'Glint'
SHIEEEK...!
Light tore across the field, pure radiance swept forward, consuming everything within the vicinity. Green bodies burned to ashes, their blood painting the air crimson before falling like rain.
Acheron stood at the epicenter of it all, blood dripping from her hair. The ground beneath her feet was filled with corpses stacked upon other corpses which formed grotesque hills stretching to the horizon.
She had been here for ninety years, honing and leveling her stats.
Time flowed differently here, for what felt like ninety years of slaughter translated into twelve hours in the real world. She had lived the lifetime of a human while her body slept through the night.
[Ding!]
[You have slaughtered 1,247,293 goblins!]
[Mana capacity increased by 1!]
'One point? For one million? Ha... it's getting lower and lower.' Acheron's lips curved upwards.
The first few thousands of goblins were productive, her stats climbed rapidly. She could notice the raise in power as the stats went up. But somewhere after the first millionth kill, she started gaining lesser and lesser stats.
She raised both her hands to look at them. Blood pooling in her palms before spilling over.
Her status automatically showed up in front of her.
[Status]
» Name - Acheron Anaxagoras
» Core - Origin ◈ Awakening Progress: 1.6% ◈
» Stage - 4th Phase of the Descendant Sun (Ready to Advance)
[Stats]
» Mana: 283 / 7401
» Arcana Power: 499✶
» Agility: 499✶
» Endurance: 499✶
» IQ: 299✶
Every stat had a threshold for each stage. She would have to advance to the next stage before she could gain any more stat points.
During the slaughtering, she had unlocked her Origin core after continuous draining and refilling of mana, constantly forcing it to adapt to different situations and fastening the awakening process.
[You have unlocked 12 new spells!]
[Proficiency in Light Affinity: ★★★★☆☆]
[Proficiency in Darkness Affinity: ★★★☆☆☆]
Twelve different experiments she tested with both her affinities, forming into new spells.
The notifications continued.
[Ding! You have remained conscious in an accelerated time domain for 90 years!]
[You have earned the title: Time Transcender]
〈 Time Transcender ♦ 〉
⤷ You can now transfer your progress to real life.
[Ding! You have killed over 1,000,000 creatures of the same species!]
[You have earned the title: The Executioner]
〈 The Executioner ♠ 〉
⤷ Your killing intent can paralyze weaker opponents. Damage against creatures you've killed before increased by 25%.
She dismissed the screens, showing no concern for them whatsoever. She turned slowly to view the carnage she brought about. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt this wasn't normal.
Killing millions of lifeforms and not feeling a thing. What was she becoming?
She would hunt them down to test new spells, let them escape and torture them over and over. Repeating this cycle for almost every goblin she slaughtered.
「 Are you okay? 」Stellar approached Acheron from behind.
The forgotten god looked exhausted. Her usually pristine appearance had deteriorated—maintaining her domain for over ninety years wasn't an easy task.
"Yeah, I think so..." Acheron's voice came out cold. "How long has it been in the real world?"
「 About twelve hours... 」
"It's about time I woke up... send me back."
Stellar nodded, waving both her hands. The world began to fracture bit by bit until it faded away completely.
Acheron entered the state of transition. She saw a vision during this moment.
A girl with wings, holding the world.
What did it mean?
.
.
.
She opened her eyes to the soft, comfy feeling of her bed. Her body was full of rest but her mind wasn't.
Then a message showed up.
[Transferring progress: 39%]
[Transferring progress: 65%]
Her hand began to tremble violently, then a surge of power overwhelmed her. All the stats she gained were entering her body at a rapid pace as an effect of the Time Transcender title.
Her eyes began to glow, her body levitating off her bed as the wind blew her hair in different directions.
After a while, the transfer ended.
[Transferring progress: 100%]
All the notifications faded away, but one message remained.
[Would you like to advance to the Astral Sun stage?]
[Yes / No]
Acheron slowly dropped back to the bed. Her hand hovered over the option "Yes." Then she picked "No."
This wasn't the place nor the time to ascend. She could wipe her entire mansion from the face of the map. She would need to find a suitable cave or deserted field to complete the ascension to the Astral Sun Stage.
She got down from her bed, checking the time.
"Urgh! It's so early..." She yawned, stretching her arms overhead as she reached for her glasses. After slipping them on, she peeled off her nightgown, standing naked for a moment before wrapping the towel snugly around her curves and padding toward the steaming bath.
…
Arcane Collegium
Morning light filled each of the academy class halls. School went on fast—every student was ready for the big event happening today.
Three Anaxagoras vs Alackster Lewin.
The fight of the decade.
Acheron sat in her usual seat, her gaze focused on the commoner's building as professors came and went.
…
♟Nieves POV
Nieves finished her morning routine alongside Chiara, who had also arrived at the academy earlier than the others.
She sheathed her blade and grabbed a towel from the bench, sweat dripping from her face despite the morning chill.
Footsteps approached from behind.
"Morning there, love."
She knew who it was without even having to turn. "You're up early."
Vincent stopped in front of her, wearing his long coat with his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep last night." His breath misted in the cold air as he spoke.
"Hmph~ I'm not even going to ask what you were doing."
The both of them shared a small laugh.
Chiara came out from the back of the building, also wearing a towel around her neck.
"Evergreen, come. Let's have a quick spar." She gestured to Nieves as she left ahead towards the back.
As she was about to leave, Vincent pulled her back. "Wait!" His voice was gentle, matching his grip.
Nieves turned back, confused. "Yes?"
His usual confident smile faltered. He took a quick glance to see if Chiara had gone out of sight.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Can it wait? Chiara's—"
"No." His tone was sharp. "Someone wants you to come behind the nobles' academy at 5pm."
"Who?" Nieves lowered her arm, focusing her attention on the conversation.
"I don't know."
The admission clearly confused Vincent himself as he scratched the back of his head.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I really don't even know how..." Vincent tried to explain. "I honestly can't remember. I woke up this morning with this overwhelming urge to tell you. Like someone planted the thought directly in my head."
Before Nieves could respond, Chiara shouted at the top of her voice from the back.
"Evergreen! You coming or what?"
Nieves hesitated for a moment, studying Vincent's troubled expression. Something about this felt wrong, but Chiara was waiting.
"I'll handle it later...!" She shouted as she disappeared from his vision.
Vincent stood there alone, staring at the spot where she'd been. The confusion on his face deepened as he tried—and failed—to remember who had given him the message.