SSS Awakening: I Can Devour Gods to Evolve My Goddesses

"How much are you planning to put down?"

Seraphine’s question still hung over the stone table.

Cassian did not answer immediately.

He reopened the Shattered Marches Exchange.

[Riftward: 4,423,540 | Wave 45 | Defense Ended]

[Current Odds: 8.0]

[Aether Crystal: 298,466]

The only stake actually sitting under Riftward right now was Tobias’s ten thousand.

It was small enough that, rounded to one decimal place, the odds still showed 8.0.

Cassian watched that number for a few seconds.

Two hundred thousand.

That was the minimum amount he was currently willing to put in.

Not because he thought two hundred thousand was the safest number.

At the current 8.0 price, it was already enough to make waiting on this mispricing worthwhile.

But not now.

Cassian did not place the bet.

He only added two lines side by side in his own resource plan.

[Warden Gate / Outer March: Priority Reserve]

[Rank-1 Wager: At least 200,000 Aether | Wait for pre-lock window]

No escrow.

No deduction.

No public notification.

Seraphine saw him close the betting page.

"Changed your mind?"

"No."

"Then why aren’t you betting?"

Cassian looked back at the 8.0.

"If I bet now, I’m telling everyone I think 8.0 is wrong."

"They follow me in, and it stops being this price."

Seraphine paused.

Then she smiled.

"So you’re not refusing to bet."

"You’re waiting for everyone else to put their money in first."

"More or less."

Right then, Gareth said something in the Shattered Marches Channel.

[Gareth Halvern: Isn’t Riftward’s score already locked? Why did someone still put ten thousand on it?]

Tobias looked up on instinct.

He was about to answer.

Seraphine sent a message first.

[Seraphine Valcrest: Mine. Misclicked. Don’t follow.]

The stone table went quiet for a moment.

Tobias slowly turned toward her.

"That ten thousand is mine."

"For now, it’s mine."

"Why?"

"Because if you say ’supporting the Warden’ right now, someone among those four hundred and three people is going to think you know something."

Tobias opened his mouth.

Rowan had already put down his cup.

"She’s stopping people from following your bet."

Cassian nodded.

Riftward had gone in with the first batch.

Its score was already locked.

Everyone after them knew about the War Drum.

They knew the recovery window.

They knew the higher waves.

The more public information there was, the more reasonable Riftward at 8.0 looked.

But Cassian knew things the market did not.

That was why he was willing to wait.

A wager was not a declaration.

Not to him.

It was a trade.

And the worst thing you could do in a trade was raise the price yourself before you bought.

Seraphine looked at him.

"What about the two hundred thousand?"

"Keeping it."

"Until when?"

"Until the pool is about to lock."

Cassian pushed the Exchange aside.

"Until then, it’s still my Aether."

Seraphine studied him for two seconds.

"Smarter than rushing in now."

The Blueprint in his Warden Authority was glowing too.

That was what he needed to spend time on today.

---

Before the others left, Tobias still had not forgotten about his Officer position with no fixed salary.

"So there really is no Officer pay today?"

Cassian glanced at him.

"Tomorrow I’ll give you something that’ll save you a few hundred kilometers of travel."

Tobias had already stood up.

He sat back down.

"Can I leave tomorrow instead?"

Rowan hauled him up.

"Go back and finish the south-road patrol schedule first."

"This is Officer exploitation."

"You just said you weren’t leaving."

The four of them left Forgotten Shrine one after another.

Veyra did not see them off.

She had already gone back into the Deep Layer to fold the next day’s training plan back into the Eclipse rotations.

Cassian waited until the footsteps outside were completely gone before entering the deeper space where the Fountain of Life stood.

The pale-green surface of the Fountain was calmer than yesterday.

But a cluster of life-light had condensed into something almost solid at its center.

[Fountain of Life | Daily Output]

[Life Essence ×1]

[Life Water ×10]

The six bottles of Life Water left from yesterday were still there.

The new batch went into storage.

[Life Water: 6 → 16]

Cassian picked up the Life Essence.

Veyra walked over from the far side of the training ground.

"One dose took you from D to C yesterday."

"You’re still drinking today’s?"

"One a day."

"What else are you going to do with it? Save it to look at?"

"Fair."

Cassian tipped it back.

The familiar coolness entered his stomach first, then spread through his chest and spine into the rest of his body.

This time, his entire attribute panel did not recalculate the way it had yesterday.

A few seconds later, only a handful of lines appeared.

[Life Essence absorption complete.]

[Aptitude: C | Next Grade threshold not reached]

[Physical Potential: C | Continuing to improve]

[Current Level: 7]

No new Grade jump.

No new Free Attribute either.

But his body had not stopped absorbing the Life Essence.

Cassian closed the notification.

Veyra was looking at another line.

[Free Attribute: 90 | Unassigned]

"What about this?"

"You saved forty, then fifty, then sixty, seventy, and now ninety."

"Still waiting?"

Cassian was silent for a moment.

He had waited before because the real gap had not appeared yet.

Now it had.

Once the Warden Gate was built, the places he could reach would extend beyond Riftward’s current map.

Black Banner was already pressed against the southeast.

In a real war, he could not always count on Aurelia, Celia, and two hundred Legionnaires being there between him and danger.

And he was still only Level 7.

Cassian pulled down the attribute-allocation panel.

"This time, I use them."

Veyra raised a brow.

"How many?"

"All of them."

[Free Attribute: 90]

[Allocation: Physique +90]

[Confirm?]

"Confirm."

BOOM—

There was no skill light this time.

Only a heavy current of heat that slammed out from his chest and into his limbs.

His bones tightened.

His muscles felt as though they were being stretched open and compressed again in the same instant.

Cassian braced his right hand against the white stone rim of the Fountain.

The stone did not crack.

But the sensation beneath his fingers was completely different now.

[Free Attribute: 90 → 0]

[Physique: +90]

[Existing Life Essence compensation: +24 | Retained]

[Existing permanent bonus from Advanced Physique Tome: +20 | Retained]

[Current permanent Physique gain relative to an ordinary Level 7 baseline: +134]

One hundred and thirty-four.

Yesterday it had been forty-four.

Now it had jumped by another ninety.

But the notification was not finished.

A second layer of text unfolded beneath the Physique entry.

[Personal Growth Threshold reached.]

[Warbody Training Route unlocked.]

[Current Stage: Warbody Foundation I]

[Sustained load, impact adaptation, close combat, and high-intensity recovery training can accumulate Warbody Progress.]

[Life Essence can improve physical potential and stage absorption efficiency; subjective training time in the Deep Layer can count toward training. Daily Output and system cooldowns remain based on Realm Time.]

Cassian studied those lines longer than he had studied the ninety-point increase.

The ninety points had pushed his body across a threshold.

Now both Life Essence and the extra training time inside the Deep Layer had somewhere to keep going.

Veyra read the description from top to bottom.

"So you didn’t trade ninety points for one stronger punch."

"Right."

"You smashed open the door first."

"And now I still have to train."

Only then did Veyra push a spare Praetorian heavy shield toward him.

"Take it."

Cassian caught it one-handed.

The shield was heavy.

But once its weight settled into his right arm, he no longer felt the old need to lock his shoulder and back into place first.

Veyra said, "Lift it."

Cassian raised the shield to his shoulder.

"Higher."

He lifted it over his head.

Veyra watched for two seconds.

"Good."

"At least those ninety points weren’t just there to make the panel look better."

Cassian put the shield back down.

"I’ll test it outside too."

"You’re still planning to find something to ram into you?"

"This time I might not need to let it."

Veyra laughed once.

"That doesn’t sound much better."

The Warden Gate Blueprint did not stay in storage either.

Cassian handed it to Bram that same night.

"West side. Near the Oath Hall."

Bram read through the foundation requirements.

"We have the ordinary materials."

"Then build it tonight."

---

The next morning.

Cassian collected the Domain Aether Vein’s natural condensation for the first time.

[Daily Natural Condensation: Aether Crystal +10,000]

[Aether Crystal: 298,466 → 308,466]

He checked the Shattered Marches in passing.

Overnight, eleven Newcomer Regions had already completed Regional Boundary Defense.

But many of the Regions where Black Banner held a confirmed numerical advantage still had not entered.

Not because they could not fight.

It looked more like they were continuing to squeeze every bit of preparation time they could, finishing reserves, recovery, and higher-grade forces before going in.

That affected Cassian in only one real way.

The Rank-1 wager would settle later.

Then he walked to the west side of the Oath Hall.

Last night there had only been a Blueprint there.

Now the full gate frame was already standing.

Black-gray stone pillars.

Refined Iron stabilizing rings.

A Black Oak inner frame.

Only the actual spatial core contained in the Blueprint still needed to settle into place.

[Warden Gate Blueprint]

[Warden-exclusive Building]

[Use Requirement: Regional Warden | Domain Rank III+]

Every condition was satisfied.

The Warden reward itself included the spatial core, so no second list of rare materials appeared.

Bram hammered the final anchoring spike into the base.

"Everything we could do overnight is done."

Cassian nodded.

"Open it."

The Blueprint shattered.

Dark-silver spatial patterns climbed all four gate pillars at once.

A dozen seconds later, a six-meter black-gray stone gate stood outside the Oath Hall.

There was nothing inside the frame.

Only a thin layer of silver ripples.

[Warden Gate constructed.]

[Type: Warden-exclusive Domain Waygate]

[Current Rank: III]

[Meets Rank III Domain Waygate requirements for Cross-Newcomer-Region Transit.]

[Concurrent Transit Links: 4]

[Current Reach: All of Riftward and up to 300 km beyond the Region boundary]

[Warden may share Transit Links with Regional Officers / Approved Lords / Authorized Heroes.]

[Officer Shared Links may establish a Transit Registry.]

[Within Delegated Scope, a Regional Officer may register, approve, and schedule ordinary Lords for single-use / short-term transit. Actual simultaneous spatial Links remain subject to the Concurrent Transit Links limit.]

[Transit does not move the Domain Core and does not bypass Domain Relocation rules.]

[Opening and maintaining a Gate consumes Aether. Cost increases with distance, size, and duration.]

[Shared Link Cost Settlement: Charged to the authorized user who actually opens the Link; not automatically deducted from the Warden’s personal balance.]

Four Links.

Cassian kept the first for himself.

He handed the other three out immediately.

[Shared Link 2: Tobias Reed | Regional Patrol / Road Intelligence]

[Shared Link 3: Rowan Ashford | Emergency Supply / Regional Logistics]

[Shared Link 4: Elara Vayne | Eastern Mountain Route / Royal Hall Liaison]

Only three authorization notices appeared in the Regional Channel.

Less than half a minute later, Tobias messaged him.

[Tobias Reed: This is the thing you said would save me a few hundred kilometers?]

[Cassian Vale: Yes.]

[Tobias Reed: Better than a fixed salary.]

[Rowan Ashford: You spent half of yesterday asking about pay and your first thought today is still money.]

[Tobias Reed: My judgment is consistent.]

Elara did not join that exchange.

She sent only one message.

[Elara Vayne: The east-mountain Link is mine?]

[Cassian Vale: Your Officer responsibility is there.]

[Elara Vayne: Fine. I’ll test it first.]

A few minutes later, Tobias had already used the Shared Link to cross from the southern patrol line back to the area near his own Domain.

A trip that used to take half a day had become one passage through a gate.

He did not test it only on himself.

Two ordinary Lords on the south road happened to have patrol crews due for a shift change. Tobias registered both requests under his Regional Patrol authority, confirmed the destinations and personnel, and approved them one by one.

[Transit Registry: Approved Lords ×2]

[Delegated Scope: Regional Patrol / Road Intelligence]

Both groups passed through in succession.

The Regional Channel quickly produced a reaction.

The first ordinary Lord through said outright that a southern outer-patrol route that had taken half a day now required only one application and one Gate passage.

The second immediately asked whether an Officer Link could be requested by someone who was not an Officer.

Tobias replied publicly.

[Tobias Reed: Yes. List the people, cargo, and coordinates clearly. I’ll approve it. Don’t use the patrol Link to go drinking.]

Rowan followed with one of his own.

[Rowan Ashford: Emergency Supply works the same way. Domains that opt into the coordination network can request transit as needed.]

Cassian did not explain further.

From that moment on, the three Officer Shared Links had real ordinary-Lord transit requests running through them.

Cassian opened his own Link instead.

Not to the Gold Vein.

Not to the Royal Hall either.

He dragged the map all the way beyond Riftward’s northwestern boundary.

Three hundred kilometers beyond it, a gray area with no stable Riftward exploration records lit up.

[Outer March]

[Unmapped Area]

[Estimated distance from Forgotten Shrine: Approx. 400 km]

[Gate Height: 5 m]

[Opening Cost: Aether Crystal ×4,000]

[Maintenance: Aether Crystal ×400 / min]

Cassian read it.

"Open."

[Aether Crystal: 308,466 → 304,466]

Silver ripples instantly filled the frame.

On the other side was not gray hillside.

It was an endless dark-green grassland.

Wind from four hundred kilometers away blew straight through the Warden Gate and into Forgotten Shrine.

Veyra stood beside the gate.

She did not step forward.

The boundary of the Temporary Covenant was clear.

The Deep Layer was inside the Domain.

The Outer March was not.

"I can’t pass through this gate."

"Right."

"Then the Eclipse troops stay."

Cassian looked at her.

Veyra had already tucked the training schedule into one hand.

"You take Aurelia, Celia, the Stormlance, Highblood, and Rocketiers out to look for things."

"My line stays here."

"Black Banner is southeast of us."

"I don’t like the idea of you finishing the process of sorting out who wanted to stay in this Region, then immediately hollowing out your own home."

It was not a suggestion.

She had already made the decision.

Cassian looked at her for two seconds.

"Fine."

Veyra’s brow moved slightly.

"You agreed that fast again?"

"You’re right."

"..."

She remembered yesterday’s discussion over the Region name.

In the end, she only gave a soft snort.

"Go."

"I’ll watch the gate for you."

Cassian stepped through the Warden Gate.

Aurelia and Celia followed one after the other.

All twelve Stormlance came next.

Eleven Highblood, twenty Rocketiers, and four Blackfang passed through after them.

Less than a minute later, the last Rocketier crossed.

Cassian closed his personal Link.

The silver ripples vanished.

The system settled maintenance for the first minute.

[Maintenance charge this use: 1 min]

[Aether Crystal: 304,466 → 304,066]

Four hundred kilometers away, a new map name appeared for the first time.

[You have entered Galegrass Expanse.]

[Outer March exploration has begun.]