Transaction & Transformation

"The Kingdom of Maxus?" Arthur stared at the white-haired man with caution. "Its not only one person you want revenge on? Instead, its an entire Kingdom?"

"Yes!" The white-haired man nodded and explained. "If it wasn't for that Kingdom to band together and surround me, how would I die to a group of weak ants like them."

"What did they want?" Arthur raised his head and asked his doubts. "They wouldn't just attack you for nothing, right?"

"They wanted this." The white-haired man raised his hand, and a black tinted golden short sword appeared in his hand with a weird shaped blade. "This is a strange weapon I found while roaming in the 'Dimensional Chaos'." The white-haired man looked at the strange weapon in his hand for a second before throwing it back to the ground below, along with his other treasures. "They kept calling it 'The Key', but I found no use for it."

The moment the white-haired man held 'The key', he didn't notice that Arthur's heartbeat sped up instantly for a second before returning to normal, like it never happened.

"So." Arthur thought about it for a minute and asked to clarify. "What happens if I don't get powerful enough to get your revenge?"

"Nothing." The white-haired man shook his head with a tired look in his eyes. "Just take it as my last bet before I disappear."

"Disappear?" Arthur looked at the white-haired man in bewilderment.

"…" The white-haired man looked through the glass roof of the palace at the distant chaos. "I'm just remnant left to find a successor to get my revenge. After a thousand of years of waiting, my soul is about to dissipate."

The throne room became quiet as both of them looked at the distant worlds through the glass roof.

"What's your name?" Arthur broke the silence first.

"Korva Morningstar." Korva thought about it for a second and responded.

"Morningstar?" Arthur glanced at Korva in awe. "What do you have to do with Lucifer Morningstar?"

"That's an old name..." Korva shook his head. "Lets not talk about this." He glanced at Arthur with sharp eyes. "Do you agree with the deal?"

"How strong is 'The Kingdom of Maxus'?" Arthur fell into thought and asked his primary concern.

Korva glanced at Arthur and hesitated for a second, then shook his head. "I do not know now, but before…"

Arthur looked at Korva, waiting for him to continue.

"Last time… They had around 100 low-ranked worlds, 25 mid-ranked worlds, and 1 high-ranked world under their rule." Korva sighed while peering into the chaos. "Maxus had the same strength as myself back then, he might be even stronger now."

[Low, mid, and high-ranked worlds? My world was presumably a low-ranked world…] Arthur considered it for a second and asked. "How strong were you when you fought?"

"Level 8!" Korva lifted his head with pride. "Using all my strength could split a low-ranked world!"

[Level 8?] Arthur looked at Korva with suspicion. [Did he develop a mental disorder after being alone all these years?]

"Why do I feel you're thinking about something bad about me?" Korva glared at Arthur until he looked away with guilt.

Arthur coughed to break the awkward atmosphere and asked. "What do you mean by level 8?"

"Level 8 means level 8." Korva glanced at Arthur and explained. "Few people can travel in the dimensional chaos like us so I built a system to understand the strength of myself and others." He pointed up at a small world in the distance through the glass. "By looking at the size of the world and feeling the aura contained inside you can understand the strength of the people living there." He shook his head. "Just by looking at it you can tell that this world is the weakest among the surrounding others."

Arthur's eyes flashed with understanding and asked. "Then what would be the highest level in that world?"

"That world…" Korva grinned with contempt. "Barely level 1" he glanced at Arthur. "Weak right?"

[You know that I'm not level one yet, right?] Arthur responded with a forced smile, feeling his eyebrow twitch. [Well, I guess he's not wrong when he could have destroyed that world before, huh…]

"Alright, no more questions." Korva waved his hand. "If there is anything you don't understand, you can read it in the palace library where I stored all of my experience."

"Now tell me." Korva's eyes turned sharp. "Do you agree with my deal?"

The throne room fell into a deadly silence while Arthur weighed the pros and cons in his mind, but Korva didn't pressure him for a quick answer.

After a few minutes, Arthur broke the silence.

"Alright, deal!" Arthur stared into Korva's eyes with resolve. "As long as I have the power, Ill kill Maxus and destroy 'The Kingdom of Maxus' for you!"

"I knew you would make the correct decision!" Korva smirked and waved his hand, causing the 9 drops of origin blood to shoot towards Arthur and enter his chest before he could react.

"What did you… AHH!" Arthur looked towards his chest in confusion, but before he could finish asking, he felt a sharp pain spread from his body, like he was on fire.

"If you don't want to die, you'd better stay awake until the process is over." Korva looked at Arthur laying on the ground trembling and suggested with a grin.

Arthur gnashed his teeth in pain causing his gums to bleed, trying to keep himself from passing out from the pain.

[I wonder how long he can last? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?] Korva used his snake-like eyes to look at Arthur with interest. [If he could tolerate the pain here, his future journey will become steadier.]

5 Minutes later, Korva nodded his in satisfaction looking at Arthur still rolling around on the ground.

"Wait! This is…" Korva stared at Arthur's body intensely for a second, then his eyes flashed and he smiled. "So that's his ability… What an interesting ability."

10 Minutes later, bright red blood and black dirt discharged out of Arthur all over his body.

30 Minutes later, Arthur stopped rolling on the ground and now only shook on the ground.

An hour later, Arthur stopped shaking as he felt the pain all over his body slowly fade and fell into a coma.

"What a powerful ability…" Korva's eyes flashed with shock. He thought it would take at least a day to transform his body, but he did it within an hour.