’Now that I think about it...’
Damian’s thoughts shifted, pulling at a thread he’d been avoiding.
’If Grandpa was still alive, I wouldn’t be needed in this world at all, would I?’
The realization settled in his chest with emotions too complicated to name.
’The events from the novel. All the nightmares about to descend on humanity in the coming years...’
He watched smoke curl upward into falling snow.
’All of them would have been stopped easily by him.’
His throat worked.
’He fought off a Demon Ruler when he was just a Demigod. Just a fucking Demigod, and he managed to push back a being that required armies of Gods to oppose.’
The cigar burned down further, ash falling onto the snow beside him.
’If he could have become a God himself...’
His mind tried to imagine what Desiderius Bloodworth would have been capable of at that level and failed completely.
’Humanity’s situation would have been completely different. We wouldn’t be constantly on the edge of extinction.’
His crimson eyes closed as he took one final drag, the ember burning almost to his fingers.
"Beggar..."
The name came out as barely a whisper, smoke obscuring his face.
’Instead of manipulating my life, reincarnating me into this world and setting me on this path...’
His eyes opened, staring at nothing.
’Maybe you should have just selected my Grandpa as your chosen one from the start...’
His hands came up to cover his face, fingers pressing against his eyes.
"Alright... that’s enough, Damian."
The words came out muffled against his palms.
"Thinking about all this won’t change anything. Let’s just focus on getting stronger."
He dropped his hands and stood up, snow falling from his shoulders.
The gates loomed before him, massive and cold.
"Status."
The screen materialized in his vision immediately, glowing faintly in the darkness.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Damian Valcor
Age: 17
Rank: A+
Talent: SS
Title: Chosen One
Core Attributes:
Strength: 800
Speed: 800
Stamina: 800
Vitality: 800
Aura: A+
Will: 500
Perception: 410
Luck: 10
Intent: Slaughter, Axe(Level 3)
Skills: —
Shooting: A
Hand Combat: A
Telekinesis: A
Macro Vision: A
Sonic Blink: A
Self-Healing: A
Stealth: A
Obsidian Hide: C
Soul’s Truth: D
Aura Control: A+
Body Control: A-
Aura Magnification: 2×
Will Strengthening: A+
Mental Barrier: A+
Weapon Arts: —
Omega Point - S: Level 3
Abyssal Slaughter - SS: Perfection
Devourer Body Art - ???: Major Success
Heaven Splitter - SS: Third Sever
Bond: Kuro (A- Rank)
- Unknown Entity
- Talent Unknown
Domains:
Domain of Despair
- Current Range: 2 Kilometers
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Damian stared at the screen for a long moment, his eyes tracking across the numbers.
’It’s only been a few days since Officer Naira escorted me to this place.’
The thought came with strange disconnect.
’But it feels like ages have gone by.’
His rank had jumped from B+ to A+ in that short span.
And every single physical stat had hit the hard limit of 800.
’Need to think of a way to break past their ceiling soon.’
His Will stat had maxed out at 500, a number almost all A ranks in the entire universe could only dream of reaching.
Perception had crossed the 400 threshold as well.
And both Will Strengthening and Mental Barrier sat at A+ rank now.
’Grandma really did turn my mind into a fortress, I don’t think even that Sicar fellow can do anything against me now.’
The memory of Agatha’s relentless teaching surfaced.
’Soul’s Truth.’
His gaze lingered on that skill, still sitting at D rank.
’I’ll probably need to practice it on others to push it to higher levels.’
His Devourer Body Art had jumped to Major Success level, though the cost had nearly been his body and mind.
’Need to kill that bastard’s real self too... Just his soul fragment isn’t enough.’
Axe Intent had awakened during the tribulation, already pushed to Level 3 through pure desperation.
’The first three levels came easy enough under that pressure.’
He flexed his hand unconsciously, remembering the feeling of Intent flowing through his strikes.
’But everything beyond the third level requires deeper understanding and practice.’
Heaven Splitter sat at Third Sever master as well, the weapon art completely reliant on his weapon intent levels.
His gaze paused on the Luck stat, then he took a deep breath.
’All this power, and I still don’t think it’ll be enough to kill Khra’gath.’
The thought settled heavy in his chest, before his mind focused again on the screen.
’Domain range increased from 800 meters to 2 kilometers? Wasn’t the maximum range for A rank supposed to be 1 kilometer?’
The number surprised him.
’Maybe having 500 Will stat pushed it past normal limits.’
That made sense, actually.
Domain strength and range were directly tied to willpower.
’I should spend some time mastering Body Control properly. It’s still only at A- rank.’
It had broken through during his survival test, when he’d been fighting those giants.
’And Aura Magnification... it hasn’t progressed at all even after so many months. I really need to focus on pushing that higher.’
His eyes tracked to another entry.
’Omega Point needs more understanding as well to reach Level 4.’
Too many things to work on, too many skills that needed refinement.
But that was fine.
He’d always worked better when he had clear goals to chase.
’Hmm?’
Suddenly his gaze caught on something he hadn’t noticed before, and his eyes narrowed.
’Kuro... broke through to A- rank?’
The realization came with confusion.
’Then why isn’t he out yet? Is he still injured?’
He shook his head.
’Forget it. Maybe he’s still dealing with all that death energy from Tranquil City.’
He dismissed the status screen with a thought, the glowing text fading from his vision.
’Let’s get some sleep first. Everything else can wait until morning.’
His hand rose toward the gate, fingers reaching for the cold steel.
But before he could touch it–
’What–’
–The world around him seemed to come to a stop.
And every hair on his body stood on end.
’I... I can’t move.’
His hand remained frozen in mid-air, his legs wouldn’t respond to his commands and his chest barely rose and fell, breathing shallow and restricted.
’Why–’
Thump
His heart slammed against his ribs.
Thump thump
The sound filled his ears, louder than the falling snow, louder than the wind.
’Why can’t I–’
Thump thump thump
His head began turning slowly, muscles straining against whatever force held him.
Inch by agonizing inch, his neck rotated sideways.
Thump thump thump thump
The beating grew faster and harder, each pulse threatening to crack his ribs from the inside.
’What is–’
His crimson eyes shifted, tracking toward the source of whatever held him paralyzed.
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