Chapter 87
Auserre, sensing Kei Y’s keen interest, smiled slightly, her gaze sharp as she addressed him.
"Ah, so you're already aware of the distinction between gaining strength naturally and through the system. Let me explain further."
"When you gain strength naturally—through physical effort like training—it’s a holistic process. Your entire body becomes stronger as a whole, with everything improving in balance. As you build your muscles, your endurance, flexibility, and coordination improve too, all working together. This means your body strengthens evenly, allowing you to handle the increased physical demand without leaving any part underdeveloped."
She paused, ensuring they were all paying attention. "The key difference is that natural growth doesn’t just target one area—it improves the entire body, which makes each gain more sustainable. For instance, as your body adapts to the training, it develops the ability to handle more effort, which strengthens the whole system. This growth is often more durable and well-rounded, so your improvements are more consistent over time."
Auserre shifted her stance, her tone becoming more serious. "The system, however, works differently. It allows you to allocate power directly to specific aspects, like your muscles or agility, and those areas grow quickly. But this approach can leave other parts of your body weaker since you’re focusing growth in only one area. This targeted growth can make you immediately stronger, but it doesn’t necessarily make you more capable as a whole."
She glanced at Kei Y and the others, her gaze steady. "That’s why the system’s power tends to be short-term—faster, yes, but it lacks the long-term sustainability of natural development. If you rely too much on the system, your body can be out of balance, unable to keep up with your own growth in the long run."
Inpu asked, "If there are such benefits, why don’t everyone just focus on the natural path?"
Auserre paused, considering the question thoughtfully. "Well, granted that you're given a system to gain strength quickly with less effort, it’s obviously the most desired path. The ability to grow stronger without having to dedicate as much time or physical effort is extremely appealing. At a certain point, people learned to balance their stat point allocation, focusing on the entire body to keep things balanced according to their preference. Over time, it became the default method for many cultivators."
Silvie sensing there was more to the story. “Sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”
Auserre’s smiled. “You’re rather astute. Yes, even though the system path offers these advantages, there’s something rather odd about how it aids our strength. It’s a subtle, insidious issue. When expelling toxins from the body for physical cultivation, the amount expelled through the natural path was far less than when using the system. I’ve only got records over time from previous cultivators, but one detail stands out. Back when the natural path was more common, cultivators expelled fewer toxins, but as the system path gained popularity, the amount of toxins being expelled from people’s bodies increased.”
The others, quiet until now, exchanged curious glances.
Kei M frowned, his voice filled with skepticism. “So, why is the system path so popular then?”
Auserre sighed, her tone almost resigned. “It’s simpler. The system provides an easier means of gaining strength. And as long as you understand what you’re doing, you don’t lose out on much. Unfortunately, I, too, followed the same path, and by the time I understood the implications, the damage had already been done.”
Auserre met their gazes, her expression serious. “The system path is seductive in its promise, but it has long-term consequences that many fail to see before it’s too late. So as of this moment, I’ll have you focus on the natural path and forgo the system entirely.”
Her words hit them like a sudden storm. They had always relied on the system path, and the thought of abandoning it left them at a loss. It felt like an abrupt, uncharted shift, one that demanded a complete reevaluation of their training. All except Kei Y, who seemed to grasp something in that moment. He didn’t have all the answers, but for now, this shift made sense to him.
And so, their training continued. Auserre kept her strength within the limits of recruit class but pushed it to the absolute edge. She drilled them on how to tap into the full potential of each stat, shaping their bodies and minds. The intensity was unmatched—no other word could describe it. It was brutal. Any gentler approach would have been insulting, given the nature of her challenge to their growing abilities.
As they were relentlessly thrown about by Auserre, the vendor, who had been observing Mia in her trance, turned his attention back to her. He saw her in a deep state of focus, so he gently moved in to assist, adjusting her stances and movements while she remained absorbed in her trance. Mia took in the adjustments like a parched land drinking its first rain in centuries.
After a moment, Mia blinked, coming out of her trance. The koi fish, still swimming gracefully in the pond, danced around her, mirroring her movements. The vendor, inspired by Auserre’s method of training, lowered his strength to recruit class level to match the intensity of their current training.
He went through the same lessons Auserre had given the others, having her adjust her movements and develop proper technique. Initially, he thought that he would have a tough time training someone so young, so he kept her techniques simple. Rather than focusing on the force of her strikes, he wanted Mia to become familiar with the fundamentals—practicing and executing the techniques properly.
He instructed her to perform a basic palm strike. That was when he immediately regretted his decision.
In the same instant that Auserre blasted her students across the room, sending them crashing into the walls, she heard five distinct thuds. The sound was unexpected, especially since she was certain there were only four of them. The fifth thud had come with a force far greater than the others, and it puzzled her.
Turning around, she saw Mia standing with a shocked expression, her face a mirror of disbelief. “He told me to do it!” Mia exclaimed quickly, pointing at the vendor with wide eyes, clearly trying to deflect the blame.
The seemingly weak palm strike that the vendor had asked Mia to perform had launched him across the room like a missile, his body slamming into the far wall.
Auserre couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing, a wide grin spreading across her face. “Ooohhhh!” she clapped excitedly, practically giddy, her eyes shining like stars.
The unexpected outcome left Auserre impressed and thoroughly amused, while the vendor, who was still recovering from his unexpected flight, shot a look at Mia, who only shrugged apologetically.
And like that, Mia joined them in their training, but they found an odd quirk about her abilities, one that required everyone to join in and discuss while the person in question ran back into the pond to play with the fish.
“So, what you’re saying, it’s only been recently since she’s been able to walk and run around comfortably? And before she’d even struggle to raise her arm without breaking her bones?” the vendor asked.
“Yeah, she’s been really brittle all her life, and because of Inpu shifting away all of her misfortune, she seemed to be okay,” Kei M said.
“Even back when I started training her, to make herself stronger, she’d cast away her fortune and break her bones, and her strength rose accordingly. Thought it was weird then, but what she did just now seems to be rather similar,” Silvie added.
“I really hate balance force users,” the vendor muttered, tripping Inpu out of spite while taking his sword.
As they all tried to figure out the best training path for Mia, the vendor joined Auserre in training them, adding his own advice and tips. They really pushed the kids to their absolute limits.
After a few hours, the kids struggled to stand up straight, even Inpu's sight blurred, his sweat drenching the ground.
“Hmmm, I see progress. But if you two are really dead set on challenging the crown prince, you’ll have to be much stronger. At least I can take pride in calling you all my students,” Auserre said proudly.
“Is he really that strong?” Kei Y said, huffing raggedly, his Gale Fang falling to the ground as his hand struggled to grip it any longer. At some point, he was convinced his lungs had collapsed from what Auserre had put them through.
“The strength I’ve been training you with is at beginner specialist class, and that’s with particularly decently talented ones. The crown prince, despite his unforgiving attitude, can challenge an army of those at that level and walk away unscathed. For those at his level, he’s no less than a walking calamity. Truly becoming a king if his attitude had been better,” Auserre answered honestly.
“Hmmm… Sounds like a challenge, if anything,” Kei Y said, actually surprised by the revelation.
“Tsk, I’ll handle him when the time comes,” Kei M scoffed.
“To think someone would have the misfortune of having two God Sparks targeting him. Hey, kid, did you shift the crown prince’s fortune to give him bad fortune?” the vendor asked Inpu, laughing. “But as impressive as the crown prince is, the one before him had truly been legendary, even on track to be a bigger asset to the kingdom than Aussie over here. It’s a shame no one truly knew his identity. The only thing to go around is that something befell him, and he lost his status as crown prince. No one knows whatever happened to him after. No one even knows if he’s still alive.”
Kei M took the words in without letting anything abnormal show on his face. His lungs and muscles were screaming in agony, so he couldn’t focus on anything else. The pain was overwhelming, but he knew he had to keep moving forward.
“All right, now that your warm-up is done, you’ll each head out individually to challenge some fractured zones,” Auserre began, her tone stern. She handed each of them a map with marked areas. “Mia, you’re still a bit young, so I’m pairing you with Inpu. You’ll work together, using your Balance Force to support each other and learn from each other’s approach.”
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She paused, giving them all a serious look. “I expect to hear that you all succeeded in clearing your zones. Don’t disappoint me.”
The kids looked at the map, and it didn’t take long for them to notice the issue. “These are all guarded zones,” Kei Y said, his brows furrowing.
“That’s part of your test. Sneak in and clear the zones. You all have unique methods, use them to sneak in, figure it out,” Auserre replied, her eyes sharp. The kids exchanged uncertain glances.
“If anything goes wrong, use these,” she added, handing them talismans. “Show these if you get caught. The pressure they’ll release will notify those in charge, and once they recognize you have them, no one will trouble you.”
With that, the kids departed for their respective locations. Mia and Inpu headed out to their designated fractured zone, while the others tackled stronger dungeons.
Meanwhile, in the settlement, the guilds and groups were thriving after completing their challenges. Draggabane’s guild had just cleared a Grade D dungeon, earning exceptional weapons, materials, and new skills. The guild's strength had grown exponentially, setting them on a new path of power.
Other guilds followed suit. Kaito and Jin had managed to push through a Grade D dungeon that nearly cost them their lives. But the sense of accomplishment, the rewards they had earned, made the dangerous ordeal worth it.
A search party had been dispatched to find Nyx, who had attempted to assassinate Jin. The party was led by Tarek Vol, an assassin himself, and considered by many to be the perfect person for the job of hunting down another assassin. However, Tarek’s motivations weren’t purely that of a hunter—he secretly hoped to help Nyx escape the dangerous situation he had caused for himself.
As the settlement advanced, so did its infrastructure. Buildings were improved, craftsmen honed their skills, and professions across the settlement flourished, creating better weaponry, armor, potions, and food to support their growing needs.
Even Orin Graves, for the most part, had adjusted his attitude. His head was always on a swivel now; while he couldn’t prove it, he was sure that one of the two individuals who had easily killed the Iron Ravager was the same person who had ripped his jaw off. The person he was now was nothing like the man he had been before.
Back at the blacksmith’s shop, excitement buzzed through the air. “Wow, did you see that? He just crafted a silver-grade weapon— a really nice longsword, and its attributes are incredible!” the murmurs spread as they watched a tall, lean figure, dressed plainly, holding the crafted longsword in his hand and admiring his work.
“Wow, Nox, that’s really impressive,” another blacksmith remarked, clearly impressed. “To think you’d be the first of us to craft silver-grade equipment.”
Nox smiled warmly, accepting the compliments and praises with grace. His smile was undeniably inviting, radiating a sense of trustworthiness and warmth that made everyone around him feel at ease. "No, it was just pure luck," he said modestly, though his eyes sparkled with a hint of pride as he looked at the sword. "It helps that the materials I had were really top-tier," he added, his gaze lingering on the blade.
The longsword gleamed as the light caught its blade, and a faint reflection of its intricate design shimmered in Nox’s eyes. The details of the sword, expertly crafted, spoke of both its craftsmanship and its deadly potential.
[Vipersteel Basilisk Longsword]
[Grade: Silver]
Attributes:
- Crafted from the remains of the Vipersteel Basilisk Apex Boss.
- Poison Elemental Affinity: The blade carries powerful venomous properties, allowing it to inflict damage over time with each strike.
- Passive Ability – Venomous Strikes: Inflicts poison damage over time with each successful strike. If the wielder aligns with Poison Force, they can manipulate the venom for greater damage, extending the duration of the poison or amplifying its potency.
- Basilisk's Residue: The weapon retains traces of the Basilisk’s toxic venom, allowing the wielder to tap into its potent and corrosive properties for various poison-based attacks.
Oddly enough, any details about the Basilisk being an Apex Boss were not visible to others looking at the sword, leaving only the more basic information—just the mention of "Vipersteel" and the weapon's high quality. Nox caught the curious glance, and for a moment, he felt an odd sense of quiet satisfaction. The fact that only those who had slain the Apex Boss could see those details felt like a stroke of luck—almost as if the weapon itself was protecting its secrets, saving him the trouble of silencing those who might ask too many questions.
“Hmm,” Nox said with a soft chuckle, his tone light and teasing. “I’d say it was rather strong. Very… resilient, and its venomous traits were certainly impressive.” He glanced around, ensuring he wasn’t giving away too much. "It was... a challenge to face, but the reward speaks for itself." He let his words hang in the air, leaving the rest to the imagination.
Eventually, after receiving all the praise, Nox left the forge, dressed plainly in simple attire, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat. He wandered through the settlement, taking in the hustle and bustle around him, feeling the weight of the sword he had just forged still fresh in his mind. He passed a few stalls and vendors, selling various wares, before stopping by a few he had been meaning to visit.
As he walked, he couldn't help but feel a sense of calm. The work in the forge was fulfilling, but moments like this allowed him to reflect, and he appreciated the simplicity of just walking around without the pressures of his recent accomplishments weighing him down.
His first stop was Lisa’s woodcarving shop, but to his disappointment, she wasn’t there. He glanced around, thinking she might have been out for a bit, but the shop was empty.
"Hmm, that's a shame. I finally have enough to afford a custom carving," Nox murmured, the disappointment evident in his voice. "Guess I'll have to come back later."
Continuing on his walk, Nox noticed Jenny’s stall was also closed. As he neared, he saw a surprising sight—Kaito, the number two in the settlement, crouched on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He seemed lost in thought, his finger tracing circles in the dirt.
"Hey, Kaito, you okay?" Nox called out, approaching cautiously.
Kaito looked up, his face etched with frustration and sadness. “I don’t know where she is,” he said softly, his voice cracking. “I came back from a Grade D dungeon, ready to tell her how impressive I was, and now she’s not here.”
Nox felt a pang of sympathy. The usually composed Kaito, one of the strongest, now seemed vulnerable, caught in a moment of emotional turmoil. Nox awkwardly placed a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, trying to offer some comfort. "She’ll be back, don’t worry," he said, his tone a little uncertain but filled with reassurance.
Kaito didn’t respond, but Nox gave him one last glance before turning away, deciding it was best to let Kaito be for now.
As he continued his walk toward his home, his mind began to wander. He reflected on a peculiar encounter he had once had. One day, while walking through the settlement, he had sensed a presence—something unusual, something... invisible. His eyes kept glossing over a particular area, as if he wasn’t meant to see it.
Curious and amused, Nox decided to make things a little more interesting. He released a small amount of poison from his aura into the air, invisible to the eyes but potent enough to make his point. “Since you want to be invisible to others, I’ll make my poison invisible to you,” he said darkly, the thrill of the situation bubbling in him.
The presence around him flickered in and out of his senses, as if it were panicking, trying to figure out where the danger was coming from. Nox couldn’t help but smile at the game. A kid, seemingly trying to hide, yet unable to avoid his poison. He chuckled softly to himself. “Cute,” he murmured.
The kid—he couldn’t have been older than 14 or 15—was trying to evade the poison, but he failed to notice it in time. Nox felt a strange sense of admiration. Despite the panic, the kid had some skill—being able to manipulate others’ senses to remain hidden was impressive. And the fact that he hadn’t been killed by Nox’s poison was even more intriguing. Nox was genuinely interested in meeting him again.
Nox had eventually gone home, where the materials from the Vipersteel Basilisk Apex Boss awaited him. The materials, now strewn across his workspace, reflected his thoughts on the fight. It had been a brutal battle, just him and the beast. The adrenaline still buzzed in his veins as he flexed his fingers, remembering the moment he had stood victorious over the creature.
Back at Kei's clearing, after the intense training session with the creatures, the girls gathered at the hot springs to unwind. They settled into the warm, soothing water, relaxing as they tried all the cleaning products Kei had made. The bath was filled with the sounds of contentment, their aching muscles easing under the heat, accompanied by soft “ooooh”s and “ahhhh”s as they soaked.
“I can’t believe you managed to do an entire E-grade dungeon on your own, Jenny, and you still don’t have a class upgrade,” Talia said, her voice full of disbelief.
Jenny let out a tired but contented sigh, her eyes closing as she leaned back in the water. “I can’t help it if I haven’t hit level 10 yet. I thought that dungeon would give me the final push, but I managed in the end.”
“Still really impressive. It took me and Talia to finish an F-grade high difficulty dungeon together,” Lisa added. “You think those guys will be alright in their E-grade dungeon?” she asked, referring to Kai, Owen, and Reese.
“Forget them,” Talia said. “I’d be more concerned about Kei and his reaction to seeing Hachi.”
The mention of Hachi caused the girls to turn their attention to the now much larger Lycan beast, a striking transformation from his previous fangwolf form. He had grown significantly, becoming leaner and more imposing, but still with that same playful puppy energy.
“The cute puppy evolved from being a fangwolf into this new breed of wolf, looking like a Lycan beast,” Talia continued.
“But he’s still so cute. Just a puppy, isn’t that right, you cute baby?” Lisa cooed as she got out of the water and rushed to hug Hachi. The wolf goofily licked her face, still displaying his signature goofy personality despite his growth.
Jenny watched the interaction with a fawning smile. “This could sell for millions on the internet,” she remarked, admiring Lisa’s naked body.
“It’s all for you, hunny,” Lisa winked at her.
“And Kei?” Talia laughed.
“He has hands and an imagination,” Lisa said with a hump, making the other girls burst out laughing. “He can keep himself busy. I’m not trying to catch any pedo charges.”
As Hachi hopped around, tongue hanging out, goofily jumping around in his usual playful manner, the girls couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable the situation was.
Meanwhile, in a Temporal Dungeon, Kei Y was darting around the fractured zone he was assigned to challenge. He was swiftly dodging attacks from all sides, his Gale Fang sword launching wind blades to slice through soldier classes as he continued to evade the specialist classes firing force skills at him. However, one attack managed to catch him, sending him sprawling to the ground roughly.
Kei Y, using Phantom Breeze to disappear, quickly healed his wounds with a potion.
“What happened?” he muttered to himself, recovering his composure.
He had been doing well, using Phantom Breeze to stay hidden and get close to the fracture zone’s entry point, when suddenly a notification from the system popped up.
[Congratulations, your Fangwolf companion has evolved. You may choose from the list of options to evolve your beast into.]
Kei Y froze for a moment, his heart skipping a beat. He was shocked by the unexpected pop-up, and Phantom Breeze was affected. His presence was now detectable, causing alarms to blare and attracting attention from the guards. Panicked, he quickly revealed the talisman Auserre had given him, but the specialist class guard on duty, unfamiliar with the aura of the talisman, simply scoffed at it. He sent a command to capture Kei Y.
Flustered, Kei Y hastily chose an evolution path for Hachi without thinking. He picked the Fanged Lycan wolf evolution in a desperate attempt to get rid of the system screen blocking his view. If only Kei Y knew the incredible advancement options he missed out on for Hachi, he would have been devastated. In his panic, he had unknowingly chosen the Fanged Lycan wolf evolution, but Hachi's potential was far greater. The options he had passed up were nothing short of extraordinary. Hachi could have evolved into an Ancient class form, but more importantly, there had been an Exalted evolution path available for him—one that would have made Hachi an even more formidable companion. The missed opportunity weighed heavily on Kei Y, and had he known just how far Hachi could have gone, he would have probably gone to extreme lengths to make things right. But the choice had been made, and what had been done couldn’t be undone.
In that moment, Kei Y's title He Who Denies Fate flickered, almost as if mocking its owner's predicament. Kei, however, was oblivious to this—his mind was entirely consumed by the chaos of his situation. Meanwhile, Hachi, who had been bouncing along happily just moments before, suddenly froze. His ears perked up, twitching as if he sensed something was off. There was a strange, unfamiliar sensation in the air, like an invisible force was attempting to interfere with his body. Hachi’s paw hovered slightly above the ground, unsure, as if he couldn’t quite place the odd feeling.