One Last System

I opened my eyes only to see an unfamiliar ceiling.

'Right,' I thought, recalling the events of the night.

After absorbing the fires, I was in no state to do anything else. It took my everything just to keep my wounds managed and tended so that I could regain my health and strength.

'How long has it been since I last slept in bed?' I asked myself, scanning the room with my eyes.

Reaching this place was the last memory of yesterday that I had. The second I plummeted to this bed, my memory was cut.

'What's the time,' I thought, raising my hand to wipe my eyes clear. I then looked around in search of a window.

'Not so late,' I realized after taking a moment to judge the position of the sun by the angle of its rays that snuck into the room.

When I dropped nearly dead on this bed, I was covered with bleeding injuries. Yet, even though the sun has yet to properly rise, my body was perfectly fine.

'This is some insane healing speed,' I thought, amazed when I added two to two.

There could be only one reason for such rapid healing of my injured flesh. And it was advancing to the next stage.

'The injuries of a mortal are mere scratches on a cultivator,' I recalled one of the quotes that summarised my understanding of the cultivation at large.

I then shook my head, desperate to clear my thoughts.

'I should be in the auction hall,' I thought, slowly recalling the events of yesterday's night.

It wouldn't make any sense to drag me somewhere else. This was the home ground of the faction that supposedly wanted to cooperate with me. As such, I could hardly expect a cold treatment.

"But they are not going to show me their hospitality if I don't prove useful," I muttered in a low voice, hiding my face in the palm of my hand.

I gave myself a short moment to let all those thoughts sink in. A moment for my mind to make sense of all the knowledge I gained.

'The question is, what do they want me to do?' I asked myself, hiding my thoughts behind the tight seal on my lips.

There was no way I would alert the only place that appeared to favor me about how I might not be keen to help them out after all.

'Well, if Mia managed to grasp the full picture, then they likely want to pit me against the Sangakart's royal,' I thought, recalling the holy texts that I decrypted.

This solution was obvious. Why else would they need someone capable of reaching that rank? Why else would they be so pressed for time to find another ally?

'Keeping it as just a theory, helping them out wouldn't be that bad of an idea either,' I thought, rubbing my chin as I analyzed my situation.

The soon was barely up; I had plenty of time to figure things out.

'No,' I suddenly shook my head. "Enough with this self-serving justice bullshit," I muttered to myself, turning my hands into fists.

There was only one possible reason that I could think for the Sangakarts ignoring my sorry state several hours prior. Their attention had to be elsewhere. And judging from Mia's letters, she was intentionally keeping her cultivation low to bait them out!

'It doesn't matter if we settle here,' I thought, refusing to keep up with my naive ambitions.

I wasn't going to be the hero who changed the world for the better.

Because in the end, I had no interest in this world whatsoever.

Sure, it was nice to swing a sword and watch the mountain split apart. It was fun to grow stronger and become a menace for others.

But the only thing that truly rotted me in this new life of mine was Mia.

For how simple and common it was, that girl was the reason why I was willing to try so hard.

It was a simple man's pleasure to help his girl out. But I never claimed to be all that complicated either.

'There is no way I should allow royals to pull me into this mess,' I thought, a dark expression appearing all over my face.

The cost of going against the Sangakarts was too great. And instead of risking Mia's health to finish a quest from this world, I would much rather live a peaceful life with her somewhere in the wild!

'That's it!' I thought, nearly standing up on the spot. 'All I need is to get her and ditch this place!' I pushed the blanket away and jumped down from my bed, ready to go and grab Mia right away.

But then I stopped.

'Wait, but would Mia really want it?' I asked, the weight of this question pinning me down.

Sure, for me, living out our days in peace, outside of the competition of the cultivation world... It was a great dream. But that wasn't the fate I wanted to bestow upon the girl.

Forcing her into the confines of what was the best for me would ultimately curse her with sadness. And out of everything, I wanted Mia to be happy.

'What a simpleton I am,' I thought, shaking my head and fixing my robes only to push the doors open.

Now that I came to this decision, there was no reason to hold back at all.

Because there was only one way for me to find out. The only way to learn what Mia desired.

And it was to just go and ask her.

'If she decides to stay, I will support her in any way she deems fit,' I thought, already excited by the prospect of doing so.

In the end, this simple life of mine was as simple as one could get.

It didn't matter what I was doing, as long as I could share that time with Mia.

And that was precisely why I didn't want to spend another day in this sect. Not when it endangered both Mia and my life. Because how could I enjoy my comfy days with my first-ever partner if I were to drop dead for some stupid reason?

"You are finally awake," Ackhart shouted silently, jumping away when I nearly smashed him with the doors I opened.

"Yeah, but I need to do something really quick," I replied, not bothering to keep up the conversation for long.

The more time I spent with those people right now, the harder it would get to free myself from their influence.

"Master, I will await your visit, then," Ackhart said in a respectful tone, cupping his hands and bowing his head.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," I waved the man away, stepping through the arch that made up the side entrance to the auction hall compound.

'Still, if not for my quick thinking, I would have lost a lot of potential again,' I thought, recalling the events of the last night.

Right before passing out, I took a quick glance at the system. And the change was magnificent.

BODY STATUS WINDOW

***

- Name: Arthur (Fian) Pendragon

- Age: 17

- Status: Well-rested

- Hidden Status: Fresh-ascender

- Body Status: Ascender

- Hidden Body Status: Apostle

***

PROGRESS STATUS WINDOW

***

- Body status: Ascender

- Growth status: Novice Ascended

- Body status modifier:

- Endurance: 18 163/25 000

- Willpower: 14 961/25 000

***

Mature Enlightenment (1 351 478M/3 000 000M)

{

Soul Ascendance: 79 164M/1 000 000M

Element Ascendance: 483 146M/1 000 000M

Control Ascendance: 77 168M/1 000 000M

}

Jobs Window

***

Cook - Level 13 6/14

Tailor - Level 16 7/17

Alchemist - Level 4 (3/5)

Arcane Weaponmaster? - [High-Class Job] - Level 4 (1/8)

Spearmaster - Novice level 11/20 (81/340)

Translator - Novice level 7/10(546/700)

***

Arcane Possesions

***

Horny Spear of a Newbie - A spear made out from the horn of a monster, the very first craft of a newbie arcane weapon master guided by his teacher.

***

Main Job - Tactical Mage

Combined level: 191

***

Range: 62

Control: 87

Output: 42

Job Skills -

***

[Bolt][Level 9 (718/900)]

[Warden][Level 9 (519/900)]

[Disturb][Level 2 (117/2000)]

[Ultimate Spell][Mage's Tower]

}

'How many times did I learn that my previous set of statistics doesn't matter anymore?' I asked, taking some time to digest what I saw.

I was an ascender, now.

And in the last moments, before I lost my mind last night, I managed to uncover another secret of the mana.

It was a small thing, but by learning how to absorb the fires, my growth somehow became wholesome.

My former statistics filled up the second I managed to unlock the path ahead. And when it happened, the energy rushed right into the core of my system.

'I can hardly remember what happened,' I thought, rubbing my eyes as I walked down the street.

I had to take some time to familiarize myself with my new statistics, new powers. In this regard, rushing to grab Mia seemed like something stupid.

But I was done waiting. It's been way too long since I last saw her, last held her up in my arms, last did something to help her out.

'I'm such a simple man,' I thought, imagining the one thing that would make me push ahead.

The gracious look in Mia's eyes whenever I did something directly for her. That delicate smile and tremble of the corner of her mouth as she gazes directly at my gallant figure.

"Honestly, this is something I will have to work on," I whispered, deeply ashamed by my simplistic desires.

'Still,' I thought, raising my head towards the skydome.

The sun was slowly crawling its way up, casting the shades of the night away.

'I managed to learn what does it mean to be Enlightened,' I thought, turning my thoughts to my current dilemma. 'The question is, what does it mean to be an Ascender, now?'