Only after chugging down a couple of HP and mana potions did Zyrus regain the clarity of mind. Kyle and Shi kun stood by his side to protect him against the remaining terracotta warriors.
In the meanwhile, Ria and Jacob were dealing with the remaining soldiers with the rest of his troops.
“Feeling better?”
“Yeah, thanks Lauren.”
“No problem at all. So, do you trust us now?”
“..?”
“Weren’t you afraid that we’d backstab you when you were down?”
“Wow, and just when I thought you were being nice for once,” Zyrus sighed as he looked at Lauren's smug expression.
Well, to be honest, he did trust them now.
‘Just a little bit,’
Zyrus took a deep breath to get rid of the annoying thoughts and focused his attention on the pending messages.
Just in time, a voice rang out in the Colosseum, marking the end of this war.
[Ding! You have won the war]
[Congratulations! The final event has been completed]
[You have cleared the Pyramid of Tsaatan]
[Additional rewards will be given based on your performance]
“Yeah!”
“Woohoo..”
All of the players cheered with their weapons held high. However, the good news had yet to end.
[You have cleared the event dungeon: Blessing of Cernunnos]
[Additional rewards will be given based on your contribution]
A golden light shone upon the surviving 800 members of Zyrus’s group. A pin-drop silence descended in the area as everyone was busy checking out their rewards.
‘Hmm.. let’s start with the new ones’
Zyrus rubbed his claws in excitement as he clicked on the two additional rewards.
[Congratulations! You are ranked 1st in clearing the Pyramid to Tsaatan]
[You have obtained an extinct species as your subordinates]
[200 specter scorpions pledge their allegiance to you]
[Congratulations! You are ranked 1st in clearing The event dungeon: Blessing of Cernunnos]
[You have obtained the unique item: Ring of command]
[You have acquired the highest blessing in the dungeon! A special reward will be given]
Zyrus looked at the area around him with a pleasant surprise.
“What is that?”
“It’s so beautiful!” Ria and Lauren exclaimed one after another as they looked at the sky above.
Hundreds of black meteors were raining down on the sky filled with white clouds. One by one the light from the meteors shined down on the Colosseum. In just a couple of breaths, 200 black pillars of light erupted in front of the players.
That wasn’t all.
*HZZZZZ*
A blue portal appeared in front of Zyrus which sucked in the surrounding mana like a whirlpool.
*Crackle*
A pair of silver hooves came out from the portal, followed by a creature with fur as black as the night sky.
It was a reindeer. Its silver antlers shined with a green glow as the portal’s light faded. Zyrus met the reindeer’s gaze and realized what the reindeer with a red eye patch wanted.
[Franken, The one-eyed reindeer, is willing to become your companion]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
“I accept,” Zyrus pushed his hand forward out of instinct.
In the next instance, he felt a new connection form between them as Franken nudged his head against his palm.
“Sup, chief! Ready for a fight?”
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“…”
“Ya hear me? Hello?”
Zyrus twitched the corner of his mouth as he looked at his first companion.
“Yes, I hear you loud and clear. A bit too loud to be honest,”
“Great, great. 'Been so long since I talked with someone. What are you by the way?”
“A Sylvarix.”
“Never heard of ‘em,”
“A reindeer who talks like a bandit isn’t that famous either,” Zyrus flicked the chattering reindeer’s forehead as he looked around him. Most of the players were done checking their status window, and they were now looking at the black pillars of light with curiosity.
“So cool! Did you tame it?”
“Mind your words young lady! We’re companions, got it?”
“Wow, it talks too! Can you teach Pouka?”
“Humph, that furball is too young to be compared to a being such as I,” Franken spoke with his nose held high.
Zyrus sighed as he looked at the overly energetic duo. Since the scorpions were taking their sweet time to wake up, Zyrus checked out the reward he was most excited about.
[You have created a new branch of magic!]
[You have earned the grand achievement: The Architect of Abyss (EX)]
An EX rank. It wasn’t Zyrus’s first time seeing one. All of his main skills were of the same rank in his past life.
After F to A ranks, there were S, SS, SSS, and finally EX.
It was the rank that signified that you had reached the peak of the sanctuary. With a surge of anticipation and anxiety Zyrus clicked on the title. Although he knew what the EX-ranked skills were capable of, it was his first time getting an achievement of that rank.
[The Architect of Abyss: Your mana attribute changes from Neutral to Abyss. You can now imbue the power of abyss into all of your physical and magical attacks.]
‘Abyss huh..’
Zyrus thought over his past actions with confusion as he wasn’t sure why he got the power of abyss. Although the power was strong, it wasn’t what he was looking for.
“Need my help?”
“I’m not even surprised at this point,” Zyrus stared at the smug-faced Aurora. Franken, the players, and even the yet-to-hatch specter scorpions were nowhere in sight.
It was obvious as to who had teleported them to god knows where.
“Tch…Not even a thanks”
“Thank you for everything you have done so far,” Zyrus spoke in a sincere tone as he looked at his one and only friend who knew about both of his lives.
“A-ahem, I was just joking.”
“It’s rare to see you getting embarrassed.”
“Shut up!”
After bantering with her for a bit, Zyrus finally asked the question he had.
“This is the last time I’ll be able to talk with you in the first ring, so listen carefully.”
Zyrus nodded with a serious look and gestured her to continue. He knew how valuable this information was as it could save him a lot of time in finding the right path.
“The reason you got the powers of abyss is mostly because of your race. You should have obtained the powers even before this achievement, but we intentionally held them back.”
“What? You can do that? And why?” Zyrus was flustered after hearing her reply.
He knew that the administrators had a lot of power within the sanctuary, but it was the first time he was hearing about them directly interfering with a player’s status.
“We can’t meddle with the player’s affairs, but yours is a special case. As for the ‘Why’, let me ask you this, Why are the Eternals able to use the powers of origin despite being under the influence of the sanctuary? Especially when you, who was instinctively using the same power, was deemed a threat by the system?”
Zyrus felt like a hammer had struck on his head. All this time he had never considered the reason behind his death with this perspective. He had believed that the Eternals were just afraid of his growing strength. And they, along with the ‘system,’ didn’t want him to leave the sanctuary.
Maybe those reasons were correct, but was that all?
“Are you really an arcanist? Your brain only works when it comes to creating spells to win a battle,”
“C’mon, give me a break. Every time I see you, you give me the information that fucks my worldview over. Do you seriously expect me to think properly in this case?”
“Well.. fair enough. It’s because of your achievement. You know how the levels, skills, and achievements work right?”
Zyrus nodded in understanding as he heard her reply. Levels increased one’s state of existence and gave them stats. And skills determined how one used those stats.
Achievements, on the other hand, were much more complex. Aside from giving new skills and SP, its main function was to prove yourself against the sanctuary.
Certain classes, Ranks, regions, equipment, and a lot of leadership and authority-related skills were reliant upon one’s achievement.
For example, if a player didn’t have the necessary achievement, they wouldn’t be able to unlock some quests and travel to certain areas. In the sanctuary where power was gained by war and conquest, this condition was a severe handicap.
“Do you get it now? It’s like the difference between an adult holding a sword and a kid holding a sword. No one would bother the former as long as they followed the guidelines, but what of the latter? The kid would harm not only himself but all of those around him as well.”
“I see.. I don’t understand all of it, but I suppose I’m in the right direction.”
“That’s enough for now. You didn’t ask anything about instinctively using the powers of void in your previous life, so I’ll assume that now you know the basics.”
“Indeed.”
“Good. Here, take this.” Aurora hovered above and threw an orb of blue energy toward Zyrus.
Although he didn’t know what it was, he was all too familiar with the orb's aura.
It was his mana.
His mana when he was the void monarch.
“Use the abyssal magic and get familiar with the laws of void. Although they might seem different, they have more in common than you’d think. Remember this, only use a fraction of your source of origin when you are in the sanctuary. In case of emergency, this will allow you to go all out, but it’d be better if you don’t take that risk,” Aurora pointed at the orb with solemn eyes.
From the urgency in her voice, it was apparent that her time here was running out.
“How do I use it?” Zyrus asked the most important question, but in the next second, it was rendered useless.
As if it had sensed Zyrus’s desire, the cube floated in front of the orb of energy. Zyrus glanced at the fading Aurora one last time and pushed the orb towards the cube without hesitation.
An intense red glow erupted from the cube just like the first day of the tutorial. This power reminded him of the black robed man who was responsible for his regression.
He was wary of the man’s intentions but he knew that he meant no harm. The cube wasn’t like the system.
It was a tool, just like a sword. The person in control is the one who is using it, not the one who created it.
The more he learned about the sanctuary and the system, the more questions he had.
With every new encounter he realized just how ignorant he was in the past life. He had disdained those who treated this world like a game, but from the looks of it, he wasn’t much different compared to them.
Despite all of that though, one thing was certain. He was getting stronger with every new encounter and slowly but surely, he would once again stand at the peak of the sanctuary.
‘And this time I don’t plan to lose against anyone or anything,’
Zyrus clenched his fists in determination and read the text in front of him.
[You have gained the Authority: 13 Curses of Void]
It was just a single sentence, but it meant the world to him.
After struggling for more than a thousand years he had finally found a path.
A path that would give him the power that solely belonged to him.