Midnight.
It was quite dark, both outside and inside a particular layer on a majestic tower—the same tower that stretched up as far as the eye could see, The Sky Tower. In there, lies Naoki—struggling.
"Finally... 6th... Soul Node." He panted on all fours.
The Nightingale Layer.
It was the 2nd floor of the several dozens of floors that the tower had. Furthermore, the monsters were at least a Star Node strong and Naoki could barely handle one of them—slowly whittling them down with his [Poison Node] and retreating with [Shadow].
"Who knew that the black snakes here would be so strong... and quite fast to boot."
Naoki had significantly improved his [Blitz] and speed because of the Token of The FurKing—but even then, these monsters gave him quite a headache. Apparently, they were even quite crafty and were quite intelligent.
Since he didn't need sleep, he decided to skip his alchemy lessons for now—in his mind, he needed to cultivate, and fast. His first agenda was to at least reach his [Poison Node] to the 2nd node before the first day in the academy since according to the information he gathered—black snakes are found on the 2nd floor of the tower.
"I wonder, am I really getting stronger..." Naoki trailed off, and a cast of doubt waved his mind.
"Even with the pills that I made to efficiently use the Soul Fragments, It was barely enough to push me to the 6th node."
While he was still a novice, Naoki could make pills on his own now—with a portable furnace that was given to him by Leariz. This way, he doesn't have to worry about the Soul Fragments expiring as he could use them on the spot. Additionally, [Discerning Eyes] paired with his soul seems to help him analyze other materials, such as herbs that he encounters, for his alchemy.
"Haha, well, I can only move forward—after all, I can't let myself give up now. If I do, then I'll just be throwing away the things that I believe in." Naoki said resolutely, looking up at the majestic scenery in front of him.
The area surrounding the layer had a faint azure hue to them—likely because of the faint glow from the light source above the floor, which was similar to the moon. It was not too bright, but not too dark to not be able to see anything.
When Naoki first entered the second layer, he felt that he was actually in another world—the scenery was nothing like he'd ever seen. It somehow calmed him down, as peace welled up in his body.
*Hiss*
"..."
As if ruining the perfect moment, he was greeted by a creature that he has been hunting for hours now...
"Wait... How!?"
And it was huge—very huge. Its size was easily three times the one that oppressed him back at the Avery Domain. It stared at Naoki, seemingly watching his next step. Naoki, with his intellect and will to cultivate, naturally would...
"Hmph...!"
Run away.
"This is gonna take over an hour..."
After throwing an arrow infused with his poison with [Blitz], he began to run away—it seems he was doing this tactic for quite a while now. Apparently, after some testing, the [Poison Node] has little to no effect no matter how many times he applied it to anything—which had disappointed him greatly.
"I just hope that this will be the last..." He heavily sighed, it seems he was about to run for quite a while.
While his Soul Node was technically almost unlocked, it still paled in comparison compared to a fully unlocked node. It seems like a 99% unlocked node was not as efficient and effective as a fully unlocked node.
<<----------->>
"My Lady... it seems that the man you've told me to keep an eye on is quite the character."
"Well, I've heard, everyone's talking about it in the academy—that another Arthur Hrothford had been born."
"It is as you say. Only 10 males have passed the Cultivation Assessment Exam—other than him, the rest had already been sent to the infirmary, suffering from major mental scars."
On a particular grandeur mansion sat a woman who was working through papers in her office room—with her glasses on. Her subordinate, who was clad in black, had excused herself after reporting her findings.
"Naoki Ozawa... huh? Well, I'll see soon enough." She removed her glasses, a sigh escaping her mouth.
Her hair shortened, as her appearance changed—it seems her work for today was done and it was time to move out.
"They're quite persistent and sneaky—as if they exactly know the layout of the kingdom. Last time, there were no traces of a mole... so how could it be?"
The Golden Messiah
A particularly obscure organization that hunts only specific people. Because of this, people have called them "Assassins" of Zenia—but that's not all, what was odder was that most of their members were male—and they were oddly strong.
Once you become their target, they will pursue you for the rest of your life, and no bodies of Golden Messiah's targets have been discovered to date.
"Hah... Delta IX had a worried look on her face—it seems like everyone is still worrying about my life. It's quite troubling as a leader to have her own subordinates in doubt."
Nadia Walter
Or so the name she dons in public. Her Psionic Arts had made her the Vice President of the Academy—only second to Eira Hrothford. Unbeknownst to them though, she's actually mainly a practitioner of the esoteric Spatial Arts—the ability to wave and tear space. It was, not to mention the fact that almost everyone thinks it doesn't exist, extremely hard to cultivate. While that was the case, if one can learn it—its power was severely greater than any other Elemental Arts.
"Although I guess I've been using it too much recently—my soul is quite fractured."
While it produced great power, Spatial Arts placed quite a toll on one's life and soul—and if used too much, might cripple or even kill the user. This was the reason why she could only barely defend herself several days ago—it seems the Golden Messiah is aware of her current state.
"...?"
"I got it, it seems I still can't let loose."
She stood up, immediately exiting through her window—the night was at its peak, a time when the dark side of life surfaces. It seems her subordinate had given her a signal through a Soul Artifact.
"Violet Trickster"
Is the name given to her by her enemies; A person who, at her peak condition, can wipe out an army. It was no surprise that the Soul Chart had assigned her to the 7th seat. Aside from her enemies, no one knew who she was, including the Cultivators of the Soul Chart—so most had assumed that she was a secluded practitioner, someone who had detached from the affairs of the world.