Chapter 41: Increase in Strength

Chapter 41: Increase in Strength

As I pressed onto the [Aspect Legacy], I felt like I was transported to a completely different place.

Around me, there was a massive desert, and an ancient temple with a portal that was clearly collapsing.

A young teen, with obsidian colored hair, and onyx eyes was staring at his opponent with complete and utter rage.

Opposite him was a person who seemed to contrast him completely. A girl with silver hair held her sword tightly in her hand, with a stubborn look on her face. She was already riddled with a great number of injuries but seemed unbothered by them.

"I warned you, didn't I?" The young man said, and I swore I could feel all the shadows in the surroundings respond to his anger.

"I told you this story won't have a happy ending. That there will be only sorrow, pain and rage. Do you remember what you answered me?" The young man asked.

The girl looked back at the young man, not shying away from making eye contact with him, white flames dancing inside of her eyes as bright as the sun would shine itself.

"Life is not a story. It only ends when you die."

As they both said their peace, the 2 suddenly disappeared from their location and began their duel against each other.

The woman clearly dedicated the battle, with her superior strength, speed and stamina throughout the fight.

Even her experience in battle was evidently higher, yet the young man was able to keep up with her due to his sheer spite of losing.

As the duel continued, the woman's injuries came to light, as the young man himself without any mercy took advantage of the fact.

As I was watching the whole thing, I remembered something written inside of the book, something this young woman taught the young man before.

"The essence of combat is murder."

With every swing of their sword, each party tried to deal a deadly blow to kill their opponents.

However, at the last moments of their battle, at the platform they had been combating on collapsed, the young man began to lose.

Yet unwilling to give up, the young man continued on with the fight.

As if listening to his will, the Shadows around him flowed, as the man's movements began to change, and at the last moment right before their blades had collided, his style changed as he copied the women's combat technique.

He was the victor, even though he was weaker, slower and less experienced than his enemy.

All because of his Legacy Aspect.

As the fight ended and I returned to where I originally was, I saw the Aspect Legacy page opened in front of me and another notification as well.

{Only the first part will be given for free as a reward, the rest has to be earned}

[Aspect Legacy: Shadow Dance

Shadow Dance Mastery Level: 1/7

First Relic: {Claim}

Second relic: Unlearned

Third Relic: Unlearned

.

.

.

I pressed claim for the first relic.

[You have received an Aspect Legacy Rank]

[You have received a Shadow: Soul Serpent]

I immediately checked on my wrist at the right side of my hand, and as I expected, I could see a serpent that was tattooed onto my body.

An intricate image of a black serpent was coiled around my arms and torso, with its tail resting above my right hand and head above my left.

I activated the Soul Serpent and felt it move into its weapon form, as a menacing formidable foreboding black bladed odachi formed. 

The odachi felt surprisingly light for its length but seemed heavy enough to deal damage to anyone within its rank.

Almost invisible on the dark steel a lifelike image of a coiling serpent was etched onto the blade.

[Shadow: Soul Serpent

Shadow Rank: Genin

Shadow Class: 1/7

Shadow Attributes: [Shadow Guide], [Soul Weapon]

Shadow Description: The end of all things is inside of Shadow. The Shadow god himself had created death and that is where he lies]

[Shadow Guide] Attribute Description: The Soul Serpent guides Shadow Chakra as it flows through your body

[Soul Weapon] The Soul serpent, other than its base form, can assume the form of any weapon

As I had finally finished going through all my rewards I couldn't help but be really happy with the aspect I had awakened.

But a lot of things didn't make sense…if becoming a Jonin really did boost someone to such an insane degree, why did the Jonins I had faced till now seem so extremely weak.

It definitely had something to do with how high of a rank my Aspect was, I need to check how normal aspects, at C rank onwards were like.

If my hypothesis was correct, the Technoqueens aspect might be an A rank one.

[System announcement]

-All players will be forcefully logged out the second they are out of combat

-A Divine Aspect Legacy has been found, congratulations players for beginning their conquest

-All players are highly recommended to purchase the highest tier of Full Dive gear within 24 hours, when the game will reopen

-The player EXP exchange has been opened, players can now link their real world bank accounts and sell their EXP to other players or to the system AI

-A legacy expansion pack will be initiated to truly buff all Legacy questions 

(Authors note: The system put the mc's flying thunder god question down simply to make it 'fair' and didn't expect anyone to win it in the first generation, now it will truly be buffed. If someone who joins the game now uses it and finishes an S rank question, they might get something like 'All Jutsu of Minato Namikaze' or something absurd like that. This is to allow players who joined late to be able to catch up to people like MC and others who will/might have Divine Aspects. That being said, even people who watch Naruto would barely get S rank questions right)

-An aspect expansion pack will be initiated

…

(Omnipov)

One thing that Mathew didn't realize was as he was awakening his aspect inside of the game, his body moved weirdly in the real world.

His Shadow itself seemed to twitch even though Mathew was perfectly still while he was sleeping.

Then, a tattoo of a serpent seemed to begin to form, however it stopped forming as soon as it began, not even leaving a trace on Mathews body.

…

(MC Pov)

Right after reading all of that, I found myself awake inside of the real world.

I took off my headset and did a massive stretch. It seems like after spending weeks inside of the game, I will be forced to log off for a full day.

When I looked around my room, I couldn't help but be shocked. Everything looked so different!

All the clutter and rubbish inside of my room had been cleared, and I could even see past my room door to the rest of my house!

In shock, I walked out of my room, and realized my entire family were happily having…IS THAT PIZZA?

"Hey bro." My brother said with a cheeky smile as he handed me a slice.

"My project got approved by the Federation. My patent has also been approved and we are going to be making a lot of money now." My brother told me.

I felt my world spinning a little.

Being a steamer or a part of the largest guilds was the biggest source of income in this world, right after being politicians and scientists.

And being a gamer was the easiest thing, simply because one didn't require prior experience for those things.

Typically, games allowed streaming, but Elemental Nations didn't allow them whatsoever.

Everyone in the world wanted a sort of escapism, since being trapped inside of bunkers didn't really help their livelihood, so they lived vicariously through others.

Being a politician however required a certain form of background you just needed to be born into. For example, I couldn't run to be the next Leader of the Federation because I am not of 'noble,' blood.

I say noble, more of 'refined,' as propaganda in this world puts it.

And being a scientist also was not easy. In a post apocalyptic world, anything that could make the masses' lives easier was heavily sought after.

However not everyone could study, since any and all information, even basic things like science, was hidden from the public for some reason in this world.

So it was a hard journey for my brother, who aimed to make the world a better place as he strived to simply study.

Our parents decided to invest in him as well, and after doing plenty of academic tests online, he was granted temporary access to specific materials of knowledge, and with just that he had made his Atomic Reconfigurator.

With that, he was able to begin repurposing all the plastic and waste that was being dumped into homes from the city council.

However my brother did only get 10% of the shares whenever the Federation decided to sell his Atomic Reconfigurator to cities, towns and places around the world

But what could we do when we were basically living inside of a monarchy.

Seeing me in shock, my mother began to chuckle as my father looked towards my brother in pride.

"You know." My dad began, "Your brother is earning enough for us to be a part of the surface."

The surface!

Where for me, an ex-modern human, it was normal ,that was not the case in this world.

There were very few cities in this world that could fight the radiation, and to be a resident of one of those cities is basically saying you are at the top 0.01% of the world!

"When do we leave?"

"Right now actually." My brother said, "We were going to wake you up soon."

"I will pack my things." I told them in excitement. I was already salivating at the thought of having a shower everyday.

"Also, I got an email that you won something in your game?"

…

The apartment, tucked inside a huge building, is a cozy spot for four people. 

It's got comfy furniture, like a big sectional sofa and a nice dining table for family dinners. 

Huge windows show off a great view of the city, with tall buildings and busy streets all under a giant bubble that protects everyone from the radiation outside. 

The bubble gives the city a cool, almost magical look.

The name of this city is Radiant Heaven, and it was where my family and I would be staying from now on.

My brother also got hired as a researcher inside of the Federation, so he got a high paying job on top of his patent money.

According to him, with any luck, his next projects he would get a larger cut of the profits.

Well, if you can't beat them, join them.

Coming to this place was a surreal experience, since it was a weird helicopter that was encased in a bubble.

Seeing so many bubbles kind of reminded me of celestial dragons from one piece.

Inside of my room, I also had my full dive technology sent by the developers.

The full dive headset is this sleek, high-tech marvel with a clear visor, almost like a sci-fi scuba mask.

 I'm lying in a comfy pod filled with warm nutritional liquid meant for fuel diving, wearing an oxygen mask that helps me breathe. 

They also provided 3 sets of exo-suits for these full dive pods.

All of this is connected to a mind-blowing virtual reality system that takes me on these wild adventures.

They really are going all out for a game.

Well, time for me to log into this game again, after 24 whole hours.

…

(OmniPOV)

As soon as Mathew entered the game, the Serpentine Tattoo which couldn't be formed before quickly formed in happiness as if greeting its master.

His shadow also twitched for 1 second, before becoming gloomy and depressed at the 'thought' of being 'alive.'

...

I felt like I was floating around in a large expanse of for one second, and in the next, I saw a figure appear right before my eyes, staring at me with great interest.

He looked like a playful young blond child, viewing the entire world in curiosity.

"Who are you?" I asked in a confused tone.

"Me? I am him." The child replied in a tone sure of himself.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"So did you figure it out?" The childish voice spread into the surroundings as he looked at me with great interest.

"Figure what out?"

"Well…That the Elemental Nations world is real? What else?"

-End of Volume 1-

..

Author's note:

We have finished volume 1 guys, hope you enjoy it so far. Here's to many more volumes.

If we reach 200 power stones, I will upload an extra chapter for THAT week.

Since we have reached the goal, Saturday there will be a new chapter.

Every subsequent 100 power stones is another extra chapter for THAT week.

You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator