There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
5174 words
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Lucius Zogratis POV
I approached Arthur's villa and knocked on the door. The door opened, but instead of Arthur, I saw Regis standing on the threshold.
"You're late. Arthur is immersed in this artifact," said Regis, wagging his tail. "Would you like to come in?"
"No, according to the original story, he'll only wake up at the end of the day, so I'd better go for a walk around town or do some training," I replied, turning around and calmly walking away, but not into town, but into the forest in search of prey. I had only recently received the God step, and although I had already used it a couple of times, its application was still a poor use of the GodRune.
I breathed in the fresh air of this world, the leaves crunching under my feet as I rushed through the forest. Like a paranoid, I wanted to get away from the town in case someone noticed that I was using the aether, but that didn't mean I didn't stop to kill a few rokavids along the way. These massive deer-like mana beasts had horns not only on their heads, but also along their spines and on their thick tails, which they used as deadly maces.
Deadly only to ordinary mages, that is. The mana beasts didn't even react when I plunged my dagger deep between their eyes, because their hides had to be sold. It took me less than an hour to track down about seven rokavids roaming the area.
Noticing a familiar large stone boulder in the center of the clearing, I flashed to it. Stopping in front of the boulder, which was a couple of inches taller than me, I made out the words "Danger. High-level mana beasts ahead," which were carved with ominous splashes of dried blood on its surface.
This was what I needed. I had the system, so I didn't have to worry about not being able to replenish the aether core after frequent use of the God Step.
The wealth multiplication system had also been working since I put a rank fifth aether fruit in it. I also put everything I could into it, from trees and soil to clothes and weapons, to aether fruits and crystals, and even an eighth rank aether crystal was there. I put everything I considered even slightly useful into the system.
The system works easily, even too easily. I can put something in there, and in 24 hours I will already have two such items.
The only limitation is that you cannot put identical items in until the original has been removed. That is, if after 24 hours I receive a second 8th rank aether crystal, I will not be able to put it into the system until I remove the original aether crystal.
I went to the other side of the clearing, where the ground began to rise gradually as it climbed the hill. While my vision became sharper thanks to my new physique, the inability to sense the mana that all mana beasts possessed made searching for mana beasts a much more difficult task than tracking aether monsters that glowed with aether for me.
While I can only enhance my senses using aether, I have not yet found a way to use aether to perceive non-aether beings and objects. However, the absence of any mana emanating from me meant that the stronger and more predatory animals here viewed me as easy prey.
The first mana beast that came after us was one that reminded me of a greatly enlarged bear, except that this bear had four front paws and a crocodile jaw with three rows of sharp teeth.
With a terrifying growl, the bear lowered itself onto all six of its limbs and lunged at me with astonishing speed. Putting my fourth-rank dagger into the breast pocket of my cloak, I faced it head-on. Aether burst from my core, enveloping my skin. As the familiar warmth of the rune spread from my very soul, I focused on the place I was trying to get to.
The experience of preparing the aether art felt completely different this time than when I first used it. My perception of the surrounding world changed, as if everything had stretched in all directions. The particles of the surrounding aether now merged together and looked like intertwining streams of purple running through the air, creating fluid paths, interconnected and branching out.
Taking a 'step', I felt my body being carried by a jet stream as I floated along the streams of aether. However, these streams did not continue indefinitely; they surrounded me within a radius of twelve meters, which was my current limit for the God Step.
Despite my limitations, the result was amazing. Although my landing spot was not as accurate as I would have liked, I covered the eight meters I needed in the blink of an eye. However, the biggest difference between God Step and Burst Step was impulse control. Since I was no longer constrained by inertia upon reaching my destination, it really felt like I was on the verge of achieving true teleportation.
The tentacles of purple lightning wrapped around me from using God Step when I appeared next to the attacking bear-like mana beast. It slowed down to stop, but by the time it turned around, my aether-clad fist had already entered its side.
The monster's giant body collapsed to the ground, knocking down and breaking several trees in its path. Due to its thick, mana-covered fur, the bear was still alive, but it got to its feet, let out a quiet whimper, and ran away from me. Watching the six-legged bear-like mana beast run farther and farther away
I was not going to let this beast escape from me, mentally summoning a sixth-rank dagger that appeared in my right hand the moment I thought about it. Thanks to my 11th-rank fighter talent, I could easily switch from my right hand to my left and vice versa without hesitation. My movements were so natural that it seemed as if I had been right-handed my whole life, but I was 100% left-handed, at least I used to be.
Ah, the sixth rank is completely different, thinking so, I focused again on the complex and confusing aether pathways. I even know the whole story. Due to a stupid mistake and lack of experience, I began to try to forcefully correct the aether pathways, but now there was a moment of realization. I knew that I shouldn't try to untangle these confusing and complex routes when my consciousness was bound to the aether pathways.
When I activated the God Step, I allowed my gaze to defocus, but this time I went even further. Instead of concentrating so much on limiting the aether pathways, narrowing my field of vision, I spread my attention to other senses. Although I could not smell, hear, or taste the aether, I was able to expand my intention toward the aether pathways surrounding me.
Each aether stream, intertwining with others or branching off, had a beginning and an end. And these streams acted as highways along which I could travel. So I did not try to figure out these tangled and complex routes when my consciousness was bonded to the aether pathways.
Instead, I allowed the aether itself to convey the necessary information to me.
Going further, I enveloped myself in a thin layer of aether and allowed my body to be an anchor for the aether pathways that transmitted information to me. With so much information coming to me for the first time from the aether pathways, I could only correctly distinguish those that would teleport me a mere five meters.
If I tried to expand my attention beyond that radius, it felt like my brain would explode, even with my greatly enhanced intelligence. It was only a small step forward, but now I knew what to do.
Letting go of everything, I "stepped" twice in a row and found myself right in front of the bear-like mana beast. The mana beast didn't even have time to react when the sixth-rank dagger, combined with the aether, entered its skull.
The bear-like mana beast was dead. Touching it with my finger, I sucked it into the system, and for the tenth time, a notification appeared
[Do you want to disassemble the corpse?]
Mentally, I almost chose no, but then I saw another mana beast just like it, so without wasting a second, I chose yes.
I calmly watched as a model of the mana beast appeared and lit up, and a second later, the same mana beast appeared, but completely disassembled. The meat was separate, the bones were separate, the tendons were separate, the claws and teeth were separate, and the skin was separate. Every part of the mana beast was separated from it, and, just like in the game, the meat of the bear-like mana beast melted into one huge piece of meat.
There were only two drawbacks to this method: I couldn't make a stuffed animal, and about thirty percent of everything disappeared. There was less meat, bones, skin, tendons, and internal organs than without disassembly, but for me, with the wealth multiplication system, this was not a disadvantage. It was more of a plus, because if I wanted to, and I do want to, I can kill more mana beasts without disassembling them and give them first to Arthur, then to Regis after they are refreshed, and only then disassemble them to get super-quality meat, skin, and bones.
Since I had already been here for three hours, I thought I would spend another two hours to kill at least one type of mana beast, but there were more than thirty of them in this area, so it would be good training, plus the profit from killing mana beasts would never be superfluous.
So, for another two hours, I continued to comb through the forest, simultaneously practicing God Step while hunting various mana beasts. From horned rabbits to crocodiles the size of elephants, which had eight legs instead of four, and whose skin glowed like jade and whose teeth resembled white precious stones?
It didn't matter, they all died easily from the aether-filled dagger, and I realized something: if I damaged a mana beast severely, I got even less than usual when I disassembled it. Once, I got only thirty percent when disassembling one of the rhinos that I had severely chopped up out of interest.
Since there were three rhinos, I spent more time with one of them, trying to better understand how the God step works. In the end, I killed all three rhinos with metal plates instead of skin and, oddly enough, shark-like teeth. I'm already used to the fact that everything here has teeth.
A couple of hours later
I was sitting in Arthur's villa, waiting for him to leave the keystone. During this time, I handed over all the mana beasts of different species to Regis. Of course, I upgraded all of them to the next rank and just waited for Arthur to open his eyes.
"Are you finally done?" Regis asked, raising his head and curling up next to Arthur.
Arthur stared at the setting sun. "How long have I been gone?"
"About five or six hours. I stopped counting after I fell asleep myself," Regis said in a slightly sleepy voice.
"Do you need to sleep?" Arthur asked.
Regis yawned widely, then replied. "It's like energy-saving mode. I consume less aether when I sleep, and I can also accumulate more of the surrounding aether."
"You're such a strange dog."
"Go away," he grumbled before jumping off the couch. "So, did you learn anything from the cube?"
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to learn," Arthur sighed. "And the worst part is that I'm using aether to try to study this piece of rock."
"Damn, and I thought learning this ability to distort reality would be easy," Regis said sarcastically as he walked away.
Arthur kicked him under the tail, causing Regis to yelp sharply.
"I never thought I'd miss the days when I was incorporeal," he complained before turning to me. "So what's the plan now?"
"It's simple. Right now, you're going to go hunting in the forest, and tomorrow we'll go wandering around the town. I'm interested in this medieval magical world," I replied with a heavy sigh. All this time, I was trying to better understand how to use the God Step correctly, and although I didn't activate it completely, I was still looking at the aether paths all this time.
"And one more thing," I summoned the updated corpses of mana beasts and passed them on to Arthur within twenty minutes.
Arthur frowned as he looked at me, who was still drenched in sweat. "What's the matter?"
Instead of answering, I activated mental communication and sent him my memories of that evening. The advantage of sending memories instead of words was clear even to the blind. Instead of a thousand words, I showed my emotions and thoughts at that moment of success and failure, but since I usually think a lot at every step, it took time.
But I showed Arthur how I tried to activate the god step a couple of times, how I realized that I was doing everything wrong, memories of how I corrected it and what effect I got after that. Thoughts, effects, emotions, Arthur saw all this from my face, it was not like reading books and memorizing something, it seemed like you were doing it all yourself. This method allowed me to convey part of my insight.
Maybe after Arthur returns from hunting, I'll ask him to show me his memories of training in Epheotus and any manners of this world so as not to stand out too much? Maybe even copy Asura's lofty attitude?
A few moments after I stopped showing all this to Arthur, he opened his eyes wide and, before I had time to think, quickly approached me and gave me a friendly hug.
"Huh?" was all I could say, exhausted. I didn't expect that at all.
"Thank you, now I know how to move forward in understanding this GodRune," Arthur said in a light tone unlike what was in the relictombs.
I just blinked at his words and replied in a slightly teasing tone, "Have you become simpler after seeing the sun, or what?"
Arthur just scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I've been on edge lately, haven't I?"
I got up from my seat and headed for the door. "Not really. Unfortunately, I can't help you with that keystone, since the author didn't describe the process, and now, while the memories are still fresh in your mind, you'd better go and truly test the capabilities of the God Step."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Regis replied, jogging after me.
"No, I've already hunted, so I'm going to rest a bit. See you in the morning," I said, waving my hand goodbye. "Don't forget to take as many mana beasts as possible."
After sitting in the villa for a couple of hours and making all the preparations, I headed into the city.
[Angel]
Third-person view
The small, noisy city was dimly lit even at night. Those who couldn't get runes but still wanted to live a normal life became mana beast hunters. Yes, their lives were in danger, but they could live normally if they could kill a couple of mana beasts.
These same hunters, waiting for the day when their children would receive runes, sat and drank, talking loudly and groping passing women. These women did not mind, as this was how they earned their living.
Boom
"I'm telling you, my son will get a mark this time for sure!" shouted a rough man in his forties. Ale dripped from his tangled beard.
"You said that last year, and remember what happened?" replied another man loudly, a thin man of about thirty-five, about 160 centimeters tall. His eyes were slightly bloodshot from the alcohol they had drunk.
"That was then, this time he'll definitely get the mark or he'll be kicked out of the house!" shouted the bearded man, putting down his mug of ale and spilling alcohol everywhere.
"Yeah, my daughter got the mark last year and now she's studying at the academy, but what about your son? He doesn't stand a chance!" The thin man grinned drunkenly, but his eyes widened slightly when the mug of ale flew into his face.
They were both unads, but they still dreamed that their children would be able to obtain magic and then their lives would be set right. And now, seeing his friend rubbing it in his face that his daughter had received the gift and was able to become a mage, while his pathetic son had already failed three times, the man simply could not contain his anger and, shouting, rushed at his friend with clenched fists.
Bam!
The punch knocked his thin friend to the floor, and without hesitation, the bearded man pounced and began to beat his friend with force.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Three blows in a row landed squarely on the short man's jaw, knocking out his tooth. After regaining his composure, the short man gathered his strength and punched his friend in the eye, splitting his eyebrow.
"Ouch!" The crowd shouted, placing bets and drinking alcohol. No one was going to stop them, and why would they? They had a perfect view of the ridiculous fight between two drunk men.
"Come on, bearded man, hit the skinny one, I bet three mugs of ale on you!" shouted the man with short-cropped green greasy hair.
Bam! Bam!
"No, no! Hit him on the right, on the right! What are you doing, skinny man, I'm going to lose!" yelled the other man, accompanied by the explosive laughter of his friends.
Two more blows sent the bearded man to the floor, and the skinny man was already on top of him, punching his friend in the face.
A couple of minutes later,
The two battered and bruised hunters were sitting on the street, having been kicked out after damaging the pub's property.
The bearded man picked at his tangled beard, which was covered in his blood. "I'm sorry, Elrip... I didn't mean to, the alcohol went to my head."
"Oh well, I'm no better, I started pushing on the sore spot, what kind of friend am I after that?" The thin man, Elrip, muttered indistinctly, as he was missing two teeth and blood was still flowing from his mouth. "Forgive me too, Benny."
Benny smiled, causing fresh blood to flow from his nose onto his bushy beard. He raised his clenched fist. "Are we still friends?"
Elrip shook his head, clenched his fist, and gave him a light punch. "Such a trifle won't ruin our friendship! Let's go home."
They got up and headed for the gate. They lived very close to the slums, but it was convenient, so they didn't complain. They slowly made their way to where they lived. No light penetrated there, so after a couple of minutes, they were met by pitch darkness. They had a couple more minutes to go, but on their way, they saw a tall silhouette.
"Benny, look, is that a ghost?!" said a drunk Elrip, tugging his friend's shoulder.
Bam!
A weak blow landed on Elrip's shoulder.
"Haha, are you still as afraid of ghosts as you were when you were a kid?" Benny's booming laughter echoed through the empty alley.
But his laughter died down when he looked closer and noticed that the silhouette was indeed moving toward them. But his blood only froze when the silhouette disappeared and a tall man with eerily glowing eyes suddenly appeared right in front of them.
He had white skin and black hair that would have blended into the night if not for the white curls that caught the moonlight and his bright eyes that pierced the darkness. The man smiled gently, but his bottomless eyes sent shivers down their spines.
"Ho? What are you doing in a place like this?" Lucius asked the two men trembling before him. Even in their drunken state, they knew who was standing before them.
"Esteemed ascendant, we were just returning home..." Elrip flinched when the man's glowing eyes stopped on him.
"I need you," Lucius replied in a soft voice, and turning into an even darker alley, he stepped forward, gesturing with his hand, "You two, follow me."
His tone and soft smile still did not match the cold calculation in his eyes.
Elrip quietly swallowed his saliva. "Maybe we just imagined it? His voice is so soft, maybe he needs people like us, maybe he'll tell us to carry something?"
Benny just shook his head and quietly stepped in the direction Lucius had gone.
"Don't worry," Lucius said softly, spreading his arms as he stood in a dark and deserted alley. "I'm not going to hurt you. On the contrary, I'm here with a gift."
"If you'll allow me," Benny began to mumble, to which Lucius nodded with a gentle smile, "why did you choose us for this em... gift?"
"Actually, the only criterion was that the person be a unads, and I don't mean that in a bad way," Lucius shook his hands in a harmless gesture. "In fact, I am a scientist and an ascendant. And all this time, because of the High Sovereign's order, we have been working to give unads magic too."
Lucius' hands opened as if he had granted them supreme power. "Since the mercy of the High Sovereign is boundless, he has ordered that a way be found to reward you with the gift of magic. And since we have succeeded, all that is needed is a small test. Don't worry, nothing will happen, as the tests have already been passed, and everyone, without exception, was able to get a mark. We are just looking at how your place of residence affects the mark you will receive."
A gentle smile, beautiful clothes, and wonderful words made the two drunk men feel as if they were seeing an angel sent by the High Sovereign so that they too could live in gold like those who were rising.
"Can we really get the mark?" Elrip couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice. It was his lifelong dream.
Lucius nodded weakly. "Not only will we give you the mark, but we will also give you high-quality weapons and clothing so that you can test your strength immediately in the nearest forest."
Elrip and Benny fell to their knees, clasping their hands in a prayerful gesture. "Long live the High Sovereign, all the best to the High Sovereign, may the kindness of the High Sovereign be praised for all generations!"
[Tie up Benny?]
[Tie up Elrip?]
Lucius nodded his head, which was taken by the two unads as a sign to begin.
A couple of items appeared in Lucius's hands. Rank 4 clothing, his favorite Rank 4 cloak, a Rank 5 black sword, a Rank 6 dagger, a Rank 5 aether fruit, an Rank 8 seed of peace, Rank 8 aether beads, Rank 12 keystone and finally two white stones with strange runes. He handed all of this to Benny, who respectfully held it all in his hands.
[Rank fourth clothing set x10 or upgrade to rank fifth?]
[Rank fourth turquoise cloak x10 or upgrade to rank fifth?]
[Rank fifth black sword x10 or upgrade to rank sixth?]
[Rank sixth white dagger x10 or upgrade to rank seventh?]
[Rank fifth aether fruit x10 or upgrade to rank sixth?]
[Rank eighth seed of peace x10 or upgrade to rank ninth?]
[Rank eighth aether crystal x10 or upgrade to rank ninth?]
[Rank twelfth Keystone x10 or upgrade to rank thirteen?]
[Rank twelfth GodRune of Destruction x10 or upgrade to rank thirteen?]
[Rank eleven GodRune God Step x10 or upgrade to rank twelfth?]
Nodding slightly to him, he turned his gaze to Elrip. After upgrading everything to the next rank, Lucius began to hand over the upgraded items to Elrip, who accepted them all with tears in his eyes.
What caught Lucius's eye was his dagger, which now looked a little different, but he didn't stare too long and handed it over as well.
[Rank fifth clothing set x10 or upgrade to rank sixth?]
[Rank fifth turquoise cloak x10 or upgrade to rank sixth?]
[Rank sixth black sword x10 or upgrade to rank seventh?]
[Rank seventh white dagger x10 or upgrade to rank eighth?]
[Rank sixth aether fruit x10 or upgrade to rank seventh?]
[Rank ninth seed of peace x10 or upgrade to rank tenth?]
[Rank ninth aether crystal x10 or upgrade to rank tenth?]
[Rank thirteen Keystone x10 or upgrade to rank fourteen?]
[Rank thirteen GodRune of Destruction x10 or upgrade to rank fourteen?]
[Rank twelfth GodRune God Step x10 or upgrade to rank thirteen?]
After choosing to upgrade to the next rank, Lucius smiled softly and said, "Put everything on the floor for now. Now that the preparations are complete, it is time for you to be reborn and become mages thanks to the infinite mercy of the High Sovereign!"
On the day he appeared in this world and received his body, a plan came to his mind. When he transferred the aether core to one of the more than twenty cells of his new body, as in a game, he realized how best to use this system.
So, that same afternoon, he chose one body and, as in a game, inserted a seventh-rank aether core and seventh-rank aether channels into it. Finally, after inserting a tenth-rank seed of peace, he took out the four-sided physique+.
+ Most likely, this was an indication that it was not an empty body, but that there was already something in it, at least that's what Lucius thought. He did not add GodRunes, as he only wanted to obtain a strong base to which GodRunes could be added in the future.
The small child encased in a white-transparent crystal reappeared, slightly illuminating the alley with its unearthly light. Lucius calmly handed the four-sided physique+ to Benny's trembling hands.
Immediately, Benny felt a suction force. This four-sided physique+ seemed to already be thirsting for a soul. Benny's soul entered it, and he felt as if he had fallen into a whirlpool. Immediately, his soul was drawn into the four-sided physique+, merging with it at an incredible speed!
After Benny's soul entered the four-sided physique+, the fruit began to glow brightly. First, a white light appeared, then a hint of red appeared inside the white light. After the red light, it turned orange. After orange, it turned yellow...
Like the colors of the rainbow, it continued to change at a tremendous speed until, finally, after twenty seconds, the light turned a deep purple.
Lucius could, of course, have upgraded all his abilities to the next rank at the very beginning, but he was paranoid, so he chose the safer path. Who knows, maybe the power of the seventh rank fruit endowed with GodRunes would simply break the soul of the one he gave it to, and he would lose everything? It was because of such thoughts that he always chose x10 instead of upgrading to a higher rank.
At that moment, Lucius noticed the notification system and received a message.
[Rank seventh four-sided physique+ x10 or upgrade to rank eighth?]
[Intelligence +226] x10
[Soul +168] x10
"An angel sent by the High Sovereign!" Elrip's voice rang out in the alleyway softly lit by the seventh rank fruit.
After upgrading to the eighth rank, Lucius' gentle gaze shifted to Elrip, who was watching the fruit and Lucius with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide open. Extending his rank eighth fourth-side physique+ to him, Lucius watched the familiar scene as Elrip's body was sucked into the fruit.
Turning his gaze to Benny, his will faltered for a second and his eyes defocused. But at that moment, a woman's figure appeared in Lucius's scattered gaze. It was the woman he wanted to return home to more than anything else in the world.
It was his mother.
In his scattered gaze, she smiled gently at him and nodded slightly, as she always did when her youngest children asked her to buy them something, and she couldn't refuse them.
Crack
Crack
Crack
At that moment, Lucius's will strengthened as never before, his gaze became cold and focused again, and his hand reached for the embryo in which Benny, apparently, had already begun his transformation. And although it was a rank seventh embryo, which, if fully formed, could be as strong as a diamond, at that moment it was an unfinished fruit, and the rank seventh four-sided physique+ was easy to break; it was completely defenseless.
Aether filled Lucius's hand as he brought his open palm directly under the fruit.
Aether Cannon
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out in the night of the city as the fruit was torn apart, red blood splattered all over the street.
The aether cannon tore the fruit apart at the last moment, not even a piece of flesh remained, the whole body turned into mush, and what remained was blood that splattered all over the street. Immediately, another notification appeared
[Rank eight four-sided physique+ x10 or upgrade to rank ninth?]
[Intelligence + 391] x10
[Soul +318] x10
Quickly accepting the upgrade to the rank ninth, Lucius used the aether cannon again, tearing apart another fruit.
Immediately, alarmed voices rang out from behind him. Without hesitation, Lucius placed the original bodies of the two slain and everything they had set aside, that is, what he had given them in advance, improving everything he wanted.
Activating the God Step, Lucius' figure dissolved into the night with purple lightning.
[Connected Benny died]
[Connected Elrip died]
[It will take a month to recharge two slots. Currently, there are six slots available for connection.]
Chapter Summary
+[Rank sixth clothing set]
+[Rank sixth turquoise cloak]
+[Rank seventh black sword]
+[Rank eighth white dagger]
+[Rank seventh aether fruit]
+[Rank ninth seed of peace] (he used the rank tenth for the seventh-rank physique of four sides)
+[Rank tenth aether crystal]
+[Rank fourteen Keystone]
+[Rank fourteen GodRune of Destruction]
+[Rank thirteen GodRune God Step]
+[Rank ninth four-sided physique+]
+[Intelligence +6170]
+[Soul +4860]
+A strong will to kill if he considers it beneficial.
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I'm sick, so there may be more mistakes in the text than usual.