Chapter 196: Next Trial?

A month had passed since Alen bought the old building and handed it over for renovation. He invested most of his time in training, but as he neared the required mastery level, breaking the seal of the weapon became much harder than he expected.

He sat in the hotel room, cross-legged on the mattress while beads of sweat clung to his body. His expression was tense as he tried his best to concentrate on the weapon’s core.

After a few minutes passed, he finally opened his eyes again. He felt mentally exhausted and couldn’t think of what he should do next.

"Damn it, why can’t I break the seal? Am I doing something wrong?"

[Ding!]

[Status Window]

[Name: Alen]

[Age: 17]

[Titles: The Outlier, The Elemental Master, Illusion Walker]

[Talent: Unknown]

[Rank: A- (PathSeeker)]

[Elements: Sound, Water, Wind, Darkness, Fire, Earth]

[Physique: Celestial Body (★★)]

[Bond: Godless (Second Form) → 28.5%]

[Supreme Ability: Omnipresence, Levitation]

[ATTRIBUTES]

[STR: 577/1000] [AGI: 626/1000]

[DEF: 581/1000] [INT: 654/1000]

[HP: 30000/30000]

[MP: 33000/33000]

[ABILITIES]

[1. ???? (?)]

[2. Nexus Elemental Art (S-)]

[3. Night Vision (A+)]

[4. Weapon Master (35%)]

[5. Charm (★★)]

[SKILLS]

[1. Body Strengthening (Lv. 10)]

[2. Mana Concentration (Lv. 12)]

[3. Phantom Step (A+)]

[4. True One’s Gaze (A+)]

[SHADOW INVENTORY]

> Divine Talisman (S)

> Chaos Shard

> Grimoire of Darkness (A+)

> Spatial rings

...

Checking his status window, the mastery level had already reached the baseline requirement. But for some reason, he wasn’t able to unlock the next form of Godless. It had been a week since he tried to break through that ceiling, but the mastery was not increasing. It felt as if some invisible wall was restricting his steps, keeping him from reaching further.

Shaking his head, Alen stood up and went to the bathroom to wash his sweaty body. Stepping out of the room wearing fresh clothes, he headed out of the hotel and checked out at the front desk. He decided to resume his journey and go attempt the next trial.

’Well, let’s go look at the building first before attempting to go on a trial.’ He muttered to himself in thought, walking toward the direction of his new property.

On the way, he found several neighbors who greeted him, as he had conversed with them previously. He told them he had bought the building. It was not because he was fond of having casual conversations, but because he wanted someone to keep an eye on the building behind his back. Not that he expected them to actually take care of it, but neighbors nowadays have the eyes of eagles and the ears of foxes. If something happened, they would surely take notice and inform him about the news. He had already shared his contact information with them.

After walking the distance, he finally arrived in front of the old building, which didn’t look quite as old as before. Presenting before him was a complete different infrastructure from the past one. The whole building was changed to a white crystalline structure. The grand entrance was still under construction, but he could see that the building had changed quite a bit. There was no trace left of the gloomy old building.

"Well, I hope the construction process will be over soon. I have to pay this month’s loan money to the bank with the leftover cash I kept from the initial sum. It is a pain in the ass that I have to pay at least double the loan money back, including the interest."

As he watched the building, the engineer who was giving instructions to one of the laborers, a young man with gray hair, immediately noticed him. He finished his talk and walked toward Alen.

"Hello Mr. Alen, how are you? Do you have any more demands you need to tell me?"

Alen waved his hand casually. "Nope, it is perfect. Well, I just came to see if the work was going well. It looks fine. So, did you start preparing the work on the empty space in the back?"

"Oh, that. Well, we haven’t started yet, but don’t worry, the work there will start soon. Rest assured."

Alen nodded. He checked the time on his phone; it was twelve in the afternoon. He had to go to the Dimensional Gate in order to attempt his trial. He nodded to the engineer and stepped back.

’Then let’s head to the Dimensional Gate.’

Without wasting his time, he used his artifact, the ’Ring of Transference’, and teleported directly near the gate.

A long line of Ascenders was waiting to travel through the Dimensional Gate. The line spread so far that Alen couldn’t even see the end.

"Damn it, that is why I didn’t want to be late. It seems my luck is not on my side today..."

He sat on a nearby bench, waiting for the long line to clear up. Suddenly, he felt like he was forgetting something. Or more appropriately someone.

"Wait a second, where is my notorious spirit? I completely forgot about her! It has been a month since I last saw her. What is she even doing?"

He closed his eyes to check the mental link with his other manifestation, but he found nothing. He sensed absolute silence.

"What the hell?! What happened to my other manifestation? Why can’t I sense him? Something is definitely wrong."

He immediately stood up, trying to sense the last location where their presence had been active.

’In the center of the city? How the hell did they suddenly disappear from the middle of the city?!’

He wasted no time and hurried toward the place. This time, he chose to use his ’Levitation’ ability. As his body began to float in the air, his balance slipped suddenly, and he fell straight downward.

*CRASH!*

"Ughh! I should have trained how to fly a little back then. It seems it will be hard to focus on floating. Let’s calm my mind first; stressing myself is not going to solve anything."

He closed his eyes and inhaled. He freed every muscle of his body, letting himself enter a resting motion, and then wrapped the invisible energy around the surface of his body. Letting the lavitation take control, he began to float freely, defying gravity.

He poured all of his concentration into flying. As he climbed up into the sky and managed to stabilize his floating body, he gathered the energy around his feet. He burst through the air, shooting straight toward the city center with incredible speed.

He kept the energy release constant so that his speed would remain fast. He clenched his fists with a tense look. His hood fell back, his silver hair blowing wildly in the wind, while his white mask blocked most of the air pressure from hitting his face.

’I just hope she hasn’t caused some trouble... I hope she is alright...’