Days blurred into weeks.

Adrian never stopped. His quill danced across parchment at impossible speed, [Temporal Veil] wrapping him in its golden rhythm.

A minimum of ten thousand scrolls a day left his table, a mountain of glowing symbols that made the Rune Masters gape like apprentices.

Beside him, even the greatest inscribers could only manage a few hundred scrolls in eighteen hours of grueling work. Yet together, they built something larger than themselves.

“Another thousand healing scrolls ready for dispatch.” Selena marked coordinates on a map, her voice steady despite the exhaustion beneath.

“The Northern Front reports zero casualties in their last engagement. Zero.” Master Corwin shook his head in wonder.

Within a month, the change was undeniable.

Every wounded Defender in humanity’s ranks had been healed. Healing scrolls had reached the hospitals, the outposts, even the most remote strongholds.

Stacks of scrolls were stored in vaults for emergencies.

Hospitals emptied of long-term patients as lost limbs, broken spines, and scarred flesh were restored. Veterans who had accepted permanent disability walked again.

Children saw their parents whole for the first time.

“The Crimson Outpost just sent their monthly report.” Master Anya read from a tablet, wonder creeping into her voice. “Forty-seven wounded. All restored within hours.”

“Forty-seven who would have been lost forever.” Selena’s golden tattoos pulsed faintly. “Now they’re back on the walls.”

More importantly, the work no longer rested on Adrian alone. Inscribers across the world were learning his symbols.

Production grew week by week until it reached a point where even if Adrian stopped tomorrow, the system would sustain itself.

For the first time in history, humanity no longer relied on hope alone. They had real, miraculous tools to fight back.

But Adrian did not rest. When the scroll production was stabilized, he turned with Selena and the other Rune Masters to a new project.

Strengthening tattoo runes.

Runes carved into flesh that could refine the body itself, preparing Defenders for the day when space travel was no longer theory, but necessity.

“The base pattern needs adjustment.” Adrian traced golden lines across his palm, watching them shift and adapt. “The void simulation is too harsh for untrained bodies.”

“Even with modifications, the pain will be excruciating.” Selena studied his redesigned rune. “Few will volunteer.”

“They don’t need to volunteer. They need to survive.”

Over the weeks, Defenders with the tattoos soared through the ranks faster than ever before. The refinement not only helped prepare for space travel, it even increased their current combat strength.

C-ranks broke through to B-rank in months instead of years. Their bodies adapted to hostile environments, their mana circulation refined beyond normal limits.

“My daughter advanced two ranks in three weeks.” Master Valdris stared at his hands, disbelief written across his weathered features. “The tattoo changed everything about her cultivation.”

“This is what humanity needed.” Selena watched new volunteers line up for the painful procedure.

So another entire month passed this way.

And then the summons came.

A message from Kael: The Abyss Expedition begins. Gather at the Central Tower.

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Adrian set down his quill, the final scroll of the day complete.

Then he left the Rune Hall knowing humanity could now stand on its own.

…

The conference room at the central tower was filled with familiar faces.

His parents were already there. Thomas and Elara turned toward him the moment Adrian entered, their eyes widening at the sight of him.

Thomas and Elara knew everything that had transpired these past months, but they were stuck on different missions and could not just leave to visit Adrian.

The moment they saw Adrian, they were shocked. Even others in the room were struck speechless.

They had seen the recordings of the Sea Wall. They knew of his ink, his scrolls, his miracles. But now, seeing him after three months since that recording, they were left breathless.

Adrian no longer looked like the sixteen-year-old they remembered. His frame had matured, taller, stronger, his aura steadier, he looked twenty.

The strengthening tattoo had been refining him every day, down to the marrow of his bones, stripping away the last traces of boyhood.

Thomas stepped forward first, his face breaking into a grin. He clapped a heavy hand on his son’s shoulder.

“That’s how my boy should look. You’ve made me proud, Adrian. Damn proud.”

But Elara’s reaction was different.

Elara shoved Thomas aside, scolding. “Proud? He’s just a child. And you want him to walk into the Abyss?”

For a moment, she even seemed to have forgotten about his growth and powers.

She turned on Adrian, her voice rising. “You can’t go. This isn’t the Vanguard program. This isn’t a fortress wall. This is the Abyss!”

Thomas laid a hand on her shoulder, steadying. “Elara, he’s not a kid anymore. This is his path.”

“Shut up, Thomas!” Elara snapped, her golden eyes blazing as she glared at her husband. “I let him join the Vanguard. I let him stand on battlefields.”

Her voice cracked slightly. “But this is the Abyss! Even S-ranks bleed there.”

General Ironwood, arms folded against the far wall, frowned deeply. His scarred face showed clear disapproval.

“Four months. It’s been four months since he awakened. This… feels wrong.”

Kael stepped forward, his tone final and cutting through the tension. “This was Adrian’s decision. The Lord Sentinel himself approved it.”

He fixed Elara with a steady stare. “Elara, you cannot keep treating him as a child.”

That silenced the room. The weight of the Sentinel’s authority settled over them like a heavy blanket.

Elara looked between them, her fists trembling at her sides. To her, Adrian was still her child, no matter what powers he wielded.

But even she could not argue against the Sentinel’s will.

Adrian spoke softly, his voice steady and calm. “Mother… if danger comes, you and Father will be there.”

He met her gaze directly. “If I falter, you’ll protect me. But this is my step to take.”

Elara pressed her lips together, unable to answer. Her maternal instincts warred with the reality of what her son had become.

Then Kael outlined the expedition, his voice crisp and professional. “Initially, another S-rank was assigned to this mission. The Sentinel overruled it.”

“I will lead this mission. With me are Thomas, Elara, Ironwood, and Adrian. No more.”

His expression grew grave. “We cannot spare multiple S-ranks. Humanity only has four, and three must remain to guard the frontlines.”

“And other A-ranks are not free from their missions, so it’s only us five on this.”

The team was set. Within the hour, they departed.

…

Two days later, their transport cut across the skies, landing at the outpost on the Abyss’s edge.

An S-rank female Defender greeted them briefly, her expression grave. Commander Lyanna Frost had been stationed here for years. She knew better than most what lay ahead.

“Lord Kael.” She bowed deeply, then nodded to the others. “The barrier readings are stable. No unusual activity detected.”

“Any changes since the last expedition?” Kael’s voice was clipped, professional.

“Three A-rank signatures detected deep within. Standard for this time of year.” Lyanna’s gaze lingered on Adrian. “The suppression field is stronger than usual.”

They wasted little time. Soon, the five stood at the very boundary of the Abyss.

Before them stretched the barrier that defined humanity’s greatest terror, a vast, transparent dome that shimmered faintly against the horizon. The air itself seemed to thicken near its surface.

Beyond it, only illusions. Nothing true could be seen from outside. The real Abyss lay hidden, its landscapes shifting, unknowable until one stepped inside.

Adrian felt something stir within him. His Source affinity pulsed, recognizing something familiar in that barrier’s energy.

“The moment we step through, everything changes.” Thomas checked his weapon one final time. “Stay close to formation.”

Elara’s hand found Adrian’s shoulder. “Promise me you’ll retreat if I tell you to.”

“I promise, Mother.” Adrian’s voice was steady, though his eyes never left the barrier.

Kael’s voice was steady as he addressed them. “Once we cross, we enter the Abyss. Inside, our strength will be suppressed.”

“For me, killing an A-rank will be difficult. For the rest of you, your powers will be halved, maybe worse.” His space affinity flickered weakly near the barrier’s edge.

“We clear the monsters inside, then we retreat.”

“S-rank monsters were never born here. The main reason for that is we clear the monsters inside every year and stop them before they grow into S-rank monsters.”

“But anything can happen. If somehow an S-rank monster appears, we run. Even I won’t be able to hold it.”

Everyone nodded. They already knew the rules. Kael spoke them aloud for only one reason, so Adrian would hear them clearly.

Adrian’s eyes lingered on the barrier. His pulse quickened, not from fear, but anticipation.

This was the place that had suppressed even Sentinel. The place where his own Source affinity had been sensed by the ancient guardian.

“Ready?” Kael stepped toward the shimmering wall.

Without another word, they moved forward as one.

And together, they crossed the threshold.

Into the Abyss.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep