Chapter 23 Start_2

Rod focused his gaze on the spot of light.

The light faded, and the black hole appeared before his eyes once again.

Six dust-like flames drifted inside it, exactly the same six souls he had injected last time.

Rod's spirit connected with the altar, and with a single thought, the orb of Black Fire flew into the Obelisk.

Suddenly, a black meteor appeared in the night sky, following Rod's gaze and plunging into the black hole.

In an instant, the entire black hole ignited, and the seven souls turned into burning flames, illuminating this star.

The spot of light shifted from an indeterminate state to a stable one, its pale blue glow gradually deepening, taking on a hint of blue.

Now, two stars were shining in the night sky.

Under their illumination, the other stars were barely visible.

A line of text emerged from it.

[Frost Blue]

[State: Weak Burning, about to extinguish]

[Star Energy: Spirit Revival]

[Inject: Unknown]

[Unknown]

[Unknown]

Many of the words on this light spot were unrecognizable to Rod, and many descriptions were not entirely the same.

What concerned him most were the words "Weak Burning, about to extinguish."

"Dark Devourer" had "Eternal Burning."

Why is that? Have I just ignited it, only for it to be extinguished?

Is it because there aren't enough souls?

Rod wondered to himself.

He had already begun to feel the changes the star brought him.

The weariness in his spirit was clearly diminishing, and his painful nerve was soothing; even the Obelisk's recovery rate seemed a bit faster.

It appeared that its function involved restoration and healing, but the specifics were still unknown.

I need to quickly figure out what these next few lines of text mean.

Rod lowered his hand, the dark night sky vanished, revealing the cracked surface of the pale grey Obelisk.

"Hmm… I still need to find a way to restore the Obelisk, otherwise, what if it shatters at a touch during another invasion?"

Rod moved to the left side of the Obelisk and gently touched the surface.

Pure black color appeared from the surface and then settled down, stopping about halfway up.

No different from before.

However, the right side of the Obelisk had changed.

The golden color previously covered about a third of the surface, but now not even a tenth remained, only a thin layer.

In a flash, Rod associated this with the golden light that had saved him twice.

"Does it originate from here? Is it some kind of lifesaving amulet that appears to rescue me in times of crisis? Has it run out now?"

This was very bad news.

Rod had some unpleasant associations.

He moved to the last side of the Obelisk, and the instant he touched the surface, fresh blood again trickled down from the tip, forming numerous blood-red characters.

While he couldn't recognize them, this time they looked much more normal, no longer like some sort of alarm structure, and not flickering either.

Rod was slightly relieved, noted the characters, and left the Dream Realm.

The crisis had temporarily ended.

In the time that followed, life finally calmed down briefly.

The atmosphere at Jinworth Academy was actually quite pleasant. Here, Rod could feel the Kingdom's devotion poured into the academy, its facilities were fully equipped, and the teachers were all competent and skilled.

None of the frustrating incidents encountered on campus ever occurred here.

Most of the basic needs and materials of the students were covered by the academy, and even the lowest-paid could get by.

Of course, to live better, money was still required.

However, the academy had special promotional exams that could elevate one from Ninth Level to Special Level.

The salary grade at the time of enrollment was not so much a differential treatment as it was a motivation for underachievers, establishing an atmosphere and belief that effort is rewarded.

If it weren't for the troubles that plagued him, Rod truly wished he could live here forever.

Unfortunately, he was unable to experience stable days as he had many tasks to undertake.

First and foremost, he needed to study extremely hard.

Knowledge was not only power for him now but his very life.

He needed to understand this world, this kingdom, and this Royal City more fully and deeply to devise targeted strategies and to better survive.

Next, he required intense training.

The battle with the invading monsters had exposed his true form.

He had absolutely no strength, knew nothing of fighting, and was easily slain as soon as he entered the battlefield.

The life-saving golden light had already been used up; if there were another invasion, he could only rely on himself.

Lastly, he had to figure out a way to earn money.

A weekly salary of forty-two silver coins was not nearly enough for his needs; he couldn't even afford bullets, not to mention training and battle supplies.

The shortfall was considerable.

Thus, during the day, Rod attended classes and at night, he self-studied common and ancient languages. Before sleeping, he would take a trip to the Dream Realm and ponder philosophical life questions.

Ocassionally managing Wayne and the green-haired Zales, who were gradually becoming his close friends, his days passed by.

It was fulfilling in a way.

The only truly annoying part was Kashan.

She was increasingly taking on the posture of the leading sister in Group Ten, commanding and decisive, and everyone was too intimidated to speak out or express anger.

But, to be fair, she was just urging everyone to study and complete training on time and in full. It's just that her attitude was arrogant, her methods were somewhat rough, and she lacked tact in communication.

Rod actually understood this quite well.

Learning and growing is a very painful process, while freedom and degeneration are easy and much more enjoyable.

Of course, if it was only for their own futures, they didn't need to be so harsh, as many paths lead to Rome and a bright future wasn't limited to just one direction.

However, if it involved the future of their families, their country, and their race, Kashan's pressure was understandable and not really a problem.

Therefore, on this issue, Rod stood on the same side as Kashan.

He even used a famous saying to encourage the painfully struggling Wayne and the green-haired Zales:

"Cry more in peace, bleed less in war."

This straightforward phrase quickly spread and earned great favor from Kashan, while Rod's studious attitude also greatly satisfied her.

Because of this, he became one of the few in the group who was not interrogated by Kashan.

As time passed, Rod and the students of Group Ten became familiar with each other. They were friendly, full of youthful vigor and hope, which was refreshing.

The only annoyance for Rod was that as they grew familiar, Kashan started treating his dormitory like her own house.

She often barged in without knocking, using his dormitory as her office or study and leaving a bunch of things she rarely used there, occasionally coming in to fetch them or simply asking him to deliver them.

If it wasn't because she had settled his Fire Hammer Street water tower bill, he would definitely have changed the locks.

But these were ultimately minor issues.

It wasn't that Rod studied hard and trained desperately due to high self-discipline; rather, he did so because not doing so meant death.

But the peaceful days did not last long.

On the fourth day after the investigation concluded, the Internal Affairs Court once again demanded his presence at a specified time and place to answer specific questions.

This time it wasn't just Inspector Lauren; there were many others dressed in black accompanying him.

Their interrogation was discourteous, treating Rod as if he were a criminal.

Though he managed to get through it with claims of memory loss and various excuses, it left him with a strong sense of crisis.

The second issue was that he discovered his second star was truly about to extinguish.

Its light was dimming, becoming almost transparent.

Rod was panicked; how could the star he had struggled so hard to ignite be extinguished?

But where could he plunder a soul in such short notice?

He certainly couldn't start a massacre in the academy, could he?

Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, even if he went mad, the heavily secured, secretively defended academy would have arrested him first thing.

What was he to do?