novelraw Chapter 355. A Gift - 1
Chapter 355. A Gift - 1
William sat alone beneath the maple tree within the Domain of Infinite, his back resting against the rough bark as scarlet leaves drifted lazily around him.
The endless sky above the domain remained motionless, carrying an unnatural silence that allowed his thoughts to settle more easily.
After arriving inside the domain earlier, he had called Seraphine to meet him.
The two of them had spent several peaceful days together here due to the time dilation, away from politics, responsibilities, and the endless chaos surrounding the sudden creation of the new eternal sun empire.
Eventually, however, William had convinced her to return and continue focusing on the awakening of her physique, which was in two weeks. He promised her that during her awakening, he would be by her side, although he never told Sera how William would manage to do that.
Seraphine had naturally resisted the idea of leaving him first, especially when he had told her about his temporary death; she had been scared, and William had to spend a full day calming her down.
She clearly wanted to remain beside him longer, especially after everything that had happened recently, but William had managed to persuade her to leave after a lengthy conversation.
During their time, he had also chosen to be completely honest with her regarding Tamasya. Surprisingly, Seraphine had handled the fact with quite ease; she even praised her for removing William’s seal.
She listened really patiently while he explained the complicated dynamic of his past, about his mom and dad and everything that William had learned in the past few days.
By the end, he had made an annoyed expression and told her about the recent instance where Tamasya had deliberately seduced him as part of Anastasia’s ridiculous "test"—even Seraphine became genuinely annoyed.
She had firmly scolded him afterward and warned him not to fall for such traps so easily.
At the same time, she had also stubbornly declared that she intended to be the first woman to share a bed with him. William honestly did not know how to respond to that statement.
Part of him remained skeptical, mostly because Seraphine was still young. Then again, technically speaking, he was not much older than her in this life either. The problem was that William could never truly see himself as a teenager anymore.
Mentally, he had long since stopped being one.
He simply could not afford the luxury of acting immature anymore.
Still, he could not deny that ever since the seal on his Lunar Sovereign Physique had been broken, his mental condition had improved drastically.
The difference was so obvious that it almost frightened him.
For years, there had always been a strange pressure weighing down on his mind. It felt like constant suffocation lingering beneath the surface of his thoughts, filling him with confusion, irrational frustration, anxiety, and emotional instability. At times, he would lose control over his emotions for reasons he could not properly understand.
Now that burden was gone.
Orion had already explained that the strange impulses, uncontrolled fury, and the maddening voice urging him to break the seal would never trouble him again.
Only now did William fully realize the truth.
The suppressed lunar physique had been influencing him after his awakening. Because the physique remained sealed while simultaneously trying to awaken, it had destabilized his emotions and mental state over the past two years.
The lunar element was related to emotions, so that was a clear reason William had been emotionally conflicted many times in the past.
As the seal disappeared, William finally felt mentally whole and clear-headed again. Though his hate for demons didn’t subside one bit, and that was what he wanted, in fact.
When he reflected upon the past honestly, he realized that if his mind had been this stable from the beginning, then he would never have fallen into such confusion regarding matters of love and attachment. Nor would he have spent so much time emotionally distracted during the last two years, or maybe he was just blaming everything on the deal now.
Whatever the case may be, a lot had changed within him overall.
And now, sitting beneath the maple tree, William finally decided it was time to properly examine those changes.
"Orion," he called quietly. "Show me my status."
Orion responded almost immediately.
[Before you look at the status window, I should inform you of something first.]
[Ever since you met Goddess Nir and discussed existence planes and higher realities with her, the 9th layer of information within the Supreme System has been completely unsealed.]
[The information Nir provided accounted for roughly eighty percent of the remaining requirements. The final twenty percent was unlocked after your conversation with Xythia.]
[Because of that, your status layout has changed considerably.]
[So take your time and read it carefully.]
The moment Orion finished speaking, a large translucent interface materialized before William beneath the falling maple leaves.
————⁜⁜⁜————
Name: William Kaiser Solaris
Race: Human (98%), True-Fire Dragon (2%)
Age: 16
Path: Eternal Sovereign (Stage 1: Bending Mortality)
———— ENERGIES ————
SPIRITUAL: SS
DEMONIC: Pseudo-Divinity
VARIANCE | Proto Dantian: Body Tempering Realm (PEAK)
———— TALENTS ————
SUPREME RANKED - Lawless Adaptation | Fatebound | Beloved of the Universe
LEGENDARY RANKED - Heaven-Piercing Archer | Sovereign Spirit Transformer | Omniscient Eyes | Primordial Rune Master
SSS RANKED - Ruler of Eternal Darkness (from Tamasya) | Heavenly Merchant (from Emily)
SS RANKED - Shapeshifter (from Amorphous)
S RANKED - Natural Actor
F RANKED - ORACLE OF PANDEMONIUM (supressed)
———— ECHOES ————
Blessing of the Stars | Level - 1
———— TRAITS ————
FUSION CORE
PRIMORDIAL AFFINITY
SPIRIT VEINS (SUPREME)
ELEMENTAL RESISTANCES: Water (D), Wind (D), Thunder (D), Storm (D), Space (D), Poison (D), Paralysis (SSS), Darkness (SSS)
———— ELEMENTS ————
The Radiant Family: SUN, LIGHT, FIRE, THUNDER, STORM
The Umbral Family: DARKNESS, SHADOW, NETHER
The Bios Family: EARTH, WATER, WIND, ICE, METAL*
The Celest Family: SPACE
The Vital Family: BLOOD*
The Arcane Family: RUNE, LUNAR*
———— PHYSIQUES ————
DIVINE RANK: Sun-God Physique, Lunar Sovereign’s Physique.
TRUE: Fire-Dragon Physique
———— SPELLS & TECHNIQUES ————
GOD RANK: Heaven-Sundering Divine Sword Art | Void Sovereignty Spell | Sol Invictus | Primordial God Flow Scripture
SAINT RANK: Tempest Sword Technique | True Armament Subjugation Art (Incomplete)
HEAVEN RANK: Sinclair Serpent Blade Art | Radiant Flash Steps | Crimson Dominion Art | Nightfall Suppression
PLATINUM: Blizzard | Glacial Bind | Ice Spear | Purification
GOLD: Luminous Embrace
BRONZE: Spell Fracture Wave (variance)
UNKNOWN: Shadow-Born Manifestation Art Mastery
———— BONDS ————
Ethan | Maximus Sinclair | Leila Ravenclaw | Seraphine Sylvaris | Katherine Nightreign | Sara Babylon | Lia
———— FATEBOUND ENTITIES ————
Mark of Soulmate: Tamasya
Mark of Destiny: Seraphine, Anastasia, Dereck, Samantha
Mark of Comrade: Sunchaser (Sunny)
Mark of the Servant: Emily, Maris, Rah
Slaves: Jaden, Barash, Robin, Grimlock, Amorphous, 850+
———— ITEMS ————
Armament Nexus (Soul Weapon): Crimson Aeon Blade (Divine) | Nine-Heavens Stormcleaver (Ancient) | Univector Bow (Mythic) | Red Oath Daggers (Mythic) | Serpent King’s Fang (Diamond)
Array Hijacking Stamp
Bio-Mech Orb
Infinite Chocolate Machine
Manastone Generator (Light Element)
Trickster’s Veil
————⁜⁜⁜————
Current SP: 5 billion
————⁜⁜⁜————
Several minutes passed beneath the maple tree. William reread the status panel again and again.
Every time his eyes scanned through the information, he discovered something new that he had overlooked previously. Some entries fascinated him, others confused him, while a few left him quietly thoughtful.
Then suddenly, his eyes froze on a particular spot.
It was missing.
William slowly inhaled before covering part of his face with one hand. His fingers slid across his forehead and rested near his mouth as he stared silently toward the sky above with stretched wide eyes.
For several moments, he said nothing at all. Strangely enough, however, he did not feel despair.
He realized that the mana core was completely absent from the status panel.
Only now did the truth fully settle inside his mind.
His mana core had truly been destroyed.
Lux’s sword had pierced directly through it during the battle.
William remembered the recording of events after his temporary death. He clearly recalled seeing the sword being removed from his body, along with the shattered remains of his mana core. The women treating him had intentionally chosen to remove the damaged core entirely during the healing process.
Even then, William had subconsciously convinced himself that the mana core must have regenerated afterward. After all, a literal goddess had intervened in his recovery.
Apparently, even divine healing could not recreate a mana core from destruction.
His expectations had simply been too unrealistic.
[Does losing your mana core feel that terrible?] Orion asked casually.
William remained surprisingly calm.
There were methods within the System Shop capable of reconstructing a mana core from scratch. It was not an irreversible loss.
Still, the situation annoyed him greatly.
He exhaled slowly before replying.
"If it had been almost any other core, I honestly wouldn’t have cared much."
A bitter smile formed on his face afterward.
"But mana powers almost ninety-five percent of my spell arsenal."
His gaze drifted toward the status panel again.
"I guess my dream of wasting SP on purchasing thousands of spellbinders will remain a fantasy for now. I will have to spend a lot of SP on buying a new mana core or maybe wait for the whole month."
"Fuck, then I will have to cultivate everything from the start; maybe I will absorb the cultivation of people I don’t like."
Orion immediately burst into laughter.
[Well then... I suppose this is the perfect time to give you a present.]
William blinked in surprise.
"A present?"
Orion’s voice suddenly became unusually cheerful.
[Happy belated birthday, Host.]
[From me... and from the entire universe.]