Three months. Alex had been tasked with three months of isolation to focus on nothing but ‘training.’ It was a ploy designed to stilt his progress, but he planned to turn the task into a catalyst for that massive change. First, he would master whatever high-level technique they had made a show of giving him, and visit both of the worlds in his possession while attempting to enhance or master as many of his skills as he could, whether they were old, new, or granted by the realm of skills he was forced to visit each morning. “A new world, huh,” Alex muttered while cradling the newest golden orb in his hand. The world treasure carried an unnatural weight, not heavy but imposing, as if it wanted to sink through his palm and into the earth below. The glyphs hummed faintly, their lines near-perfect and clean, as though carved by something with surgical claws rather than tools.
Mei exhaled sharply, her steps quickening as she muttered, “Glad I don’t have to sit through that mess. One of those paranoid old fossils is losing it over a supposed break-in, but the formation master just keeps saying everything’s fine, that no alarms triggered.” Her fingers tapped lightly against the manual in her hand before she glanced at Alex. “If they ever bother to check the inner chamber, though...” She snorted, shaking her head. “It might actually kill them.”
He glanced back at Mei, walking beside him, guiding him to the seclusion chamber deep in the surrounding mountain, her short stride quick and energetic despite the early hour. Her voice cut through the silence, abrupt and curious as she shifted to eye his world treasure. "So? Gonna open it?"
Alex shook his head, tucking the orb carefully into his inventory pouch. "Not yet," he said. "I’ve got questions first. Is this the test world? It can’t be, right?" Both his thoughts and his voice held scepticism. It shouldn’t be. Judging by the system message, that’s a full year away.
Mei glanced at him, the small straps at her waist rustling faintly as she turned.
"No," she said briskly, adjusting her clothing, “disciples aren’t allowed into their test worlds until the day of the test, next year. That’s sect law, your test world’s locked away until you’re out. You won’t even be able to monitor it during isolation training."
Alex turned the orb again, tracing the grooves near its base. "Then what is this? A gift?" He held it up slightly, weighing it again in his mind. "Why would they hand it over now?"
Mei gestured at the orb. "They didn’t, Jin gave it to me this morning. Said it was ‘to pass the time’ and left. I think they all believe no outer disciple has a chance of gaining anything from that ridiculous technique and will just be staring at cave walls the whole time."
That reasoning made the gifted world seem like a well-intended gesture, but despite that, suspicion coiled within Alex. He turned the orb over again, its golden surface glinting in the light of the sun as he headed towards the furthest ends of the mountainous valley the sect resided in. Alex felt mildly conflicted—While a random ‘gift’ from Jin carried too many complexities, the prospect of a new world also held boons, from specialised materials, items, and to even more specialised skill crystals, whether gained from beasts or quests. The first skills he had gained had been vaguely related to Phoenix’s due to the creature that had resided in the dungeon, and then there was the dark skill crystal that had granted him Bestial Senses, the foundation for his domain. Not to mention the demonic skill crystals from the demonic incursion dungeon that had granted him his sword clone milestone skill that had ultimately led to his ability to absorb sword egos. It seemed that the classes and skills granted to worlds mostly seemed to follow racial themes, allowing the more exceptional beings among their number to stray further and further from said themes. His skill, Assimilate Nexus, would alter any skill crystal he utilised to activate as a class skill and fall under the influence of his nature as a swordsman, or what the system referred to as a ‘systemic sword sovereign.’ So the more worlds I visit, the more varied and powerful my skill set can become, and I can use each unique skill gained to advance or consolidate the others, his eyes lit up with interest at the thought. It was an enticing prospect, but still, from what he’d seen of Jin so far, the youth didn’t strike him as the type to do things without reason. So why did he decide to give me a world? He’s clearly trying to get in my good graces… Lui Xan and the others seemed pretty scared of him too, but Mei simply calls him the ‘Golden Child,’ as though he’s a harmless model disciple… Alex turned the possibilities over in his mind, calculating whether to utilise the gesture or simply discard it altogether before he glanced back at Mei to question the deciding factor
"What’s its rank?"
"Rank?" Mei blinked. "Didn’t anyone explain how to gauge it? Of course not. Figures." She pointed a finger at the orb. "Look for the mark near the base. It should have a series of glyphs—count the segments. One mark means ‘F’, two means ‘E’, and so on."
Alex tilted the orb, scanning its surface until the glyphs emerged from the twisting designs. Five segments. His chest tightened slightly as he counted again to be sure.
"D," he muttered aloud. Mei raised an eyebrow, her expression unimpressed.
"D-rank," she said, tapping her chin. "Not bad.
That means everything in that world will have a base stat minimum of 400 in every category. Stronger creatures could hit 800 before levelling, he thought. 2000 to 4000 total base stats, he mused. That was leagues above the E-ranked beings of Pyra and the F-ranked humans he presumed Earth held when the system first arrived. Those initial base numbers had ranged from 1 to 10—barely a fraction of what he now held.
He tightened his grip on the orb, forcing his thoughts to stay focused. "What kind of world is it? Jin said it was a good one."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
She stopped abruptly, her boots skidding slightly on the path as she turned to face him. “When did he tell you that? I didn’t see you two talk.”
“Of course you didn’t”, Alex projected into her mind through sound transmission.
Mei blinked, startled, and took half a step back. “Weird. Mental skills are for weirdos. You should focus on stabbing things instead.”
Alex’s response was immediate. “You mean like you?”
“Exactly!,” she shot back. She glanced pointedly at the orb. "Anyway, what do you care about the nature of the world? It’s only D-rank so it’s nothing compared to the imperials or beasts you faced in the trial. Just go in, wreck stuff, and come out stronger. Or maybe you could treat it as a three-month vacation— it’s not like you need the time; it’ll probably only take you a few minutes to learn that technique they gave you."
Alex’s grip on the orb loosened slightly. "Humor me. What did Jin say about it?"
Mei blinked, the question catching her off guard. "Huh? Oh, uh…" She scrunched her nose, clearly straining to remember. "I don’t know, I kind of zoned out when he was talking. Something about it being a good match for you. Mentioned blood a lot, something about blood gods, blood creatures, blood this, blood that—blood, blood, blood." She shrugged, then waved her hands dramatically, like swatting invisible flies. “He kept saying it like it meant something to me. Honestly, he lost me after the fourth 'blood.'"
Her words repeated faintly in his mind as he turned them over. Blood. The word stirred something striking in his thoughts. Jin wouldn’t give him a world like this without a purpose. The world he’d been given had to be related to the nature of his spirit beast core in some way. It was the blood. The blood beast he’d absorbed, the blood spirit beast core he now possessed, and the blood arts that had followed.
The thought lingered, turning in the back of his mind like an unopened vault. Blood gods. Blood creatures, he thought. What had Jin called it—a good world? Good for who?
Mei leaned closer, her voice cutting through his introspection. "Why is Jin even helping you, anyway? What’s his deal?"
Alex paused, the orb still in his hand. "I’m not sure," he said. "We worked together in the trial. Survived some sticky situations."
"But you don’t trust him?"
Alex glanced at her then as his grip on the orb loosened slightly. "No. Not entirely."
***
The isolation training region rested on the far end of the mountain range that encased the valley, its chambers carved side by side into the mountain. Alex entered his chamber with Mei. The room was well-lit, and his eyes immediately caught the groove in the entrance where he presumed a door would shut. The hall outside gleamed with a near-marble polish. Inside the chamber, a massive container filled with nutritional pills stood prominently, and Mei handed him a manual as they entered the innermost section of the isolation chamber.
Alex cradled the golden orb in his palm. Its surface radiated energy, a dense and complex weave of shifting structures that seemed both ancient and incomprehensible. His fingertips tingled faintly as he adjusted its weight, feeling the subtle pull of its energies, like veins breathing just beneath the skin. It didn’t seem alive, but it felt far from inert. Jin must’ve given this to me for a reason, he thought, though no clarity followed. The patterns shifted slightly when he tilted it—layers of them repeating—but there was no warmth, no response, no acknowledgement of his touch.
In order to enter the world, he would have two options.
The first would be to incorporate it into his dantian, which would trigger the treasure’s mana siphoning and conversion process to infuse his every cell with constant and persistent body-strengthening Qi, boosting each of his stats beyond ten thousand. But That would almost definitely kill me, he thought with concern. Whilst his mana was on cooldown, his body was devoid of the substance, and could freely channel Qi. But the moment his cool-down ended, this heart would fill his body with mana, and that mana would violently clash with any present Qi within him, erasing him from existence.
He found it curious that his body’s natural mana flow steered clear of both his dantian and his spirit beast core when dormant and unaltered, as though by design.
The cool-down lasts two hours, but to even enter cool-down I’d need to trigger the mana burn skill for thirty seconds. The moment that happens I’m done for, he thought. Yeah, no thanks, once the reinforcement process starts, it sticks until the treasure is removed or swapped out for a different one. The second option it is, then.
The second option was to find the world treasure’s nexus point, a concentration of all of its energies that acted as a sort of lock. Alex would need to simply channel his Qi into the point to enter the world, though wasn’t exactly sure of the fine details, but that was the only safe path of entry.
The treasure warmed slightly in Alex’s grip, its surface firm yet vibrating faintly, as if containing something restless. His Qi moved into it, tentative at first, then more deliberate as he searched for something unmistakable. He focused, the patterns beneath his perception sharpening, their weight heavier the deeper he went. His breathing slowed, the faint hum of the treasure growing sharper in his awareness. Then he felt it—a singular point, dense and unyielding, drawing his attention like a hidden star within a vast sky. His focus narrowed as his Qi pressed into the point, steady and deliberate. The warmth surged briefly in his palms before golden text materialized before him, suspended in midair.
[Would you like to enter stored world designation: ‘Serra’ of cluster ‘4179-A’?]
[Enter World | Monitor world | Integrate world]
Both the “monitor” and “integrate” options were greyed out, leaving only the choice to enter.
“Do you want to come with me?” Alex asked, his grip on the orb firm as he turned to her. Mei pushed her hair back, her eyes moving briefly to the treasure before landing back on him. “I’d love to,” she said, her hand making a small motion toward the chamber. “Anywhere’s better than this place.” Her hand lowered, her fingers brushing the edge of the pathway as she added, “but I know how they think—if I’m gone, they’ll come looking. The first place they’ll check is this chamber, and they’ll find nothing but that orb sitting here. It’d only make things worse for you.” She gestured faintly toward the space around them. “So no, I can’t. But... thanks for asking.”She exhaled softly, stepping back as she handed him the manual tucked under her arm.
“See you soon.”
She spun on her heel and made to leave, her boots clicking as they scuffed the smooth stone floor as her form faded. The sound bounced off the high walls, too loud in the quiet chamber, drawing Alex’s attention back to her earlier words.
Jin didn’t seem like the type to give distractions. The orb had purpose, buried deep in its golden threads. The patterns on the world treasure twisted endlessly, reminding Alex of fractals he’d seen back on Earth—shapes that repeated forever, infinitely complex but never truly complete. Like this world Jin had given him, a puzzle whose pieces refused to fit.
Alex selected ‘Enter’ and felt the orb's energies surge, transporting him to an entirely different world.