After defeating Damien, Grey conversed briefly with Aira and Selene before excusing himself, claiming exhaustion from the intense battle and retiring to his room.
Meanwhile, Aira and Selene ventured out to stabilize the city. Although there were no casualties, the city lay in ruins, with buildings reduced to rubble.
Inside his room, Grey sat cross-legged on his bed with closed eyes. Upon opening them, he found himself surrounded by countless twinkling stars and shimmering galaxies.
Grey had entered his inner world, which had undergone significant changes since his evolution. Once containing only one mana galaxy, it now housed many, each radiating stronger and purer mana than before.
Within one of these mana galaxies, Grey could discern something purple moving at its center. With his heightened perception, he could see the soul of a person struggling to break free from the galaxy's grasp.
"There you are," muttered Grey, a smile spreading across his face.
He floated towards the mana galaxy at a leisurely pace. The purple soul sensed Grey's approach and shouted.
"Release me now!" Damien demanded, believing he could take over Grey's body, only to find himself trapped instead.
Grey stopped just in front of Damien, who looked utterly miserable.
With a flick of his finger on Damien's soul, making Damien cry with pain.
"Aaaa!" Damien shouted, feeling his ethereal form tremble as if it might shatter with another flick of Grey's finger.
"No, don't," Damien begged, his voice filled with anguish despite lacking tears, his soul being the most sensitive form of existence.
Grey gazed down at the miserable soul beneath him, his expression unreadable. He understood Damien's true nature.
Slowly, Grey spoke, his voice devoid of emotion. "That's what you get for meddling with someone beyond your league."
He raised his hand and gently grasped Damien's soul by the head. "You have nothing to offer me," he paused, then continued with a dangerous smile, "but I'll take everything from you now."
Grey's oceanic blue eyes glowed faintly as a piercing scream echoed through the vast expanse of his inner world. Gradually, the scream faded as Damien's soul was absorbed into Grey's body.
Afterwards, there was nothing left.
Grey sensed a slight increase in his power, though minuscule compared to his vast abilities. His mind was flooded with numerous memories, causing a slight discomfort.
Comfortably seated at the center of his mana galaxy, Grey began sorting through the memories. After some time, he sighed and remarked, "That was a deluge of memories. If my mind and soul weren't strong, I might have been overwhelmed."
He discarded the irrelevant memories, preserving only a few that might prove useful in the future. Despite the person's worthlessness, the memories of someone over 200 years old were undoubtedly valuable.
"Ding!
[Host, the system is now upgrading.]
[Upgrading > 1% > 5%...]
"It seems I've fulfilled some requirement, hence the upgrade. Perhaps it's related to the bit of power I absorbed from the soul."
Grey waited patiently as the system completed its upgrade. It took a minute for the upgrade to finish.
[Upgrading > 100%]
[System upgrade completed]
[Host can now see the new feature of the system.]
Grey raised his eyebrows and said, "Status."
Name: Grey Everwood
Race: Human
Age: 7 years
System: Resource System
Power: Rishi
Soul Power: 500K
Magic Power: 1M
Strength: 350K
Agility: 450K
Wisdom: 500K
Charisma: 8
Techniques: Death Art, Void Blade, Moon Blade, Spear Art, Sun Blade, Star Blade, Heavenly Art, Demonic Art, Life Art, Blood Art, Cosmic Art, Battle Art, Escape Art, Heavenly Escaping Series, Dragonic Art, Art of Creation, Only Me Body Refining Art...
Skills: Etheric Probe, Microsight, Meteorite Descent, Enchantment, Mana Eye, Mana Vision, Switch, Spell Detection, Teleportation, Arcane Perception, Telekinetic Grasp, Moon's Descent, Star Fall, Blood Control, Conceal, Change, White Legion, Black Legion...
Abilities: Abyssal Wrath
Blessings: None
Bound Artifacts: None
Current Quests: None
Companions: None
Realm Allegiance: None
Grey examined all the information displayed and found himself amused.
"How did you know about my other arts that I haven't even used yet?" he asked curiously. "In fact, I haven't created them; I've only thought about it."
Grey posed two consecutive questions.
"[Host, as we are connected, I know everything you know]," the system replied.
"[Host, don't worry, I won't harm you. Now that I'm a part of you, I've included them in this list because the system predicts you'll develop these techniques and skills]," it continued.
Grey chuckled without saying anything, focusing instead on something new he had discovered.
"Abyssal Wrath?" Grey muttered to himself.
"It seems I acquired this ability after absorbing his soul," Grey mused.
"Show me the information on Abyssal Wrath," Grey commanded.
"[Here you go, Host.]"
Abyssal Wrath: An ability that can significantly enhance the user's magic power, increase affinity with darkness, and enable special transformations and other abilities related to darkness.
"That's an interesting ability. It's not that powerful, but if used wisely, it can be very impressive," Grey said, rubbing his little chin, looking cute as he did so.
"And what about the new section 'Power'? Does it tell me how strong I am?" Grey asked.
"[Yes, Host, you are correct. It tells you about your strength. From your memories, I can tell that you know little about the new power system of the world. Although the different factions don't have the best devices to measure exact stats, those devices are good enough to closely measure your powers. Based on the average stats, rankings are categorized.]"
"[Host, the universe is divided into various sectors. The sector where your galaxy, the Milky Way, resides is considered a high-level sector, and your galaxy is one of the larger ones. Your world, Earth, is just one of many bigger worlds in your galaxy.
There are numerous empires, factions, sects, adventure teams, groups, families, and solo individuals who are powerhouses in your world. You will learn about them in due time.]"
"Wow, that's a lot of information, but I think I'll slowly learn about these things in the future," Grey remarked.
"Now, tell me about the power stages," he said.
"[Host, these are the stages of power based on an individual's stats:]
- Fledgling: 10
- Awakened: 100
- Sanik: 1k
- Ascendant: 10k
- Rishi: 100k
- Transcendent: 1M
- Sant: 10M
- Kshatriya: 100M
- Raja: 1B
- Maharaja: 10B
[Currently, Raja and Maharaja are the highest stages that people have reached in your world, making them the powerhouses. Those who have reached beyond either left the world or died in ancient times.]
[Later stages are:]
- Amar: 100B
- Deity: 1T
- Deva: 10T
- Mahadeva: 100T
- Bhagwana: 1Q
- God: 10Q
[These are the stages with corresponding average stats that you should be aware of right now.]"
"Wow, that's so many stages, and looking at this, I'm currently very weak," Grey said, his baby face looking determined.
"Rishi stage needs an average of a hundred thousand stats, and I to breakthrough to Transcendent I need ten times what Rishis stage take," Grey noted. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. "How powerful is Aira's father?"
He was curious about the person ruling the realm.
"[He is the ruler of this realm, Valerius Starwing, the strongest fallen angel here. He is at the Raja stage and can breakthrough to the Maharaja stage anytime. He is also the youngest in the history of Acheron to reach that stage so quickly.]"
Hearing this, Grey's eyes widened in disbelief. "So her father is at the Raja stage. He must have been aware of me since I entered this world," he said.
"[Yes, Host, you are right. He has known everything and was keeping a close eye on you. However, there were times he couldn't see you due to your strange mana preventing him from knowing your secrets.]"
Grey sighed in relief and asked, "Why didn't he catch me if he knew where I was?"
"[I don't know, Host, but he has no plans to kill you.]"
"[According to my analysis, Host, you are currently no match for the powerhouses of this realm. There are many Kshatriya and Sant here, and their breath alone is enough to kill you. I think he didn't want to make a move himself to kill you and was just watching the show to entertain himself.]"
Grey thought about this and decided it was best not to cause any trouble, lest the ruler come knocking at his door.
"Let's try this new ability," Grey said, excited to use his very first ability.
He stood up and created an open space for practice. Before him, a vast field filled with grass and greenery appeared, stretching so far that its end couldn't be seen. The beauty of the field was striking.
Grey stood amidst the tall grasses and muttered, "Abyssal Wrath."
Grey's body slowly became enveloped in a silver hue as dark smoke began to emanate from him. After a while, the smoke dissipated.
A wide smile spread across Grey's face, enhancing his cuteness to another level.
There was nothing different about Grey's appearance; he looked just as he did before. However, what made Grey smile was something else entirely.
His aura had changed, and there was another significant shift.
"Status"