Chapter 83: On a second thought

The barrier the four assassins made rapidly collapsed, and faded away as soon as the last of the them was killed.

As Anastasia stared at the corpse of the last assailant before her, her lips couldn’t help but twitch in a chilling smile.

’So, who is the architect of this fine piece of work?’ she thought to herself.

’Could it be ’her’?’ she thought of a certain someone, but soon blew the thought away. The person she thought of wasn’t nearly smart enough, nor nearly meticulous enough to pull this off.

Plus, the architect would have to be of considerable influence both in the outside world, and in the institute to be able to pull this mockery of an assassination attempt off. After all, there was no way the assailants would know where she would be, if they weren’t tipped off about the mission she took now could they?

But then again, it could be the work of a diviner, or one of those godforsaken seers, so she couldn’t be sure.

“No matter.” she muttered to herself. The assassins were the types that barely managed to reached their current ranks, and were way weaker than average Theta ranked or Theta- ranked individuals. Hell, even the guy with the shadow tendrils, that Tinubu kid or whatever that she had fought in the mock exam, would have no problem dealing with them.

While they were decent assassins, they were far from geniuses.

“Whatever, I have a mission to complete.” she muttered, as a flash of light enveloped her being. When it vanished, Anastasia Necron was no longer standing there. Instead, it was a stunning dark haired woman, with a mature allure. Ms present.

Anastasia couldn’t be sure that whoever sent these idiots after her, wouldn’t send more powerful idiots after her. And while she had quite the confidence in herself, she didn’t want to be needlessly bothered, or keep getting annoyed. Plus, even she, would have to run from a Zeta ranked aetherial, and might not even escape.

Zeta ranked aetherials were another breed of monsters. At this rank, aetherials would unlock another ability from their Physique. Though it depended on what type it could be. For some it complemented their first ability, while for others, it gave them an ability completely unrelated to the first one, but still from the physique.

It only made Anastasia smile at the thought of what second ability she would unlock when she reached that rank. She sure hoped it was one that would complement her already unfair ability.

With a bounce in her step, and the usual flair she showed while in her disguise, Ms present left the scene, leaving behind mutilated and headless corpses with none the wiser. It was only weeks later, that nearby residents would find the rotting corpses, due to the smell.

—————-

Sunday, 3am, training hall.

Damon sat in front of his reflection with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His entire body was heating up due to the chaotic aether running rampant within his body. His natural pale complexion, had turned an unhealthy red.

His reflection was the same, but he had it better from the reflection’s perspective, and was more focused. He knew just how bad it was in his body, but he didn’t stop. If he did, he would lose all the progress he had in just this one sitting.

“Okay, one last time, after this, I’ll have to go rest.” Damon murmured. He gathered aether on his palm, and placed it on his main body’s back, sending the aether into his main body in a spiral wave pattern so that the immune system of his main body wouldn’t treat it like an attack, while his main body guided it into his own aether, increasing both it’s volume, and it’s density.

Damon then shaped a lotus, and sent it charging at the Eta+ barrier that still stood untarnished. But unlike the other times where the lotus exploded mid way from the unstable aether, or collapsed in on itself, the lotus this time, continued moving forward, until it slammed into the barrier with greater impact than Damon had ever felt, causing pain to shoot through his nerves.

Even still, he smiled, because for the first time, in over a thousand attempts, one had succeeded.

So Damon tried it again, and again, and again, until his reflection ran out of aether and shattered. Even with the grimace on his face, he was still smiling.

The pain was certainly sharper than when he was channelling normally, but the benefits outweighed the pain. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” he muttered. With this technique, his channeling speed would be faster. And with the natural advantage of an omega ranked physique, he was sure he would be able to reach the Eta+ rank either during the mid term which was two weeks away, or not long after it.

Even still, Damon was still on his ground, that he would whoop everyone’s ass during that time. The process didn’t matter, only the end did.

“What name should I call this technique?” Damon muttered out loud.

As if on cue, his status screen appeared.

–Techniques: Techniques: Aether reinforcement (Master), Darkfell royal sword style (Master), Mirage steps (Master), Dark lotus enhancement technique (Beginner).

“Really? Beginner?” Damon rolled his eyes. “I created this shit myself through hours of blood and sweat.”

“Whatever, I don’t have the energy to vent.” Damon muttered as he stood up, or at least tried to do so.

His legs were wobbly for having sat down there for more than ten hours. Luckily, the reflection back at his dorm was still around, so Damon simply swapped.

The moment he found himself on the bed, he… passed out. He was more exhausted than he showed to be after all. Not to mention some of the internal damage he had from the lotus exploding before it reached the barrier.

————-

The harsh sun rays fell on Damon’s face, making him squint his eyes the moment he opened them.

“Damn, so it wasn’t a dream.” he muttered as he rose to a sitting position. The clothes of the day before were still on his body.

He waved his hand closing the blinds. After a good night sleep, he felt refreshed, the previous exhaustion on his body nowhere to be found.

Damon checked the time and find out that it was half an hour past 10am. “So I slept for seven hours.” he muttered. If today was Monday, he would have been cooked.

Instructor Black didn’t take lightly to those who came late to the combat class.

Anyway, Damon quickly entered the bathroom, freshened up, and decided to go down to the cafeteria. He felt refreshed, yes. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t overwhelmingly hungry.

While eating, his mind reflected back to the technique he had developed. His status screen had labelled it Dark lotus enhancement technique, and it was at beginner mastery. Which meant Damon would have to get proficient in utilizing it, for its mastery to rise.

As a technique’s mastery rose, it becomes more instinctual. Not in the way that the owner didn’t have control, but in the way that the owner could do it even while not fully commited, and it would still correct itself and still work.

Another thing that made Damon smile was that no one could use the technique except for him. Because first, without his ability, they wouldn’t even be able to try. If they had someone inject aether into them, they might explode, or in a less worse scenario, mutate into some abomination.

In short, even someone with a clone ability wouldn’t be able to try it, unless of course the clones were also one and the same with the original, which was impossible. There might be similar physiques, but they are never the same. There’s a reason they were called unique after all.

After he finished his meal, Damon texted Dion that he would be busy today, and headed for the dome. He was going to train, and channel throughout today. After all, the grind never stops.

But just as he reached the dorm, something began vibrating in his pocket. Damon reached in and retrieved a black case.

’Who could be calling me?’ he thought as he twirled the graphic mirror. He couldn’t guess who it was because he had shared his contacts with everyone in the mock exam ’council’. But surely, none of them had a reason to call him did they?

But as he opened the case, he saw a face he never expected.

He frowned.

“Ms present?” On the screen was a dark haired woman exuding a mature allure.

“It is I.” she winked.

“What’s with the disguise, and why are you calling me?” Damon asked one after the other.

“I need your help with something.” she purred.

Damon raised a brow.

“And why the hell do you think I’ll help you?”

“Hmmm, how about this?” she nodded contemplatively. “I’ll give you a Beta ranked artifact.”

“….” Damon was speechless for a moment, before he composed himself.

“On a second thought, what would you like me to do for you ma’am?”

**************

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