A blue screen now floated in front of Aethel's vision, and he was shocked, to say the least...
—————
{{STATUS SCREEN}}
NAME: Aurelia Voidweaver
TITLE: V>&÷^*>P>*÷
RACE: CALAMITY VOIDBORN
AGE: UNKNOWN
TALENT: * EYE OF THE ABYSS (EX+,???): The ability to perceive and manipulate the 'Void'—the fundamental nothingness from which all matter and energy originate.
AFFINITIES: VOID (EX+), STARLIGHT (SS+)
RANK: SSS++ (INFINITELY CLOSE TO EX-RANK)
STATS:
* Strength: ???
* Speed: ???
* Intelligence: SSS+
* Mana: ???
* Luck: ???
* Charm: EX+
—————
Despite the shock, Aethel couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation regarding how strong he would become once he copied everything. Although he couldn't see everything that is not necessarily a bad thing from his experience of reading novels before.
He was planning to copy everthing because why not? There was no mentioned side effect for his system funtions atleast not that he knew of, that's how overpowered the system was.
'I will copy all besides the VOID Affinity, since it comes with the talent...'
Certain talents grant the user a corresponding affinity of the same rank, as the talent itself cannot function without it. Without thinking any further, Aethel decided to copy her talent and Starlight Affinity.
'System, copy her talent and Starlight Affinity.'
____________
> COPYING...
> TALENT: EYE OF THE ABYSS (EX+)
> AFFINITIES: STARLIGHT (SS+)
> Daily limit: (6/10)
_____________
Just as Aethel was about to inwardly jump for joy, a sudden stream of notifications flashed across his vision.
___________
[WARNING, WARNING, WARNING]
[HOST'S BODY AND SOUL ARE UNABLE TO CONTAIN EX-RANK TALENT AND AFFINITY]
[HOST'S BODY IS BEING ERASED BY THE VOID]
A cold surge of realization struck Aethel, but he didn't even have time to panic. The erasure was instantaneous. Before a single scream could leave his throat or a wave of fear could truly grip his mind, his very cells began to unravel into nothingness. His ignorance had brought him to the brink of a second death before he could even begin his second life.
In the micro-second before his consciousness vanished, the system flared with desperate notifications.
< Supreme Adaptation is trying to resist the void but has failed due to its low rank >
< Supreme Adaptation cannot stop the erasure; shifting priority to evolutionary survival >
< Supreme Adaptation is forcing the host's body and soul to evolve to a higher state >
< Supreme Adaptation is forcing the host's existence to adapt to the void >
< Supreme Adaptation is forcing the host's existence to adapt to the void >
< Host has become an Infant Voidborn >
< Supreme Adaptation is currently OFFLINE; 100% of processing power is diverted to Abyssal Containment >
* < Host must become a Fledgling Voidborn to completely adapt to the void and an Awakened Voidborn to begin to fully use the Talent >
* Estimated time until host becomes a Fledgling Voidborn: 45 years
[SYSTEM ADVISES HOST TO INCREASE THE RANK OF SUPREME ADAPTATION (SSS-) USING FUSION]
_____________
Aethel was shocked beyond belief by the notifications in his vision. He couldn't believe his ignorance had caused such a massive incident. Just then, information regarding the ranking of the Voidborn appeared in his mind:
INFANT, FLEDGLING, AWAKENED, ASCENDANT, SOVEREIGN, CALAMITY, ANCIENT, TRANSCENDENTAL, PRIMORDIAL.
These were all the rankings he received, but he didn't know if there were more. He would have to wait 45 years just to reach the second stage. Although Voidborn have long lifespans, he was still only 17 years old—19 in his previous life—and he could not wait that long, as time was a precious resource.
While Aethel was panicking, the eyes of the powerful woman on stage were staring directly at him, fixed since the moment he first copied her talent and affinity.
__________
(Aurelia POV)
I appeared on the stage without anyone noticing and allowed an iota of my pressure to leak, instantly silencing everyone in the hall. Every year, I come to introduce myself to the first-years—not because I have to or was ordered to, as if anyone had the power to command me—but simply because I felt like it.
Being the undisputed strongest in the world, excluding gate monsters , allows me to do whatever I want, whenever I want. But being the strongest doesn't mean I have stopped pursuing power; the entire year is spent in seclusion in order to break through to the next rank. This has been my life for thousands of years.
I don't involve myself in politics or the like; the entire year is spent in seclusion while the Vice Principal handles all affairs, and since he is quite strong himself, he can handle any problems that arise. I do this every year to see if any of the students will show me something interesting to add flavor to my monotonous life.
I used my talent, [EYE OF THE ABYSS (EX+)], to observe the students as I always do. The threads of Fate, Karma, Space, and Time appeared in my vision. I could perceive the students' talents, affinities, and many other things—even their futures, if I wished—but the future is always changing depending on fate, so it is not entirely reliable. While I was looking at these threads, one of the students caught my attention.
He was a noble from a Duke's house. He had golden fate and destiny threads gushing out of him, enveloping him like a mother holding her child.
'He must be the chosen one of fate,' was my immediate thought when I saw him. Right after that thought, a few of his threads tried to move toward me to tangle me in his fate, but I immediately destroyed them with my gaze before they could move any further.
It looked like fate wanted me to become one of his harem members. ME!!! THE CALAMITY VOIDBORN.Just you wait, Fate; once I break through, I will find you and make you beg for forgiveness at my feet.
Although I was inwardly angry, there was no change to my outward expression. I have never been this livid, but anger was still an emotion I could easily control. Still a bit pissed off by what happened, I continued to look at the boy, whose name I found to be Adrian Astris. His talent is related to Adaptation and it is at SSS-rank. This is the first SSS talent I have seen, and it is a special one at that.
This talent has the potential to reach the stages of EX-rank if there were no restrictions regarding the time it takes to adapt. Well, no talent can be perfect. I could not fully use my own talent until I was an Awakened Voidborn, and even then, it cost much to use freely; only after reaching the rank of Calamity Voidborn could I use it without significant backlash.
I decided to look at where his threads of fate were connected and saw his future harem members. Two were from other Dukes' houses, and one was the imperial princess. I observed them and saw that the names of the first two were Eleanor Solis and Seraphina Luminais.
Eleanor Solis is a young woman with a fairy-like beauty, possessing crimson hair and eyes due to her lineage. She has the unique talent [UNDYING FLAME (SS)]—a flame that will never go out against her will once it starts to burn, and at higher stages, it can even burn through laws. Obviously, if someone were faster than her, they could simply dodge the flame before it touched them. Even if the flames were to reach me, they couldn't burn me, as I am a high-level Voidborn.
The other, Seraphina Luminais, carries the title of Saintess. She is not a literal saintess, but she was given the title due to her talent, [SUPREME LIGHT GENIUS (SS)]. Her talent for light magic is among the highest in all of reality. She could be considered the embodiment of light because of her affinity. To match this, she has golden hair and eyes, possessing a fairy-like beauty not inferior to any other besides myself.
Finally, the most talented of the three is the imperial princess, Valeriana Celestia. She is from the Celestia family, who are known for their talent in "order magic," which perfectly explains her talent: [VOICE OF COMMAND (SS+)]. Her word is law; anyone at her rank or below must follow her orders. At higher ranks, it can bend reality to her command.
The only exceptions, coincidentally, are the other harem members, because Seraphina's talent is also SS+ rank and Eleanor can simply "burn" any command she is given. Adrian, meanwhile, can just adapt to it. She also seems to possess an SS-rank Lightning affinity, with platinum hair and platinum-blue eyes.
After checking the chosen one's fate threads, I focused my attention back on the other students. No more than a millisecond passed since I started thinking, thanks to how fast a higher-ranked being processes information.
I finally got around to introducing myself and, as usual, I kept it short. I was waiting for the students' minds to settle after they heard my voice when I sensed something that made my eyes widen in pure, unfiltered shock. However, I quickly returned my face to normal before anyone could notice.
At first, I believed my senses were failing me, but as a peak SSS-rank being and with my talent, there was no way that was possible. I definitely sensed someone like me—although still an Infant, I had no doubt. I sensed another Voidborn.
In all my years in this world, I have not seen a single other Voidborn. There were similar races like the Chaosborn or Void Dragons, but none of them were like me; they were cheap imitations at best. I have searched through history multiple times but have never seen any mention or even a hint of a Voidborn. This is why sensing something the same as myself shocked me to my core.
I turned my head toward the source and saw a young man with slightly tanned skin and black hair. He has above-average looks, but they pale in comparison to the chosen one. He was at E-rank when I first saw him, but now he was comfortably at D-rank with peak C-rank combat power.
Although I was focused on the chosen one and his companions, it didn't mean I was unaware of the other students; in fact, I knew the talents and affinities of everyone in the hall. This student, whose name is Aethel Watts, had a B-rank talent called Superior Comprehension that increases his processing speed, and a C-rank lightning affinity.
In other places, he might seem special, but he was only slightly above average at the academy. But now, he was the same as me: a Voidborn.
I abandoned my planned speech. The curiosity that had been dormant for millennia suddenly surged with a violent intensity. My gaze locked onto him—this anomaly, this impossible infant of my own kind. Instead of lingering on the stage like a distant idol, I stepped into the space between us, intent on confronting this newborn Voidborn who had appeared out of thin air.
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