Chapter 4: "Defying The Laws Of Nature"

***

Status

Name: Nova Young

Age: 19 years

Species: Dark Witch

You are the last remaining dark witch, a race enveloped with centuries of resentment from the rest of the world

***

Level: 1

Title: [None]

Seed: [Apostle of Time's Seed]

[As the last dark witch in this strange dimension, the <god of space and time> has deemed you worthy of receiving this powerful seed. You can prove yourself worthy of the seed by demystifying the events behind the disappearance of the <goddess of nature> 1000 years ago.]

STATS:

Strength: 4

Agility: 6

Endurance: 9

Stamina: 8

HP: 50/50

MP: 40/100

Stat Points: 10

[HP and MP increase with each level-up.]

[Each stat increases by 1 with each level-up.]

***

Blessings: 

[god of space and time] (MAIN)

[god of life] (secondary)

[god of death] (secondary)

Abilities:

[Soul Connection](sage-level) - consumes zero MP -> With this immaculate ability, you are capable of sharing abilities and experience with the metamorph <Nyx > as well as communicating telepathically. 

[77 Lives](sage-level) - consumes zero MP -> The gods of life and death have granted you a skill akin to immortality. You are beseeched to use it wisely.

[Gyrokinesis](average) - consumes 20 MP every 10 minutes -> You can offset the effects of gravity of any object within a 10-meter radius.

[Spatial Perception](sage) - consumes 10 MP -> Your vision and awareness of your surroundings are greatly enhanced.

[Mana Sense](sage) - consumes 10 MP -> You can perceive the magical energy with life force within a 100-metre radius. 

***

"So that's what my Status looks like after 16 hours in this murderous heat," Nova said as she assessed the slight changes on the navy-blue panel.

"Your Stamina has increased by 1. Endurance has increased by 2. I wonder if that's because of the straining conditions here," Nyx commented. "So...how do we allocate those 10 stat points?"

"If I could, I'd like to allocate them to my tummy or my miserable MP," Nova said with a very serious, no-nonsense expression. "But, for now, I want to invest in my ability to run away from danger. So...6 points to Agility and 4 points to Stamina."

After allocating her stat points, Nova felt an odd refreshing sensation across the fibers of her body. This was followed by a feeling of contentment. She was excited to attempt a few ideas she had about her new ability, [Gyrokinesis]. She had been hoping to attain a strong offensive ability, at least, but [Gyrokinesis], she realized, could be very all-rounded.

"Are we finally trying 'that' out?" Nyx asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Nova replied, gazing at the spine-chilling forest only meters from where she stood on the moist sand, "I'll have to be fast though. [Gyrokinesis] consumes 20 MP every 10 minutes, and I only have 40 MP."

"Yelp. So, death is unavoidable, huh?" Nyx asked good-humoredly.

"Nothing new. Death is usually unavoidable, Nyx," Nova said smilingly and shrugged. "Okay, let's get to it!" Nova's heart sped up in her chest and she activated [Gravitokinesis] on herself. With this cheat-like ability, one could either increase the gravity of an object or drastically reduce the gravity. Nova chose to the latter and the target was herself. The effects were...

The girl felt her body gradually grow weightless. The more she reduced the pull of gravity on her slim figure, the further away her feet distanced themselves from the moist, yellow sand until she was looking down at the beach. She could see the tops of the towering trees of the sinister forest.

"Oh...my...god...wow," she gaped, momentarily mesmerized, before Nyx reminded her of the time limit. "The 20 minutes have started," said Nyx, also entranced by the view of the verdant green foliage beneath Nova's feet. It was a mystical feeling that should have been reserved for birds but here they were, literally defying the laws of nature.

Nova regained her wits. The first step was the easiest but maneuvering in midair was clearly something not tailored for a wingless mammal. First, she calmed her quaking nerves and stilled her uneven breathing. "Okay, I just need to manipulate my own gravity now and..." As she spoke, she felt her body instinctively interact with the gravitons around her, until she was pulling her mass through the airspace.

The crisp wind caressed her astounded countenance. She gazed down at the forest beneath. Beneath the tall trees was greener grass, pools of fresh water that glistened like morning dew in the light of day, and... Nova gulped, stifling a manic and hungry smile. Without a second thought, Nyx activated [Spatial Perception].

Beside a fairly massive pool of water, an enormous, blue-scaled, winged creature with two legs and a pointed tail peacefully quenched its thirst from the pool's waters. From its posture, one would not easily notice the overpoweringly strong aura emanating from it.

"Oh no, I wouldn't go there if I were you," Nyx said warningly. "I think that's a wyvern..." Nyx added, the terror in their tiny voice palpable.

Nova's attention was piqued. She stared fixedly at the oblivious wyvern like a predator assessing its prey. A smile gradually formed on her enervated face, highlighting the euphoria glittering in her cold, grey eyes, rejuvenating her wearied senses. "So... it's fine as long as it doesn't notice me, yeah?" she asked, a plan forming in her mind.

"Uh...yeah...what?"

From her use of [Gravitokinesis], she had come to understand that the ability fundamentally controlled the motion of gravitons, which were the basic units of gravity. With this inspiration knocking at her door, it felt like she had tapped into the Garden of Eden or the Elysian Fields, but more populated by dashing gentlemen.

"This distance should be alright..." Nova muttered after adjusting her location so that she was right above another group of monsters in the forest. This group was within a 10-meter radius of the wyvern, apparently too consumed by trepidation to approach the pool of water or the wyvern. "This is a fantastic situation for my first hunt," Nova commented with a slightly delirious smile, "I think my luck is on a roll today."

As she spoke, she manipulated the surrounding gravitons within a ten-meter radius, creating some sort of a barrier. This was really pushing the limits of her ability, but it filled her with more and more exhilaration. She was already becoming quite precise in her usage as she altered the pull of gravity on herself and her surroundings simultaneously. Thankfully, the wyvern did not notice its approaching doom.

Nova smirked contentedly after less than a minute had passed. "Now."

Instantly, the area within a 10-meter radius of Nova had been malformed into a field of high gravitational force. Everything—the trees, the monsters, and the wyvern—were instantly compressed beneath the high gravity.

Although the other monsters—four in total—quickly died as Nova increased the pull of gravity, the wyvern distinctly repelled the force and was back on its two feet in just a second. Its massive, blue-scaled head lifted into the sky as its wings propelled it into the air. Its penetrating, blue-green eyes were fixed on Nova's crookedly smiling visage like an inflamed avenger thirsting for blood.

'How dare you interrupt my leisure time, you inferior lifeform!' the wyvern's flaming gaze seemed to communicate.

"Huh..." Nova sighed softly, staring at the infuriated wyvern. "Ugh, I wish I could play with you longer. You seem like an alright substitute for my dead dog, Rufus, but I only have 9 minutes left," she uttered and shrugged, though her mouth was already watering.

"Did you, by any chance...eat your dog?" Nyx asked nervously.

"Nah, but my Chinese uncle on my mother's side had a dog farm. He really loved dog meat. I wonder what wyvern meat tastes like; I've never tried that before," she responded, as the wyvern burst towards her, its slick body cutting through the air like a hot knife slicing through butter. Due to their [Soul Connection], their dialogue took only microseconds.

However, the wyvern was repelled from her as though the two were like poles of a magnet and both of them were propelled backwards. Nova quickly regained balance mid-air and unified countless gravitons around her before the wyvern could regain its balance. 

"I call this 'Graviton Laser Beam'," she said, as the coalescence of gravitons somewhat solidified into a spear-like, grey form that shot with precision into the flapping, blue wyvern's belly. The wyvern couldn't manage to dodge the grey projectile in time. Hence, the grey coalescence dug deep into the flesh of its belly as the wyvern fell from the blue skies, seemingly dethroned from its place.

"There's less than a minute left now. You should quickly find a safe landing spot," Nyx spoke. Nova rapidly propelled herself away from the forest and was about to land just when the time limit for [Gravitokinesis] was reached and the skill automatically deactivated itself. She landed squarely on the hot, golden sands of the beach. She exhaled heavily and clasped her hands behind her head, lying with her wearied back on the sand.

"I thought I was going to die..."

"Me too," Nyx agreed dreamily.

Numerous announcements from the cyborg-like voice resounded in Nova's head...

< Congratulations! You have successfully slayed a wyvern. You have received 30 Stat Points! A true dragon has taken notice of your existence! >

< You've advanced to Level 2! >

< Congratulations! You have successfully slayed 3 goblins! You have received 15 stat points! >

< Congratulations! You have successfully slayed an ogre! You have received 15 stat points! >

She had expected that that would be the end because, excluding the wyvern, she had only noticed four other monsters. However...

< Congratulations! You have successfully slayed 6 treants! You have received 90 stat points! >

<You've advanced to Level 3!>

< [Gravitokinesis] has reached the intermediary level. Your precise use of the ability is jarring! >

Who would've thought that most of the trees that had been compressed earlier would be living tree monsters called 'Treants'... As expected, [Gravitokinesis] was too much of a cheat-like skill.

"I feel like I should apologize to the trees. They didn't do anything wrong, did they?" Nova asked flippantly with a small, light smile. She arched a brow at the thought, gazing into the unchanging blue sky. "Though, if I had known that the trees were alive from the beginning, I would not have targeted the wyvern in the first place. I would have just flown around compressing trees."

"No wonder they labeled it [Telekinesis]. Most likely, they hadn't considered the chances of you discovering it so quickly. Or the fact that you would be so adept at applying the ability," Nyx said. 

"Yeah, that might be true, but..." Nova's dark brows furrowed, feeling like something had gone awry. She had gotten this queasy, uncomfortable feeling in her gut while using [Gravitokinesis]. "You would expect there to be some conditions for using such a versatile ability or at least some side-effects..." she added, "But I'm perfectly fine."

"I'd say we stop worrying and start compressing trees. Consequences will come later," Nyx assured her.

Nova's features relaxed considerably after hearing that. How bizarre it was for someone with seventy-seven lives to be so cautious about their every step. Or maybe it was because of how much she had come to value her life after spending 5 years with a fixed expiry date?

Nova shut her eyes tightly. Her breaths stilled as she heard the gentle echo of the waves.

Her stomach grumbled.

"I sure hope no one eats that wyvern."