The First Big Bang

To Jody's complete surprise, Sophie and Levi were already at the Mage rank. Despite their appearances and strength, they were actually 16 this year. This was only a bit of a relief to Jody, as he felt he could compare to these girls in a few years. He had thought they were like twelve or something with those formulas!

After all, he was already taller than the two.

If it were like that, Jody would've wondered if he was truly as talented as he thought.

Even he didn't believe he would achieve the Mage rank by twelve! That was simply too monstrous. One had to know it took Jody nearly six years to advance one rank! Formula transformation was truly a time-consuming event.

Sophie and Levi were elves from Rodinia in the south, just like Hughes. Their parents were killed by assassins, but the Frozen Night Master rescued them. They both had powerful divine bodies, with abilities Jody couldn't properly fathom. Sophie had a terrifying mana atmosphere and what felt like a giant megalodon prowling within.

Meanwhile, Levi was surrounded by rukh, radiating an intimidatingly pure essence force. Before Jody could think further, more menacing roars emerged from the wilds around them. Jody frowned, as he didn't know beast tides were so rampant in the deep badlands.

Jody stood frozen in place, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the beasts approach. He could feel his body tensing up, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He knew he had to do something but didn't know what to do.

"Jody, listen to me," Rondo said, reassuringly touching Jody's shoulder. "You can do this. You have the skills. You have the knowledge. You just need to trust yourself."

Jody took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and focused his force, feeling it surge through his body. When he opened his eyes, he felt a newfound sense of confidence. This was no longer training. This was life or death! So why was he holding back?

"Let's do this," Jody said, his left arm shining as his labor tattoo released divine light.

It was time to unsheathe his Fallen Hero's Infinity Sword! A blazing white sword appeared in his left hand in a flash of flaming light.

The first chapter, Scion of the Sun!

To Jody's surprise, the dawn crystals he had produced through origin transformation were activated in his matrix.

[Imp: Dawn Crystals - 33]

[Imp: Dawn Crystals - 25]

His chest also released a menacing dark light as a noxious melody slowly emerged everywhere within Jody's spiritual awareness. It was dark and creepy but had an urgent bounce, making the tune extremely catchy.

Dirge of the Death God - First Song, Ballad of Death!

[Imp: Death Crystals - 22,913]

[Imp: Death Crystals - 22,600]

Jody was stunned when he saw that activating this labor actually costs the equivalent of three death stars. This was Jody's first time engaging this divinity, and he felt dark forces surging through his body as the melody persisted and the volume increased with each death. There was an image of a tiny demon in a land of fire singing a mournful song surrounded by lava flow on his chocolate chest. Tears of blood or lava streamed down the demon's face.

The group charged towards the approaching beasts, their weapons flashing in the sunlight. Jody felt his heart pounding in his chest as he engaged in battle with two labors active. He felt adrenaline rush, his senses heightened as he dodged and weaved around his opponents. The mental strain was tolerable thanks to his [Pharaoh's Law].

As he fought, Jody felt something strange happening. It was as if his body was moving on its own, his movements flowing effortlessly from one to the other. His sword strikes were precise and calculated, each blow landing with deadly accuracy. White dawn flames were produced endlessly from the sword, quickly turning the area surrounding Jody into puddles of calamity. Beasts were burning to ash, and the mournful songs became more passionate.

Jody found his understanding of calamity force increasing. He felt so much death force swirling around him before being drawn to the blade of the Baleful Glaive strapped to his back, which seemed to have its own way of capitalizing on its master's strength.

[Imp: Death Crystals - 22,200]

[Imp: Death Crystals - 21,800]

[Imp: Death Crystals - 28,920]

The beasts were quickly defeated, and Jody felt the dance of death departing his body as the melody faded away. Surrounded by burning corpses and white flames, he checked his status to see that he had gained a substantial amount of crystals from countless Loot Captures as well as becoming more adept at using them.

[Sky Status]

[Imp: Reporting celestial law status report.]

'Life Truth - 55/1000 stars, 15,805 crystals.'

'Astral Truth - 10/1000 stars, 1, 356 crystals.'

'Twilight Truth - 722/1000 stars, 3161 crystals.'

'Death Truth - 205/1000 stars, 28,920 crystals.'

'Fate Truth - 1,700/1,000 stars.'

'Slaughter Truth - 20/1000 stars, 1,367 crystals.'

'Poison Truth - 5/1000 stars, 357 crystals.'

'Blade Truth - 10/500 stars, 1,277 crystals'

'Other crystals - 10,000+'

"Not bad."

After comprehending the slaughter concept, Jody noticed that his rage force had been redefined. According to Twilight, these two forces were really of the same source. He looked around, his eyes still slightly unfocused from the experience, and noticed his allies had also taken down their fair share of beasts.

Though they had taken out far more beasts than himself, he maintained a proper ten percent of the total enemies slain. He did this while being the weakest liability present. He nodded in approval, feeling proud of his accomplishment, before returning to the task at hand.

"Sek Si, take me higher," Jody said to his shadow.

Two hands emerged from the shadow before grabbing his ankles. The next thing Jody knew, his shadow dragged him up a tree. While he had this bark-surfing opportunity, he wanted to try out his new arcana. He landed on a high branch and waved his hand while burning five twilight stars.

The ethereal particles of twilight danced and swirled in the air, coalescing into a magnificent bow crafted from thunder particles. In his other hand appeared a menacing black arrow, crackling with lightning bolts and coated in a thick, corrupting liquid. The air itself seemed to tremble in fear at the power emanating from these weapons. The air around him hummed and crackled with power as he prepared to unleash this dangerous weapon upon his enemy. Fear and awe mingled in the air, creating an electric atmosphere that seemed to pulse with every beat of his heart.

Serene Thunder Bow!

Corrupted Lightning Arrow!

Jody had learned these arcana that his father crafted before even entering the badlands. Previously, he didn't have enough origin force to sustain them. Things had already changed. He knocked the arrow, pulled the string back in one smooth motion, and released the bowstring in a flash of lightning. In a spectacular display of light, the arrow flew towards its target. The sound of thunder was heard as the arrow pierced through the beast's skull and continued flying through the air without losing any of its speed.

[Loot Captured!]

[Loot Captured!]

[Loot Captured!]

"This arrow is the doom of my enemies," Jody said, his voice soft and low, echoing like a little god of war.

The corrupted lightning arrow launched like a thunderbolt, soaring violently through the air. The moment it hit its next target, it exploded! Lightning arced, and there was suddenly a string of exploding beasts, causing his teammates to retreat temporarily. Jody stared in awe as the beasts they targeted disintegrated into sizzling puddles of blood.

This prism-ranked arrow arcana was so strong?

His slaughter force was powerfully supported by astral light, yes. But wasn't that too powerful? However, upon thinking carefully, it made sense. These two arcana were both of the prismatic grade. That meant they boosted his BP by around 200%. This meant that the total might of his attack was around 370 BP. This was way more powerful than he could achieve with his hands.

This was the true majesty of sages! But that wasn't all.

Thanks to this impromptu slaughter, his magic truth had already reached 2,000 stars!

[Sky Status]

[Imp: Reporting celestial law status report.]

'Life Truth - 55/1000 stars, 195,485 crystals.'

'Death Truth - 205/1000 stars, 153,723 crystals.'

'Astral Truth - 10/1000 stars, 10,875 crystals.'

'Twilight Truth - 722/1000 stars, 17,809 crystals.'

'Fate Truth - 1700/1000 stars, 3,333 crystals.'

'Slaughter Truth - 20/1000 stars, 83,507 crystals.'

'Poison Truth - 10/1000 stars, 6,822 crystals.'

'Blade Truth - 10/500 stars, 91,300 crystals'

'Other crystals - 10,000+'

Jody nodded in approval as he surveyed the land.

He was exhausted, but his heart was still filled with a restless passion. He also noticed the others were in a similar situation, so he demonstrated his new strength by killing more beasts. He took the bow in his left hand and the blade in his right. He then jumped down from the tree and landed on the back of a beast before stabbing it with the blade.

Sorb!

The beast cried before falling to the ground, transforming into a pile of loot.

[Loot Captured!]

Jody rode on the beast's back as it fell, turning its fall into a graceful arc that landed him in the middle of more beasts. He then raised his blade and slashed down, creating a searing gash in the ground that melted through several beasts. With the blade still in his hand, he stabbed down again, this time piercing the ground. He noticed a third level vicious beast burrowing beneath them in a circle.

[Imp: Dawn Crystals - 25]

[Imp: Dawn Crystals - 20]

[Imp: Dawn Crystals - 15]

Shockingly, this amount of fire wasn't enough to end the beast. Jody had a sudden inspiration as he burned an astral star and surprisingly received a blinding glow from his divine sword. He didn't hesitate to focus on his calamity force concept.

Relentless Frenzy! The Big Bang!