Baaangg!
Ethan's head was dizzy as he began to open his eyes gently. He could hear a ringing in his ears, and every inch of his body was in great pain.
It was only after his vision cleared up a bit that he finally saw the system flashing with a warning. He smirked as he looked at it.
[ Warning! You are about to die. Consume a health potion immediately. ]
[ Warning! You are about to die. Consume a health potion immediately. ]
[ Warning! You are about to die. Consume a health potion immediately. ]
[ Warning! You are about to die. Consume a health potion immediately. ]
…
Ethan sat upright, relaxing his battered body against a rough rock nearby. He coughed blood as it dripped down from his mouth—it was painfully unbearable. His HP bar showed only 20, and he cursed. Just as he guessed, the giant had thrown him to the ground, dropping his HP significantly.
In the distance, he saw the giant walking away. Its footsteps shook the ground, and whenever it passed a building, it shattered with sheer force.
Ethan gritted his teeth and raised his middle finger toward the giant.
"Fffuuuuuccckk yooouuu!" he forced the words out of his mouth.
After a while, Ethan calmed himself and focused. He pulled out a health potion and drank it whole. His HP bar immediately recovered by 50. His broken bones and ribs twisted painfully back into place. He drank another one, this time restoring his body completely. His wounds closed up as if they had never been there.
"This is a priceless treasure. I should be managing my near-death periods from now on," he sighed. Now he only had 3 potions left, and who knew when next the system would reward him again?
Talking about the system, he wondered why it didn't trigger any quest when he attacked the giant. Strange.
"Fuck it. I'll keep going until I get out of this hellhole."
Ethan stood up with a sigh—
Bang!
Immediately, a powerful pressure weighed down on him like a mountain.
"Damn, what is this pressure?" Ethan gritted his teeth as his knees buckled. His body refused to stand.
"No way. If I bow down because of aura from a low-level dungeon, how will I dare call myself Emperor in the future?" Ethan roared in defiance. He resisted with all his might and will, slowly forcing himself upright, breaking the pressure bit by bit.
"I will never bend to anyone—not even the gods… BREAK FOR ME!" Ethan shouted as he shattered the pressure.
[ Congratulations! You have earned the achievement
[ Unbending: No matter how powerful the aura or presence imposed on you, you won't back down. ]
[ Reward: +5 Strength. ]
"Hmmm." Ethan grunted and marched forward.
Where he stood now was a mighty rocky castle. The air reeked of spookiness, and space-time here was unstable. Sometimes the castle appeared massive, sometimes small. Any ordinary Ascended who entered would be frightened to death by this anomaly alone.
Ethan wasn't bothered as he passed through the protruding rocks encircling the castle like a seal. "Geez, what is this place?" he muttered, scanning the area.
On each jagged rock, he noticed ancient scripts glowing with a strange red aura. He brushed off the feeling and continued toward the castle gate.
The gate loomed like the entrance to death itself—the air thin and suffocating. At its center was a mysterious jade seal, ancient and glowing faintly.
Ethan's eyes sharpened as he pulled the key from his inventory. As if sentient, the key shot forward and merged with the seal.
Immediately, the seal sprang to life as ancient runes swirled outward.
BAAAANG!
The gate flung open, the oppressive aura intensifying—but Ethan didn't even flinch.
[ You have removed the first seal binding The King Who Wants to See Tomorrow. ]
Ethan gripped his Starless Sword, ready to strike. He stepped forward into the palace.
Wraaapppp!
A space warp tugged at him, but Ethan quickly adjusted, landing on a marble floor. He expected such things—this space-time was unstable, after all.
Scanning the area, what he saw shocked him. He was inside a temple—no, a temple of giants. Huge pillars bore the symbol of immortality and strength, lining the path toward a bottomless abyss. Beside them stood towering statues of giants, each wielding weapons pointed toward the same abyss.
Ethan stood at the far end of the path on a dark, circular platform. He walked forward cautiously, 100% on alert.
After minutes of silence—
Baaaang!
The eyes of the statues lit up. A giant with a machete hacked down toward him with brute force. Ethan immediately thrust his Starless Sword, redirecting and breaking the strike.
Boooom!
The statue shattered into sparkling flakes. Unexpectedly, the flakes entered his brows, and a sweet sensation rushed through his body, followed by a voice.
[ You have slain a Nightmare Statue (Lv.10). ]
[ Reward: +2 Strength. No EXP. ]
[ Attributes: Strength 67, Agility 52, Stamina 55, Speed 50, Mana 50. ]
"Eh, good. Now I'm more confident," Ethan grinned.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of statues awoke—over 50 in total.
Ethan quickly calculated. Each had the strength of the Black Knight when he first summoned it. Not a big problem. More statues meant more stats.
Daaaarrrt!
Ethan dashed to the center with speed. Each time he used Star Sword Technique Lv.1, it cost him 5 mana points, meaning he could only destroy 10 statues in a second. But Ethan wasn't planning to spam his skills—he would train his body to adapt under pressure.
If he just kept leveling without adapting, he could lose control of his own strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each strike of Ethan's blade decapitated a statue's limbs.
"What is this? Were they supposed to protect what's inside from outsiders? How disappointing!" Ethan growled, beheading 12 statues in a row with pure strength.