Eternal Freedom's Ascension

Chapter 174: Upcoming Special Evaluation

Mordica was shocked. The way the other witches spoke about the Solace Clan, it was like they were ancient beings in history.

She had never expected that she would meet or converse with one of them.

Kaiser Solace. That surname of his wasn’t just random. He was linked to that clan.

"Do not look at me with those eyes. I have no reason to bother myself with your affairs... for now."

He sighed, as if tired of the prejudice towards his clan.

Mordica pressed her lips together, a solemn expression on her face.

"I hope that is the case. However, I will remain guarded and cautious of you."

Pulling her hood, she turned around and walked away.

Kaiser shrugged indifferently, yawning and heading back to the dormitory. He disliked interacting with colorless people, as it usually drained his energy.

However, ever since his conversation with Hazel, he had been trying his best to relate with those he considered irrelevant.

’It is really exhausting.’

With his shoulders slumped, he pushed open the door and entered his room. It was as pristine as ever. Not because he was particularly a clean freak, but because he rarely used the room for anything other than sleeping, assignments, and reading.

The first thing he did was prepare a light meal. Choosing instant noodles over pasta, he prepared and consumed a sizable amount before collapsing on the bed.

’Ah...’

Exhaling, he closed his eyes and took a quick nap.

Exactly two hours later, he woke up from his little nap. Feeling revitalized, he decided to do what he had been postponing since morning.

Although he hadn’t hunted much, he still got a good number of monster-level essence crystals from the Awakened Creatures.

’I can feel it. I should be able to advance into Rank 2 by the end of this semester. Why is it so fast?’

Kaiser was momentarily perplexed, but soon attributed it to his physique.

"Huh... isn’t this too fast?"

He had expected it to take him at least ten months, but he realized he might only need eight months before he advanced.

He wasn’t the type to nurture his crystal core diligently. Yet, he was already this fast.

He couldn’t help but smile faintly. ’How would the Chairman react to this unfairness, I wonder?’

He could already imagine the man becoming perplexed about the fairness of any battle-oriented competitions in the third semester.

The smile soon disappeared, though. It was nothing really interesting. Just like water after a meal, it had no special appeal.

Picking up the sack containing his earned essence crystals, he took out four, placing them in his hands and sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Taking a deep breath, he began the absorption. Essence was sucked from the crystals, phasing through his body and slithering into his crystal core.

The absorbed essence condensed from its gaseous state, becoming a clear liquid and dropping into the already-formed puddle of essence in his crystal core.

Kaiser continued to absorb essence from the crystals until he emptied the sack.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled through his lips.

"19 crystals gone just like that. Huh."

Falling back onto his bed with his arms spread, he closed his eyes. The next moment, he delved into his crystal core.

Unlike that of a regular Awakened which was pristine white, Kaiser’s crystal core was different.

It was also white, but had millions of black stars populating the skies of the miniature world.

The puddle of liquid essence was transparent and glittery, but would sometimes freeze at the edge, then melt again.

"What a strange place..."

Kaiser remarked dryly, his gaze scanning the surroundings. Several clumps of light floated around him, all symbolizing the relics he possessed.

Turning, he looked at a particular side of his crystal core that was darker. There, the silhouettes of three figures could be seen unmoving.

Cursed Knight Kara, Thunderhorn, and Bottom Arachnid.

These were the three shadows that Kaiser possessed, and they were resting peacefully in this dark corner of his crystal core.

Thinking back, everything started when he came in contact with the black altar.

’Primordial Darkness’s acknowledgement...’

He could remember a subtle tremor in the system’s voice as it mentioned that name. It was faint—almost imperceptible—but he could vividly remember it.

Kaiser took a series of slow, measured steps towards the three shadows, his expression calm.

This was the first time he was accessing them in his crystal core, and he was curious how different they were from when they were summoned.

Cursed Knight Kara stood rigid at the front, her face obscured by her black helmet. She was slightly taller than Kaiser, making him lift his gaze slightly.

When his eyes met her visor, he almost took a step back, his heart pulsing faster.

’This...’

His eyes shrunk, and he reached out instinctively. The moment his hand came in contact with her armor, he heard a broken whisper.

"Kai... ser."

He only heard it once, and it was gone. He forgot the voice, only remembering the words whispered.

’Hah?’

His brows creased, he placed a palm on her shoulder.

Nothing.

No whisper, no word, no repetition of the storage thing that happened just now. It was as if she was a statue.

’Hmm...’

Kaiser gave her a deep glance, then turned to the creature on her left. It was pitch black, just like her.

Its body was covered in black fur, with a mane growing around its neck. Two horns curved from the back of its head, coming out from the side of its neck.

Everything about the Thunderhorn remained fearsome, and Kaiser couldn’t help but smile observing it.

’It will be a real pity if they can’t go beyond their current level of ascension.’

Finally, he turned his attention to his final Shadow—Bottom Arachnid. This one wasn’t so special, but its versatile ability with silky webs was sufficient.

Kaiser patted its frozen head, a light smile on his lips.

Since this strange path of necromancy was already his, there was no need to not utilize it properly.

He could almost envision the dark corner enlarged and housing thousands or hundreds of thousands of Shadows.

Suddenly, Kaiser heard an unexpected voice.

["Nihility is... @#sh##. All bow *#@@u# vanity."]

Since the damned whisper was unexpected, Kaiser almost collapsed to the ground, his head ringing in pain.

He turned sharply, gaze locking on a particular relic.

"Nullweave Carapace."

An incredulous expression appeared on his face, as he became speechless.

’How did it?’

He couldn’t understand why it could still whisper to him even without him donning the armor.

’Perhaps it is attacking me because I’m in my crystal cor—argh!’

The relics whispered again, its words totally incomprehensible.

Kaiser grabbed his head in pain, almost stumbling to s side.

’This accused armor.’

He groaned, steadying himself and taking a last look at the relic floating midair.

’You won’t kill me anyway.’

He immediately dived out of his crystal core, returning to the material world.

’I... sweated?’

Wiping the little sweat from his forehead, he exhaled. The whispers he had heard really seemed to have affected him.

"I should probably resume fortifying my mental strength."

Although he rarely had a reason to wear armor in the academy, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t wear the Nullweave Carapace during Nirad Raids or other Special Evaluations.

That aside, he needed to continue learning runic formations from the manual he had acquired.

"I really have a lot to do." He sighed wearily, "Annoying..."

.........

The break and weekend ended uneventfully, and the first-years resumed school the following week. They had all been fully healed, but the mental scars from the event remained in their hearts.

The only reliving thing was that a new month had arrived, and they were paid their monthly allowance.

The results for Top Students from the recent Nirad Raid was also announced, interesting some upperclassmen.

"Gaga from Class-B. Hmm."

President Anthony said calmly, his fingers crossed beneath his chin.

All the student council members were gathered in the Student Council office, having an important meeting concerning the upcoming Special Evaluation.

However, President Anthony had suddenly brought up the results for the Top Students from the first-years.

"This time, Class-B took the top three spots. This is very much surprising. I’m amazed."

Vice President Eren sighed, pressing a hand to his chest.

The secretary, Reas, rolled her eyes. "Just because you keep the Top 5 spots to your class everytime does not mean it’ll be the same for the first-years."

Putting on a bitter smile, Eren leaned back and crossed his legs.

"Ah, it’s not my fault. The other second-year classes are simply to weak."

"That’s enough."

The president said, his voice putting a lid to the discussion.

Elon adjusted his glasses and spoke up. "President. Have we concluded on what kind of Special Evaluation the three grades would be having?"

Turning to him, President Anthony nodded. "We already discussed for the third-years and the second-years. That leaves just you first-years."

Smiling slyly, Eren spoke. "Since their combat strength have not been tested against each other, how about a sparring competition?"