RE: LORD OF TIME

Because William wasn’t using the official path opened by the Rosco Barony, it was not easy for him to climb the Kolva Mountain Range.

The reason he didn’t take the official path was because he was certain the Astral Rift was nowhere near it.

The official path opened by the barony was used by hundreds of people every day. As such, if the Astral Rift had been anywhere near it, it would have been discovered long ago.

Moreover, from his memories, although William did not know the exact location of the rift, he vaguely remembered that it was somewhere in the eastern area of the mountain range, while the official path opened by the barony was in the western direction.

William held a metallic-colored longsword that was only slightly shorter than himself. Its slender blade possessed a graceful, deadly curve, resembling a katana with a razor-sharp edge that gleamed coldly beneath the light.

It was the sword that Elena and Karl had bought for him.

William had planned to kill monsters using this sword, but now....

Swish!

The sound of air being sliced apart echoed as the sword cut down the thick bushes blocking his path.

”Damn it, the number of trees and other plants is far higher than what I had thought...” William grumbled as he walked forward while cutting down weeds and bushes.

While moving forward, he used the Supreme Star Scripture from time to time to determine the nature of the Aether Energy around him.

With his excellent-grade affinity and a powerful technique like the Supreme Star Scripture, he could sense the energy within a radius of two hundred meters around him.

As such, after walking every two hundred meters, he would carefully sense the energy around him each time.

But even after more than five hours and cutting down enough weeds to open a completely new path, William still didn’t find anything wrong with Aether Energy.

Sitting down on a rock, William opened a water bottle and took a long sip.

He wiped the sweat covering his face and sighed inwardly.

”I should have paid more attention to this Astral Rift in my last life. If I had, I wouldn’t have to search for it like this.”

He recalled how overjoyed he had been after finding out that he possessed excellent-grade Aether affinity that he did not care about anything else in the world at that time.

His only thoughts back then were that he would become a big shot in the future, a delusional fantasy of a teenage boy who didn’t understand the world and believed that just because he had talent, he would be able to do anything.

William shook his head to clear away his messy thoughts and stood up.

’Well, as long as I continue searching for it, I will eventually find it.’

He continued searching for the Astral Rift, and after another hour, although he still didn’t find the Astral Rift, William found something else, or to be more precise, something found him.

’An unranked-level Forest Tiger...’ William stared at the nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall tiger that was glaring at him with deep yellow eyes filled with hunger.

The tiger had a light yellow body with green stripes running across it.

’Now that I think about it, I haven’t eaten the meat of a monster since my rebirth...’ William licked his lips slightly, and the aura around him completely changed.

The Forest Tiger, which had come to William after catching his scent earlier while searching for food was startled when it sensed an unusual predatory aura emitting from him.

It was as though it wasn’t the hunter. Instead, the two-legged beast that it had considered prey just a moment ago had suddenly become the true predator.

William didn’t care that he was unknowingly releasing a predatory aura tempered through the countless wars he had fought in and slowly walked towards the monster.

For other humans who had not yet become Star Warriors, facing an unranked monster might be dangerous, as monsters’ bodies were inherently stronger than those of humans.

However, William did not care about that because, not only was his body already almost as strong as that of a Star Warrior, but he also killed with technique rather than brute force.

As soon as William began walking toward the tiger, the monster came back to its senses, and anger flashed within its beastly eyes.

ROAR!

The monster let out an angry roar, feeling humiliated that it, a top predator, had been frightened by a small two-legged beast just a moment ago.

With a swift motion, the monster dashed forward, covering a distance of nearly ten meters in just a second, and swept its razor-sharp claws toward William’s face.

Although the monster was fast, William reacted quickly, and just before the claw reached him, he stepped aside and easily dodged the attack.

At the same time, while the monster had yet to recover its balance after the attack, he swung his sword at lightning speed.

Swish!

The sword cut through the air, and despite being an ordinary sword, under William’s monstrous strength and the power of his trait, it cut nearly seven centimeters deep into the monster’s flesh, almost reaching the bone.

ROAR!

A burst of blood sprayed out, and the monster roared in pain as its eyes turned red.

But William had never been someone who gave his enemies a second chance.

Even before pulling back his sword, his left leg moved swiftly and struck the side of the tiger’s face, destroying one of its eyes.

ROAR!

The tiger immediately went into a frenzy upon losing one of its eyes and lunged at William.

But William moved even faster, dodging its attack and appearing at the tiger’s blind spot created by its destroyed eye.

A sharp look flashed in William’s eyes as he stared at the deep cut on the tiger’s neck that he had created with his first attack.

While the tiger was still midair in its lunging posture, William bent forward slightly, holding the katana in a slashing stance, and stepped forward.

The prototype of the Aether Core that he had condensed yesterday trembled slightly, and as William slashed forward, Aether Energy moved through his core, causing his sword to gleam with a hazy blue light.

For a moment, a sense of crisis unlike anything it had ever experienced engulfed the monster.

However, before it could do anything...

Swish!

The sound of something being cleanly sliced apart rang out, and a fountain of blood erupted as the tiger’s head separated from its body.

Thud!

The severed head rolled across the ground, and William’s face turned slightly pale as a sharp pain struck his chest.

William held his chest with his right hand, took several deep breaths, and smiled bitterly.

’Even with my experience, drawing out Aether Energy to coat a weapon, something that can only be done by people at the Star Commander level and above is not an easy task...’ He thought inwardly before shaking his head and looking at the headless body of the monster.

’Though it’s costly, the effect is even better than I expected.’

William looked at the clean cut through the tiger’s bone, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Just as William was reveling in the joy of killing the Forest Tiger.

”My, my, it seems my feeling was correct. To think I would encounter someone like you while on a casual outing.”

A sweet voice reached his ears, and William’s body stiffened because the voice sounded utterly familiar.

’No way...’ He shouted inwardly as he stiffly turned his head. ’There is no way that woman would be here at this time.’

But the instant William saw the woman’s face, all of his hopes shattered, and his heart began to beat wildly.