Alexia

While resting on this wonderfully uncomfortable stone floor, I focus on the words I find appearing in my vision. Words that aren’t in the form of a System Message or notification oddly enough.

Congratulations, you have passed your first test as Quantum Reaper and proven yourself worthy of your role.

But do not grow overconfident, young Reaper, for nine more remain.

And should you fail even a single test, punishment awaits you.

Some of which may prove fatal.

Return to the test site once you have reached Tier 5, young Reaper.

Your achievements will be stated by the Architect's strange System once you leave the Quantum Realm.

Please claim your rewards and leave the test site once you recover.

I blink in surprise at the words.

Words that apparently aren’t from the System.

So… what are these words from?

I stare blankly at them until they disappear. Then I continue to stare for several minutes as I try to wrack my brain about what they’re for.

But the only possibility that comes to mind just makes no sense.

Because how could the universe itself speak? That’s just not possible.

Maybe it’s the quantum realm?

But that doesn’t make sense either…

I continue lying on the ground for over an hour trying to wrap my head around this, but no matter what I do, I can’t figure it out. So after my strength finally begins to return to me, my soul having clearly recovered after emptying out, I get up and focus on the large tomb in front of me.

Or rather, on the large coffin at the center of the tomb.

I walk up to the coffin before placing my hand on top of it, making the lid of the coffin suddenly glitch out and vanish. Revealing a glowing purple and black orb in the center of the coffin. Along with more red text where the coffin’s lid was.

For passing the first of the tests, you will now be bestowed with your core.

With every test passed after this point, your core will grow stronger, and you will learn how to fight with each of the Quantum Beings.

For your role must be the strongest.

You must be the reaper of the universe.

The end of all.

And yet, the savior of all as well.

I frown at the text before it fades. Then I see the orb slowly beginning to rise straight up towards me. And without giving me any time to react, it shoots right into my chest, making me drop down to my knee as I feel immense pressure filling me all over.

The pressure grows stronger and stronger, with powerful quantum energy flooding my entire body. Energy mixed with something else.

Some sort of black energy, similar to the energy that was in the arc I shot out that finished the Architect.

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In my finishing attack.

The pressure grows more and more until it’s shifting to all-out pain instead as I grit my teeth and lean downwards, clutching my chest. But then a little portal appears beneath me, making me fall straight out of the tower to land on my rear right outside of it.

Fucking hell, this hurts!

And as if reading my thoughts and mocking them, the pain flares, growing even more painful in the process as I let out a constricted scream. Meanwhile the black energy begins to leak out of me, following which I find a rift appearing in front of me that the Quantum Ruler walks out of. His eyes as wide as saucers.

“Dangerous…” he mutters, surprising me a bit through the pain before the man waves his hand, making a rift back to the universe appear next to him. “Please return to the mortal plane before you accidentally damage the quantum realm.”

I feel more than a little confusion at that, only to find myself being lifted into the air and brought through the rift. With the rift itself closing after me.

Then he pain flares again, making me shoot upwards to stare at the sky as my arms stretch out to my sides and I let out a silent scream atop the random island I find myself in. One that looks a lot like a Dimensional Block #108 island.

One message and notification appears after another, but the pain is too great for me to read them.

Instead I just find my vision shifting in and out of a strange black and purple tint as I see beings incredibly far away, possibly even in another Dimensional Block, highlighted in crimson, purple, and black colors. Like they’re marked as targets.

Meanwhile the black energy from before continues to leak out of me, killing everything it touches as if it were death itself.

Then I feel pain flare from my head. Pain that doesn’t last long while a new sensation emerges from my head. A sensation I somehow instinctively realize are horns.

Probably the same horns I had when I originally transformed into my incomplete form before they vanished.

And as if nothing had happened, all of the pain vanishes in a single instant. Leaving me gasping as I fall forwards a bit and catch myself on the ground with my hands.

But before I can pay attention to the System Messages and notifications, a strange and corrupted-looking rift appears in front of me. One similar to the rift I saw the Corruptor passing through in the second trial.

Then another notification appears in my vision that covers all the others.

The Dimensional Champion of Dimensional Block #600, Damien Black, and the Dimensional Champion of Dimensional Block #108, Alexia Knight, have both returned to the Dimensions.

The duel will now commence in ten seconds.

Prepare to be teleported to the dueling site.

I blink in surprise at both the notification and the sight of a very… different… looking Damien passing through the corrupted rift. And after ten seconds pass, just like the notification says, I find myself being teleported to some enormous platform within some sort of void of darkness.

With Damien on the other side of the platform, and another notification in front of me.

Your target has entered within the specified range.

User is already within their completed true form. Transformation is not necessary.

All rewards for hunting the target will be given after the target is eliminated.

Eliminate the target.

I blink again before standing up, feeling a little unsteady from my transformation.

The hell?