Reincarnated as the Final Villain's Vessel

Chapter 219: Advanced

Ellen couldn’t help but feel a chill at the thought that the entire world was surrounded by a strange barrier that couldn’t be crossed.

’Wait... couldn’t be crossed?’ She frowned as she realized something, then murmured,

”Then how did we cross it?...”

Even her faint murmur didn’t escape Arkanos’s ears as he stroked his beard, a habit deeply rooted in him.

”You aren’t the first to cross it. Even the first humans when they came here... and the monsters that descended upon the land.”

”So perhaps there are special circumstances we don’t know about.”

Silence filled the room, and Ellen could only stare at the wooden table with distant eyes, but the Emperor’s heavy sigh brought her back to reality.

”The winds of change may be closer than we expect.”

His voice was so heavy and deep that it made her body tremble.

The two remained silent for a while as Ellen hesitated, not knowing what to say.

The Emperor rested his elbow on the armrest, looking at his daughter with unreadable eyes, before speaking words she never expected to hear.

”Ellen, what do you think of the throne?”

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. What did she think?

Did she really want the throne itself now, or was it merely the desire to stop her brother from taking power?

But was that idea really possible? She couldn’t even speak about what she had witnessed against Zen, let alone face him.

The more Ellen thought about it, the farther that goal seemed than ever before.

She hesitated before answering with a question... a question she had always been hesitant to ask.

”Isn’t Zen the most suitable for the throne?”

She wanted to know her father’s point of view, one she had never fully understood.

But for the first time, Arkanos frowned.

”You’re the one who should answer that, Ellen. Not me.”

With a heavy sigh, the chair scraped against the floor before the Emperor stood up, turned his back to Ellen, and walked toward the exit.

Startled, she quickly turned her head, her black hair swaying with the movement.

”Father...”

The Emperor left without replying, the door closing behind him, leaving her sitting there in silence.

...

Caius’s POV

I felt power flow through every part of my body before gathering at the center of my chest.

I gasped for breath as the air burned inside my lungs, adding more of that annoying pain, which slowly began to fade, replaced by new strength.

I sat on the cold floor and thought about the system screen, and it appeared before me.

Name: Caius Astroweild

Age: 18

Rank: 3

Sub-rank: Advanced

I had just reached the next rank.

Barely three weeks had passed since we returned, and I hadn’t really had anything to do.

So during the past few days, I trained and used Essence Stones over and over again, sacrificing some sleep and other luxuries.

As a result, I managed to advance in such a short time... but even so, I was still literally nothing.

Now I was only one sub-rank away from Rank 4, the first stage of change.

I first had to reach the peak of the Advanced sub-rank until absorbing essence became almost meaningless.

After that, you had to merge the essence with your body... or that’s the simple explanation people gave, though it was a little more complicated than that.

You had to tear your body apart and injure it over and over again... not external injuries like cuts, but the tears that occurred within the tissues and bones.

You could do that through intense battles or something similar, or you could simply manipulate the essence inside your body and tear yourself apart.

Although the second method was more painful, most people used it because it was more effective.

After your body was injured, you had to keep circulating the essence until it intertwined with the wounds and fused with your muscles and bones... you had to repeat this over and over again for several days or weeks, depending on the person.

After that, the body would be forced to adapt and rebuild itself with the essence, making it several times tougher and stronger.

At the same time, you had to continue absorbing essence until you advanced to Rank 4.

Many people failed at this point and could no longer advance, so reaching Rank 4 itself was considered a remarkable achievement.

Well, after that came Rank 5, Transcendence, and also the true turning point where you had to find a Principle.

I had been ignorant about this before, but of course I had learned about it, and I already had an idea of the Principle I could achieve.

In fact, it was something rather unreasonable and difficult to accomplish.

But if I succeeded, I thought I would reach an entirely new level. Only then could it be said that I had truly begun to touch power.

Because honestly, below Rank 5, no matter how special or unique you were, there were many others like you.

”Haa...” I let out the breath I had been holding all at once.

I felt my perception expand to nearly two kilometers, but more importantly, the person standing behind me.

I got to my feet as I noticed the large training room and its walls filled with cracks and grooves.

At the same time, applause echoed from behind me.

”Congratulations on your advancement.”

I turned toward the voice and saw Emeris.

This girl had really been finding her way to me over the past few days.

She was wearing gray pants and a white blouse that matched her gray hair. She looked as though she was out for a stroll, even though today wasn’t a holiday.

”It would be great if you stopped following me everywhere, even here.”

Emeris smiled in amusement.

”But this is my training room.”

I clicked my tongue. ”Tsk...”

Well, she was right... and not.

Just as my room had been given to her, she had been given this room as well.

But I still had my card, which apparently still worked on the lock, so I kept coming here just as I had in the past.

At the same time, Emeris didn’t mind or show any objection. If anything, she seemed to like it.

With her hands behind her back, she walked closer, her smile becoming gentler.

”Since you’ve advanced, why don’t we go have lunch together?”

I placed a hand on my stomach thoughtfully.

I was really hungry, but I also wanted to continue training.

When she saw my hesitation, she added,

”Come on, it’ll be my treat this time.”

I smiled.

”Alright, that changes things.”

...

The sound of papers echoed through the room as a gentle breeze drifted in through the open window.

I stood inside a certain office, looking toward the window where darkness had already covered the sky.

I turned my head toward Alicia in her office. She was still working.

I didn’t know whether I was still an assistant or not. She hadn’t called me to work since my return, but I still came by sometimes during my free time.

”Don’t you get tired of this?”

She took a file out of her desk drawer. ”A little. What about you?”

I turned around and leaned against the window.

”At least not as much as you... but yeah.”

”Hmm...” She let out a quiet hum as she flipped through the file.

”Then why don’t you take a mission?”