According to the story of Pandora's Box, Pandora was created by the gods and given many gifts—beauty, wisdom, and curiosity, among others.
Favoured as she was, the king of the gods personally gave her a beautiful box as a wedding gift, but warned her that she must never open it.
Unfortunately, curiosity just happened to be one of the other 'gifts' the gods had bestowed on her.
Unable to stay away, Pandora opened the box and released disease, despair, pain and countless other misfortunes to plague humanity.
Horrified by what she had unleashed, Pandora quickly closed the box, but it was too late—the world was forever changed.
However, as she closed the lid, one last entity remained inside: hope.
Looking around the relic, Kain couldn't help but recall the story of Pandora's box and the parallels it had with his current situation.
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Disease is practically unheard of on this planet, and Kain had always assumed that it was due to the more hardy constitutions of the natives of this planet who'd been breathing in a faint amount of spiritual power since birth.
However, as Kain smashed in the head of a grotesque black and slimy figure that vaguely had a humanoid outline, Kain knew that his assumption was wrong.
Someone, or possibly many individuals, had gone through the effort of locating as many spiritual microorganisms as possible and locked them away.
They hadn't even just stopped at the ones that could cause disease, like whatever had reanimated the corpses currently in front of Kain. Possibly knowing about the quick mutation rate of microbes and not wanting to take any risks, they'd gone through the effort of locking up every single microorganism with spiritual power that they could find.
Obviously, a few, like Bea and Eve, had managed to escape. But it is hard to imagine how much time and effort had gone into carefully combing essentially the entire continent, or maybe even beyond, in order to locate and lock up creatures that were difficult to even detect.
'Unless…they had someone like me…with an affinity for all microorganisms…' Kain pondered.
However, despite how challenging it made finding a contract for himself, Kain couldn't say that he blamed him. Even on Earth there were countless times when entire populations were decimated by a disease. In this world where they'd probably be even more dangerous and develop strange mutations and evolutions, more likely than not a mankind-ending illness will come into being.
'Rather I'm more surprised that nobody from the college has tried to restrict me due to my affinity. Obviously, they have some idea of what it is…'
As they got closer and closer to the center of the relic, the hotter the enchanted bracelet given to him by the school felt against his skin. Obviously, something unseen was trying to enter his body and the bracelet was exerting all of its efforts to keep it out.
The mere fact that pretty much everything in this relic, including many of the 'plants' that were actually composed of what Kain assumed to be types of fungi or algae.
Therefore, since nearly everything around him was causing a pull from his affinity, it impeded many of his senses and made it difficult to judge when something potentially dangerous that he couldn't see was approaching.
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He tried to create a barrier around him and Serena using Bea's splits, but, although it helped with keeping some of the invisible enemies at bay, similar to Eve and the Vespirae many of the creatures inside of this relic were also quite resistant to Bea and did not die or even weaken much.
"There is one of the flowers that released the mist right before Bridge and the others fell ill." Serena said while pointing to a field of glowing white flowers that looked like lilies with their petals closed.
"Once one of the flowers was picked, it opened and released the mist so remain cautious." Kain nodded. Kain wasn't sure how strong the bracelet provided by the school was, but he didn't want to test it with a shot to the face with whatever made Bridge sick.
Kain slowly approached the field to avoid startling the flower buds open and tried closing his eyes to enhance his sensitivity to the pull and find the original body of whatever had infected Bridge with its splits, but there were just far too many spiritual creatures present.
"Every individual flower seems to be the host of some kind of spiritual creature. It might be better to just try and kill them all." Kain turned to Serena, who then promptly summoned her Elemental Guardian in its fire-attribute form and began to set the field ablaze.
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However, discreetly Kain touched one of the flowers and transported it into his System's Lab. A while ago he'd bought an incubator that could house some microorganisms Kain wasn't contracted with, like Aby. Although space was limited, this relic was a good opportunity to collect some creatures of interest.
Along the way he'd already collected some glowing specks of blue light from a body they had passed previously that he guessed was similar to phytoplankton, as well as some kind of fungi that had almost knocked him and Serena unconscious due to some kind of gas it emitted.
Now he was adding what was inside of this flower to his collection. One never knew when some of this stuff would come in handy.
"Sigh…if the symptoms hadn't taken so long to show previously until we were far away from these flowers, I could have destroyed them all the first time we were in here." Serena said in irritation.
"You can't take the blame for that. I'm sure you could tell that it wasn't poison, and you weren't on the lookout for something living inside of the flowers and causing the illness. It's understandable that you let your guard down. Hopefully, killing the original body will cure those outside of the relic." Kain said.
They then turned away from the scorched field and continued on their journey after Kain did his best to sense that no living microorganism was still within the field.
He hoped that Bridge's condition would improve, although ideally while inside the relic they'd also find something with some healing properties for good measure.
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Eventually, at the center of the relic they saw a large opening for a cave. Just outside of it were 5 of the second-years that had entered, including Alexei and Jin.
"Why are you guys waiting outside of the cave instead of going in?" Kain asked.
"We suspect that the core of the relic is inside of this cave, but NJ," Jin said while pointing to a plain-looking freckled boy with sandy brown hair, "has a gift that allows him to sense danger and strongly suggested waiting for more people to arrive. Aside from you two, only 3 others have yet to arrive."
Kain nodded in understanding. Even if they have enchanted items that help to resist infections, there is no guarantee that the only source of danger would be getting sick. Kain had already seen how dead bodies were being controlled by an unknown creature. Even his own contract is capable of controlling other spiritual creatures to cause physical and elemental damage.
After about another 40 minutes, the remaining 3 seniors arrived.
Jin and Alexei led the way into the network of caves. The glowing moss lining the walls of the cave prevented the need for any kind of illuminating device as they moved forward with an unsettling silence hanging over them, broken only by the distant drip of water echoing through the cavernous halls.
His heart raced with anticipation and trepidation. However, the walls of the cave helped to dampen the pull from the creatures from outside so the cave so that Kain could focus on any approaching enemies.
"Stay sharp," Jin murmured, raising a hand to signal a halt. He knelt to inspect the ground, tracing the faint outlines of a series of markings etched into the stone. "There are traps here. They're ancient but should still work. We must move forward carefully."
As they moved deeper into the cave, the walls began to narrow, and the air grew colder. A large second-year with a bulky build, moved to the rear carrying a massive sword, muscles tense as he listened for any signs of danger. "I don't like the feel of this," he muttered. "It's too quiet."
Suddenly, a soft click echoed through the chamber, and Kain's instincts kicked in.
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"Move!" he shouted, darting to the side just as a series of darts shot from hidden alcoves in the wall. A female second-year barely evaded the barrage, her agility on full display as she rolled beneath the lethal projectiles.
"Clear!" Kain called, and the group regrouped, hearts pounding. "That was too close."
"Let's not linger," Alexei urged, his voice steady despite the rising tension.
Kain could feel the weight of the darkness pressing in around them. They reached a large cavern, its ceiling so high it was lost in shadows. Stalactites hung like jagged teeth overhead, and in the center lay a massive mound of stone. The stone wasn't a single colour and was composed of several layers of varying colours form grey to orange to a deep red.
Suddenly, a low rumble echoed through the cavern. The ground beneath them trembled.
Before they could react, all entrances into the cavern began to slide shut, blocking their exit.
Apprehension surged through Kain as he leaped back, his heart racing. Everyone gathered closer together in preparation for whatever would happen next.
However, preventing their regrouping, he ground shifted violently, sending everyone sprawling in different directions.
Kain scrambled to his feet, heart pounding as he scanned the cavern. The massive mound of stone at the center began to crack and shift, its surface glistening under the glow coming off of the moss and stalactites above. Discover worlds on freewebnovel
The cavern with filled a deep, resonant growl that reverberated through the chamber, sending shivers down his spine.
As the stones shifted, the figure of a golem-like creature emerged, towering above them. Its form was composed of the same reddish-orange stone as the mound, intricately layered with veins of grey and deep red that pulsed like flowing blood.
The golem stood so tall that its head almost grazed the jagged stalactites, giving it an imposing presence that filled the cavern with a sense of dread and awe.
Kain could sense its energy, the familiar tug of from his affinity indicating that whatever this thing was, it was either composed of or host to a microorganism. Like all other creatures in the relic, its strength was limited to yellow-grade, but its immense size was rare at that level.
Even among the green-grade spiritual creatures Kain had encountered before—none were as large as this behemoth. If it wasn't for the pull from his affinity or that it was composed of stone, he'd almost think that it had giant's blood.
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"Form a defensive line!" Jin shouted.
A similar rock-golem-like spiritual creature moved in front of all of them, although it was only a fraction of the size of their opponent. It was quickly joined by two spiritual creatures resembling a tortoise and elephant. Looking at their bulky figures they were clearly all specialists in defense.
Their defense was further bolstered by buffs and translucent shields added to them by other spiritual contracts.
The others quickly gathered behind the defensive line, eyes fixed on the towering figure opposing them. However, after several minutes it didn't make any movements towards him.
"Do you think that…maybe it isn't hostile?" One of the second year's asked.
Before anyone could respond, the golem's eyes flared to life, glowing with a bright amber light. It surveyed them, its massive stone hands flexing, the ground trembling with each subtle movement. A low rumble emanated from deep within its chest, almost like a voice trying to break free.
"Is it speaking?" A female student asked, eyes wide with wonder and fear.
But as the golem shifted, it did not attack. Instead, it extended one enormous hand toward them, as if beckoning. Kain's brow furrowed in confusion. "What does it want?"
The golem's eyes flickered, and Kain felt a connection, a sense of purpose radiating from the creature.
"Wait," Kain murmured, "I think it's trying to tell us something."
Jin hesitated, but the urgency in Kain's voice was undeniable. "We don't have time for misunderstandings, Kain. We need to prepare for the worst."
Before Kain could argue, the golem raised its other hand, palm upward, and a wave of energy flowed from it, creating a gentle vibration that resonated through the cavern. The air thickened, and Kain felt a shift, a calming influence washing over him and his allies.
"Listen!" Kain urged, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's showing us something."
When the barely visible sigils carved into the cavern's walls began to glow, images were sent directly into the minds of Kain and the others.
'Maybe finally we can get some answers about this place.'
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Kain saw visions of an ancient period.
A man with tan skin and brown hair and eyes was saying something indiscernible to four others: A regal-looking man with gold and eyes and hair, a large burly man with red eyes and black hair, a frigid-looking man with piercing blue eyes and silver hair, and the only woman who had hair that faded from grey at the roots to a light violet at the bottom and strangely had both of her eyes covered by a black blindfold.
They were all dressed in attire from centuries ago, leading Kain to believe that these event s must have taken place not long after the Empire's founding.
Kain was unable to understand what was being, but it seems as though the brown-eyed man was able to convince the others of something as they all nodded in agreement.
Quickly scenes of the relics construction flashed by. Kain had wondered how such a large object had managed to be carved with so many sigils. It definitely utilized advanced techniques that had been long lost and would be difficult to find among anyone today. However, it seems as though humans weren't used.
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Flying all around the relic on the backs of red hawk-like birds were hundreds of small muscular-looking men with pointed ears—dwarves? Kain had heard rumours about non-human civilizations, such as the elves and dwarves, but majority of them had long disappeared with no contact with humans. Therefore, this was the very first time Kain was seeing them.
Kain then saw the scene of the original 5 individuals at the beginning of the vision having an intense fight with what appeared to be a black dragon.
The dragon was perched atop a massive hill, but upon closer inspection, Kain could see that the 'hill' was made up of corpses. Corpses that were in various states of rot and gradually turning black. Some of those corpses had reanimated to resemble the black rotting creatures present within the relic that Kain and the others would occasionally come across.
However, unlike the modern ones, the ones in the vision were on a completely different level in terms of strength. Based on the colour of their spiritual power, Kain concluded that the weakest of them were indigo-grade, equivalent to a 7-star beast tamer, and many of them were even stronger than that. Even more terrifying was the fact that there were hundreds of creatures at that level.
The group of 5 were made up completely of 9-star beast tamers, but even they struggled against the dragon and its underlings.
Finally, at the cost of the blind-folded woman dying, they managed to defeat the dragon.
However, terrifyingly it seems as though it was unable to be killed. It wasn't a dragon in the truest sense, Kain suspected that the dragon may have just been a host for something much more terrifying.
They destroyed and burned all of its underlings, however the body of the actual dragon was completely immune to burning despite their best efforts, and they could sense that what possessed the dragon was not truly dead. All they could do was divide up the body of the infected dragon and apply many seals to each piece. Each piece was then transported to a different location.
The vision then changed to a glass box covered in sigils containing one of the pieces, a large dragon tail, being carried into this relic where the strength of all creatures within had been restricted to yellow-grade, the lowest they could weaken the creature, due to the intricate sigils carved into the relic.
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However, since they were unable to definitively kill whatever it was previously, and only sealed it, it appears as though the creature living inside of the dragon had even managed to outlive the sigils powering its cage, and occasionally some of its aura had managed to leak outside to infect passing spiritual creatures within the relic, and even occasionally outside of the relic—explaining the rotting egg and completely dead colony of spiritual creatures the egg had been found in.
Kain blinked his eyes as he came back to his senses and saw the others around him doing something similar.
More than ever Kain was struck by the importance of their mission to find the core of this relic so that they could better control what comes in and out, and also use resources to refuel and repair the sigils.
Fortunately, it appears as though the core of the relic was located just beyond this cavern behind the sealed doors.
Unfortunately, the core was in the same room as the extremely terrifying spiritual creature that could probably easily kill all of them since that was the area with the strongest sigils to restrict it within the relic, even if it was weakened to yellow-grade and was only a single body part, it was still probably a more dangerous enemy than any other Kain had previously faced.
However, it was a definite fact that the sigils of this relic were weakening, and in order to repair them the core was needed. If they just closed their eyes to this enemy already at their doorstep, it'd be only a matter of time before it and many of the other more dangerous microorganisms escaped and caused havoc.
Kain stared long and hard at the golem. "I'm sure you showed us this so that we could have a better understanding of what we are going to face. Also, based on your actions so far, can I assume that you are a kind of guardian placed within this relic? Would you be willing to help us?"
It didn't give any kind of reply to Kain, but instead made a gesture at the sealed door behind it, which then opened to reveal a dark passageway. It then lumbered slowly towards the passage while bending its body forward awkwardly due to its immense size being restricted by the slightly lower ceiling of the tunnel.
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"I guess that means we should follow it…" Kain said before glancing at the others still waiting around awkwardly. He then led the way just behind the golem into the tunnel.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!Kain and the others followed closely behind the golem, the air thick with tension as they ventured into the dark passageway.
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The looming presence of the golem was a reliable reassurance for what they'd encounter next, but Kain's mind was still heavy with the visions he had just witnessed.
It was a terrifying task, to confront something so powerful, even if it was in a weakened state. He exchanged worried glances with the others. He could see the determination on their faces mixing with fear. Except strangely, Serena, who appeared more pensive after the visions, but not particularly frightened.
'Does she have some kind of hidden card to remain so confident?'
"Stay close," Jin murmured once they began to see an end to the tunnel. "We don't know what lies ahead."
The passage opened into a larger chamber, its ceiling soaring high above them, but the air felt heavy and thick with some kind dark energy that made it difficult for Kain and the others to breath.
"Ah!" One of the second-year girls in their group while grabbing the necklace provided by the school for this expedition. She moved the necklace away from her skin and Kain could see a large red welt appear just below her collarbone as though she'd been branded.
Clearly, her necklace had been working so hard at keeping something away from her that it'd gotten hot enough to scald her as a result.
Hiss
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Kain couldn't help but expel a sharp whistle of air between clenched teeth as he also felt he bracelet heating up to an unbearable degree. Similarly, many of the other second years were also clutching at various parts of their bodies as, what Kain assumed to be the enchanted objects they were carrying, got so hot that they were burned.
Nothing visible had attacked them yet, but despite the hot objects pressing against their skin, a chill crept down the spine of Kain and the other, as an eerie silence fell.
Ignoring the pain coming from his wrist, Kain looked around the chamber they'd just entered.
The room was vast and cavernous, the air thick with the scent of decay. In the center, on a raised stone altar, lay a massive tail, coiled and twisted as if in eternal agony. The tail shimmered with a dark energy, that seemed to absorb all of the light in its surroundings.
Kain's heart raced as he looked at the object from the vision. However, contrary to the intense pull he'd expected from his affinity, the pull was no stronger than what he'd experienced from the dead egg previously. He practically had to be next to it to feel the pull without concentrating.
However, now that his spiritual power had grown and he was next to what he assumed to be a portion of the original body, he'd thought the pull would be much more intense.
Suddenly, a low growl reverberated through the chamber, shaking the very ground beneath them. The tail twitched before grotesque sore-like bumps began to appear on its surface.
Bang
Kain and the others couldn't help but flinch as the bumps burst open. But rather than something disgusting like puss splattering in all directions, instead limbs, wings, and a faint head shape burst out from the lumps.
Soon, what was previously only a dragon tail morphed into a much smaller weakened version of the black dragon, its scales dulled and its wings tattered. It raised its head, eyes glinting with malice, and opened its mouth, releasing a stream of dark energy that curled through the air like smoke.
"Back!" Jin shouted, pushing the others away as the dragon lunged forward. The golem stepped into action, its massive form stepping between the group and the creature, fists raised as it prepared to defend.
The dragon roared, a sound filled with fury, and lunged at the golem, but the golem's massive hand grabbed both sides of its open mouth to keep it from tearing at its limbs. Kain felt the ground tremble beneath him, the raw power of the clash palpable in the air.
The creaking and occasional pieces of rock falling from the rock let Kain know that the current stalemate was at the expense of much of the golem's energy. They couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.
"Now's our chance!" Kain yelled, summoning Bea and the Vespirae to attack from a distance.
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The others also used their contracts to launch their attacks at the dragon from a distance.
A barrage of energy bolts was unleashed, striking all areas of the dragon not blocked by the golem. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Mostly long-distance attacks were used. Based on what they'd seen in the vision, most of them didn't dare to let their contract get too close. Only those with contracts resembling the golem holding off the dragon dared to get a little closer, hoping that the absence of any flesh would prevent the dragon from infecting them.
However, the dragon soon proved that hope to be useless.
Even in its weakened state, the black dragon was formidable. It retaliated with a swipe of its tail at an approaching smaller golem contract and sent a blast of dark energy erupting from its open mouth straight at another lion-like spiritual creature that appeared to be made of shining crystals.
The crystal lion, despite having no flesh, soon began to decay and crumble at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Ahhh!" A second-year boy unfamiliar to Kain let out a panicked scream, before moving to recall the lion into his star space.
"Wait! Don't recall it!" Kain called out. Kain had never tested if one of Bea's splits could be recalled into the star space of another beast-tamer if a contract is infected. He hadn't needed to use Bea much in the re-ranking and there weren't many opportunities for him to fight against other beast-tamers.
Moreover, he also didn't know if the split was brought into the star space if it could still exert any effect.
However, this dragon was clearly the host of something far more dangerous than Bea, and he had a hunch that recalling the lion would only result in his schoolmate's death as well.
Unfortunately, Kain's warning came too late and the lion disappeared from the cavern.
Kain looked worriedly at the boy, but after a few seconds passed with no changes, he began to let down his guard. That was until the seniors ear suddenly fell off without warning.
"Ahhhhhh!" The student suddenly dropped to the floor and began to thrash in pain as black bulges slowly began to rise up all over his skin.
A shiver ran down Kain's spine as he began to hyperventilate. Serena turned to him in confusion, since he was usually more mentally resilient and would not panic at just the sight of a dead peer he wasn't close too.
However, Kain had no time to pay attention to the glances of concern around him as his memories transported him off of the current planet to somewhere light-years away—Brazil.
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Kain my boy, I am sorry that you ended up like this due to an incompetent supervisor like me."
Kain looked up weakly from the bed through his blurred vision at his research supervisor who was covered head to toe in a hazmat suit. This summer "job" was really supposed to be more like a reward for Kain who had lost his parents.
An all-expenses paid trip to another country while working under a prestigious professor, which would look great on future job applications.
However, Kain knew that there was no hope of him ever leaving this country. If even his professor, Dr. Blackwell, couldn't figure out what exactly this thing was, then there was truly no hope for him.
What's even more strange is that up until this point they couldn't even get a hint of if the perpetrator was a bacteria, virus, or something else.
"Ah…" Kain tried to offer some words of comfort to the professor, but was too weak for more than a faint gasp to escape his lips. The bandaged hand he raised was also promptly lowered since he realized that seeing Kain with only 3 fingers on his hand would likely only make him feel worse.
Thankfully, Dr. Blackwell didn't seem to come here to receive words of comfort. He seemed to just want to get some words off of his chest and clarify some of his jumbled thoughts by saying them aloud to a student he was close to. Get more chapters on freewebnovel
"We figured out that patient zero was in an expedition group studying a recently found temple in the Amazon Rainforest. Previously, there was no indication of any advanced ancient civilization like the Mayans, Aztecs, or Incas having expanded into Brazil, so they were extremely excited.
The architecture was also slightly different from temples previously found, so they had thought that maybe they'd identified the remains of a completely unidentified civilization."
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"This belief was further bolstered by the fact that after entering the temple, the carvings seemed to be in worship of some kind of god of death whose image had never been seen before."
"Sigh. However, everyone in that team is now dead. It's possible that the so-called 'God of Death' is really some kind of devastating disease that they locked away to keep from spreading."
"Unfortunately, since everyone who entered is now dead, we have no first-hand accounts of what the inside of the temple looked like, and nobody dares to re-enter it to find out more. Thankfully, they at least took some photos of the inside of the temple that we can maybe get some clues from about the origin of this thing. I figured you'd be bored and like to maybe look at them.
You don't exactly have access to the internet in here."
Kain professor then handed over some laminated images of what looked to be photocopies of images taken from within the temple and the dead archaeologists' journals.
After handing over the images and offering some more words of comfort and empty vows to find a cure, Dr. Blackwell left.
Kain used his remaining good hand to weakly raise the laminated sheets of paper. Likely due to the poor lighting within the relic, the quality of the images was not ideal.
However, Kain could still make out some details from the temple.
The images depict wall paintings of a black star falling from the sky—the God of Death, Kain assumed. But based on his modern sensibilities, Kain would be more inclined to call it a meteor.
The so-called God of Death then began to torment the locals, and so to appease him, they built a grand temple over where he descended from the godly realm to Earth—which Kain assumed to be the location where the meteor landed.
Then to further appease the god, all individuals who had been marked by the god were then sealed within the temple as sacrifices—Kain assumed that considering the 'marked' individuals all had black bumps, they were likely the infected.
Therefore, based on their superstitious beliefs, this ancient civilization actually found an effective way to prevent the spread of the disease.
They built a massive temple over the landing site so that future humans couldn't reach it, and then all the infected were essentially quarantined and left to die within the temple, thus preventing a devastating epidemic—that was until their curious descendants happened upon it centuries later.
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'Based on this story, is the disease something that originated from outside of the Earth? Humans had been looking for some evidence of life beyond just us, but this is really not what we wanted…'
'I wonder where it came from? Sigh…but it doesn't look like I'll live long enough to receive any answers to that question.'
——
"Kain!"
"Kain!"
Kain felt a hard shove that practically sent him reeling to the floor. He turned to see Serena's typical cold expression, and returned to his current reality.
'That was dangerous. I can't afford to get distracted like that in the middle of a battle.'
He turned to look at the battle's current progress. The attacks they'd landed on the dragon had barely even left a scratch, however thankfully their new ally was still keeping the dragon away from them.
The senior who'd recalled his infected contract was now lying dead on the floor, and Serena ordered her contract to light his body on fire to, Kain assumed, prevent the spread of whatever had killed him.
In the few seconds Kain was lost in his thoughts, another contract, this one resembling a floating jellyfish, had its iridescent and translucent appearance ruined by specks of black dots that were gradually spreading—likely another victim.
A girl, who Kain assumed to be the contractor of the jellyfish, was howling in grief as she felt its fading life force.
They'd just started the battle not long ago and were suffering devastating casualties, Kain hoped that the loss to their group wouldn't get much worse.
He looked around for the core of the relic. While the dragon was being held off they had also been looking for the core. After all, even if they couldn't defeat the dragon but could take off with the core, it'd be considered a successful mission.
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The golem held its ground against the black dragon, each clash of scales against stone sending tremors through the chamber. Despite the turmoil, Kain's focus remained on the search for the core of the relic.
"Over there!" Jin shouted, pointing toward a darker recess in the cavern, away from the central altar where the dragon was wreaking havoc. "I think I see something!"
They rushed toward the shadows, their breath quickening with hope. The closer they got, the more Kain felt a faint thrumming in the air from an intensely powerful spiritual power, at a level far beyond what was restricted by the relic.
He rounded a corner, and there it was: the core of the relic. Nestled in a rocky alcove high above, the core appeared to be a smooth, crystalline orb that shimmered with a rainbow of light. It was approximately the size of a head and had a translucent shield surrounding it.
An electric blue eagle, the contract of another second-year, flew above to try and grab the core but was violently repelled by the shield.
"Sigh," Alexei said, shaking his head. "It may only allow humans through. The contracts can't retrieve it."
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"Then I'll go," Kain decided, before boarding the back of one of his Vespirae while several others surrounded him. Determination flooding through him as he ignored the screams and chaos behind him. As he neared the core, the shield flickered, as he reached his arm in, allowing it through. freewebnvel.coɱ
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He reached out and grasped the core, its energy coursing through him like a torrent of electricity. A surge of warmth flooded his senses, momentarily banishing the fear that clung to him.
"Got it!" he shouted, holding the core up high so the others could see as he removed it from the shield, but his triumph was short-lived.
The black dragon roared, its body tensing as it prepared to unleash a devastating attack. Kain's heart sank as he realized the dragon was likely to perform its greatest attack yet. "Get back!" he yelled, but the words were drowned out by the dragon's growl.
Before anyone could react, the dragon's form began to swell, dark energy coiling around it like a storm. Kain's instincts screamed at him to flee, but he was rooted in place, core in hand as what felt like an invisible hand of evil energy had a vice grip on him to prevent his movements.
With a final surge of energy, the golem stepped forward, its massive frame moving to shield the group. It thrust its arms upward, summoning a barrier of rock to encase the dragon. The ground quaked as the blast erupted, the force shaking the cavern.
Kain shielded his eyes as the explosion detonated, a violent wave of energy erupting from the dragon. The golem's rock barrier expanded outward, struggling to contain the blast. But the strength of the explosion was overwhelming, sending chunks of debris and rock flying in every direction. Kain felt himself thrown back, the core slipping from his fingers and rolling away.
As the dust settled, Kain staggered to his feet, scanning the chaotic scene. The golem had been utterly consumed by the explosion, its rocky form reduced to rubble. The air was thick with the horrid scent of burnt stone. However, its sacrificed prevented anymore of the 9 students and their contracts from dying.
A stillness fell over the cavern. Kain turned, his eyes narrowing as he searched for the dragon. There was no sign of it, no growl of fury. No pull from his affinity either. However, he didn't feel reassured by the absence of the pull.
"Is it… dead?" a second-year asked, his voice trembling.
Kain shook his head, unease creeping in. "No. It's too quiet. It shouldn't be this easy. Even a group of 9-star beast tamers hadn't been able to completely eradicate whatever was inside the dragon."
His instincts flared. There was no sense of relief; instead, a chill of dread settled in his bones. The remnants of the golem were all that remained, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the ancient enemy had escaped in the chaos.
Likely taking advantage of the moment the core was removed from the shield where it couldn't access it, it sacrificed the body of its host to form a terrible explosion.
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There were already cracks in its cage, as evidenced by the fact that Kain found an egg contaminated by it, and its minions are running around in the areas of the relic outside of this cave.
Therefore, it likely used the blast to exacerbate one of the cracks after the core was exposed momentarily, just wide enough so that the portion of whatever was controlling this dragon and was stuck in this relic could escape.
Kain shared what he sensed with Serena. After all, he was the only one that could sense what was controlling the dragon and could confirm that it was gone.
He was worried that the terrifying microorganism had managed to escape.
"I don't think it's truly escaped." Serena said coldly. "Although whatever was controlling the dragon is an unusual creature, it still has a soul, otherwise you wouldn't sense a pull from it. Its soul was divided and sealed with its dragon host in a variety of relics. When it exploded the dragon, it didn't just destroy its host, it also completely abandoned its material form as well.
I could sense its spirit for a fraction of a second. Normally that spirit would also be trapped within the relic, but taking advantage of the explosion the spirit escaped, and as an incomplete spirit it can't exert much power. Most likely, the portion of the spirit will make its way towards the nearest relic containing another portion of its soul with the aim of eventually becoming whole."
'She could sense it for a second? Does her affinity have to do with the spirit or souls? But based on the contracts of hers that I know of, that's not quite right…'
"Although this is just a theory, I do have a method of confirming for sure. But it will come at a great cost. It'd be better to just inform the school and have them investigate for themselves.
After all, if this portion of the soul is added to another relic, it'd suddenly strengthen the trapped creature within that relic, meaning that another one of these prisons would likely re-emerge in the future."
Hearing Serena's explanation, Kain was a little more reassured. If it had taken the opportunity to start infecting everyone in Dark Moon right now, Kain would have thought it'd have been better to not even try to get the core.
After all, although the relic was clearly beginning to fail and it'd likely have escaped in the future anyways, it'd have still been better if its escape was far off rather than now.
However, if their entrance into the relic resulted in it damaging itself enough to escape that it was only the powerless remnant of a soul until it joins with another piece, then he could say that they'd at least accomplished something worthwhile.
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Kain didn't immediately leave the cavern with the others, instead he headed over to the pile of rubble that had once made up their ally.
The others had assumed after seeing the explosion and the absence of any intact core that the "golem" was dead. And that would have been true if it had been a golem in the traditional sense.
However, unlike the others, Kain knew that while its body was destroyed, what truly controlled it was not any kind of core, but rather some kind of microorganism. Otherwise, he would not have sensed any kind of pull from his affinity towards it.
As Kain looked at the pieces of rock, he was even more sure of his guess. In contrast to the typical solid coloured stone of most golems, this "golem" was made of rock with hundreds of thin differently coloured layers of grey, orange, and red stone. It closely resembled the layered stromatolites formed by bacteria on Earth.
Kain recalled collecting a piece of one such rock when he visited the beach on a family vacation in his past life.
Kain's experience within this cave made him very aware of his current limitations. When Bea is faced with an enemy, such as the hosts of other spiritual microbes or humans with the necessary enchanted items, who are resistant to her, she can't play much of an effect.
Conversely, the Vespirae have a numerical advantage and high penetration power from their stingers, but no strong attacks with elemental effects or any way of providing defense for Kain.
This "golem," although it had lost majority of the rock forming its body that it'd built up in the years it was trapped in this relic, would make up for many of Kain's current weaknesses.
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Finally, Kain located a smooth piece of bright red rock that was strangely giving off a pull.
"I know that you can understand me, and I know you can sense my affinity. Since the creature you were guarding is no longer here, I was hoping you'd be willing to continue looking for it with me." Kain whispered to the rock as he held it preciously in his hands. If any of the members of the group were to come back for him, they'd probably immediately want to send him to a mental asylum.
However, he needed the agreement of the golem in order to form a contract, especially since it was one spiritual level higher than him. If he tried to force it, he'd only end up seriously hurting himself.
The rock emitted a dim glow, as yellow spiritual power left the stone and travelled up Kain's arm to his chest area.
Closing his eyes, Kain's consciousness entered his star space and could see the spiritual power moving towards his recently formed third star. The surface of the star began to slowly shift and change to better suit his newest contract, but Kain couldn't stay to watch the entire process, the others in the group were waiting for him and he had something important to quickly do.
Although it would take a while to reform the body, Kain hoped that collecting the pieces of its former body would help to shorten the process. He collected as much of the massive body as he could into his space ring. Although its massive size made it impossible to fit all of it.
'Hmm… I was able to put much of Queen's old nest into her star space, I wonder if these rocks also apply?'
Giving it a shot, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked and he was able to fully take away every ounce of the giant body.
Task completed, Kain turned around and chased after the group that'd left him behind. Thankfully, he hadn't taken too long, so nobody except for Serena noticed his absence and just assumed that he was walking at the back.
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The journey leaving the relic was much more uneventful than the one into the relic.
Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in the relic that seemed to be a cure for infections, therefore Kain and the others could only hope that killing the original bodies had stopped the patients' conditions from worsening.
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With the relic now under control by the school, Kain could also continue re-entering the relic in the future. Now, he had many more options for future potential contracts.
After leaving the relic, they were all separated to recount their own versions of what happened in the relic and turn over the core which Jin had taken responsibility for on the way back.
With worry, Kain headed back to his laboratory with Serena to check on Bridge.
Thankfully, although still extremely weak, his brother was sitting up and awake by the time he arrived.
Since Kain had stolen away one of the flowers to put in his incubator, there was a risk that the one out of hundreds that he'd chosen to save was the one that happened to infect Bridge, meaning he'd have to destroy the new member to his collection.
Thankfully that wasn't necessary.
After confirming that Bridge was okay. Serena coolly left, the previous concern she'd displayed seeming like an illusion.
Kain then spent the remainder of the day recounting what had happened to his brother, before helping to escort him back to his dorm room.
Exhausted, Kain also returned to his own dorm room to eat and take a shower before lying in bed.
However, he didn't immediately go to sleep. Kain had made his third contract and had no idea about its name or skills. Thankfully, due to the System all of that information would be laid out for him.
The anticipation was slow to creep up on him, otherwise he would have checked the System panel before they'd even left the relic, but he'd strangely not been tempted to do so—maybe his concern for Bridge had preoccupied his mind?
In fact, this was the quickest he'd ever managed to find a contract after forming a star due to the rarity of suitable contracts for him, so it was also likely that it hadn't even fully sunk in that he had a third contract—and that it was a powerful yellow-grade one no less.freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
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Nickname: N/A
Species: Biolith Sentinel
An ancient being who uses layers of sedimentary stone to form a solid and powerful exterior. Its body has incredible resilience and incredible strength, while the absence of a conventional core makes it significantly more difficult to kill than similar rock-based spiritual creatures.
The Biolith Sentinel embodies the essence of both strength and adaptability and given enough time it is capable of reshaping itself to respond to threats and environmental changes.
Quality: Platinum
Spiritual Power Grade: Yellow
Type: Microorganism (Bacteria)
Attribute: Earth
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SS-Layered Defense: Utilizing its unique stone composition, the Biolith Sentinel can absorb and dissipate incoming attacks. Each layer of its body can absorb a certain percentage of damage, allowing it to mitigate damage more easily.
S-Geoform Transformation: The Sentinel can reshape nearby stone and its own body at will, creating protective barriers or weapons made from its own and nearby stone. It can also temporarily absorb and integrate nearby stones to provide a temporary boost to its strength and resilience.
A-Tectonic Resonance: The Biolith Sentinel can generate seismic shockwaves that ripple through the ground, destabilizing the terrain and disorienting foes within a wide radius.
A-Earth's Embrace: This ability allows the Biolith Sentinel to meld into the ground, appearing like a collection of stones, its lifeforce is undetectable to foes with spiritual power up to one grade higher. While in this state, it can restore health by drawing energy from the earth itself.
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A-Stone Regeneration: This ability allows the Biolith Sentinel to regenerate lost stone layers over time, gradually restoring its physical form and enhancing its strength.
B-Crystalline Burst: Upon taking significant damage, the Sentinel can unleash a shockwave of sharp crystalline shards, dealing damage to nearby enemies. However, the attack is indiscriminate and will harm both friends and foes.
———————————
Kain's heart raced as he read through the abilities. Many of the skills sounded promising. And in the recent battle with the dragon, Kain had gotten to see its power in person. The thought of having such a dependable ally capable of shielding him and his friends filled him with hope.
He also couldn't help but feel giddy at the prospect of someone trying to destroy his contract by looking for the core but being unable to find one.
After all, the Sentinel's "core" was microscopic and difficult to find. They'd have to make sure to destroy every single speck of the golem in order to ensure its death.
Kain then looked at the empty Nickname column, and fell into a contemplative silence.
Many of the previous nicknames Kain produced such as Bea, Aby, and even his lab assistant Vera, were all acronyms for what they were and hadn't required much thought. Meanwhile, Eve also felt like an obvious name for her due to her characteristics.
'I can't exactly use the initials for its species as a name…BS as a name is kinda…'
Kain shook his head at the image of his contract having the same initials as bullshit.
But unlike Eve, there was nothing that jumped out to him as a name for his new contract.
However, given its role as a guardian and how it selflessly sacrificed its own body to protect Kain and the other, and how it will also function as a shield in the future for Kain, Kain decided to go with a name that most reminded of a strong shield.
'I will call you Aegis' Kain decided.
The decision settled, Kain fell asleep with a smile on his face.
————————————
Kain didn't hear any more news about the relic from the professors at the school, but he knew that they must have gotten it under control. Much of the vegetation surrounding the college had also been restored.
With the life force of nearby creatures no longer being sucked away by the relic, it can be assumed that the frequency of beast-tides will finally start to decrease as the resources of the forest are replenished.
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Kain's life over the next six months gradually fell into a stable routine of going to classes, brainstorming for his next research project, fulfilling requests as an evolutionary planner and receiving updates about the business. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Speaking of the business, its launch was a resounding success. The creation of a spiritual beer whose effects don't diminish with time, allowed to quickly gain a foothold within the empire and the scale of their production had to be increased several times.
After the first month of their launch, Kain was able to make back all of the money he'd initially invested and finally see some profit.
However, by now Kain was receiving substantial dividends from the company and its profit for him now far exceeded the profit from the evolutionary patent for the lumifin he developed. Especially, since after a few months the craze for the new evolutionary form had cooled down and people purchasing the plan were not as frequent.
Although due to its beautiful form and decent strength, it was still a popular contract. Additionally, its beauty makes it a popular ornamental fish within the artificial ponds and lakes of many noble homes.
Additionally, Kain and the others had already undergone their second and third re-rankings. However, unlike the first re-ranking of the year, the ones afterwards usually do not see any large changes in rank.
The top 5 of their year remained as Serena, Kain, Soren, Kairos and Ranya. Unfortunately, while Kain was strong enough to defeat pretty much all of his peers using the Vespirae alone, and only really needed to use Bea against the other members of the top 5, even with the addition of Aegis, he had been unable to defeat Serena.
Even more irritatingly, he still had not been able to force out her third contract and was defeated with only 2 of her contracts against his 3.
Addison, Aiden, Finn, Leonara and Bridge all kept their rankings within the top 20, with only slight shifts in rank.
The greatest change in rank was actually Elias who went from his initial last-placed rank to rank 42 at the first re-ranking, and then up to rank 32 by the third re-ranking. He'd finally found a suitable second contract for himself with some decent combat abilities.
If he were able to use his gift without the unfortunate side-effect of becoming naked, he'd probably have a solid chance of entering the top 20 as well.
There was no fourth re-ranking in the year, so all rankings were finalized. Therefore, the college could now confirm its definitive lineup that would be representing the school.
After the first re-ranking, they had bi-weekly joint training sessions with the seniors, but considering the rankings could still potentially change, and the most changes in rank are typically among the first-years, they were still not heavily invested into or required to devote much joint practice time.
By the time of the second re-ranking, the practice sessions were more frequent and brought to once to twice a week.
However, as Kain glanced down at the new training schedule after their place in the top 5 for their year had been confirmed, he was overcome with dread.
A jam-packed schedule that barely left time for him to breathe, especially since the summer vacation would be starting soon after their exams so they could devote every waking moment to training.
However, he knew that the intense practice was necessary—after all, the national competition was only a short month away.
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The format of the National Competition had the top 5 students of each year must fight against the same-year students at the other colleges.
Points were then awarded based on the final ranking. A maximum of 100 points each for first place among the first years, second years, and so on. The competition format is a single one-on-one battle, a three-on-three battle, and one five-on-five battle. Whichever side can win 2 of the three matches will win the round and advance.
Additionally, there was the measure of the college's overall combat power. A one-on-one individual match of the top 5 strongest students of each school, a face-off of the elites. Regardless of year level. This elite team that represented the school's strength in its entirety was usually composed of third and fourth years,
The first-place team will receive 200 points. So, in theory, a school could win a maximum of 600 points if they take first place in everything. 100 points each for ranking first in years one to four, and 200 points for the strongest multi-grade team.
However, Kain was not yet strong enough to enter the elite team, and could instead focus completely on preparing for the competition against the other first-year teams.
The representative for the single one-on-one matches could be changed with each school they face. However, the three-on-three and five-on-five matches required for them to develop their teamwork, therefore the representatives of each team match would need to practice together beforehand.
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For the team of 5 match, they'd all be working together and must therefore improve their coordination. However, the team of 3 match still needed to determine its representatives.
Ranya and Kairos both have contracts with decent control and support ability that shine greatly in group matches and were therefore chosen unanimously as the definitive representatives for the team of 3.
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For the final spot, Serena, Kain, and Soren all have stronger frontal combat abilities to make up for Ranya and Kairos' shortcomings and were therefore planning to rotate into the team of 3 depending on the composition of the enemy lineup.
However, since Serena and Kain were decided to take on the majority of the one-on-one matches, Soren was decided to take on the majority of the team of three matches.
This arrangement also helped Kain a lot since he did not have to focus as much of his energy on training as a group with Ranya and Kairos. Instead, he could mostly just focus on his individual training and the team of 5 training.
Currently, the seniors were assisting them in their cooperation as a group of 5. And in order to improve their teamwork, the second years were serving as their opponents. Of course, though they only limited themselves to yellow-grade and below contracts and could only summon 3 spiritual creatures since it was unlikely for a first-year to exceed being a 3-star beast-tamer.
Facing them as representatives of the top 5 second-years, were Alexei and Jin, who Kain grew familiar with during the beast-tide and the relic exploration, and three female students: Kyria, Cressida, and Rhiannon.
Kain had seen them and some of their contracts during the beast-tide, but he hadn't known all of their names yet at the time.
Ranked fourth among the second-years was Kyria. Kyria had black hair and tan skin, with eyes that were a deep, hypnotic violet. From what Kain had seen during the beast-tide and rumours he'd heard, she seemed to specialize in support and defensive abilities.
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However, rather than the typical defensive type spiritual creatures with a burly physique and were usually of earth-attribute, instead her defensive capabilities were described as more 'magical' and difficult to circumvent.
She and her contracts could apply buffs to herself and allies and magical elemental shields with a myriad of effects such as reflecting damage or absorbing the energy from the attack to partially heal wounds.
Ranked fifth among the second-years was Cressida. Cressida was the girl with pink hair and eyes who had a gift for forcefully gaining the attention and infatuation of all living things in an area. The effect of her gift was so strong that, even Kain, despite his strong resistance to mental attribute attacks, found it difficult to resist the effects of her gift.
Although he hadn't been able to see much from her contracts, from what Kain could tell, they also seemed to specialize in the mental attribute.
However, like most mental-attribute spiritual creatures in the mid and lower levels, they were not particularly lethal but had extremely strong control abilities—a mental-attribute spiritual creature that can directly cause death like Bea at their current level is rare after all.
Finally, Rhiannon had a valiant atmosphere and long wildly curly hair that was a fiery blend of gold and red and framed piercing golden eyes. She had a fire-attribute affinity and among all of the second-years had the strongest destructive capabilities, which probably explains why among the rankings of students which prioritizes frontal combat abilities she was ranked first.
Following her were Jin with an affinity related to the wind-element at rank 2 and Alexei with a rare blood-attribute affinity at rank 3.
Even before the battle started Kain was extremely worried the average level of the second-years' contracts was higher than the first-years'.
However, even if that wasn't the case and the level of their contracts was similar or the first-years' contracts were slightly higher, Kain would still not be optimistic about their chances. He had witnessed the second-years' tacit understanding during the beast-tide when they worked together to kill the mental-attribute green-grade spider.
With their excellent teamwork they achieved an effect where their combined strength was far greater than just the sum of each of them.
'We just have to try our best. After all, this will be the first really intensive training for the National Compeition that we'd have undergone as an officially determined team. Nobody will be expecting us to win, let's just try our best to not get thrashed too badly…'
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Kain's expectations about the practice battle were completely fulfilled.
He wouldn't call it a thrashing due to his pride…but their lack in cooperation compared to their opponents was readily available.
Seamless move combos gave Kain the illusion that they were facing more than just five opponents.
In fact, the talent of Kain's year was so overflowing that some of the professors secretly referred to them as a "golden generation" that may allow the college to reclaim the first ranked seat in a couple of years.
One-on-one Kain, Serena, and even Soren would likely be able to be evenly matched or even able to beat many of the second years, and possibly even weaker members of the top 5 if it were a favorable match up.
In raw strength, Serena was already similar to the top second-years since both of her revealed contracts were now at yellow-grade, and when combined with her limitless spiritual power she was an overwhelming opponent to face in battle.
Kain's battle methods were extremely difficult to guard against in battle, and with the exception of the defensively focused Kyria, and Cressida who specialized in the mental-attribute, none of the others really had any defensive methods against Bea.
And with the powerful offensive and defensive abilities of the orange-grade Vespirae and yellow-grade Aegis, Kain wasn't afraid of those resistant to Bea anyways.
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Finally Soren, despite never having beaten Kain or Serena, wasn't some weakling either. He was someone with a powerful and rare dragon-related affinity. Any one of his dragon contracts could probably fight many average spiritual creatures at the same level.
However, all of their individual strengths ended up greatly reduced in the face of their enemies' careful planning and collaboration to make up for each other's weaknesses.
Despite having limitless spiritual power, most of the attacks from the only two contracts Serena has exposed were unable to pass the defensive measures set up by Kyria.
Normally, her limitless spiritual power would have allowed her to bide her time until her enemy's spiritual power was exhausted.
However, Alexei's gift can send any chosen targets into a berserk-like state of increased power but reduced intelligence and consciousness, meaning that they may even attack allies indiscriminately. Unfortunately, this con was completely negated due to Cressida.
Kain noticed that all of their opponents' contracts had a strange brand on different locations of their bodies, but was unable to deduce their purpose until they were activated. The brand was apparently applied by one of Cressida's contracts and allowed the contract to control the bodies once they lost their intelligence due to their berserk-like state.
Although the effect is similar to what Bea can achieve, it is far inferior in flexibility since the brand takes time to apply and the target can't resist during the application. Therefore, it's a seemingly useless skill that would really only be able to be applied to already unconscious foes or allies rather than enemies.
However, the cons of this skill and Alexei's gift perfectly counteracted one another.
On top of all that, the brands seemed to have a similar effect to Eve's effects on the Vespirae and made all of the controlled targets extremely resistant to Bea's effects. Most of the opposing contracts were yellow-grade, so Bea already had to exert more effort to try and control them one level lower, now with the increased resistance full control was almost impossible.
With much of their two strongest students' offensive means neutralized, the first-years fell into an immediate disadvantage. Especially since all of their opponents' spiritual creatures had their strength boosted due to Alexei, while the role of their brain was taken over by Cressida.
However, the first-years were still able to put up a fight. Even in a berserk state, the first-years only fell behind the second-years slightly in strength, mostly due to the strength of their top 3 students.
Therefore, the match for a period fell into a boring stalemate for a period with neither side being able to cause significant damage to their opponents.
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At one point, Kain even tried to play dirty and control the second-year students directly, but unfortunately during the expedition to the relic Alexei and Jin must have gleaned some information since they were wearing equipment that greatly increased their mental strength and Kyria also seemed to be on guard— particularly against Kain.
A turnaround almost occurred at one point. Kain used the skill tome he'd exchanged for to greatly enhance Bea's abilities and allow her to wrestle for control of the spiritual creatures with Cressida, causing a delay in the enemies' collective movements.
During that brief period, most of the enemy lineup could have been eliminated if Cressida hadn't unfortunately activated her gift. Sending the myriad of attacks sent towards the helpless spiritual creatures, instead flying towards Cressida who was safely behind the several layers of shields set up by her allies.
She did suffer some damage due to the high strength of the bombardment, but unfortunately one of Kyria's contracts also happened to have some healing ability.
Only the attacks of Serena's star-attribute contract and Kain's Vespirae guards still struck the spiritual creatures controlled by Bea, since they had the most resistance to mental-attribute attacks. Resulting in 3 among the enemy lineup, the contracts of Alexei, Jin and Rhiannon, being eliminated due to the severity of their injuries.
Afterwards, all of the enemy was more on guard and despite Bea managing to slightly mess with their coordination, another opportunity so great never presented itself again.
Instead, because all of the minds of the contracts were being manipulated by either Cressida via her contract or, for brief moments, Bea, the illusion abilities of Ranya weren't able to exert any effect. Meaning that they were essentially fighting 4 against 5. Read latest chapters at m_v-l'e|m,p| y- r
Kairos' cursed book had almost as diverse a range of support and defensive abilities as Kyria's contracts, but all at a much lower level.
Honestly, despite not being able to exert his full strength in this battle, he seemed to be greatly inspired by Kyria and even after the battle would continue to stare at her with sparkling eyes of admiration—she was the direction he should be heading towards when refining his future combat style!
Although Kain was gratified that Kairos will likely usher in an explosive increase in strength in the near future, it also meant that he'd also be a greater opponent in the future as well.
Soren's contracts had some of the greatest frontal combat abilities of their side and were still able to suppress 1 to 2 of the berserk enemies alone. Similarly, Serena and Kain's contracts were also fighting 1 against 2 or even 3 in some cases.
The real turning point came when Jin and Rhiannon likely activated their respective gifts, because suddenly the strengths of the opposing wind and fire-attribute skills of the spiritual creatures on the opposite side strengthened.
Aside from Serena, Kain and the others were already becoming exhausted and were unable to prevent being knocked out of the arena by a fierce and extremely hot gust of wind.
Serena managed to stay standing in the arena, but likely not seeing a means of turning the battle around, at least not without revealing another contract, and also since this was just a training exercise, she chose to forfeit.
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Aside from the intense training, Kain also had another crucial aspect he needed to pay attention to in terms of strength improvement, and after several weeks of waiting, the Kain finally presented itself to him in the System's store.
After becoming a 3-star beast-tamer, although extraordinary equipment for their level, both the armor and spear were no longer as useful to improving Kain's strength.
Before the second re-ranking, Kain had already upgraded his armor and spear for ones at the 3-star level by exchanging his school credits. However, despite the high quality of the equipment provided by the school, they couldn't at all compare to the custom spear provided by the System that Kain got accustomed to.
Even his armor, while not provided by the System, had been shaped using Bea's spiritual power and was in a way a piece of custom equipment.
However, until now no opportunities to exchange either a custom armor or weapon were available for exchange from the System shop. That was until now, a mere 3 and a half weeks before the National Competition. Where Kain saw vouchers for both a custom weapon and armour available in the shop after the latest refresh.
The moment Kain saw the two vouchers available for exchange, tears couldn't help but well up in his eyes.
'Awww thank you System…maybe you really do care for me…' He thought as a deeply moved expression fell across his face.
*The items available to the host through Shop are completely random and not subject to the System's intervention*
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'Tsk…you could just accept the thanks without ruining the moment…'
The voucher for a custom 2-star weapon that Kain had previously exchanged for was 500 GP, now the amount of needed GP had more than doubled to 2500 GP.
Thankfully, much of the wilderness outside of the college had been restored in the months following the beast-tide and the control of the relic, allowing Kain to more frequently go hunting and obtain GP.
Additionally, Kain had also managed to receive GP after ranking second at the last re-ranking of the year, confirming his place on the team, and after completing a certain number evolutionary planner requests—which was a pleasant surprise to Kain.
Therefore, he had the required 5000 GP for both vouchers. However, he was still far from the amount required for the next System upgrade which required an overwhelming number of 100,000 GP. Unfortunately continuing the System's pattern of needing 10x more GP at each level.
Kain decided to start with the armour since he hadn't had an opportunity to create a custom armour previously and was therefore more curious about the process of creating a custom armor.
It is common for beast-tamers to receive feedback from their contracts to enhance certain aspects of themselves.
Kain wasn't sure if it was because Bea was his first contract, or if it had more to do with the strength of the emotional connection between them, but Bea was by far responsible for majority of the feedback Kain received from his star space.
After Bea's breakthrough, Kain resistance to mental-attribute attacks was no worse than when he had the mental attribute armour and his mental strength was also greater than those at the same level as him—which has greatly helped him keep up with his school work along with everything else he had to take care of.
Therefore, Kain didn't plan to have his next two pieces of equipment so focused on the mental attribute.
Kain hasn't really noticed much improvements to other aspects that may come from his other contracts such as an increase in the strength of his life energy or defense—but to test either of those out he'd probably have to get injured, possibly even repeatedly, and he had no plans to do so.
There were two main aspects that he felt he couple improve upon prior to the competition.
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Since the beast-tamer must also enter the arena and if he's too weak he may be eliminated due to injury to himself, even if his contracts overpower the enemy, he thought about focusing purely on improving his defensive abilities.
Aegis also acts as a defence for Kain but it is limiting for him to remain next to Kain the entire time of the competition and not attack at all.
Additionally, Kain can't eliminate the possibility of attacks that can ignore earth-attribute defenses to attack Kain directly.
The other aspect that Kain felt as though he could strengthen has been made readily apparent to him during his battles with Serena and against the second-years—his amount of spiritual power and the ease with which he could manipulate it.
In raw power, Kain is not particularly threatened by Serena or the third-years especially not after receiving Aegis and Bea becoming more proficient in her skills. Even Eve has gradually become more proficient at manipulating life-attribute energy after improving the growth of the plants related to Kain's business and can now exert a weak healing effect from afar even without the royal jelly.
However, Kain's greatest disadvantage against Serena is her inexhaustible spiritual power. Even against the second-years, after the time when Kain provided a boost to Bea with the skill tome passed, he practically had none left.
Although once mastered Kain's skill should allow him to improve his contracts abilities and restore their spiritual power by 50% if he uses 100% of his own spiritual power—an exchange ratio of 2 (used by Kain) to 1 (actually transmitted). It leaves him completely powerless afterwards.
Additionally, Kain has not yet mastered the technique and only has an exchange ratio that fluctuates between 4 and 3 to 1. Meaning that he typically only can improve his contract's abilities by 25-33%.
It is rare to find any spirit skills that provide an all-round increase in abilities and restore spiritual power at the cost of the beast-tamer's spiritual power at such a high exchange ratio—otherwise with Serena's gift she'd be completely overpowering with such a skill.
Without such a skill, if a beast-tamer just tried to forcefully inject their spiritual power through the contract, it'd be lucky if 10-15% of it reached the contract and there also wouldn't be an all-round boost to their abilities.
Therefore, Kain knew that if he could improve the ease with which he could use this skill and/or had a method to instantly replenish his spiritual power to use it on more than one contract, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. He may even be able to take the rank 1 placement at the next re-ranking.
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And fortunately, although rare, there just so happened to be sigils with such effects within the System's customization window.
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With that plan in mind, Kain decided to select the star-attribute as the basis of his armour. It is an attribute that is resistant against most other attributes, and will therefore provide great defense even without any defensive sigils being used. Additionally, it's a flexible attribute that won't reject being engraved by sigils of other attributes if Kain wishes to do so.
Additionally, while Kain had heard briefly about other cultivation techniques used by other nations in lectures and casual conversations with others, the cultivation technique used by those in the Celestial Empire happens to be one that uses star-attribute energy.
Therefore, sigils geared towards boosting spiritual power, restoring spiritual power, or increasing the proficiency of his usage of spiritual power would likely be more effective using a material of the star-attribute.
Additionally, Kain chose to create a light armor so as to maintain flexibility and also to allow him to wear it comfortably at all times.
Kain then went to the next window that allowed him to select his sigils. There were 3 sigils that Kain could select for free due to it being a 3-star enchanted armor, or he could purchase the right to choose a fourth sigil for 500 GP.
Despite feeling the pinch, Kain knew that it was important to invest into his own strength so that he could more easily complete missions and perform well at the upcoming competition.
Kain scrolled through the different sigil options and finally settled on the first 3 which were all related to spiritual power.
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The first one had the effect of doubling the rate at which his spiritual power is restored passively and tripling the restoration rate if he is actively trying to restore his spiritual power. Meaning that even in battle, Kain would be able to restore much of his spiritual power if it drags on long enough.
It typically takes Kain an hour to passively restore his spiritual power fully. This sigil will allow him to be fully restored in only half that time. Or he could have half of his spiritual power restored passively in only 15 minutes. Considering that many evenly matched battles can drag on for over half an hour, Kain was pleased with this timeframe.
The second one acts as a kind of backup battery that Kain can immediately use to restore his own spiritual power once he has completely run out. Therefore, with the sigil, Kain's spiritual power has essentially doubled.
The third one, Kain was contemplating about for the longest period among the three since there were other sigils that had similar but slightly different effects, but eventually decided to select it. The effect of the third sigil was that it would increase the ease with which Kain could manipulate the spiritual power as it leaves his body.
Therefore, it would have no effect on the ease with which Kain could manipulate the spiritual power within his own body for certain skills, such as boosting his senses like he learned at the beginning of the school year.
However, Kain's most important spiritual skill required him to efficiently transmit spiritual power from himself to his contract via their bond and so he chose this sigil after contemplating.
For the fourth sigil, Kain was going back and forth between the various sigils that provide greater defense against physical attacks or attacks of specific attributes, however since Kain also had the option the voucher for a custom weapon, he decided to select a sigil that would allow for resonance between his weapon and armour to provide a boost to all of the effects of both.
Kain wasn't extremely familiar with the effects of such sigils, but he did know that Soren's armor and sword seemed to be a pairing with this effect.
After clicking the button to generate the armour, it appeared in all of its glory before him only a few moments.
Kain's new armour was blend of elegance and practicality.
The inner layer was a lightweight fabric that shimmered faintly with a spectrum colours that changed with his movements—deep blues, silvers, and soft whites that reminded him of the night sky.
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Additionally, the comfortability of the armor was an improvement over anything he had previously. The material felt almost like silk against the skin, allowing for exceptional flexibility and comfort, while providing him with protection.
The armor was tailored to fit snugly, accentuating Kain's form without restricting his movements.
The chest piece was reinforced with overlapping plates that resembled clusters of stars and was engraved with intricate sigils that pulsed softly with a bluish light when Kain put the armor on his body. Particularly, the first sigil glowed the brightest, signifying that its passive effects were being triggered. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Happy with the first product, Kain immediately triggered the voucher for a custom 3-star weapon.
By this point, Kain was already the most familiar with using a spear and appreciated the reach that it provided. Especially since most of his opponents would be spiritual creatures more physically powerful than him.
He contemplated adding some offensive sigils as well, but since Kain rarely fought with opponents himself, he decided to instead make a matching a spear for the armor that would further improve Kain's spiritual power and selected the star-attribute material for the base with the same 4 sigils.
Meaning that separately both the armor and the spear doubled Kain's ability to passively restore his spiritual power and could provide one instance of a full instantaneous refill—the increase in his efficiency in using the spiritual skill though would need to be tested to see the effect.
However, when equipped together with the resonance effect between them, in total Kain's passive restoration of his spiritual power was now 5 times faster, meaning Kain could have his spiritual power completely restored in under 12 minutes.
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Additionally, the capacity of each sigil used to store the spiritual power that would instantly refill Kain has slightly increased, meaning that it is now more similar to 2 and a half instant refills.
Although Kain still doesn't have Serena's seemingly endless spiritual power, as long as the battle did not extend for more too long, he should be able to exert a similar effect momentarily.
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