this position to someone else." "What?" Amir asked with a dumbfounded expression. The other powerhouses were surprised. "I mean, these four are a family and I am the only outsider," Yelwon rolled her eyes before she looked at Isabe with a faint smile. Soon, everyone heard an announcement. [The position of Resource Manager has been transferred to Isabe.] "Thank you," Isabe smiled and gave a bow. "Haha, I would rather put all focus on getting stronger instead of being in this position," Yelwon chuckled. "Anyway, it was a close call between us." "I¡¯ll defeat you next time," Isabe grinned. "We¡¯ll have to see that," Yelwon faintly smiled and flew away. Isabe sat on the throne. Lilith, Aria, Lily, Amu, Maleina, Zoe, Leon, and other members of the Unfettered Fate guild and Heavenly Melody guild watched them and felt excited and proud. They were with them from the start and now they were at the top of this world. But more changes soon arrived as Isabe sat on the throne that transformed to match her theme of powers. The five of them activated the world¡¯s core and disappeared in the next second, arriving under the World Council in what seemed like an advanced magi-tech office with their thrones. There was a screen before each of them. [Resource Manager] ¡ª Isabe [Dungeon Manager] ¡ª Kenshin Your next journey awaits at NovelBin.C?m [Astral cement Manager] ¡ª Sameira [Dimension Door Manager] ¡ª Rin [World Developer Ruler] ¡ª Erix. Meanwhile, a big portal also appeared outside along with a notification. [You may use this portal to return to any Sanctuary Area and also use the World Portal that appeared on all Sanctuary Areas to arrive at World Council.] The show was over and people returned as they had no use being here anymore. Erix, Rin, Isabe, Sameira, and Kenshin checked out the benefits of their potions and it was mind-blowing, to say the least! Isabe acquired ess to all resources, their locations, and even the power to nurture resources in various ces on Earth. Kenshin acquired ess to all dungeon gates present on Earth and the power to call Dungeon gates! Sameira¡¯s position gave her ess to observe outer space in high detail and also the power to change the¡¯s location from this sr system to another star system! Of course, all of those functions required World Energy which fueled the¡¯s core and this energy was limited but could be gained. It could be gained from people getting powerful and developing the, flourishing it to raise its upper limit from the current 100 Power to higher. This was basically a worse version of Blessed Ind. Erix brought Lilith and others to this special management hall to discuss some things. "Yeah, let¡¯s begin," Lilith nodded and grinned. "Integrating our Blessed Ind to the is a must. Since this evolved thanks to Mystic Root, the integration would bring better results." "Alright, then we¡¯ll have to fully focus on upgrading our Blessed Ind to the next rank," Erix firmly nodded. "The moment we upgrade it and unlock that feature, I¡¯ll begin the integration." "Guys¡­. something is approaching towards us very fast," Sameira called out as she saw a huge ship directly entering the Earth¡¯s atmosphere. "Look." Everyone looked at the big disy that appeared in the hall. It showed a giant portal that was over five kilometers in radius and something emerged from it. In the next second, everyone saw a giant fancy space zeppelining out, its size whopping five kilometers in height and 3.5 kilometers wide! "That spaceship is too big," Lilith frowned. "Why did they bring such a huge spaceship?" "Their forces, their underlings," Maleina said, her expression turning grave as she looked at the ship. "This is a Senior-ss ship, and it is only moved when one of their executives is on a mission. This size¡­I¡¯m afraid they are here with over a thousand Empyrean-order powerhouses." "So, Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom¡¯s top force is here," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We expected a Reverend-order powerhouse toe, so it¡¯s no surprise, but the reality is that now will protect us from them except for Sanctuary Area now." Lilith looked at everyone and they also looked at her, "If we want to survive, then we have to do it under them. You all know what we have to do." ¡¯This period is going to be rough,¡¯ Lilith internally sighed. "We will endure and adjust until we integrate the Blessed Ind into this," Erix said, his eyes filled with resolve. "We have to do everything cautiously from now on, especially hiding the existence of Blessed Ind." "Let¡¯s return first," Amu said as he floated up. "If they will approach the strongest first, then they wille to us. We have to get back on our Blessed Ind and let them enter inside." "That¡¯s right," Lilith nodded. "Our formation has hidden all traces that could give away Blessed Ind¡¯s nature, so even if they somehow find out that there¡¯s a Blessed Ind from other people by hearing a description of our floating ind, then they should still not suspect that thend behind the Labyrinth Tower is the Blessed Ind." ¡­ Everyone returned to their disguised Blessed Ind. Erix also deactivated the beneficial effect and diffused the strong atmosphere of Blessed Ind to the surrounding forest. The people living on the Blessed Ind were also informed not to mention anything regarding that, tho the term ¡¯Blessed Ind¡¯ was only something that few people knew. As Aeron and others sat under the Dreanox Tree, they soon felt an aura approaching them from the sky. "One aura," Lilith muttered before her eyes slowly shook. "It¡¯s a Reverend-order powerhouse." Everyone looked up and saw a faint light that vanished before they saw a person floating above the Sanctuary Area¡¯s barrier. The Sanctuary Area was expanding in area and since Blessed Ind moved behind Labyrinth Tower, a Sanctuary Area also appeared around it. However, Bill passed through the barrier with a simple means by taking an oath not to kill the people inside, causing Mystic Root to allow him entry. ¡¯How?¡¯ Erix and others were startled because they didn¡¯t know how he managed to enter inside. "Not bad, not bad," Billughed as he looked at Erix and others as he took off his cowboy hat and bowed. "I am Bill of the Blue Maw. Pleased to meet you." Bill grinned and his gaze went around the ind along with his senses as he added, "I have to say though, I certainly wasn¡¯t expecting a Blessed Ind here." Chapter 405: The Visit & Plans (1/2) ''He already found out?'' Lilith''s heart raced while her brain''s gears moved fast after hearing Bill''s words. ''The formation is strong as I can also activate Stealth and ughter formation.'' ''Blessed Ind will give a high recovery buff to the owner and Pirs.'' ''The chances of killing this Reverend-order powerhouse here are not zero, but his surviving chances are 100.'' Lilith swiftly thought of many things in the span of a second and many spections, but Bill dying was not one of them. ''He can escape no matter what we do even if we cane close to killing him.'' Internally shaking her head, Lilith knew it was time to improvise after interacting with Bill. "Tsk. We thought the formation hid it, but you easily discovered it," Erix clicked his tongue, his eyes on Bill. "What''s your n now?" Bill curiously asked as he sat down on a chair that suddenly appeared behind him. He swept his gaze at everyone¡ªErix, Rin, Lilith, Aria, Isabe, Lily, Maleina, Sameira, Kenshin, Amu, Dragon de Throne, and Talonar. ''Interesting group and they are the strongest on this. They''ve built a kingdom and gathered a lot of people as a workforce and society for faster progress.'' ''Fast. They skipped a whole phase of development that others under Mystic Root usually follow because of the difference in power between them and others and already gathered the''s strongest force under them.'' "Not our n. What is your n?" Kenshin asked, his muscled arms crossed and back straight as he somberly looked at Bill. Bill chuckled and said, "Indeed, we are here with a n. I would appreciate very much if you give us a hand in that. This way, many lives and much time will be saved." "And what is your n?" Rin asked, her eyes narrowing. "One," Bill showed his index finger. "Just one million ves at Royal-order lifeform rank," Bill grinned. "Your''s current poption is 3.8 million and you have 1.3 million people in your city." Sameira''s fist clenched. "We are not asking for much and frankly, we want to finish our task as fast as possible," Bill chuckled and pped his thigh before grinning. "So how about this?" "We''ll leave your citizens alone, but the rest of the poption is ours. We''ll gather them, round them up, and take them back with us." "Of course," Bill continued, "We need them to be influenced by Mystic Root so they can get stronger faster and reach Royal-order." After saying that, Bill stood up and added with a smile. "Anyway, I am just here to inform you. If you obstruct our actions, then don''t expect this Sanctuary Area to save you." Erix and the others didn''t say anything and just showed normal reactions. Erix and Rin remained indifferent while Isabe and Aria had their fists clenched. The others also had various reactions to his deration, and it was for Bill to notice. Those reactions were genuine, so Bill did not doubt his judgment. Bill smiled at their silence and nodded. "You realize the difference in power. Truthfully, I think you all have potential, so I''ll discuss this with my partner to let you in and ride along into the wide universe." Erix''s expression changed and he narrowed his eyes. "You want Blessed Ind?" "Hahaha, we have a big ass Blessed Ind and know that It''s tricky to get forceful ownership from others," Bill said with augh. "We don''t have time for this, so I am just genuinely interested in adding to our organization." "We have a general purpose like other organizations," Bill grinned. "Getting powerful and growing further. Think about joining us while I judge whether to let you in or not." After saying that, Bill vanished from the Sanctuary. Everyone was silent for a couple of seconds. "Let''s assess the situation first," Lilith with a small frown as she sat down with a pondering expression. "First, we don''t have to worry about Blessed Ind getting snatched. But integrating the ind with a will rm them." Erix nodded. "This development is unfavorable to them because this integration will give us the power to expel them from our evolved Blessed Ind after integrating with the and we will have enough defense against them. Basically, Reverend-order won''t be our threat and that''s why this has been our top priority." "And we have toplete this without them interrupting," Rin wryly smiled. "Can we hide such a bigmotion from them?" Isabe asked. "Nope," Lilith shook her head before she sharply said. "That''s why we have to prepare for that moment." "You have a n," Sameira said as she raised her eyebrows. "I just thought of one," Lilith wryly smiled before clearing her throat. "Let''s go with opening our process in discussion. I''ll tell you what we''ll do after that." Erix nodded. "First, we willply with these pirates to show that we won''t be their hindrance. This will give us space and time to focus on meeting upgrade requirements to upgrade our Blessed Ind to the 3rd stage to unlock Integration." "We have to ignore whatever they do?" Aria''s neck shrank, feeling disheartened because she heard how brutal they were. Clenching her fists, she sighed and said, "I understand why we have to do that, so let''splete this objective as fast as possible." "That''s right," Rin said with a ruthless glint in her eyes. "We have to work faster on this so we can throw the trash outside of our territory." Kenshin and Sameira nodded and added one after another. "Erix, we should make everyone work to meet the ind''s upgrade requirement, but without telling them about it," Kenshin said. "The other party has Blessed Ind as well, so they would surely know about the integration feature and its capabilities." "Yep, as always," Erix nodded. "It''s good we haven''t told others our Ind''s functions and features. Only us and a few others from our guild know about it, but they are trustworthy." Everyone nodded. "I believe the formations were notpletely useless," Lilith smiled. "The aura and key parts of the Blessed Ind, and mainly its core obscured well enough that he doesn''t know the Ind''s true rank or he assumed its first stage Blessed Ind." "But we will lose this advantage once the integration process begins, so we will take countermeasures from today onwards to prevent them from interrupting us," Lilith said with a sharp expression. "And this n is for that." "First, we have to secretly move this Blessed Ind somewhere under the ground. If the Blessed Ind is 1000 kilometers deep, that''s best," Lilith grinned and looked at Erix. Erix''s eyes shed andughed, "Alright. I''ll make a teleport formation after finding a good spot 1000 kilometers under the ground. Our Ind is self-sustained, so we don''t need to worry about its location." "How about we change our Ind''s location several times before that? Might as well travel with it." Lily suggested with a reason. "So when our Ind disappears at the final transport to the underground, they won''t pay much heed to it." "That''s a good idea," Rin grinned. "Since we being cautious, we have to be cautious to the maximum." Everyone nodded in agreement with that. "It''s just one chance, so let''s be careful as much as possible to make the integration a sess. If we fail at this, then we will not have any other choice but to run," Lilith wryly smiled. "Anyway, let''s list our objectives, so we will be in the clear and move to the next step." Chapter 406: The Visit & Plans (2/2) "I will find a good spot under the ground because I can easily scout such a spot. Once it''s found, I will work on a spatial formation that can teleport our Ind directly there," Erix said with a smile. "Amu and I will build moreyers of formation in the Blessed Ind and we will require everyone''s help. In case they find our Ind during the integration process, we have to obstruct them until the process ispleted," Lilith sharply said. "To bepletely safe, let''s not hold back on this and create as many defense and obstructive formations as we have." "We will help," Sameira nodded. "Everyone will contribute resources for this, not just us." Kenshin grinned and said, "All guild leaders will do that because nobody wants to be a ve." Everyone nodded. It was true. They still had much freedom with benefits by staying under the Unfettered Kingdom. However, the other party was not like that. To them, everyone was a ve. The way Bill talked to them was like he was talking to insignificant people withplete disregard for them and everyone could clearly feel that. "What should I do?" Aria asked. "Aria, Isabe, and Rin can manage the tasks to give to others to speed up our work," Lilith said before turning to Erix. "Erix, can you make the list of Blessed Ind''s upgrade requirements?" Erix waved his hand and created a white metallic board before writing the tasks on it with shining and clear ck carvings with his control. "First is to have 5000 residents of Blessed Ind at Royal-order," Erix said. "This is easy," Rin nodded. "This thing about Residents and Pirs status is something only we know about. The whole city has over fifty-thousand Royal-order powerhouses, so this task is basicallypleted." "Let''s not be in a hurry for this, dear" Sameira said with a smile. "It''s better if all 5000 people are those we can trust and from our guild or allied trustworthy guilds." "True," Rin nodded. "We are getting Royal-order powerhouses daily with how everyone is progressing, so it won''t take long this way." Everyone nodded. "Moving onto the second requirement," Erix continued. "We need 100 people at Empyrean-order lifeform rank. This is easy." Erix smiled, "We can give resident status to the Empyrean-order powerhouses of various ns that are in close and good ties with us as our kingdom''s subordinate ns." "They are alsopletely dependent on us and now that Blue Maw pirates are here, they have no choice but to rely on us," Lily nodded. "Yep. We have to do that. Only thirty people have broken through to Empyrean-order so far among natives, so we can let those ns in to meet this requirement," Rin nodded. "We''ve already put six ns on our Ind''s territory, so we can add more. We don''t even have to worry about space because we have plenty." The ind''s size expanded to a 15-kilometer diameter after the upgrade, so it was quite vast and enough to house many people. Those focused on power were already thirsting to live in it because of the benefits of fast training. "The third task is that 1000 residents must have their souls awakened." "Hmmm, this can be a bit challenging to finish fast," Lilith rubbed her chin. "Everyone can''t awaken their souls even with help, but they can be guided to awaken it." "I can help that guide," Aria suddenly said with a big grin as she got an idea. "But we have to be careful and keep it hidden from pirates that we are finishing tasks to upgrade the ind, so let''s build a Spirit Training Hall. Inside this hall, I can make people suffer nightmares with my spiritual power and put them through situations that can increase the chances of awakening their souls." "Good idea," Lily chuckled. "Let me also help in that." "Alright, then Aria and Lily will handle that," Erix grinned. "Rin and I will manage resources so Lilith and Amu can build as many formations as possible," Isabe smiled. "Busy Days inbound," Amu howled with a big grin. "Let''s finish this and throw that cocky bastard away from our world, hehe. I also know what next step of my evolution, so wait for it." Everyone was startled at the news. "You can evolve now? To what and how?" Lilith curiously asked. "Tell us, Amu," Aria giggled and was eager to see Amu evolving after he gave up on his source and power to travel with her and became a truly contracted spirit fairy with her. "Nope. It''s a secret. You will know when it happens," Amuughed out loud in his usual childish voice. "Tsk, fine," Rin rolled her eyes while others also wryly smiled. "Alright, since we know what to do then let''s start right away," Erix nodded with a smile and snapped his finger. Instantly, a group of people was suddenly teleported from another part of the Blessed Ind to the ground in front of Erix and others. They were guild leaders of the guilds who were trustworthy and allied with the Unfettered Kingdom, with given ranks of Baron and Dukes to their leaders. They were residents of Blessed Ind and lived in their territory on the ind. Each of those guilds also had their bases outside, but they put their main bases on the Ind. The majority of their members were outside and only those the guild leaders found trustworthy and with potential with clean backgrounds were allowed to be Blessed Ind''s residents. The total number of guild leaders was 143, including all top 100 Guilds and powerhouses. In the first ce, they were not part of the Unfettered Kingdom because they were in the top 100. Nope. They were part of the top 100 only because they were part of the Unfettered Kingdom. Under this solid cohesion known as the Unfettered Kingdom, the residents of Blessed Ind progressed faster than others. The kingdom was also distributing resources, and resource gathering was also super fast due to efficient grouping, tasks, coordination, and the over one million poption working under this single entity! It would be even faster progress now because the World Council''s ruler and other members belonged to none other than the Unfettered Kingdom! The 143 guild leaders and six n leaders that Erix teleported were also in discussion regarding the visit from Bill. They were nervous, stout, stiff, worried, and anxious because they wanted to know what was going to happen now that the infamous Blue Maw pirate kingdom''s group arrived here with their giant spaceship. "They are here, just as we predicted, and they came with a force that surpassed our expectations," Erix stated, his expression somber. "They want one million ves at Royal-order lifeform rank." "We don''t have that number of Royal-order people on the in the first ce, but they will train people by exploiting Mystic Root''s benefits on them and make them reach that rank," Rin added. "We don''t know what and how they will do it." "But they want ves and not subordinates. I''m sure they will use crooked ways, so we will find that out soon." Everyone''s expression changed, turning somber and grave. Chapter 407: One Choice Everyone began internal discussions at hearing the number of ves and the power of ves they wanted! "What is their stance and determination toplete their job here?" Yelwon asked with a frown. "And did you find their number of force or such a thing?" James asked, his expression thoughtful. "We can make some ns if we have that information." "Nope. They have aplete disregard for us," Rin wryly smiled. "That bastard that came here just told us what they were going to do and that if we obstruct them, even Sanctuary Areas will not be able to save us." "They have a force of over 1000 Empyrean-order and two Reverend-order powerhouses, so forget about fighting back," Lilith stated as she shook her head. "They have the power to break Sanctuary Area, so nobody is safe." Everyone''s expression changed again, bing graver. Even if they wanted to stand against their atrocities, it would be the same as courting death! "But they will not target Unfettered Kingdom''s citizens because they don''t want to waste time against needless resistance and increase their work. There is enough public outside our kingdom, so they will focus on them," Erix said. These words changed everyone''s expression again like a roller-coaster. Most of them looked relieved. "Cultivating one million Royal-order powerhouses doesn''t seem to be an easy and quick task," Gabriel furrowed his thick eyebrows. "First of all, what you all heard from us was the same thing he told us," Erix said, his eyes narrowed. "We don''t know what they will do, so we can''t rule out the possibility that they will also target us." "If they do that, it''s game over," Rin said with a sigh. "This pirate group urgently came here to take ves, and I figure it''s better for them if they bring more." "ves are resources that can be a very valuable and expendable workforce with considerable output, and¡­they want Royal-order ves," Amir frowned. "I doubt they will hesitate about adding more ves if they can." "So we are not safe, but they will not target us initially." "Actually," Erix coughed, squashing the internal discussion that began as everyone put their attention on him. "We are not in much danger. If they do anything, then you all and the rest will have to face problems. Everyone was confused. "What do you mean?" Jason jerked his head in doubt and confusion as he asked loudly. "We have the means to leave this. They won''t even stop us few from leaving," Rin said with a in, indifferent smile. Everyone''s expression changed while murmurs began. The ns werepletely dependent on the Unfettered Kingdom, and the rest of the ns spread over the world didn''t even have the protection of the Sanctuary Area as they were not natives. They were in the most trouble as they were likely the first targets for the Blue Maw pirate group. "Will you abandon us if the situation forces that?" Leiro, the leader of the Zerian demon n asked. His expression wasced with concern. He had swornplete allegiance to the Unfetered Kingdom, and their progress and survival depended on them. The other n leaders were also concerned because Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom would definitely target the various ns that were not part of the Unfettered Kingdom. If Erix and others left, they would lose protection and be ves. This one question of Leiro causedplete silence as everyone looked at Erix, Rin, and others. The guild leaders were also troubled. Nobody wanted to be a ve, so Erix and others leaving was a worst-case scenario for them. "That is, my dear folks of the kingdom, for you to decide," Erix wryly smiled and swept his nce at everyone. "We have some tasks toplete. If weplete these tasks as soon as possible, then we will have a happy ending." "If not, then you all will have a sad ending." "Tasks?" Yelwon raised her eyebrows. "Yes. We shall begin the meeting to discuss what we will be doing from now on. We have clear objectives toplete. If you want to have a happy ending to this event and not be ves, then I want everyone''s full focus on them," Rin sharply said. "But before that, I want all of you to swear a spiritual oath that you will not talk about anything of this meeting with others, not even your guild members or n members." Erix snapped his finger andpletely shut off the Ind. Nobody would be able to escape even if they tried. "Take a spiritual oath that if you reveal anything of this meeting to others, then your mind and body will die, and your spirit will shatter into nothingness," Erix said. "This must be in effect until we finish the so-called tasks." "Must we take that oath?" Leishun asked with a weak smile. "True, we all want to survive, and you are our only way. Betraying you is digging our own grave." However, Erix''s powerful aura suddenly bore down on everyone as they experienced suffocation and turned silent. Erix stepped forward and floated as he looked at the group of leaders. His expression turned indifferent and utterly cold as his overwhelming aura caused everyone''s expression to be difficult. "To prevent even a whiff of suspicion from getting out, I want all of you to take this oath about not revealing anything that you will see and her or even mention of this meeting to anyone." "You became part of this kingdom and received benefits. You are hopeless without us, and you know that. So¡­" Erix narrowed his eyes before he continued, his next words causing a dreadful chill to suffuse everyone. "I will only ept your leave from this¡­if you ept death." In short, nobody had any say in this matter. Either take the oath or die. A burst of light released from Koshal for a brief moment before he smiled. "I will not reveal anything that I hear or see in this meeting or even the mention of this meeting to anyone." "If I do, then may my mind and body die and spirit scatter into nothingness." A ck spiritual chain manifested and wrapped around Koshal for a moment before disappearing. Yelwon also finished her oath as she uttered it in a clear and cut voice. It wasn''t long before everyone took the oath, with no one missing out. "Good. Now, let''s start." .... The meeting finished after an hour while Bill and Rani had already started working. They were bored traveling for the past month, so they didn''t waste time. Rani ordered Bill''s subordinates and her subordinates to find the ns and people that were not under the protection of the Sanctuary Area. She then started working on other things while Bill soon returned. "I talked with the strongest group here. They already knew about us from the n we used, so it seems they knew our terror, haha." Bill said with augh as he arrived beside Rani and looked at the various screens. "Good. Now, go and release our Empyrean-order ves," Rani said while looking at the various scenery of the. "We have to collect resources and create formations." "If possible, let''splete our task within the next three to six months. Mystic Root will continue to bring out events and dungeons, so we have to make sure the native ves go through them and collect the resources." "With your specialty, they will dly do that," Bill grinned. "Alright, let''s begin." Chapter 408: Progress From the giant zeppelin spaceship, 500 Empyrean-order ves and 10 people leading them emerged from a big door that opened from the ship''s body. The 10 people leading them were subordinates of Rani and Bill. Each of them took 50 Empyrean-order ves with them and went out to capture people. More specifically, their first targets were people outside of Sanctuary Areas and the ns of various races that were transported here by Mystic Root. On the other hand, Erix and others started working after finishing the meeting in an hour. Erix went out in search of a good spot under the ground 1000 kilometers deep. One of the guild leaders was a scientist and he knew about some research on Deep Earth, so he told it to Erix who had the job of finding a spot underground. Approximately 1000 kilometers deep were big boreholes with big space. The area was high temperature and rich with minerals and ores that formed from heat and other reactions. As such, Erix expanded his senses to 700 kilometers underground with this Space Mapping ability, which was his current maximum range. He teleported to hollow spots and started searching for a ce big enough to house the Blessed Ind. Not even an hour passed before he finally found a perfect ce! It was a hollow space vast enough to stretch 30 kilometers in diameter! ''Perfect,'' Erix grinned and started creating a portal. After a few seconds, he formed a portal and connected it to the General Portal he had created near Dreanox Tree for people to use. General Portal was a sophisticated portal gate with a function to specifically teleport to any of the Erix''s portals. He entered inside and returned to the Blessed Ind. No one was present here as everyone was busy with the tasks. He contacted the main team in spiritual chat, connecting to Rin, Lilith, Isabe, Aria, Lily, Maleina, Amu, Sameira, and Kenshin. ''I found the spot. I am starting to create a space formation to teleport the ind directly there. I think it will take seven to nine hours.'' ''Great. We''ve already started picking promising individuals and sending them to Aria''s Spirit Training hall. We''ll have to see how long it takes,'' Rin said. ''Sameira and I also formed channels with guild leaders. They''ll be distributing resources and creating training camps for people to finish their breakthroughs to Royal-order rank,'' Isabe said. ''If all goes as nned, we''ll finish the first two requirements in five days to a week.'' ''Good. Let''s keep the pace up. We have to finish as fast as possible,'' Erix said before cutting off the call and started making formations. Lilith and Amu were already busy creating formations and they were not going to stop until they exhausted the resources to create formations. The top 20 rank powerhouses and those above who had reached Empyrean-order lifeform rank were required to form training camps with other leaders and train people en mass to break through to Royal-order rank. The vibe of the kingdom changed as a whole because even though the majority of the poption didn''t know what was happening, the workload and efforts increased for everyone. The warehouses filled with resources were getting exhausted speedily as potions, pills, and items, and everything was used as formation materials and crafting potions, pills, and other items. The number of people entering dungeons and the creation of new dungeons for resources also increased. Kenshin was working in his position for that, increasing resource output as a whole. The poption also started gushing into Phoenix City as the Unfettered Kingdom further expanded every day. This was because the majority of guilds under the Unfettered Kingdom had connections to various Sanctuary Areas, and everyone was going there due to increased resources and work for rewards appearing around the Unfettered Kingdom. Isabe was handing her Resource Manager position in World Council to build that every day! The number of guilds under the Unfettered Kingdom that got residency on Blessed Ind numbered 187, and each of them had 8 to 15 Royal-order powerhouses. Combing that with members of Heavenly Melody, Unfettered Fate, ves, and some other people, they already had around 3.2k Royal-order residents. Only two days passed, but everyone was working and busy as a bee all day and night. The top powerhouses were not even sleeping, but they made sure everyone else trained and got powerful, breaking through to Royal-order. Lily and Aria also worked all day and night to make sure the top Royal-order and those in the Empyrean-order who hadn''t awakened their soul yet awakened them as soon as possible. In the blink of an eye, three more days passed by. During these five days, the Blue Maw Pirate group had rounded up over a million people. In their giant spaceship had a dimensional door connected and coordinated to a private dimension as big as a. They sent the captured natives and people of various races there. Their methods to snatch people could bebeled as indifferent. They forcefully brought back every single individual above the age of 10 while ignoring everyone below 10. If a parent had a kid, they dragged away the parent and left the kid on its own. They had no regard for anything other than their task. After throwing those people into their private dimension, they began their training and brainwashing with Rani''s devices and the dimension''s functions. It was a resourceful dimension tailor-made and arranged to nurture ves and make them powerful, so they could do more and better work for them. This was their modus operandi. ¡­ On the 5th day''s noon, Erix and the main group sat at a table under the Dreanox Tree. "Our status is good at the moment," Erix said with a grin. "We have 32 ns settled and their 73 Empyrean-order powerhouses. Combining that with other Empyrean-order residents, we have a total of 108 Empyrean-order ranks." "With 187 guild bases settled on our ind, their members, n members, and other people at 5017 Royal-order rank, two tasks for Blessed Ind upgrade are finished," Isabe smiled. "How''s it going at Aria and Lily?" Rin asked. "We are almost finished. We have 894 people with souls awakened not including us," Aria grinned. "The next batch of top Royal-order people wille out today and I think we''ll make sure over one hundred Royal-order''s awaken their souls," Lily chuckled and added. "We''ll be finished with our n tonight and can make a move tomorrow." "Bwahaha, now listen to this news," Amu said as its slimy figure sparkled and oozed out a sparkling liquid that formed a number at the center of the tale. 493. "That''s the number of formations we''ve built," Lilith smiled. "Each one is defensive and deceiving, filled with obstruction. They have the power to destroy multipleyers of formations at once, but we have this many and we are still continuing." "Well add another hundred today," Amu grinned. "They''ve captured over a million people and are still doing it," Sameira said. "I can observe everything on Earth, so I specifically focus on them. It seems they are not interested in us or anything as long as they finish their tasks for now." "For now," Kenshin nodded. "So It''s better if we finish upgrading Ind tomorrow and start integration." While they were in a meeting, some individuals of the Blue Maw Pirate group were approaching their ind with some clear intentions that were certainly not positive. Chapter 409: Nasty Intentions, The Breakdown (1) "Yes. They can reveal their fangs anytime," Maleina said with a frown. "They have such a big force of Empyrean-order and two Reverend-order powerhouses. If they can, then they will definitely bring more ves and people for their benefit." Suddenly, everyone sensed a powerhouse aura approaching them. They sensed it because those auras were deliberately directing their intent toward the Ind, at Erix, and others who were inside. This Blessed Ind was not in Phoenix City at the moment. Instead, it was floated over a mountain range on the eastern continent. They''ve been changing the Ind''s position once or twice a day for the past five days, though with Erix''s spacework, it wasn''t a problem for anyone on the Ind to go anywhere anytime. There were portals throughout the Blessed Ind for every guild and n, and some big structures were built on the Ind like Spirit Training Hall, Central Pce for work and tasks management, Alchemy Pce, and Magsmith Pce. There was also a hidden warehouse where Lilith and Amu had created the arcane crystal runes and sigils for 493 defensive formations. The ind had exotic biomes everywhere, but it was starting to look filled in many of those areas. The three people arrived and floated outside the ind, their gazes and senses observing people on it, but soon their senses were blocked as Erix activated Blessed Ind''s passive functions of the barrier-pool. "I can''t believe these rif-raffs got a Blessed Ind, hahaha. Lucky indeed." The one who spoke was a slim man in a white suit and ck tie, wearing red ss specs. He had a blond-haired ponytail and looked in histe twenties. "Maze, don''t say that. You were also a rif-raf of a lower world like them," said the only woman in this group of three. She had snake-like ck hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a ck tight dress with a belt at her waist and sparkling embroidery designs of dark colors on her dress. She thought she looked beautiful, but she looked like a creep with her big and dark part under her eyes. "Come on, Kristy," Maze rolled his eyes. "They look promising." Maze and Kristy looked at theirstpanion in the group with a speechless expression. "Old man Barak, don''t you go and hold back in this task," Maze snorted. "Even if the boss wants new subordinates, we don''t. We are here to beat them and show them their ce, so do that part please." Barak was a brown-beared man with a in gray robe and a white cloth belt at his waist. He was a muscr hunk with big arms with 7 feet of height. Erix appeared in front of them, right outside the Blessed Ind''s barrier. "Gutsy," Maze removed his specs and looked at Erix with raised eyebrows. "You know you are outside of any protection and can be killed." Erix raised his eyebrows before he faintly smiled, "I am not standing in front of a Reverend-order powerhouse." "Not bad," Barak nodded with a smile. "Our boss said he told you to consider joining us. We are here for that." "If you can prove your worth, you''ll get a higher position and treatment," Kirsty said with an indifferent expression. "Gather your strongest five people ande out. We have two important spots to fill, so if you are worthy, we''ll choose two of you." Whatever they said was of course getting ryed to Rin and others in live. They could it on a spatial screen made of space matter. ''Rin, let''s remember these bitches. We''ll look down on them like thister,'' Erix internally snorted. ''That''s right. Do you see those eyes? They are fucking treating us like trash,'' Rin grunted. ''Except that big guy,'' Kenshin said with a cough. ''He looks strongest.'' ''Anyway, we have toply with them and show that we are with them,'' Lilith said. ''They want to test five people so, Rin, I, Lily, and¡­'' ''I want to go,'' Kenshin grinned. ''Alright. This will also be a good opportunity to expand our horizons,'' Lilith said with a wry smile. Outside, Erix nodded at them, "We are ready, but we will battle inside the Blessed Ind, in a separate pocket dimension." "Oh? You have a pocket dimension?" Barak asked in surprise. "Yeah, I recently made a breakthrough in Space element and managed to find one after learning a new power of space element," Erix said as he floated back, passing through the barrier and entering the Blessed Ind while waving his hand to create a portal before the trio. "This will lead to the pocket dimension. The other four people are already there." Indeed, Erix broke through to 5th realm in Space element while he was creating spatial formation at the hollow spot under 1000 kilometers after he was done creating one for the Blessed Ind. He had to make two ends of the formations so that the Blessed Ind could go from one spatial formation to another. He got this enlightenment on the 2nd day and unknowingly spent the next two days in meditation, acquiring an unexpected boost of power. "Did you anchor this pocket dimension with Blessed Ind?" Maze asked with narrowed eyes. "Obviously," Erixughed. "What if we identally die during your test?" Maze grinned, "You were right to do that." ''This brat is too confident because he is the top dog here. Let''s show them what the real top dogs outside of Mystic Root''s influence look like,'' Maze sneered. Maze, Barak, and Kirsty entered the portal and arrived in the pocket dimension which was a sky sparkling with aurora and an array of yellow stars at one spot that illuminated the world. Each pocket dimension was a natural and closed system of the cosmos, able to produce a life of exotic nature ording to its core. Rin, Lilith, Lily, and Kenshin floated several meters above the vast grassy in whileMaze, Kristy, and Barak also arrived before them as they floated a kilometer away. Erix shortly arrived and floated beside the group. Seeing him arriving, Barak said with a lightugh while his words echoed far, "The test is rather simple. One by one, you will pick one of us and fight. The others will simply watch." "The fight will end when you give up," Maze grinned. "Well, you will also die but since you have prepared for revives, we''ll be lenient and won''t kill your soul so you can resurrect. Worry not." "Who wille forward first?" Kristy asked, her tone indifferent. "Let''s begin and finish it fast because I personally don''t believe any of you are worthy." ''Too much yapping,'' Rin was annoyed. ''I know they are powerful, but we are not sitting ducks. Let''s show them what we got.'' "Let''s start with me," Kenshin said with a smile, his gaze on Barak. Before he could speak, Barak disappeared and arrived before Kenshin, stretching his hand, "Barak of Martial Gray." Kenshin nodded, shaking his hand, "Kenshin¡­of Unbound Martial." "Did you just make that up?" Barak blinked. "Yes," Kenshin grinned. "Hahahaha," Barakughed out loud before he nodded, "I shall allow you three moves because I want to make an observation." He cupped his fist and did a martial bow with a smile. "Let''s begin." Chapter 410: Kenshins Peak Form, Brutal Battle, The Breakdown (2) Kenshin''s body was wrapped in a sharp red aura while his fists caught up into a gray me with ck wisps. Some strange ck and red tattoos appeared on his skin as he went all out and entered hisbat form. Taking a stance akin to Kamehameha, he gathered his energies to execute his skill as his body started shining while tendrils forming patterns manifested around him. ''Roaring Tiger''s Hunt.'' *Roar!* Kenshin executed his skill by throwing both of his hands forward as the exotic orb of energy transformed and stormed forward, taking the shape of a ck tiger''s roaring head with dark red stripes and magic patterns. [Roaring Tiger''s Hunt] _Attributes: ¡ª> Elements: Darkness, Blood, Wind, Lightning, Water, Galeriot (Exotic Element of Darkness x Wind x Lightning) ¡ª> Concepts: Flow, Tempest. _Effect: Conjures a devastating storm with a perfect flow after getting struck by the roaring tiger projectile. It has a powerful sucking force with an established flow at the center to trap the target and deal continuous damage every millisecond with its attributes'' effects creating a tempest for devastating damage. The majestic projectile of the tiger''s head spanning over ten meters in radius was so fast that it appeared right before Barak and struck him. Kenshin also had an attribute concept of Wind, called Krigerlit Wind that made his wind element increasingly sharp, faster, and powerful while changing its color to a faint sparkling bluish, giving it deadly static charges. It could enhance further upon interaction with any light or lightning power, making it more potent. This skill was one of Kenshin''s most powerful skills recently created. It struck Barak as the tiger''s maw ate him before the phenomenon of the skill transformed and created a whirling ck-blue storm that exploded with red micro-sts around Barak as the super destructive powers formed with the interaction of his elements and concepts. However, Barak was still amidst the tempestive storm, and his head moved for a couple of nods after two seconds. "Not bad." In the next second, Barak made a clean chop in front of him with his right hand, exuding a powerful gust of wind in a circr shape expanding around him and dispersing Kenshin''s attack. "Two more." Kenshin took a deep breath and vanished as he activated his Domain in domain burst mode, causing a catastrophd and sea with ck lightning tempest, blood tempest, storms, and such phenomena everywhere affected by his Tempest and Flow concept and their effects. Two giant lightning-water drums manifested to his sides and transformed into exotic solid drums before two ck drumsticks with blue patterns also appeared and started ringing them. On the other hand, Kenshin''s figure exuded a burst of crackling colorful aura akin to the tempest of lightning before he transformed into a wingless ck lightning dragon with colorful patterns of his elements. This dragon had a powerful, and potent flow formed sophisticated in its body, constructing a powerful system for Kenshin to execute his most powerful skills. Instantly as he finished his transformation, boosted by the buffs from his domain, Dragon Kenshin opened his draconic mouth, releasing a burst of colorful lightning sparks like a in arge area that chain reacted in intense and colorful firecrackers that exploded around Baraks. Dragon Kenshin''s whiskers glowed as they conjured static clouds of Galeriot element, housing a great potent power with a perfect flow. They swiftly bolted above Barak''s and rained down destructive cerulean-ck bolts of Galeriot lightning with blood sparks as theynded on Barak''s enveloping him in blinding colorful light of tempestive destruction. Barak''s aura was specific. It was like a starry faint white and flowed gently around him amidst all the destruction. "A praiseworthy construct of the skill indeed," Baraks nodded as he eyed the Dragon Kenshin, finding hisbat form sophisticated. Not just him, but Erix, Rin, Lilith, and Lily were also surprised. They were seeing this form of Kenshin for the first time! "Damn, Dad created a crazybat form," Rin''s eyes glinted and her expression betrayed her shock. "That dragon is so powerful, its formation is ayer above mine." "This skill construct is better than both of us while using less," Erix was amazed and thrilled as well. He was learning from it as well. ''He is using his Flow concept toote now that it has reached 3rd realm and shaping in his intended way.'' This skill was Kenshin''s visione true as he worked hard for it for a long time! "It''s amazing indeed," Lilith smiled. "He transformed himself into a skill with Elemental forms. It''s not umon, but he made it the central power core of hisbat form," Lily''s eyes shone. "I want to make abat form like this." "I call this Tempest Riot Dragon," Kenshin said as his 100-meter-long and 10-meter-thick dragon form floated before Baraks. "I shall fight by limiting my stats to the same as you and mastery of my elements and concepts as well," Barak said with a faint smile. "This way, I might see something interesting." Everyone was surprised upon hearing that. "This old man¡­" Maze was speechless. "It will be more interesting this way," Kirsty''s indifference broke as she had an amused smile with a glint passing through her eyes. Kenshin''s dragon ws extended into sharp condensed lightning, just like those cerulean-ck scales adorning his dragon form with sparkling sheen and colorful lightning coursing through his body. In response to Barak''s dering his handicap, Kenshin didn''t waste his breath and his dragon form transformed into a draconic humanoid form with so exquisite muscle form and body structure as he floated with a karate stance. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his spot, his glowing cerium ck fists with a potent flow of elements forming into a skill connected to Barak''s back. However, it turned out to be just his afterimage while Barak''s kicknded squarely behind Kenshin''s back, shooting him a few kilometers in the sky before Kenshin abruptly stopped forcefully. Everyone was shocked, including Lilith. "He phased through Kenshin," Erix frowned. "That golden border around his body is spirit force, but it''s a realm above us and attained a transformative trait to it," Lilith said, her expression somber. "He has terrific mastery of spirit power." The most shocked was of course Kenshin himself! However, he also felt a blood-pumping thrill. A loud rumble of lightning crack echoed as Kenshin went all out and executed swift martial technique skills around Baraks. Baraks was no longer just standing as he exchanged blows with Kenshin, negating each skill technique with his own. Kenshin felt a clear sense of defeat in every exchange of moves as his eyes slowly turned red and his physical body exertion and Prana''s enchantment reached the limit. "Not enough," Barak''s voice. "Discover the soul, spirit, and body in harmony." Kenshin, who prided himself in his martial arts, was losing in martial art-based skill executions! ''This much difference¡­'' Kenshin''s mind faltered, and Barak grunted sensing that as his fist came hurling at Kenshin, wrapped in fiery orange mes with golden white sparks at Kenshin''s head. Blood spattered, and Kenshin''s draconic scales shattered along with his bones and half of his face, but he was in elemental form as those elemental body structures condensed again. However, the damage done to him and spirit, soul, and Prana energies used did not recover! Kenshin roared as his draconic humanoid form glowed with new patterns on scales, his horns extended and his draconic body became slightly bigger as he used his human bloodline that manifested when he evolved into Empyrean-order lifeform rank! It was a Legendary-grade Bloodline¡ªTempest Draconite. In the next second, Kenshin in his ultimate full power using his Blood Essence began his battle against Barak. Both of them were rapidly shing lights in the sky as they manifested various colorful and destructive phenomenons of their shes of skills. Kenshin was smacked down into the ground, all bloodied, in just the next five days. He sprung up again and started fighting again with even more intensity. Barak sensed something and grinned widely, as he startedpletely dominating Kenshin as his attacks brutally tore him apart in each exchange. Kenshin''s maddening eyes calmed down and gained a new light while he continued fighting with the same intensity. Barak had also opened his domain, and it was SS-grade, but he also suppressed the buff of his domain to match Kenshin''s S-rank Domain. ''Grow more!'' Barak''s starry kick spin kick with zing starry energy in a sharp flow stuck Kenshin''s chest, shooting him several kilometers away as he crashed into a mountain before a loud explosion rang. Kenshiny on the ground in a crater, his eyes trembling. ''I still have half of my soul and spirit energy.'' However, his vitality had also declined to half, and he wasn''t able to heal it. He wanted to chug a potion, but this was an assessment match, and it was an unspoken rule not to use any items. "Stand up already. Where''s your fighting spirit?" Barak barked as he appeared before Kenshin. Kenshin''s facial muscles trembled, and his aura burst out, his dragon tail exploding in a spectacle of sma vortex st that directly struck Barak''s head. "Not enough!" Once again, their shes released shockwaves and phenomena as Kenshin suffered another session of defeat, but this time he was not stopping until he was dead! He fought against Barak relentlessly! Every few seconds, Kenshin would shoot far away, but return at lightning speed and continue fighting despite his unheble injuries. However, he still stabilized his figure and started efficiently using his Blood Essence and dispersed energies while improving. Even Kenshin didn''t know he was improving. All of his focus and mind was only onnding a blow on Barak! He had yet tond a single darn blow and it had provoked him to no end as his singr goal was tond a clean skill on Barak and injure him! They had the same stats, and Barak was clearly holding back in apletely sealed manner, so this further fueled Kenshin''s desire stemming from the unbearable sense of defeat in what he prided himself on! *Boom!* He was flung away like a bullet on the ground on his head, a stter of blood raining but they quickly gathered and returned to his body, recovering him. With a lightning sh, Kenshin bolted towards Barak again with his makeshift kick skill technique. A burst of chain explosions followed it, all gathering in a flow to strike Barak right on his chest. But Barak''s fistnded before Kenshin''s kick throwing him again. "That''s right! Show me or you''ll remain a worm!" Barakughed out loud as his bound hair red up and his muscles tightened. Barak threw a tiny green bean at Kenshin that recovered his soul and spirit, but Kenshin didn''t even pay attention as his eyes were semi-consciousness now and a strange aura was forming around him as he once again went to strike Barak with a new makeshift skill technique. Erix, Rin, Lilith, and Lily were dumbfounded. They were seeing with their own eyes as Kenshin was improving drastically while taking brutal beatings! "He might breakthrough¡­I sense a conceptual aura gathering around him," Lilith muttered. Chapter 411: Erix vs Maze, The Breakdown (3) *Boom!* *Smash!* *Shakka* Kenshin and Barak continued their battle, with Barak having a one-sided battle and Kenshin on its receiving end. But as each second passed in the battle, Kenshin''s fighting power increased. All the Martial moves and everything he has learned was evolving at a higher rate through the magic, elements, and concepts as he fought while discovering his own potential and unlocking it. Five minutes into the battle Kenshin''s aura transformed entirely and his breakthrough urred, pushing his Tempest concept to 4th realm! The battle''s flow and theme entirely changed and became increasingly violent! Kenshin''s makeshift skill techniques became a notch stronger in power and a notch more sophisticated than before! "Powerful," Lily muttered. Rin, Erix, and Lilith couldn''t help but nod. Kenshin was bing increasingly powerful in his current battle-maniac state where he had entirely lost himself in this fight. But because of that, they also realized the scariness of Barak. ''This guy''s skills are strange. They are way higher level than our created skills,'' Erix frowned. ''Kenshin is doing way over his best right now. So much that even we would have trouble defeating him.'' ''But dad is getting a one-sided beating still,'' Rin clenched her fists. ''Barak hasn''t removed his self-seal. He is still using the same amount of power as Kenshin in Physical, Magic, and even mastery of his elements and concepts,'' Lilith wryly smiled. ''Kenshin''s soul and spirit are getting stronger as well,'' Lily noted. Indeed, in this battle where Kenshin was overboard his limits, where his mind, body, and entire focus was on striking Barak and winning a single bout of exchange, Kenshin''s Spirit and Soul were getting a grind. But five more minutes passed and Kenshin started slowing down, his vitality was waning. "So what''s what he amounts to in the end?" Maze said with augh. Rin and Erix ground their teeth at that remark. ''That bastard is being cocky from the start.'' ''I''ll go next and challenge him,'' Erix said with a snort. Meanwhile, Kenshin continued fighting with the same ferocity outside, but when he captured Barak''s expression as got smacked once again, a hint of despair appeared in his eyes. ''N-No¡­.I can''t even win a single exchange at the same stats?'' Kenshin''s heart felt like it turned ice-cold with biting pain bursting out. "You did well, Kenshin," Barak nodded as he floated with his arms crossed. "You have potential, but unfortunately you can''t join us in our endeavors." Kenshin''s vitality was on the verge of snuffing out and he could only see Barak while lying on his back, unable to move even his finger not blink his eyes. A secondter, the lights in his eyes vanished and he died. Erix''s eyes shed as he started working. His body broke down into motes, absorbed by Blessed Ind while his soul went under the Dreanox Tree. Since Blessed Ind was a closed system, people who died inside wouldn''t get their souls directly sent to the cosmic cycle. Instead, it would remain on the Blessed Ind. Sameira, Aria, Isabe, and Amu saw Kenshin''s soul. "It''s injured badly," Amu frowned. "He exerted himself way past his limits." "Mhm. We could see he was getting stronger on the screen, but this¡­" Aria wryly smiled. "Let''s heal it quick, Amu." Aria and Amu immediately started healing Kenshin''s soul. "He did his best," Sameira said with a clenched fist. "The enemy is just more advanced, knowledgeable, and skillful in this world of power." "Those skills he was using were getting powerful and transforming every time. He got so strong while fighting," Isabe said, amazed. Suddenly, they saw Kenshin''s body materializing nearby. With Blessed Ind''s energy and core, it wasn''t hard to create an Empyrean-order body for Erix. It cost Prana worth 2000 high-grade Prana crystals, but they were acquiring Prana every day due to the daily Prana Vein event. The ves were exclusive of the kingdom, so whatever they earned in the events was stored in a private warehouse on the Blessed Ind. "Erix is fighting next," Isabe said as she looked at the screen and saw Erix flying up next. ¡­ "Who are you going to pick for your beating?" Maze asked with a grin. "I don''t mind if you choose me again," Barak said with a faint smile. "I am more than happy. I can also recover my energies with a little pill." Erix shook his head and locked his gaze onto Maze. "You." "Wonderful," Maze grinned and flew forward before stopping a hundred meters away from Erix. "Here, take a look at my stats," Maze''s eyes shed before he showed a panel made of spirit energy disying his stats. However, those stats blurred and expanded in detail, causing Maze to raise his eyebrows before heughed out loud. "Hahaha, the Mystic system of this just gave you more information. Well, whatever." [Maze] _Race: Human _Bloodline: Mirian Luminus Terra (Mythical) _Rank: Empyrean-order (Trinity Tree 100%) _Stats: - Strength: 20,000 + 15,000 - Agility: 20,000 + 15,000 - Stamina: 20,000 + 15,000 - Health: 20,000 + 15,000 - Magic: 20,000 + 15,000. - Spirit: 14,590 / Spirit Force: [140,590/140.590]. - Soul: 16,594 / Soul Energy: [160,594/160,594]. _Elements: ¡ª> 8th realm Weimbus (Unique), 8th realm Darklight ze (Exotic), 4th realm Tempanit (Super Exotic). _Concepts: 8th realm Mire, 7th realm Mirage, 6th realm Speed. Seeing his stats, everyone''s eyes shed shock. ''I would have to use my trump card item to kill him and I might not even seed,'' Lilith frowned. ''If he is this strong, then Barak and that other woman must be equally strong.'' ''What is that Weimbus? Why it says Unique?'' Rin asked, confused and curious. ''I have heard about it,'' Lilith said. ''Unique element is abination of 3 elements, but one of the elements must break past the 10th realm. From what I know, when we break past the 10th realm in an element, we awaken a unique and personal expression of that element.'' ''How will Erix do against him?'' Lily asked, frowning. ''The difference in stats is not that big for him.'' "You done seeing? If so, then go all out and attack," Maze grinned. "I''ll adjust my stats ording to yours after measuring you." Erix''s expression was calm, almost indifferent. He took a deep breath and a secondter, a powerful aura burst out of him as dark gold sharp waves that were see-through enveloped him. ''Regalon.'' *Scree!* From Erix''s aura, Talonar materialized below right above his throne on the majestic eagle''s back. "Interesting," Barak noted. Kristy''s eyes shed. ''What is that?'' ''No idea,'' Maze grinned. ''But looks interesting.'' Chapter 412: The Breakdown (4) Erix sat on the throne and activated the transformation of his Regalon as Talonar shone in sparks and motes before enveloping Erix. A secondter, Erix appeared in his Mortiferum Sovereign Robe and the Vorterend Voidferrum Quill in his hand. "That''s something good, alright," Maze chuckled before grinning. "That bird felt like an extent of your Bloodline as well and not bad stats as well. You took half the stats of that bird after this transformation." [~Erix~] _Race: Regalon _Bloodline: Undeath Aurelion Regalon (Mythical) _Rank: Empyrean-order _Stats: ¡ª> Strength: 17,100 ¡ª> Agility: 16,050 ¡ª> Health: 15,900 ¡ª> Stamina: ¡Þ ¡ª> Magic: 16,400 /Prana: 164,000 / 164,000 (+24,000) ¡ª> Spirit: 12,250 / Spirit Force: 122,500 / 122,500] ¡ª> Soul: 12,000 / Soul Energy: 120,000 / 120,000] These were Erix''s stats after activating his Regalon Drive''s transformation and equipping it. He gained 50% of Taloner''s stats, including its Soul and Spirit stats! Still, Erix''s stats were worse because he and others had just broken through to Empyrean-order recently while these three people were at the very near peak of Empyrean-order! "What''s that Super Exotic Element''s name?" Barak asked, his voice carrying towards Erix. "Nihilir." ''It looks strong,'' Barak''s eyes shed. ''And fun to y with.'' ''Of course, it is strong,'' Kristy snorted. ''This brat''s Super Exotic Element has a Principle element, Space, and a Primordial element, Death along with me. Thisbination should be one of the most powerful even among all Super Exotic Elements.'' ''Pretty good that he managed toprehend and awaken a Super Exotic element having two big ones,'' Barakughed. "Nice name of the element. Now how about you attack me once, so I can handicap myself," Maze grinned. His eyes shed as Erix felt something enveloping him for a brief second. Erix didn''t say anything in response, only his aura slightly changed. He held his Quill and drew two lines like a cross with an unstable flow and strange movement that glowed and transformed into two humanoid metal knights. They looked like Death Knights with their dark gold armor with hazy purple patterns on their armor pieces. One held a heavy sword with both hands and the other held two long swords with exotic runic patterns. Their armor and weapons were made with the best Metals in Erix''s arsnal, and both of them had all the powers Erix had. ''Summon-style: Void Ferum Knights. Their sole purpose is to execute a single skill built into their structures for maximum potential at the cost of their everything,'' Erix narrowed his eyes as he constructed a skill to execute with his Quill. ''I''ll throw my new strongest at him.'' "Come on," Maze gestured with his hand. But in the next milliseconds, his pupils shrank, and his senses flooded with signs as the dual-wielding Void Ferum Knight appeared right behind Maze through instant space teleport before shing his swords. Instantly, a demonic prison manifested around Maze with the space turning vtile and dual-wield Void Ferum Knight glowing like colorful stars before bursting with space tremors in the prison as Maze was trapped in a chaotic whirlpool. It was destructive and prevented Maze from moving. Just as he burst out his defense, it was rapidly eroded by the chaotic whirlpool while his injuries worsened. He tried to negate the effects with his powers and remained in a bnced state for a second before he sensed another thing. The second Void Ferum Knight with a heavy broad sword was spinning fast like a screw as Punch concept''s all effects applied enabled by Hollow Puncture. Maze felt danger bells as space around him and on his chest was forcibly getting punctured. His eyes shed a a golden sh with light green sparks creating a prism of crystalized runes on his body. ''Bastard forced me to use my Unique element,'' Maze felt irritated. Although he was still handicapped and sealed a mastery of his Unique Exotic element still as he used it, he still felt like a p on his face because he personally desired to defeat Erix without using it. But if he didn''t use it, he would be severely injured, and he sensed that in that instant. Right as he finished, the second Void Ferum Knight shed right before Maze and created a huge ck hole in an area of 10 meters radius while everyone could see bursts of chaotic lights shing and space screaming. But they could also see a strange light flickering at its center. "Powerful," Barak nodded while his muscles twitched. "I want to take that on." Kristy sneered. "Maze used his Weimbus element for that, and he said he would do it without using it." "That''s stretching it. Even I used my Unique element against that martial artist," Barak chuckled. "Overconfidence is not good. Now he got a p on his face by his own hand." Both of them wallowed in Maze''s failure to keep his word. Meanwhile, Erix''s brows furrowed. He had used 50,000 Spirit energy, 50,000 soul energy, and 150,000 Prana to execute that move. He almost emptied his Prana, but a little pill solved that problem while also giving him a buff that increased his Prana recovery by 250% for 5 minutes. This pill was also one of Aria''s inventions. Other pills just recovered Prana, but Aria''s pills gave a buff that increased one''s Prana recovery! "Take one more pill." Suddenly, Erix heard Maze''s voice piercing towards him through space while he was still trapped in the chaotic destruction executed by Erix''stest strongest skill: Wrath of the Void Ferum Knights. "Recover your Spirit and Soul energy because you will need it," Maze spoke in a jarring voice while he was constructing a magic formation around him while his skill defended himself against Erix''s attack inside. His body had a fine and sleek coating of golden green. It also had glowing ink-like blue flowing through the coating. Despite being in an utterly devastating state in this vtile space ravaged by the chaotic whirlpool with metal shards that had all of Erix''s elements and Concepts applied to them, Maze was safe. He was fighting against Erix''s skill with his own and still handicapped as having the same stats and the using same realm of elements and concepts as Erix. But he was pissed. Two seconds passed since Erix''s second Knight struck Maze. Erix didn''t hesitate and recovered his energies after Maze spoke his first line. On the 4th second when Erix was constructing a new skill in his mind, a powerful st urred, creating an almost transparent golded-green huge pyramid-like with flowing blue patterns. Maze stood at its center, his arms crossed and his face frosty as he coldly smiled. "From now on, I will counterattack after your every attack." Erix cracked his neck and his aura burst out along with his Domain¡ªLand of Lively Doom. Maze''s eyes shed as he also used his Domain Burst, calling forth his Domain¡ªSinister Heaven''s Altar. One side had a floating ind with exotic metal sources, chaotic whirling flows everywhere on its strange dark purple grassynd, and colorful stars that affected the chaotic whirling flows and mental sources to create a source of power having all of Erix''s elements and concepts applied to it. shing against this domain was a huge altar with strange, colorful ntlife in abundance everywhere in the surroundings withoutnd or clouds, only darkness. The giant altar with tens of floors had strange nt-like weapons having golden and blue carvings and designs. Erix had unleashed his full power, and so did Maze as he matched with Erix. "Let''s see how long youst," Maze cracked his fingers. "Come on, boy. Time for you to learn a thing or two about power." Chapter 413: The Breakdown (5) In the sh of domains, Maze and Erix faced each other with their forms looking like shing lights amidst explosions and phenomenons of their skills. But Erix no longer managed to hold against Maze after his first attack. Maze saw two giant spinning chakrams hurling at him while bringing chaotic space whirlpool around them and just flicked his finger, producing a giant jelly-like golden-green arm that swept its giant palm towards iing chakrams and caused a st, their energies meshing together as Maze nullified the attack. Right after that, Erix''s perception caught an iing attack as he sensed it and erected his defense around him. A flickering space zone appeared around him in an instant before a baseball bat-shaped projectile with golden-green patterns and ck designs struck the barrier. Upon impact, it enveloped Erix''s barrier into a faint golden-green hue before the defense burst into motes and Erix was struck squarely, shooting tens of kilometers away and crashing into a mountain. "Is that it?" Maze appeared right before Erix with a grin. Erix grunted and conjured his Erasure Void Rods right in Maze''s body while moving his Quill to create a giant hammer. However, Maze''s body that got struck by Erasure Void Rods flickered and dispersed. "You have to find the real me for that," Maze''s voice appeared behind him. Erix narrowed his eyes and struck the hammer in space, releasing a dome-shaped expanding shockwave with destructive aspects of his elements, mainly Nihilir, boosted by his concepts as the border dome and inside the dome produced hundreds of fist-punches. The hammer vanished after executing this AOE skill as Erix wanted to hit Maze. However, one part of the maze became unstable, and Erix teleported right before there as he struck his skill technique: Dual Vortex Chaos Punch. *Boom!* ''Time?'' Erix felt a strange and familiar sensation. ''He has an affinity of the Time element?!'' "Alright, enough ying around. I''ll start to bring out my real deals," Maze grinned before he appeared right before Erix, his entire body coated in liquid-like energy with thick golden-green, ck, and blue flows. Erix was prepared, but in the next moment, he felt his stomach connect to something palpitating. Maze''s punch directly struck Erix''s stomach before a beautiful yet deadly phenomenon akin to a butterfly''s wings burst out from Erix''s back. In the next moment, Erix''s body exploded, and his Vitality reached 0. "That''s it," Maze dusted his hands with a smile. "Too weak. Even weaker than the old guy who fought Barak." However, Erix''s sted body glowed and turned into energy before gathering together. Everyone was surprised. "Finally using your Bloodline power, eh?" Maze snorted with augh. "It won''t change the oue." "But I''ll have to match it as well." Maze''s body exploded with a powerful aura as he also used his Bloodline powers. On one hand, a deathly ck crown with golden gems appeared above Erix as he used his Bloodline''s first skill¡ªUndeath Aurelion Crown. Undeath Aurelion Crown-Lvl 2: Increase stats by 150% of fundamental stats and grant you Paradox Spectrum Heart ->Paradox Spectrum Heart: increase your death power and life power at an increasing rate. -> Cost: 1 Blood Essence per minute. At the moment, Erix''s all stats increased by 10,500 except for Soul power, which increased by 7000! On the other hand, Maze''s body was covered in a crystalized golden-green suit with a tie, and his hands held gloves with entric patterns. Maze suppressed his stats again after using his Bloodline''s powers to match Erix''s stats and grinned, "Come on, make a move." Erix summoned a hundred thousand metal needles around him, made from the most powerful Metal for Nihilir''s medium and boosted by the effects of all elements and concepts. Holding his Quill, Erix made a line before 10% of those needles shot towards Maze while the line that Erix drew transformed into histest creation as each of those needles conjured a dark hazy purple flower behind them, holding an offensive skill that would activate upon impact. Chaotic Fireworks of Doom Flower. Each of those needles was unsuspecting because they traveled through space in an instant anywhere and all of them struck Maze''s defensive barrier. Those needles exploded after getting blocked by the barrier, creating a huge and chaotic chain of sts. "Nah, that won''t work," Maze spoke while standing beside Erix. "You¡­" Erix was shocked and quickly hurled his other needles towards Maze. However, what happened next was a punch projectile appearing above Erix in an instant and smacking him on the ground ten meters deep with a loud st as a crater formed with him at the center. Fortunately, Erix''s Spectrum Heart was working well and he was almost unkible against someone who used the same amount of stats and realm of power. At least, that''s what Erix thought. Still, as the battle continued and Erix lost every bout no matter how creative he became and improved, an irritating and annoying feeling surfaced in Erix after a long long time. Rin, Lilith, and Lily who watched the battle could only stay silent and watch. ''These people''s skills, the foundations, and fundamentals of magic knowledge they have higher than us,'' Lilith frowned. ''It is the same as a 5-year-old fighting against a 10-year-old in a math test,'' Lily wryly smiled. *Boom!* *Crash!* *st!* Erix healed himself after every beating and continued fighting with red eyes. ''There''s no fucking way I can''t injure him even a bit! We have the same stats and power level at the moment!'' However, five minutes went by more with Erix trying his best but only getting one thing in return. "It''s easy to fool your spiritual sense, brat. If you can''t even find and explore the correct use of your spirit power, you can forget about touching me." Maze grinned. Erix felt helplessness stemmed from his subconsciousness. It told him he was helpless against this individual. ''Damn it! Damn it!'' ''How is he escaping every time even when I am using my Spiritual Mystic Eye to full!?'' ''What is that darn element? It looks like wind, but it''s not wind. It''s strange¡­'' Erix was frustrated greatly, but he calmed down and continued fighting. ''I have to figure it out.'' Chapter 414: The Breakdown (6/6) "Hahaha, nice try." Maze''s annoyingughter rang as he fooled around against Erix in the battle. Every time Erix executed his attacks, Maze easily escaped with his strange means and made a counterattack against Erix that Erix couldn''t dodge. Even if Erix stayed in Space Limbo, Maze''s attack could prate through it and pull him out. ''Fuck!'' Erix roared and drew a single line before sping his palms together, releasing a huge drill projectile with chaotic powers of Elements mixed within and boosted by his concept''s effects. The drill was not simple. It shed right before Maze and went forward but instead of striking him, it passed through Maze, surprising him. The second Maze had already appeared a kilometer away to dodge that attack, but¡­ ''There!'' Erix''s eyes shed as the Drill, traversing through Space Limbo, teleported directly at the real Maze and struck him. "100 years too early for that." Maze whispered, his voiceing at Erix from behind. Erix made a quick chop behind him in a wide area, stretching open space where Maze stood before while his other hand drew a line with his Quill that transformed and vanished before conjuring a chaotic whirlpool around Maze. Right after that, Erix''s eyes shed and he used his Bloodline''s second ability¡ªParadoxical Pulse. Paradoxical Pulse: Summon an eclipse dome in arge area where allies marked by the user receive a surge in vitality while also harnessing the paradox of creation and annihtion to unleash devastating damage over a wide area to enemies in an instant: Deals damage equivalent to 300% of Magic and Physical stat +boost by Spirit and Soul to enemies within the area of effect in a single instant. Allies marked within the area receive a buff that increases physical recovery of all types by 50% for 30 seconds. -> Cost: 10 - 50 Blood Essence. Erix directly used 50 Blood Essence as an instantaneous pulse spread out with a sh of eclipse dome around Erix. This onlysted for an instant, but Maze was indeed struck by it. "Not bad, not bad. It hurt me a bit, but consider it your first andst attack that managed to hurt me," Maze said, her eyes glinting. "Now¡­it''s in your own best interest to try hard for defense because my counterattacks are going to be fast and deadly." In the next moment, Erix felt a powerful blow at his head as his brain and consciousness were rattled and he was smacked on the ground with strange power infusing in his body. Erix roared and began destroying that power with Nihilir internally to start healing and continue his fight against Maze as he shot up in the sky for another attack. ¡­ Five minutes more passed. Erix was worn out,pletely spent, and for the first time in a long while, he was terribly injured in his soul and body as he suffered a big loss. Hey on the ground, his eyes rolled upward, and his consciousness lost as he had fainted. Rin sent Erix''s body out of the pocket dimension as it appeared below Drenox Tree. Aria bit her lips, her eyes concerned as she quickly started healing Erix and Amu aided in that. "That was utterly one-sided," Amu sighed. Isabe clenched her fists seeing Erix''s injuries to his soul. She didn''t know how Erix must have felt, though she knew it was anything but pleasant given how Maze fought from start to end. Unlike Barak, Maze was going all out even in his state and had full intentions of toying Erix to death, which he did. Rin went to battle next time and she chose Kristy as her opponent. Nheless, she met the same end as Kenshin and Erix. Kenshin woke up at the time to see Lilith''s battle with Barak. He just sat there silently and looked at the screen, watching Lilith and Barak fighting. Lilith held her own for a long time, but she still lost against Barak ultimately. Fortunately, her soul was powerful and she had awakened her spirit power''s transformation, so her battle against Barak was good enough that it made Barak roar intoughter during the battle as she managed to strike him solidly. But only once. Lily fought Kristy next, and she gave more than her best. Erix regained his consciousness, but he still felt weakness all over his soul and body. It was a weary feeling stemming from his state of mind. "I want to beat them," Erix muttered with a in expression and weary eyes as he watched the battle of Lily and Kristy. "But we can''t right now," Rin rubbed her temples with her fingers, the light in her eyes dimmer than usual. Lilith sighed and said, "Rushing won''t help. The path to power is full of thrones and it is spread." "We shall embark on it after removing these pirates after integration," Sameira said with a clenched fist as she held Kenshin''s hand. "That''s right," Kenshin nodded. "We''ll be starting integration tomorrow right after the remaining task ispleted." Everyone saw Lily''s battle finished with her losing consciousness. Erix''s shed as he teleported her from pocket sanctuary to under the Dreanox Tree for her treatment. Meanwhile, Barak, Kristy, and Maze entered the portal that Erix had created to enter the pocket dimension and exited before emerging from a portal outside of the Blessed Ind. However, they didn''t even spare another nce at Erix and others before leaving. Erix''s gritted his teeth and said, "Tenebria said Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary is the best ce for us to continue our journey. Once we are done integration, that''s going to be our first destination." "Mhm," Rin nodded with great frustration as her nails dug into her palm. "I want to meet them in the future again and win against them!" They could live avish and peaceful life after integration because they would be able to eject pirates after that and rule the big world themselves. But that was utterly foolish! They wanted to see new heights of power and reach there! "Alright, let''s not wallow in our losses now. They are just better, and there are many better people out there," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "But we are not out of the game. Let''s finish integration and then we''ll begin our new journey." "We have much to see, feel, and experience to build ourselves." Chapter 415: Planet Integration Beginning Barak, Kirsty, and Maze flew back to their zeppelin ship and talked about their fights. "They were not bad," Barak chuckled. "But no need to add them to our ranks," Kristy said. "Boss saw their potential, but we don''t have time and energy to nurture them." "That''s right," Maze snorted. "We''ll be entering Axis Realm within a year. How much can they progress in a year when they just recently entered Empyrean-order?" "Taking them is a fool''s errand even if their potential is good. Let''s tell the boss that we are better off without merely two additions of them," Kristy nodded. ¡­ On the other hand, Erix and others didn''t waste time discussing much and went back to their work and training. Erix and Rin had 2 Insight Scrolls for long, one from the tower, and one from Kanx Abyss. It could help them massively, but they were saving it until they reached Empyrean-order and nned to use it once they got out of this pirate mess. The day continued to pass as people were awakening their souls in Spirit Training Hall with Aria and Lily''s help as the Blessed Ind upgrade''s final task was slowly nearingpletion. Erix started moving the Ind again, going to a hazardous area. He nned to teleport the Blessed Ind from there tomorrow. Lilith and Amu also continued making formations while Isabe, Rin, Sameira, and Kenshin were directing Balions to dungeons and gathering resources by using the powers of World Counsil''s positions. The day ended without any hups afterward. At night, the final task of 1000 people awakening their souls waspleted, but when the night passed and the sun rose, more people had awakened their souls. Everyone gathered at the empty plot ofnd for a big meeting. Almost 200 guild leaders and 48 n leaders. All of them were under the Unfettered Kingdom, and they knew that the moment had arrived since they got a notification from the U-card to gather at the meeting spot. "All of you are Empyrean-order and strong enough to support the formations. Get ready to give your all when the timees." "You are going to begin it right away?" Yelwon asked as she raised her eyebrows. "Yep," Erix nodded and snapped his finger. Instantly, the whole blessed Ind briefly shone for two seconds before it vanished and appeared at the underground hollow spot a thousand kilometers deep! Right after that, Erix began the Blessed Ind upgrade process. [Blessed Ind upgrade process beginning.] "Erix, let me inside," Amu said with a resolved expression. "I am ready." Amu wanted to be a spiritual host of the Blessed Ind by merging with it. The Blessed Ind''s core itself gave that possibility to Amu and Amu felt that doing this would be the next step in its evolution! "Go in," Erix nodded. "Make sure the Ind doesn''t grow enough to break touch the walls. Rin nodded, "This spot is twice as big as the Ind, but we don''t know how big this Ind will be after upgrading." "Take your Empyrean-order subordinates and everyone who has awakened their soul to position yourselves at the edges of the Ind and connect with the formation cores," Lilith said as she nced at all the guild leaders and n leaders. "Support and boost the formations'' cores with your Prana, Spirit force, and soul energy. The moment they sense we are beginning integration with Blessed Ind, they''lle." Everyone left right away and started working. Meanwhile, the Blessed Ind was covered in a hazy golden glow as it expanded in size. A minuteter, the Blessed Ind reached the size of 30 kilometers in radius and it was still increasing, so Erix and Amu halted its growth in size for now. After four more minutes, the upgrade process was finallypleted and every Pirs and Erix heard the notification. [Blessed Ind Upgrade Processpleted.] [New Features: Integration, Disintegration.] [New Functions: Specialized Area-2, Specialized Area-3] Of course, the existing features were also upgraded and one of them was particrly awesome! "Recovery Aura level 2? That''s great," Rin''s eyes glinted. "We''ll be able to hold on longer with this." "Absolute benefit of Blessed Ind to keep it and us safe inside it," Lilith nodded with a smile. ¡ª> Recovery Aura: Increase the recovery of Mana, Stamina, Prana, Spirit force, and Soul energy by 300% within the Ind''s territory. Only Pirs can benefit from this function. It went from a 200% to a 300% increase in recovery, making everyone overjoyed. Meanwhile, Erix immediately started Integration. [Do you permit for this Blessed Ind to integrate the?] Erix got a notification from the World Council since he was the Ruler of the and he readily gave the permission. "Let the grand event begin." ¡­ Blue Maw Pirate group''s ship, control room. Rani leisurely sat on a chair when she suddenly heard a beep and looked at the screen, only to see the''s conditions changing at its core. "Huh? Why is the''s core going nuts?" Rain narrowed her eyes and started checking other things and parameters. After a minute, her face changed into a dumbfounded one. "These bastards¡­" She immediately called Bill who was in their pocket dimensions, arranging ves, their schedules, and resources while the Empyrean-order ves they had were training them. [Bill: What''s up?] [Rani: Those sneaky bastards started Integration.] [Bill: huh? Do you mean Blessed Ind''s Integration feature?] [Rani: They were probably rushing to upgrade the ind to do this and expel us from the. Quickly gather Empyrean-order ves outside. I''ll call our subordinates.] [Bill: Damn, sneaky idiots. Do they think they will seed? Hahaha. Alright, let''s quickly find their location and rush there.] Rani and Bill met outside their ship with their 500 Empyrean-order ves of various races¡ªHumans, Elves, Dwarves, Demons, Angels, Beast folks, etc¡­ Their ten subordinates also soon arrived and floated before Bill and Rani, awaiting their orders. "Each of you take 50 Empyrean-order ves and start searching the entire to a depth of 2000 kilometers. They could be anywhere within that range," Rani narrowed her eyes. "We have to hurry, so no cking." In a few seconds, everyone vanished. "Let us go as well," Bill grinned as he cracked his neck. "Since they dared to pull a stunt like this, we''ll hit them hard enough that they''ll be forced to escape or die." Chapter 416: Preparation, Exposed On the Blessed Ind, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Lilith, Lily, Sameira, and Kenshin were in their positions. They were the pirs, so they benefited from the Recovery feature. Aside from them, there were more than 7 more Pirs. Out of those seven, four were core members of the Unfettered Fate guild and the other three were core members of Heavenly Melody guild. But since the Ind upgraded, the slots of Pirs expanded by default, increasing to 20. As such, Erix could assign 5 more Pirs. "Let''s assign the strongest Empyrean-order powerhouses from the ns," Rin suggested with a firm expression. "Terrapin n''s leader has such a high defense that even we can''t break it. If he gets the Pir position and buffs of Blessed Ind, he can be a powerful defending force." "Indeed," Kenshin nodded and spiritually connected to the Terrapin n''s leader at the northwest of the Blessed Ind. "I''ll call him." "I''ll call the other four," Isabe smiled. "I have track of the who is strongest Empyrean-order powerhouses in our ranks." "Erix, how long will it take for the Integration to finish?" Sameira asked while her eyes faintly glowed. She was using her power of Astral cement Manager to observe the. She added with a frown, "The pirates have started an all-out search with their 500 Empyrean-order ves, 10 subordinates, and both Reverend-order themselves." "As expected," Lilith wryly smiled. "They know that once we finish Integration, we''ll be able to kick them out and they''ll lose the Mystic Root''s influence on the ves they''ve captured, and this with constant resource spewing." "True," Maleina nodded. "They need to stay here for at least 3 to 5 months to nurture people using Mystic Root''s influence." Aria clenched her fist, "Then won''t theye at us with their full force? My army of Animated spirit personalized for defense is ready. I''ll go to my position." "I should also activate the formations," Lilith nodded. "It''s only a matter of time before they discover this location." Erix''s eyes were closed and he was observing the mysterious integration of the Blessed Ind''s core to the''s core. The Earth was shaking and trembling all over at the moment, but the Prana energy of the''s core was maintaining the bnce. "The main integration is that of the cores. Once that''s done, I can begin to shapeshift it as I have ownership of both the and the Ind," Erix said. "Hmmm, from what I see, the Integration willst for 20 to 30 minutes. I can''t say for sure, but I want to see if I can focus on speeding this up." "Our one week of preparation is for the next half an hour," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "We have to survive and keep them away. The moment both cores are finished integration, Erix will have full control over the ne." "Yep. I''ll be able to expel anyone and anything off the. The barrier will be strong enough that no Reverend-order can break it," Erix grinned. Soon, five people in their middle ages arrived. Four men and one woman. n leader of Terrapin n ¡ª Terrapin ck Turtle Bloodline, known for their absurd defensive capabilities. Grand elder of Ashen Blood Demon n ¡ª Ashgan Demonic Bloodline, known for their Demonic Arts thatbine magic and the entirety of their physical body''s aspects with their Bloodline''s specialty. n leader of the Golden Leaf Elf n ¡ª Well-versed and all-rounder Bloodline with main mastery on Light, Wood, and me elements and having a special Exotic Element once they reach a certain level in their Bloodline. n leader of Geodor n ¡ª the dwarven tribe with a powerful Bloodline and exotic weapons with enchants from their Bloodline. Their Bloodline source was also above Mythical-grade like above four and they awakened an Exotic element of Crystal, Magma, and Metal. Despite them not having a Devorex concept like Erix, they could still make weapons and armor no less powerful than Erix''s own crafts! One could say that they were tougher but generalized while Erix could make personalized items to bring out one''s own power more. Lastly, the grand elder of the ck Scaled n¡ªthe half draconian-tribed with a cursed Bloodline. They were most powerful in terms of pure basic aspects, but despite having a powerful Bloodline, with even those born into directly having Legendary-grade Bloodline, they were cursed. They were cursed by the source of their Bloodline¡ªthe ck Dragon n. An outsider human man married the ck Dragon n''s princess and that''s how the ck Scaled n came into existence, but their Bloodline was cursed by the ck Dragon n''s ancestor to have them suffer intense pain whenever they used their Bloodline''s power. As such, this tribe was powerful but they could only maintain their peak power for a short amount of time once the curse activated. But despite the curse, they were still one of the strongest ns out of 48 ns that resided on the Blessed Ind. "I am going to assign five of you as Pirs of the Blessed Ind," Erix said with a severe expression. "You will be buffed immensely inside the Blessed Ind, but you will have to work hard and prevent enemies." "You already know what to do, so do your best. All of our lives and freedom are at stacks here." All five of them nodded while the only woman in the group, the grand elder of the ck Scaled tribe said while slightly bowing, "Lord Erix and others, our n will do our best so could you please help examine our Bloodler once we escape this predicament?" "We want to get rid of the curse on our Bloodline no matter the cost so our n can be truly independent." "I promise you we will find a way," Erix smiled. "That''s right. Such a thing is trivial. We are going out in a vaster world once we break out of this trouble, so we''ll surely find a way," Lilith said with a chuckle. "Now, let''s get to work." "Positions and Pills are ready," Isabe arrived while bringing five big ss containers. Each had 50,000 pills and potions! The first container had Prana recovery consumables. The second container had Spirit recovery consumables. The third had Magic Buff consumables. The fourth container had elemental boosts Pills and Potions. Lastly, the fifth container had throwable pills and potions that would explode upon impact for various effects like hallucinations, dizziness, and various debuffs. "Perfect. Maleina, can you handle the coordination for those consumables so I can teleport them to whoever needs them?" Erix said. "Yep. I have connected a spiritual chat with all n leaders and guild leaders with Isabe''s help," Maleina nodded. "And they have connected with their subordinates, so I''ll readily know whenever anyone needs a potion." "Now we wait for them to discover us," Rin bumped her fist into her palms, her eyes fiery. "We have prepared a lot, so let''s win this." Aria had left and stationed her Animated Spirit army while Lilith went to activate the formations with Lily. Isabe had gathered kids and sent them to a special tough room underground in the Blessed Ind. After all, the Blessed Ind was not just a t surface but was three kilometers thick. Kenshin who had his eyes closed suddenly grinned and said, "We''ll have an additional defense. Though It won''t amount to much, anything is better than nothing." "Whatever it is, do it fast," Sameira said, her eyes zing as she was watching the. "Someone is nearing this spot. We''ll be discovered soon." "It''s the dungeons," Kenshin said while beginning to work. "I am going to ce Dungeon Gates all around the Blessed Ind and cause Dungeon Breaks to spew out monsters." "With the amount of world energy gathered in my section, I can spawn 50 Dungeon Gates." "That''s good, haha," Erix chuckled. "They can surely buy us some time." "3 minutes passed since we started, right?" Rin muttered, feeling a strange thrill and palpitation. Not just her, but Erix and others were also feeling it. "We are discovered," Sameira said as she stood up and stopped her observation. "They''ll be here anytime now." ¡­ "Discovered! Lord Cheetah, I have found them!" A human man wearing a ck robe and long ck hair shouted in them card connected to Bill''s subordinate Cheetah. The news and coordinates swiftly reached Bill and Rani as they arrived right above the surface. Their eyes glinted and their spirit senses instantly discovered the vtile source of Blessed Ind undergoing the procedure of Integration. However, they couldn''t see the Blessed Ind correctly as it was all dark, foggy, and heavilyyered around it. "Hahaha, they''ve actually prepared a solid n, eh?" Billughed out loud. Rani frowned before she connected herm card to everyone. "Hurry here and go down." "Bill, they have put tons of formations. Even we will have to make a move now," Rani said with an icy expression. "You should know the consequences of failing here." "We have to prevent them or we''ll be screwed badly." Bill grinned, his eyes utterly cold. "If we fail against these newly emerging riff-raffs, I am going tomit suicide." "Let''s go." The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 417: Intense Struggle (1/2) "They areing." "Everyone, full focus on thrusting your energies into the formation cores!" Everyone was ready! Erix maintained his focus on integration, trying to speed it up as much as possible. Meanwhile, Sameira observed the pirate''s Zeppelin ship moving and stopping a thousand kilometers above them, over the surface. It brought out a big cannon barrel from its front that aimed downward and released an intense sparkling silver-blue beam that was 500 meters in diameter! Hitting the earth, it directly started making a through the hole at the speed of 10 kilometers per second! After all, Erix and others had teleported that deep with much preparation but they couldn''t reach 1000 kilometers deep at once like them. Even if Bill and Rani could easily drill through the Earth to reach there, they would expand their energies, and they didn''t want to do that. As such, they used their ship''s power and started digging. "They''ll reach here in 1 minute and 40 seconds," Sameira said as she conjured the screen showing the ship''sser cannon digging toward them. "It will be stopped once it hits our formations," Lilith narrowed her eyes. "That beam is specifically for Earth drilling and making a way." Lilith immediately controlled the formation cores and extended the early formations'' range to give them more area for maneuver. The Blessed Ind was entirely covered in a thick, hazy dark fog up to 10 kilometers above it. Once enemies reached there, they would enter the formation zones where the real struggle would begin. Time passed, and it seemed painfully slow for merely one minute and forty seconds to pass. Still, the moment arrived as the beam dug the Earth and made a 500-meter diameter hole from the surface towards their Blessed Ind and stopped just 10 kilometers above. Bill and Rani went down first at the fastest speed and swiftly arrived right above 10 kilometers of the Blessed Ind. "Down with us, everyone! You will encounter formation zones but we don''t have time to pass through formations with their rules, so do whatever you can and expand all of your powers to brute force through them!" Maze shouted. All of them flew down and soon arrived at the dark hazy fog before entering inside. They arrived in apletely different realm with an illusionary world and obstacles produced by extracting powers from the formation''s core, which was made with many materials. But two Empyrean-order exhausted all of their spirit and soul energy to break through the first formation in an instant. "Once you are done expending your energies to break a formation, find a ce somewhere and meditate to recovery," Bill said, his voice reaching all 500 Empyrean-order ves. 4 minutes passed. The approximate time for Integration to finish was 20 to 30 minutes. Seeing as how they easily reached here, Rin clicked her tongue. "I guess we''ll have no choice but to go with n B." "The number of formations we have is 596," Lilith said. "Everyone is also powering their cores, so they took 2 Empyrean-order ves'' worth of power to destroy one instantly." "If they continue this way, they''ll be able to destroy half of the formations easily in 10 minutes." Suddenly, Sameira said with a grave expression, "Those two Reverend-order made one move each and destroyed around 15 formations together at once." Isabe bit her lips. "So they will make a single move, recover their energies while their people destroy other formations, and make a move again after recovery." Everyone could see that despite being Reverend-order, they were actually being conservative and were fucking speedily making progress! "Ten minutes top and they''ll destroy all the formations if this goes on, we will have to make the formations tougher," Aria said, her fists clenched as she poured more energies into the formation cores while her Animated Spirits also flew up. Of course, all the pirs were constantly providing Soul energy, Spirit force, and Prana to the formation cores because their recovery speed of all aspects was boosted by 300% on the Ind. However, when two Empyrean-order powerhouses burst out with their full power at once, it could easily destroy a formationyer''s core. Five minutes passed by and the number of formations dwindled by 149! "Nine minutes passed by total and we need to hold on for 20 to 30," Lily clicked her tongue. "It''s frustrating since we don''t know the exact time for integration to finish." "n B is nigh. Erix will have to do it," Rin said with a frown. n B was nothing fancy. It was just teleporting the Ind to another hollow spot underground! Erix thought that it was better to have two hiding spots, so he found and created a formation at another spot for a backup. They indeed took time to find them. If they had started it on the surface anywhere, enemies could swiftly discover them. s, they were approaching fast! Five more minutes passed by and only 287 defensive formations remained! Everyone was working hard as they continuously drank potions to recover energy and fuel the formation cores. They also threw the throwable items upward to create more obstacles. This was one benefit of enemies entering inside a formation¡ªThey could sense their presence and locations easily. By now, the enemies were only 4 kilometers above the Ind. Bill and Rani were not resting even for a second. Both of them had frosty expressions as they bombarded tens of formations at once more often after only half of the formations remained. In the next three minutes, they destroyed a lot of formationyers. Only 78 formations remained after 18 minutes! "Fuck," Rin cursed. Suddenly, everyone heard Erix''s voice in their heads. ''I got an estimated time for the Integration to finish. We need 6 minutes more.'' Everyone''s expression turned grave. Nay, they turned a notch graver than before. ''Erix! They''ll destroy all the remaining formations in the next few minutes. Before that happens, transport the ind back to its previous ce.'' ''Alright.'' Bill pointed both pistoles downward as they glowed before releasing a devastating burst of power like a ck beam with countless tiny purple orbs in them. In an instant, he destroyed 12 formations. Closing his eyes, he started recovering his spent soul and spirit energy. Next, Rani pointed her right palm downward before conjuring a giant dark green axe with ck and blue patterns. It struck downward before releasing a sharp and wide, but thin projectile of energy while the axe started disintegrating. In that instant, she destroyed 14 formations and started recovering her spirit and soul energy. All Empyrean-order powerhouses were already exhausted and whenever they recovered half of their energies, four of them would descend and destroy a formationyer. "I can sense it," Bill grinned. "Only thirty-six formations are left now. Afterward, we''ll have to destroy the Blessed Ind''s barrier. It won''t be of much issue." Rani''s eyes were frosty. "You''ll ughter everyone inside with wide-area attacks first while I''ll interrupt the integration as fast as possible." However, both of them suddenly sensed something and felt a huge ripple of space bursting out. Their expressions changed, their veins popped, and at the fastest they could, they released their attacks at once. In an instant, they destroyed all remaining formations and their attacks also struck the Ind''s barrier, shaking it. However, thanks to formations eating away most of their attack power and the barrier holding up, the Blessed Ind vanished. "Bastard!" "Hurry!" Rani and Bill disappeared and even their hearts finally started racing. ''Fuck, fuck, fuck! This mother fucking bastard. We better not fail this!'' Bill heavily cursed while both of them flew at their fastest speed. Rani swiftly went back to the ship while Bill roared in the spiritualwork connected to all ves and his subordinates. ''SPREAD OUT AND FIND THEM! Drill through this fucking earth and spread out your senses to the maximum. I want them found within 30 seconds!'' Everyone was shocked and rmed because they had never seen Bill this angry. His subordinates had seen him bursting out, but it was rare. [Maze: Those pieces of trash really infuriated the boss to this extent.] [Cheetah: Nothing fucking wrong with that. We have to fucking seed or we won''t be able to progress in the Axis realm. All of them must die for pulling this shit!] Chapter 418: Intense Struggle (2/2), Conclusion [Barak: Focus on the tasks. If you want to kill them, it''ll take more than just killing them since they are on their Blessed Ind. Their souls will remain there for revival.] [Kristy: Once we stop them, we will give them true death.] Not just Cheetah, but all ten subordinates knew the importance of getting ves for Axis realm participation and they were just as mad as Rani and Bill. Rani went back to the ship because she wanted to surveil the surface to see if the ind teleported somewhere on the surface. Meanwhile, Bill and the rest were searching underground. 30 seconds passed by in the blink of an eye. [Rani: They are not on the surface, but they couldn''t have gone deeper than 2000 kilometers so keep the search range the same as before.] Indeed. Going much deeper into the Earth was not wise since the had evolved after Antis and it was changing constantly with its upgraded core, so deeper than 2000 kilometers was a danger zone for the Ind''s barrier as it would receive constant damage from the underground atmosphere, which would make a free entry into the ind for enemies. ''FIND IT FAST! It''s been a fucking minute!'' Bill was also traveling with his range extended. The others wanted to find, but since they had exhausted themselves, they were slower than when they first started searching. Still, someone finally found their location after five seconds. It was Barak. He floated above the Ind''s barrier that reflected outside scenery and hid everything happening inside. In just a few seconds, Bill and Rani arrived beside him with their full power. They popped a pill each to recover their spirit force and soul energy to the max and started hitting the barrier. Meanwhile, everyone inside was pouring their Prana, spirit force, and soul energy into Blessed Ind''s Barrier Pool feature to strengthen the barrier. "Do it without stopping! If they enter inside, we will all die!" Rin shouted, her eyes red as she was also constantly pouring her energies into the barrier pool while it recovered. The Ind constantly shook and everyone could see colorful sts and powerful projectiles hitting the barrier. 21 minutes passed by. 3 more minutes until the Integration finished but Royal-order powerhouses had already lost consciousness by exerting themselves. Those in Empyrean-order ranks were holding on, but they were also dropping one by one with exhaustion. ''Bill, what if they teleport again?'' Rani frowned. Bill''s eyes shook. ''How long does it take for integration?'' No idea. Our kingdom''s Blessed Ind was already integrated with an S-tier and heavily upgraded when I joined.'' ''Same.'' Inside, half of the empyrean had dropped and only around fifty remained, including the Pirs. The fifteen Pirs were doing the most work of providing Barrier Pool. "It''s time to move," Lilith said as she used the Anti-matter barrier and thrust the ind upward. "Hopefully, a Sanctuary Area can give us the remaining safe time." "They did say Sanctuary Area can''t save us but even if that''s the case, they''ll still take time to break it," Lily said and turned to Maleina, "Right?" "They did break ours with multiple means, but they will surely use their fastest way this time," Maleina frowned. "If they use their ship''s full power for an attack, it would break." 22 minutes passed while Bill and Rani gritted their teeth and followed the barrier while still continuing the attack. Half of their subordinates had arrived at this location and were also attacking the barrier while the remaining ones and the ves were on the way. [Bill: Maze, tell others to return to the surface from this point of location. They are going upward.] [Maze: Understood.] Rani''s eyes shed. ''Bill, if they go to the surface, a Sanctuary Area will cover them.'' Bill gritted his teeth and said, ''No other choice. Use a Voidmite crystal and release the big gun. Even if we encountered an Eldrich Varmint on our way back by chance, we have a spare one to use on it.'' Rani was already moving up towards the ship. Anti-matter barrier was allowing the Blessed Ind to pass through Earth as if nothing was an obstacle. It was swiftly flying up towards the surface and once that happened, given the area and poption of the Ind, Mystic Root would produce a Sanctuary Area around it. 22 minutes, 30 seconds. The Ind arrived on the surface and a Sanctuary Area swiftly covered the Ind''s barrier. ''Recover your energies!'' Bill instructed everyone. It was no use attacking Sanctuary Area because to break it, they had to break its threshold of defense at once. If Bill and Rani had time, they could create an offensive-formation attack to break it, but there was no time. They were forced to use one of the most valuable materials they had, Voidmite crystal, to break it instantly. Seconds passed while Rin, Isabe, Lilith, Aria, Sameira, Kenshin, fifteen top-ranked guild leaders, and the Empyrean-order of various ns took this short break and sat in meditation to recover. All five pill containers were almost empty! At the 24th-minute mark, the Integration would bepleted so they only had to hold on for one minute and thirty seconds. Nobody was speaking anything or thinking. They had a task and knew what to do so they put their entire focus on them. Twenty secondster, Rani prepared the big gun and released it without batting an eye. A pitch-ckser shot towards the Blessed Ind from the sky. It struck the Sanctuary Area, making it glow brightly as if this area was resisting. However, merely five secondster, cracks appeared all over it and it broke. Another five secondster, the Sanctuary Areapletely broke. Everyone conscious on the Ind immediately started pouring their energies into the Ind as Isabe directed them into the Barrier pool like before. 1 minute left! Bill floated outside, his entire body shining and his hair lengthened while he used Domain Burst. "Attack!" The subordinates and ves who had gathered released their attack and Bill also released his attacks while Rani quickly returned. Bill and Rani didn''t know how much time they had, but they still wanted to finish it the fastest. 40 seconds passed, 10 seconds remaining. The barrier¡­.broke. *Crack¡­Boom!* ''You know what to do! Eject your soul right when a fatal attack hits you!'' Lilith shouted with utmost importance stressed in her voice. At the moment, time seemed to slow considerably in Aria''s eyes. Her senses were spread throughout the ind and she could observe everything. She first sensed a potent presence of a Reverend-order powerhouse drilling into the Blessed Ind, finding its core and Erix who had gone there. Then she sensed a barrage of power descending from Bill with many people losing their lives at once. Their souls wandered within the Blessed Ind while their bodies were obliterated. Those who were conscious andsted until now found themselves frozen, their mind nk. "Die!" Five seconds passed. Bill and others released a bigger barrage of attacks, killing thousands at once. Lilith''s bloodshot eyes glowed, and she released a silent scream, using her full power and erecting a barrier connected with her life. Bill''s attack struck and destroyed it, along with obliterating her body. Lily''s figure was obliterated next before Aria felt death touching her, and then things went nk. Her soul remained inside the Blessed Ind and still observed everything as people died one by one, with Rin barely hanging on the death''s doors and Isabe too. Four seconds passed, one second remaining. Kenshin, Sameira, all n leaders, and all guild leaders died as their souls were sucked by the Blessed Ind protection while their bodies were obliterated. This killing was for the pure sake of venting. The main task was interrupting the Integration and Rani was at it. But the final second passed by and Erix''s eyes shot open, bloodshot and wrathful. "GET OUT!" The Blessed Ind shone majestically before a golden force swept across the Ind that forcefully teleported every enemy, including Bill and Rani, outside. Right after that, the same golden force swept across the Earth, striking all pirates and their Empyrean-order ves as they were forcefully ejected out of Earth. Bill and Rani''s eyes turned nk. They saw as the was enveloped by a golden barrier, the signature feature after a Blessed Ind integrated with a. It destroyed their entire mission as they could no longer enter inside no matter what they did. Not even if they used another Voidmite crystal. "We are fucked." Chapter 419: Beginning of the First True Journey Aftermath of the intense struggle that just finished was terrible, but redeemable. People died. Lots of people died, but only their physical bodies. Their souls were still within Blessed Ind, so Erix could re-create their physical bodies. Since the Blessed Ind sessfully integrated with the, a whole new array of powers unlocked. Rin was barely alive, so Erix healed her first, but aside from him and Amu, the entire Blessed Ind was eerily silent. 90% of people were dead while 10% were hanging at death''s door. Erix sat down on a chair while souls of those thousands started emerging from the ground and floated near the Dreanox Tree. Amu appeared before Erix and said, "Erix, we will need a lot of energy to create the bodies of everyone who died. Now that the Blessed Ind is basically this whole, let''s cut a major part of it and shrink it." "We can shape it into a small floating continent with enough biodiversity and enough space for people. 10,000 kilometers radius sounds good, what do you say? Shrinking it to this size will also give us more than enough energy to revive everyone''s physical bodies." Erix nodded, "Let''s start." "The kids are still safe under the ground in a bunker you made. Let''s keep them there until we are finished since I''ve already made them fall asleep," Amu said. "Alright." The following work required focus. At the moment, this was no longer a part of the Sun''s star system. It had its own closed self-sustenance system ever since it upgraded and now that the integrated with the Blessed Ind, Erix could shape it however he wanted. The entropy of this was in his hands and it increased as Erix started destroying parts of the world without disturbing other things. The total poption of the at the moment hung at 2.4 million. Over a million people were captured by the Blue Maw pirate group, but Mystic Root had now entirely removed itself from this world, so those people could no longer benefit from it. No more events. No more daily world boss. No more leveling up. Thebyrinth towers were automatically modified after Mystic Root left and only a single one remained with 100 floors max. Their power level requirements were adjusted along with the rewards. Erix erased 70% of things and areas and only kept 30% of what was originally established on the, which equated to roughly a 10k-kilometer radius of area. Within that, 3k kilometers radius was a single water body and the rest of the 7k was patches of variousnds with different climates and small water bodies. All people were transported to Phoenix City and the surroundings because it was the most developed area. After doing all that within ten hours, Erix acquired a lot of entropy energy that he could use and started making physical bodies of people who died on the Blessed Ind. Amu was also helping Erix in that. They first built Lilith''s body before her soul resided back inside and she sessfully revived. Her bloodline source and power sources were in her origin region, which was anchored to her soul, so Erix only needed to create a sufficiently powerful physical body and she sessfully revived. One by one, Erix and Amu started reviving people starting with the Pirs. Aria, Isabe, Lily, Sameira, Kenshin, Maleina¡­ After four hours, Erix and Amu sessfully revived everyone on the Ind. The following days were peaceful but busy. The World Council was still intact since it was the''s feature after it upgraded and the five positions worked towards developing the Space Continent¡ªUnfettered Kingdom, along with everyone doing their part. As it slowly moved towards the deeper universe, the scenery around the Phoenix city changed during the week. Buildings stood up, dungeon gates appeared, and the economy started with Prana crystals being the main currency. Rin also found another pocket dimension as she was the dimension door manager. The previous one she found was small and didn''t have a high power and life ceiling, so no resources or monsters. It was good for sparring without holding back, which was why they held the sparring match with Barak, Kristy, and Maze there. But the second pocket dimension was big with a high power ceiling up to peak Empyrean-order. Rin established its door near Phoenix City for people to explore at their own risk and earn resources and training against powerful and exotic monsters. Kenshin regrly set dungeon gates to appear, with 10 every day for now. This was a very low amount as these dungeons were one-time dungeons unlike ones produced by Mystic Root. Once cleared, their gates would disappear. After a week, everything settled down and it was finally time to move forward. Erix, Rin, Lilith, Aria, Isabe, Lily, Sameira, Kenshin, and Amu sat at a round table under the Dreanox tree. "So¡­we are stuck with slow progress for now," Erix said, his palms crossed under his chin as he sat with a contemtive expression. "The next step would be to use Tenebria''s token and visit Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary." "Yep," Lilith nodded. "But before you go there, it''s time that you all use the important resources you''ve been saving and power up." "Insight Scrolls, Elemental Stones, and clearing the Labyrinth Tower''s remaining floors for more," Rin nodded. "We also have a big dimension anchored to our world, so resources will keeping as people explore there," Isabe said. Lily nodded, "We can leave this dimension to the rest of the people and take 5% of what they earn in exchange for letting them use our Blessed Ind''s benefits." "5% is good," Sameira smiled. "It''s not much to them, but once everyone gives it to us, we''ll start amassing general resources." "The maximum Tier of resources in that dimension are Tier-8, with one in a million Tier-9 material. There should be many Prana veins there, so we''ll take 10% of Prana crystals and give ownership of the vein to whoever that discovers it," Erix said. The group talked for half an hour and then announced all the changes after gathering the guild leaders and n leaders. The actual guilds and their functions were already dissolved since Mystic Root left after Integration, but the model structures they got from Structure-dungeons remained, which was a plus. The guilds still worked in their way like before, progressing and powering up gradually but everyone''s lives became more peaceful and less intense. The top guilds were stillpeting with each other because they knew that this was just the start of the grander adventure and if they wanted to remain relevant, they needed to work and progress like Erix and others. After informing everyone and announcing the changes, the world, and people continued living their lives while Erix and others started using their saved resources for power-ups. Erix and Rin had two insight scrolls, and using both scrolls could require over half a month''s time. The others had one Insight Scroll each that they bought from Mystic Shop. Everyone could only buy from it, and it was everyone''s top priority. They had gotten one previously from Labyrinth Tower and had already used it toprehend Exotic Elements. As such, the period of progression began after the period of development was over. After ten days, Isabe, Aria, Sameira, Kenshin, and the top guild leaders finished using their Insight Scroll. Some awakened another Exotic element while some progressed in their existing Exotic Element for a direct power boost. They began their adventure in the new dimension for further progression and clearing Labyrinth Tower''s floors for more rewards. Under the Dreanox Tree, Rin and Erix sat beside each other as they opened their eyes on the 11th day after finishing using their first insight scroll. They didn''t awaken another Exotic or Super Exotic element. Instead, they progressed greatly in Nihilir and Chronace elements respectively. "Erix, we''ve been stuck in our Patron points since they constantly increased and decreased, but after ejecting those pirates and fighting against them, we finally gathered over two thousand Patron points," Rin said with a grin. [Patron Realm] _Leaderboard Rank: Unranked. --> Yet to enter any challenge. _Patron point: 2187. _Patron shop. ¡ª> [ Open - Close ] "We can buy the one-time boon now," Erix nodded as his eyes shed and he opened the Patron Shop. [Patron Shop] ->1. Talent Bless Sigil ¡ª 100,000 Patron points. ->2. Slice & Dice te ¡ª 60,000 Patron points. ->3. Opaque Mystery Rune ¡ª 300,000 Patron points. ->4. Divine Surgent Veil ¡ª 180,000 Patron points. ->5. Pandora''s Box ¡ª 10 Patron points (0/5 monthly limit.) ->Special One-time Buy ¡ª Boon Tree Awakening ¡ª 1000 Patron points. Only Erix and Rin were members of the Patron realm here, so this was exclusive to them. "Let''s see what kind of boon it is," Rin smiled. "After that, we''ll use our 2nd Insight Scroll and then clear the Labyrinth Tower''s floors." Both of them bought the Boon Tree Awakening as they lost 2k Patron Points. In the next second, their origin regions slightly shook before a mysterious source of power sprouted there in the form of a sapling. Afterward, an archaic voice rang in their heads before both of them lost their consciousness, entering in a mysterious realm. Chapter 420: Boon Tree: Yo? After Erix and Rin felt their consciousness drifting into darkness, they were sure they experienced something. But after opening their eyes exactly an hourter, only confusion remained in their eyes. "Babe, I can¡¯t remember anything," Rin frowned. "Same," Erix nodded with a weird expression. "But the boon tree¡­it awakened." "Our special skill disappeared, but this¡­" Rin¡¯s eyes glinted as she grinned upon looking at her boon tree. Indeed. Their special skill, Ignis Ed Intimacy had disappeared since they left Mystic Root¡¯s influence, but they got something else in with this boon tree! "Do you also have the Yog boon tree?" Erix asked. "Yep," Rin nodded. [Boon Tree: Yo?] |_Yogic Mastery: Complete control over mind and body through Yog techniques, granting heightened effects of Spirituality, Maya (magic), Strength, and Atman (soul). -Yo? Avatar: Follow the method and awaken your Yo? Avatar using Aethir to start learning Yo? Chakra Circtions. -Yo? Chakra Circtions: Combine Prana and Soul energy in a perfect bnce to produce Chakra and circte it throughout your Yo? Avatar. |_Level: 1 [ 0/1000 Vitalum Cirction] ¡ª> 1. Vitalum Cirction: Follow the cirction method of Vitalum to increase your Physical recovery aspects by 100% and awaken a random Vitalum innate Talent upon 1000 circtions. ¡ª> 2. Aurorium Cirction: ? ¡ª> 3. Spirium Cirction: ? ¡ª> 4. Eunoia Cirction: ? ¡ª> 5. Verbatis Cirction: ? ¡ª> 6. Inutia Cirction: ? ¡ª> 7. Divinum Cirction: ? _Note: Only people bonded with your Mark of Paradox can learn Yo? Chakra cirction from you. Both Erix and Rin got information on Vitalum Cirction, but when they saw how it worked, both of them were dumbfounded. "So we can¡¯t do any circtions until we reach the next realm in our spirit power?" Erix was speechless. They needed Aethir to awaken their Yo? avatar and Aethir was the next evolution of Spirit power! Just like how Prana was a foundational energy mixed of Mana and Spirit force, Aethir was the next evolution of Spirit power that one awakens when their state of mind and spirituality reaches a certain level and transforms. "True. We can¡¯t do this now, but Lilith and Aria can start doing Vitalum since they have already transformed their Spirit power to Aethir," Rin wryly smiled. At the moment, Rin and Erix couldn¡¯t awaken their Yo? Avatar, so they couldn¡¯t do any circtions. Yo? Avatar was like a hidden parallel part of their body that they could awaken with Aethir. It was like a fixed potential that everyone had, but to awaken that potential required much hard work and Aethir, along with the knowledge to awaken it. Erix and Rin had that knowledge, but no means yet. "So we can teach to many people as long as they are bonded with us. This is nice," Erix smiled as he looked at the Mark of Paradox. "Mom and Dad are also in now," Rin grinned. [Mark of Paradox ] _Effect(s): ¡ª> Aspect - Resonate: when you are in the presence of those you resonate with your heart and care for and vice-versa, you will gain a situational buff. ¡ª> Aspect - Dissociate: when you are not in the presence of those you resonate with, you will apply a situational debuff that will affect you and anyone you want to target in your sight. _Bonds: ¡ª> Erix, Rin, Lilith, Lily, Aria, Amu, Sameira, Kenshin. Erix and Rin didn¡¯t call Aria and Lilith at the moment to teach them since they were also training. Labyrinth Tower¡¯s 6th to 100th Floors opened for everyone after Mystic Root, so Lilith, Lily, Maleina, and other non-natives like various ns could enter and acquire rewards. Everyone was progressing. Erix and Rin also took out their second Insight Scroll but looked at each other with thoughtful expression. In the end, they decided to continue power up in their respective Super Exotic Element instead of trying to awaken a new one. Up to the 6th realm in their elements, they gained new effects. But from the 7th realm onward, their existing buffs of Elements upgraded instead of getting new ones. As such, the upper 7th, 8th, and 9th realm of elements boosted one¡¯s power super significantly. As for reaching the 10th realm, it would mean that they would finally awaken the unique form of the element that would solely belong to them based on their personal expression of that element. After using the first Insight Scroll with Nihilir written on that, Erix had progressed a lot in Space, Death, and me elements and sessfully reached the 7th realm Zyrex in those three and Nihilir. Rin also made the same amount of progress as she reached the 7th realm in her Chronace element and the three elements that were the root of it. And now, they used their 2nd Insight Scroll for the same thing they intended to reach as they could with full force and focus! They had tasted defeat one after another and it frustrated them to no end, but they directed all that frustration to improve themselves! Days passed by again as everyone was peaceful, but now intensely progressing aspetition among people grew day by day. After 12 days, Erix and Rin opened their eyes again as they sparkled with the power and purity of meditation that they just finished. However, the exhaustion came crashing immediately after their consciousness returned to their bodies as their eyes rolled backward and they fainted. They wanted to reach the 9th realm in their Super Exotic Elements but were a bit short of that and ended their power meditation of Insight Scroll in the 8th realm¡ªQuilo. Lilith arrived there shortly and saw Erix and Rin falling back with their legs still in a cross-legged position and wryly smiled. "So they finally surpassed me in the highest element realm." She could feel the faint ripples of power of their Super Exotic elements that their subconsciousness activated around them as a sort of self-defense mechanism. But Lilith was not about to give up the spot as the powerhouse of the Unfettered Kingdom that easily. With the Insight Scroll in her hand that she got from Labyrinth Tower, she sat under the Dreanox Tree. With anticipation and excitement in her eyes, she immediately used her Insight Scroll on her Super Exotic Element. Meanwhile¡­a pair of mysterious eyes manifested outside of the space-continent. ¡¯It seems that they changed the whole game in such a short time. Good. I should give them a hand so they can reach Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary early,¡¯ Tenebria thought. However, another pair of eyes appeared beside Tenebria¡¯s and spoke, ¡¯Master Tenebria, are you sure you want to add them to us? They just left the Mystic Root¡¯s influence, and haven¡¯t even learned the Arcane Mastery to proper levels.¡¯ ¡¯Don¡¯t forget that we only have around 9 months left. Will they be able to progress much during these 9 months?¡¯ Tenebria chuckled and said, ¡¯Two reasons. First, we need trustworthy people if we want to participate in the Axis realm¡¯s struggles and I believe this group is most worthy for us.¡¯ ¡¯But if you fail to Ascend, then you might even lose your life,¡¯ the second feminine voice said with a pouting tone. ¡¯Must we take the risk? Surely we can find better people at Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary.¡¯ ¡¯Why don¡¯t you hear the second reason?¡¯ ¡¯What is it?¡¯ ¡¯They have the best mindset that would allow them to bloom their talents and potential. I believe once they reach there, they will progress faster and even learn Arcane Mastery to full within 9 months.¡¯ Chapter 421: Phase of Progression, Condition ¡¯But master, the condition is them being able toplete 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered. If they can¡¯t do that, then we shall not invite them. Tenebria wryly smiled, ¡¯They will definitely pass.¡¯ ¡¯Humph, then we wille after they finish that stage! You should remember that this 3rd stage is the main reason why our Cosmic Faction is rankedst here. It¡¯s too hard!¡¯ ¡¯Fine,¡¯ Tenebria smiled. ¡¯I am sure it won¡¯t take them long.¡¯ ¡¯Hehe, but I am not sure. Let¡¯s see what happens.¡¯ Tenebria and her apprentice didn¡¯t linger longer. Meanwhile, everyone fully focused on training and progressing using resources. Labyrinth Tower¡¯s floors had been modified after Mystic Root left with thest 100th floor requiring a Power Level of 450,000. Erix and Rin had used up their insight scrolls, so they used the Elemental Crystals they earned from the recent Labyrinth Tower floor clearing after they woke up after a day of rest. The important priority now was their concepts¡¯ progress, which they could mainly progress in the Limitless ne daily and the 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered that they recently got from Tenebria¡¯s token which she had given to Isabe when she visitedst time. After a few days, they used up Advanced high-grade elemental crystals that they had saved. Erix progressed to 7th realm in his Metal affinity while Rin progressed to 7th realm in her Blood affinity after using up all of their Advanced high-grade elemental crystals. Afterward, they started resuming floor clearings of Labyrinth Tower for more elemental crystals. They resumed from the 40th Floor, which was supposed to give a big reward, but since Mystic Root left, that big reward was reced with another type of big reward, but not as big as Insight Scroll, Cosmic Treasure Arcade Center ticket, the Clone and such. Instead, clearing the 40th floor gave them a Mystery Box, which had a 10% chance of getting a big reward, but otherwise, they would get an Advanced Peak-grade Elemental crystal, which can be used toprehend elements to the 8th, 9th, or 10th realm. Both of them cleared the 40th floor and opened the Mystery box. "Let¡¯s see," Erix opened the palm-sized mystery box, which glowed with a bright light before dispersing and presenting an item that floated before him. It was a crystal, but not elemental. Both of them became curious and scanned the item. [ck te Upgrade Crystal] -> Use it to upgrade your Empyrean-Visage. "So we can upgrade the clones?" Erix was surprised and quickly summoned his clone. Erix put the crystal into his clone¡¯s body and it swiftly dissolved before it shone. Since Erix had a connection with the clone and his consciousness shared the two bodies, he clearly felt the clone¡¯s overall power increasing. "What¡¯s the effect?" Rin curiously asked. "Nothing much," Erix wryly smiled. "The clone previously inherited 50% of my power, but now it inherited 60%. An increase of 10%." "Tsk, still pretty useless against big troubles," Rin clicked her tongue and opened her box. Indeed, the clones were useful but only for misceneous tasks. They were not useful against the pirate invasion because of their low power. "I got a peak-grade Advanced elemental crystal," Rin clicked her tongue before she put it away. "Let¡¯s go to the next floor." "Let¡¯s see what¡¯s the general reward from 41st to 50th Floor," Erix nodded. Both of them vanished and arrived on the 41st Floor. "Zerol, you still here or gone with the wind?" Erix spoke out loud. Rin chuckled, "Probably gone with the wind. Mystic Root must have taken him away." Erix ruefully smiled. He had told Zerol he would think about freeing him, but things were hectic right after the pirates arrived and he had no time to act on that n. "Forget it then," Erix shook his head and looked at the 41st Floor¡¯s challenge and reward. "Eh?? So we get an Elemental Mystery Box which will either give us a high-grade or peak-grade Advanced, Principle, or Primordial elemental crystal?" Rin raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Ehh? Even Principle and Primordial elements?" Erix was startled, but then he saw the catch. "0.001% chance for a Principle or Primordial elemental crystal to appear." Rin burst outughing. "We won¡¯t get a single even after clearing all floors." "Maydy luck shine upon us," Erix prayed with a wry smile. Rin stood before Erix and licked her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Let thisdy help with that." Their lips met and a slow, but loving passionate kiss ensued for a minute before both of them disappeared and entered the challenge. ¡­ After clearing the 50th Floor, the duo returned and finally began Limitless ne training after 22 days. They couldn¡¯t enter Limitless ne since they were in Insight Scroll¡¯s effect. Isabe, Aria, Lily, and Maleina had returned a day ago from their exploration of the new pocket Dimension, so everyone gathered and entered Limitless ne together. Tenebria had given them 3rd step of Way of Unfettered, but Erix and Rin had yet to begin in it, so they started practicing it. Lily, Isabe, Aria, Lilith, and Maleina were already in the process of training in this 3rd stage¡ªAethir Mystic Intent. The major prerequisite ofpleting this 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered was making their spirit power transform into Aethir. Only then would they acquire the Aethir Mystic Intent. But it was a requirement for pleting¡¯ it, not starting it. The major benefit of this 3rd stage was that it would push their consciousness to limits and based on their capabilities and stimting their consciousness, it would help them reach the next realm in Spirit power to acquire Aethir. Erix and Rin sat in meditation upon a fluffy cloud they manifested with their imagination and began. But they didn¡¯t know what was in store as they began to practice ording to Way of Unfettered¡¯s instructions for 3rd stage. As soon as they finished forming a strange formation made purely of Spirit force with a strange intent that was stored into them when they used the Medallion to get 3rd stage¡¯s information, their consciousness drifted into the darkness that soon transformed into a different world. Chapter 422: The Tough 3rd Stage of Way of Unfettered, Pirates in Trouble Isabe, Aria, and Lily were with them while Lilith was in her Insight Scroll''s effect, so she wasn''t present to see the constantly changing expressions of Rin and Erix. "They just started, so it wouldn''t show onto their faces right off the bat," Lily chuckled. "We should begin our training too." Isabe wryly nodded, "True, but I reckon they will also experience hell no less than what we experienced. It might be even more." "Aria, how''s your progress? You have Aethir''s all six transformations, so you should be finishing this stage soon, right?" Aria nodded and bit her lips, "I also experienced bad things at starting, but you can only use Aethir while you are in that realm and I progressed to thest step already. But this is getting harder..." Aria sighed. "I need some peace, so I won''t practice it today. I need love from Erix to forget about the bad things." "Don''t say it, it''s making us weak-willed too," Lily wryly smiled. "Yes," Isabe nodded with a weak smile. "But we can do this. Erix and Rin will stabilize once their 30 minutes of hell are up, so we should too." "True, but let''s have some fun tonight," Lily said as she looked at Rin and Erix. "I am pretty sure they will want to after finishing their session." "Let''s do training for our Concept progression for 1 hour," Aria said. "We''ll use thest 30 minutes for the Way of Unfettered since it onlyst 30 minutes." Lily and Isabe agreed. This was the best. The trio went far away as they started sparring while imagining possibilities and practicing to make progress in their Concepts. Limitless ne was a perfect ce to progress in one''s concept since it allowed them to create anything they imagined inside. Meanwhile, Erix and Rin''s emotions started showing on their faces ording to what they were experiencing. From initially normal to anger, helplessness, frustration, rage, and such difficult and troubling emotions. After 20 minutes, tears manifested on their faces and their bodies trembled, both in Limitless ne and even physical bodies outside. At the moment, both of them were inpletely different worlds and had different situations and experiences, but one thing was simr¡ªtheir level of suffering. After ten minutes and exactly 30 minutes since they began, their eyes shot open. They were bloodshot and their bodies intensely trembled due to the mental strain and despair they just experienced. "Rin!" "Erix!" Both of them shouted at the same time before reality descended and they looked at each other with their messed up experiences. "W-What the fuck just happened¡­" Rin mumbled with her lips trembling while she threw herself towards Erix, hugging him tightly. Erix didn''t say anything and just hugged her tightly, shaking even. "So it was a nightmare¡­T-That must nevere true." Rin looked up to Erix, relief setting in her eyes as she knew whatever she experienced was not true, and nodded. "That must never happen." Although both of them experienced different scenarios with different journeys of suffering, the end result had the same level of despairing impact on them. This experience greatly affected them mentally, with the images still shing in their minds. "We''ll use the remaining one hourter," Erix said as he grabbed Rin''s arms and held her up while hugging her tightly. "Let''s go out." "Mhmm." Both of them exited the Limitless ne and entered the Sakura Mansion''s bedroom before they started making love without caring for anything. ¡­ When they left the room, it was already evening, which meant they spent four hours in the room without realizing it. Walking out, they saw Isabe, Lily, and Aria under the Dreanox Tree, rxing and eating. "How was the 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered?" Lily asked with a wry smile. "Terrible," Erix and Rin said at the same time. Erix''s eyes shed and he arrived before Lily, Isabe, and Aria who were resting on the sofa, and smiled. "We shall have fun every day after Limitless ne''s session for recovery." Aria''s pout that had formed after seeing Erix and Rin released and she jumped towards Erix before hugging him. "We need it!" "Completely understandable," Rin said with a dry chuckle as she sat beside them. "The first one was the most terrible and we had to take a break for three days to recover," Isabe wryly smiled. "It seems you two also experienced the same level and had to go out to establish your reality." "Yep," Erixughed," But nothing can stop us. Nothing must stop us from moving forward." "Alright, Rin and I going back to Limitless ne to finish the remaining hour." "Mhmm," Isabe nodded. "It''s early, but the food will be ready after an hour. We got some things from the pocket dimension, so I am going to cook new dishes." "Delicious food was the only bliss for us while you were away in Insight Scroll''s training," Lily chuckled. "Humu," Aria nodded with a grin. "But we are not sleeping until tomorrow morning after eating, okie?" Erixughed and pinched Aria''s cheeks gently before kissing her, "Absolutely." Isabe and Lily chuckled. "We''ll be back shortly and then you four can have fun," Rin grinned. "I had my fill." Erix and Rin sat down cross-legged as their consciousness went into Limitless ne. Erix and Rin both started training in the Chaos concept together because it was the most powerful and held the highest potential. Their paths in the Chaos concept were different, but they could still gain enlightenment from each other''s ideas and ways to press their own. Erix''s Chaos Evolution and Rin''s Chaotic Stream. What further evolution and progress they would have in the Chaos concept''s 3rd realm was something not even they knew for now. But they knew it was bound to be a major boost to them once they reached it. ¡­ Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom''s floating continent, It was 15 times bigger than the Unfettered Kingdom''s floating continent. It moved through the cosmos, but it was not alone. Behind them was a massive space fortress chasing it. It was way smaller, but the one running was Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom. Between these two structures were four lights, but if one looked closely, they were four people. Only Reverend-order could fight in outer space while getting exposed to the cosmic atmosphere. And while their fight was ongoing amid the chase, sudden news reached there about a certain failure. Bill and Rani had yet to return back, but they had sent the news of their part failure. Still, this was going to cost them dearly. "They got the ves, but no more Mystic Root influenced?!" "What the fuck? How did they fail?!" "King is outside and fighting against Rowen¡­if he finds this outside, it will affect him enough to get shitted on by that Green bastard." Everyone turned silent. The emergency meeting of Executives like Rani and Bill in the meeting room produced heavy air. After five seconds of silence, one of them spoke, "We have no other choice, but to risk our lives to loot developed worlds. They got ves, but the burden of cultivating is on us." "I''ll try to see if we can find any other under Mystic Root''s influence." "This is hell. Put Rani and Bill on the work NOW. They can''t be fucking roaming around with ves. Tell them to do their best to gather resources on their way no matter the cost." "Calm down. If they fuck up and even lose the ves, we''ll have a harder time." "Tell them to send a message on how they failed. Something or someone must have obstructed them. We have to fucking kill them for giving us this crap." Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom was officially in a deep shit. Chapter 423: First To Finish 3rd Stage, Powerful Aethir While Blue Maw Pirate Kingdom was in a quagmire, Erix and others in Unfettered Kingdom were progressing rapidly. When there was nothing to stop you, and no opposing views for the grand development while having constant resources, fast progress was inbound. Everyone''s daily routine was using Elemental crystals they gained from Labyrinth Tower clearing. For people at Royal-order lifeform, they used resources from pocket dimensions and dungeons to get stats since leveling was no longer possible. If they wanted to gain physical stats, they had to eat pills made from valuable high-tier resources that increased stats permanently and they were only found in the pocket dimension and sometimes in dungeons. If they wanted to get Magic power, they had to refine magic cores of powerful monsters from pocket dimensions and dungeons. They had to fight, kill, and get these themselves. If they wanted to increase their spirit power, they had to do that via Spiritual Arts and resources. But the resources that boosted one''s spirit power were in a category of "rare" just like resources that boosted one''s soul power. People had to work harder for those. But this was even more hard for Empyrean-order powerhouses. The resources that could increase their physical stats were not much. However, the limited number of Emypyrean-order powerhouses still gradually got stronger in the Magic area, and increased their elemental and concept masteries with daily training, clearing Labyrinth Tower floors as they get stronger daily and get more rewards for progress. But the wall that would slow down their progress also approached swiftly as they started exhausting resources. Erix and others were busy daily on a simr routine, with their main focus being Elements, Concepts, and Spiritual Art''s third stage. They didn''t go out to kill monsters and look for resources in a pocket dimension to increase their stats. There were better and more efficient ways to do this, but just not avable to them at the moment. They knew they could start this when they reached Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary, so until then, they focused on areas in which they could make constant progress. And this progression phase was truly fast with nothing to distract them and all of them having a singr focus on achieving the higher realms. After two days, Erix reached the 4th realm in Punch Concept, Absolution Impact. Rin also reached the 4th realm in de Concept, Inversion de. Isabe made progress in her Yearning and Harmony concepts since she had been focusing on them for half a month, reaching the 3rd realm in both. The Harmony increased her overall power in literal folds and herbat style was properly established as she created her unique skills suitable to her concepts while using her elements to their full potential with them and rapidly progressed in Labyrinth Tower Floors with her newfoundbat power. Her potential was blooming. Aria''sck of Concepts was filled during this period as well, reaching the 3rd realm Bond and 2nd realm in Dream concept. Dream concept became a crux in herbat power because it had so much synergy with her Animus concept and brought out her full potential with mind-blowing skills. The Animus element was something that could breathe a soul into the existence of anything, living or non-living, imaginary or fake, give purpose to nothingness, and make it something. It was the opposite of the Void element in a sense. Time, Space, Void, Animus¡ªThree of these four principal elements were already avable in their group. Life & Death ¡ª These two primordial elements were also avable to Erix, Rin, and Lilith, and soon all Regalons like Lily, Isabe, Aria, and Maleina because the Regalon race''s crux source was the pure bnced power of Life and Death. It was just like how a race of Dragons with me dragon bloodline would awaken the Fire element automatically due to inherent affinity, and how some Demons with a focus on Blood in their racial attributes would awaken the Blood element naturally. Erix had already evolved Lily and Aria after Isabe into the Regalon race and evolved their bloodline to Mythical-rank, giving them a huge boost in stats. It had only been seven days since Lilith used her Insight Scroll, so she was still in its effect, but the next turn to be Regalon was hers. During the past few days, Erix, Rin, Isabe, Aria, Lily, and Maleina were also making progress in the Way of Unfettered spiritual art''s 3rd Stage daily. It was hard and nightmarish, but suffering also increased in their Spirit power every day and they remained steady. They didn''t let the mental burden umte and fought against it and the negativity flooding them, which in turn made them stronger. Aria became the first one to finish her 3rd stage and acquire Aethir Mystic Intent, officiallypleting the stage as she directly received a boost of 3000 Aethir. The Way of Unfettere''s 2nd stage transformed one''s basic spiritual senses into a Spiritual Mystic Eye, which permanently enhanced their Spirit power by 10% while enhancing the senses. It could further evolve based on one''s personal experience and breakthrough, but of course, nobody had progressed to any next level in their Spiritual Mystic Eye yet since it required much time, effort, and experience. On the other hand, Aethir was a higher version of Spirit power. While having everything that Spirit power had, it now also had the ability to directly interfere with anything, be it real, fake, dream, reality,w, principles, minds, and as far as one''s imagination went. Because the fundamental core of Aethir''s purpose was to turn anything one imagines into reality and likewise affect the reality of oneself and others. This was not easy by any means and required much hard work, time, and cultivating Aethir, exploring Aethir''s six transformations, learning them, and mastering them. For instance, one could essentially turn an iing fireball attack into a bunch of flowers by consuming one''s Aethir force, rendering that attack useless. Of course, this was a crude use of Aethir. Reaching the level of having Aethir meant opening an entirely new branch of power, but one had to learn about it first. Aethir Mystic Intent that Aria gained afterpleting the 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered boosted the basic power of Aethir a single notch while also giving her the basic knowledge that she needed. Aethir Mystic Intent was a direct manifesting power that consumed one''s Aethir force to bring out various results depending on the user''s mastery of six transformations. It could apply one''s Intent into a physical medium or ethereal medium while creating its own rules and principles. Aria had Aethir before and ess to all six transformations, but she couldn''t use it properly as she had no knowledge of it. She only used it to boost the potency of her skills, which was the main use of Spirit power and it boosted them better than spirit force. Of course, this was also a crude use of Aethir considering it could boost a skill way better by applying the power of six transformations. However, acquiring Athir Mystic Intent finally granted the required basic knowledge to Aria and she knew how to use it properly! There was no doubt that Aria finishing her 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered made her strongest in the group right off the bat purely because of the fact that she had Aethir Mystic Intent and received such a boost in Aethir after finishing the stage. But others didn''t intend to remain behind for long! Chapter 424: Addition of Nothingness! On the 9th day since Lilith used her Insight Scroll, Erix, and Rin finally made a second big breakthrough since thest one seven days ago. They sessfully broke through in their Chaos concept, reaching 3rd realm in it! Most importantly, they finally reached a breaking point in their spirituality shortly afterward and transformed their Spirit source into Aethir source! They didn''tplete the 3rd stage of Way of Unfettered, but finally finished the requirement toplete it. Now they just had to work towards awakening Aethir Mystic Intent in the usual daily 30-minute nightmares. Both of them were under the Dreanox Tree and they had just finished a Limitless ne session of 1 hour where they reached the 3rd realm in the Chaos concept. They still had to spend 30 minutes of it in the evening for the torture of Way of Unfettered''s 3rd stage and the sudden breakthrough of Aethir awakening urred on both of them at the same time as if they were synchronized. The flux of power released in their aura was sensed by Aria first as she came flying on a big four-winged ck horse with violet-ck my wings. It had a dark gold ethereal mane and tail just as wild, making the steed look demonically majestic. This was Aria''s Regalon Drive that she had named Xan and she sat on the throne over its back, watching Erix and Rin with a gleeful grin. "Erix and Rin finally reached there." *Neigheheigh* The steed brayed loudly, its nostrils bursting out dark gold and purple me sparks. "Yeah, yeah, Xan. It will be hard to defeat them now," Aria giggled as she patted Xan. "Let''s see how many affinities of six transformations they initially awakened." Aria descended beside them while Xan dispersed like a shadow and turned into a ck crystal bangle with dark gold and purple patterns on her wrist. After sitting on a couch, Aria snaked on some chips that Isabe recently made. They were super spicy and sour like lemon with more mixed spices. Soon, Isabe also arrived and sat beside her as she had just finished lunch. "Aria, lunch is ready, so don''t eat these too much." "Okie. Where are others?" "Lily, Sameira, and Kenshin went to pocket dimension with both guild''s core groups to check out a strange site that Yelwon reported this morning." "Oh, sounds interesting. I also finished my Labyrinth Tower''s floor clearing to the 80th floor, so I should go there and check it out. "Lilith''s aura has been changing constantly the past few days, eh?" Isabe looked at Lilith several meters away in her cross-legged sitting position. "Yeah, that element is scary," Aria nodded as she looked at the ck spots that forming in the flowing aura around her. "I wonder what it is?" "Mhmm," Isabe nodded. "When my spirit sense approaches there, it gets cked out instantly and I can''t sense anything, not even a connection to myself." "She has high mastery in the Death element and her Super Exotic Element¡ªMeizen, is also scary because it deletes everything," Aria wryly smiled. "She must be progressing very high in it, eh?" "Mhmm, but this feels a bit strange," Isabe muttered. "I''ve never seen such pure darkness in her Meizen. I mean, I know Meizen is abination of Death, Blood, and Shadow elements, but this feels a bit different." Isabe shook her head with a dry chuckle, "It''s just my gut feeling. Forge it." "Let me see with Spiritual Aethir Gaze," Aria said as her eyes turned curious. She believed in gut feelings, and Isabe could be true. "Spiritual Aethir Gaze?" Isabe raised her eyebrows. "Hehe, yep. I first learned Aethir Gaze, which is like an upgraded version of Spirit sense that we were using to sense things within arge area. It allows me to look through multipleyers of anything." "And once I mastered it, my Spiritual Mystic Eye turned into Spiritual Aethir Gaze, haha," Aria chuckled. "I should be able to check it properly." "I also have a feeling I''ll reach my breaking point soon and evolve my spirit source into Athir source," Isabe smiled. "Yep! We will get stronger and if those piratese again, we''ll beat them this time!" Aria raised her fist while grinning. "Alright, let''s see what Lilith is cooking." She used her Spiritual Aethir Gaze, giving it the shape of a tiny, mysterious eyeball by consuming a bit of Aethir force. It floated towards Lilith and went into one of the pitch-ck spots in her aura. Aria''s eyes were closed shut as she could sense the pitch-ck spot''s power and nature. "This¡­" Aria''s eyebrows were raised. "This is nothing." Isabe confused. "What do you mean?" "It feels nothing¡­oh my god," Aria''s mouth suddenly wide opened in shock along with her eyes as she eximed. "This is Void!" "It has to be only this! My senses were flooded with pure darkness and nothingness." "Void¡­" Isabe''s eyes soon showed shock. "So it''s just like your Animus element, a principle element." "Yes," Aria repeatedly nodded as she continued to sense it. "This is a pure void that I am sensing." "It''s not affecting that eye you used?" "Nope. My Spiritual Aethir Gaze is more powerful and resisting the void, so it''s not getting deleted out of existence," Aria chuckled. "But It''s consuming a bit of Aethir force to stay here. Anyway, I''ll stop since we checked it." Indeed. Lilith was pulling the same kind of stunt that Erix and Rin pulled when they used their first Insight Scroll. Just like how Rin and Erix each awakened a Principle element and directly made a Super Exotic Element out of it bybining it with the two elements they had, Lilith also awakened a Void element and made it a part of her new Super Exotic Element. Meanwhile, Erix and Rin finally opened their eyes which glowed with a whole new level of rity reflecting in their eyes and surging with invisible pressure that stemmed from them awakening Aethir. Chapter 425: Tenebria & Nira "Congrats," Isabe smiled at Rin and Erix as they opened their eyes. Meanwhile, Aria appeared before them in the blink of an eye and sat down before them with a curious expression. "Out of the six attributes of Aethir, how many and which ones you got?" Rin grinned and pulled Aria''s cheek gently as she spoke, "Metamorph, Liberty, Opus, Impose, Amplify, and Personafix." "All six," Erix added with augh. "At least, both of us can feel six distinct attributes in our Aethir, although we don''t know how to use them yet." "I am also curious about them," Isabe said while walking towards them. Her eyes filled with curiosity. "I only know about Amplify because it is the main attribute of Spirit force, being able to boost the potency of all things and effects, but the other five are a mystery to me." "Unfortunately, we don''t have much knowledge of that," Rin wryly smiled. "If we had something that made use of Aethir''s six attributes, then we could study and learn them, but for now, we can only experiment." "I was experimenting, but it''s hard and confusing," Aria quickly nodded a few times, her eyes sparkling, "But it''s also awesome." Suddenly, all four of them received a spiritual alert before Amu also appeared before them. "We have some guests outside." "It''s Tenebria," Erix was surprised before heughed. "Perfect timing." Amu soon gave a pass to Tenerbria and another girl before a gentle wind breeze appeared before Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabe. From that gentle breeze of a whirlwind, a spark glowed before two people materialized before them. One of them was Tenebria in her purple-ckyered robe like a kimono. Beside her was a girl looking in her mid-twenties in a long blue frock and cross-cor shirt, slightly resembling a female martial-artist style outfit. "So this is how you look?" Rin chuckled. "It''s the first time you showed us your full and clear appearance." Tenebria smiled, "But I am still not here physically. This is one of my avatars." "But the one beside me is very much real." Everyone looked at the girl who was also looking at them with a specific set of expressions in her eyes, mainly curious and judging. "I am Master Tenebria''s apprentice, Nira." Nina smiled at them and cupped her fist with a short bow. "We are here for a simple exchange that can turn into a partnership depending on your response," Tenebria said as she waved her hand, creating six pristine stone chairs with beautiful carvings around them. "Let''s sit." Aria''s eyes glinted, "You used Aethir to create these chairs, I can feel the workings of Metamorph." "Sit," Tenebria chuckled. Aria quickly set down before her eye shone. Not just her, but when Erix, Rin, and Isabe sat on the chair, they suddenly felt a wave of freshness gushing into them. It made them feel rxed and clear, and was sucking their built-up exhaustion from mind and body alike! The chairs looked hard, but they were superfortable to sit on like they were sitting on the mostfy cloud. Tenebria smiled at Aria and said, " Now tell me, what did I use?" "I can feel Metamorph plus Opus plus Liberty, at least." Aria pressed her temples with her eyes fingers, her eyes and face looking funny but cute as she looked as if she was concentrating. "There''s something more¡­multiple things." "Mhuu¡­I give up. I can''t understand it." "Not bad. You are not wrong, but just not aplete answer because you don''t know how Aethir, Prana, and Soul work when they work together in a single construct," Nira said with a soft giggle. "Don''t worry, you will learn everything soon." "So, what''s the business?" Erix asked, curious. "I told you I would ask for your help if I need it and deem you qualified for it. epting my proposal or rejecting is up to you. I helped you on my whims while watching people here and believed you had potential, but as I said before, you don''t need to feel indebted to me." "We ept," Erix said with augh. "Yep," Rin grinned. "Obviously, epting your proposal means you will show us the next stage of our adventure, and that''s all that we want to progress further." "Is it about Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary?" Isabe curiously asked. "We will be headed to Shadow Bmaboo Sanctuary for your next adventure, but it is not about Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary," Tenerbria smiled. "It is about Axis Realms that exists in the Chasm of Onset," Nira said after Tenebria finished. "Master Tenebria must enter there, and she needs some trustworthy, but powerful and talented people." "I am one of them," Nira said with a smile, her nose hanging high as she involuntarily looked prideful while mentioning it. "And she thinks that you all are worthy of it," Nira added as her expression returned to normal. "And you don''t think that''s the case?" Rin asked with a chuckle. "I don''t know, but I believe her," Nira said with a serious expression. "Alright, back to the main point," Tenebria wryly smiled and said. "My proposal is simple and win-win for us. As we all know, you have just be independent and if you continue to remain so and explore this cosmos yourselves and learn more, you''ll waste time." "Which was I invited you to Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary. It is there where you will go next to hone yourself and learn the true ways of power," Tenebria smiled. "Do you know why you couldn''t handle a candle against those pirates despite them lowering and suppressing their stats to the same level as you?" Erix and Rin turned silent with their faces having a stoic expressions. "It was a difference in pure skills," Erix sighed. "Their skills were overpowering," Rin nodded. "I didn''t fight, so I couldn''t tell. However, their skills had a certain rity to thempared to our skills," Isabe thoughtfully said. "I don''t have proof as this was just a feeling I got when I was watching their battles." Tenrbai chuckled while Nira also smiled. "That''s indeed correct. Although they had their stats suppressed, even the elemental masteries and their effects, but¡­" Tenebria smiled, "Their skills were not suppressed. Their skills were not entry-level skills like yours, but sophisticated and advanced skills that were created with the use of all three paths." "Magic, Soul, and Aethir. Your skills are pure Magic, while you only used Soul and Spirit force to boost those skills. This is well and good until you learn the path of Aethir and the path of Soul to create true skills that utilize the potential of all three paths." "You have our full attention and agreement," Erix grinned, thrilled to learn and be more powerful! "Just satiate our hunger and we will go rock in Axis, Edgy, or whatever realms." "That''s right! It''s fun to get stronger," Aria''s pearlyughter rang. Isabe and Rin also couldn''t help but smile and get the feeling of anticipation and excitement. They learned the importance of power more than ever recently and bing powerful meant being able to enjoy life. If they are not powerful and something like Blue Maw pirates knocks on their door again, their journey wille to an end. "It''s well and good that you are willing," Tenebria faintly smiled. "But you have to finish a test first. You can still enjoy a thrilling adventure in Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary, but if you want to go Axis realms with us, then you''ll have to prove yourselves." Tenebria added, "I''ll be making a permanent portal here that leads to Shadow Bamboo Sanctuary and send my avatar back while you all focus on your usual things as you do daily, except that you must leave a portion of time daily for Nira to tutor you." "Teaching us about Aethir and other things?" Rin''s eyes shone. That''s what they wanted! "I''ll be teaching you about Aethir and Soul''s basics and then how to create true skills that onlye to fruition when its foundation has Magic, Aethir, and Soul all three together in aplex and logical structure, "Nira grinned and said, "If you want a trueparison between your current skills and the true skills that everyone outside uses, then..." After a second of thinking, Nira said with a chuckle, "It''s like your current skills are piles of dung decorated with diamonds and gems while the true skills are like the work of a professional painter or musician with their perfect and precise craft. Invaluable and unique to yourself." "¡­" "That''s an analogy, alright." The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!