Chapter 50: The Sovereign Awakens
Arthur’s eyelids slowly began to flutter open, the first thing his crimson eyes saw was the white ceiling of the pocket dimension.
’Is it over? I won...’
The realization that he won the clash against the elemental made his chest feel warm, he proved that he had a right to be reincarnated and wasn’t just reborn to be a nobody.
His eyes became wet and a tear slid down his cheek.
"Why are you crying? Ew, stop that."
Immediately realizing who that annoying voice belonged to, Arthur’s good mood turned sour as he wiped away the tear and tried to sit up, but that’s when he noticed one important detail.
He was naked.
After the clash his clothes were completely incinerated, leaving him lying on the floor naked.
His face became red and he moved his hands over his private parts.
"Dude, I already saw everything. Who do you think brought you here?"
"That doesn’t make it better!"
Looking in the direction where Valerian’s voice was coming from, he saw his horned friend sit on a chair made from ice. One leg was over the other and again he had a half-eaten apple in his hand.
Before Arthur on the floor, a pair of neatly folded clothes was laid out for him.
"We probably have a similar size, so it should fit."
Valerian didn’t even look away, he stared Arthur straight in the eyes, completely unaffected that the latter was naked.
"Thanks... but can you fucking turn around for Christ’s sake!"
Valerian looked at his friend with a confused face.
"Who is Christ?"
A vein popped on Arthur’s forehead.
"It doesn’t matter! Just turn around!"
Giving in, Valerian turned his ice chair around and faced the open space of his pocket dimension to leave Arthur to dress.
A few minutes of silence after, Arthur was done dressing.
"Okay, I’m finished."
Turning around to face Arthur, Valerian looked at his friend.
Now, instead of the naked and flustered Arthur, was a young man dressed in a black combat suit that was made more for agility and freedom than protection. It had a waist cape that, like the one Valerian was using, had a deep purple inside. Even though they had roughly the same size, Valerian was a little bit taller, so the clothes didn’t fit perfectly and hugged a bit loose, but not enough to a point where it would hinder in battle.
"Looking good."
"Shut up."
Arthur was still slightly flustered, but tried to hide it.
"So, have you looked at your status screen yet?"
Arthur raised an eyebrow at the sudden question.
"Not yet, I was about to."
"Wait a bit and sit down."
At his command, another ice chair appeared a few meters away from Valerian, who gestured to Arthur to sit down.
Arthur complied and sat down on the ice chair, which strangely didn’t feel cool to the touch at all.
"Before you look at the status screen, I want to ask you something. Do you know how you stopped the fire attack?"
It was a strange question, but Arthur wasn’t in the mood to fight him and also noticed that the vibe was serious.
"I used my [Skill] to stop it."
Valerian sighed and began.
"Yes and no. While a part of the reason why you were able to stop the attack was because of the new fire form, it’s not the main reason."
Confusion spread across Arthur’s face.
"It’s not? Then what was the main reason?"
"Your Will. Are you familiar with how the Will interacts with mana?"
"No, I have never heard that the Will can interact with mana. Is that something like a plot armor?"
Now Valerian was confused.
"I don’t know what this "plot armor" is, but it’s probably not the same, maybe. Will is something that is only unlocked after reaching the Ascendant rank and leaving the mortal ranks. It is a declaration that one doesn’t accept reality the way it is and has the will to oppose it."
"Wait, are you saying I used this "Will"? But I’m A+, that’s nowhere near Ascendant."
Valerian nodded.
"Yes, you did use your Will, but Will works only in tandem with mana. It is not a separate resource or anything, it is a multiplier to the power and control one has over mana. So while you weren’t able to use a lot of Will to stop the attack, the mere fact that you did it gave you more control than the elemental. But as to how you did it? Fuck if I know."
It was a lot to digest right after waking up, but for some reason, Arthur’s brain was able to absorb the knowledge like a sponge, like his brain worked faster now than it did ever before.
"So does that mean I can use Will now at A+?"
"Again, yes and no. While the ability to access your Will is now open, your rank is way too low to actively use it. If you were to just use it lightly, your mind, body, and soul would collapse because the universe would be fighting back. But in stress situations, you should be able to access it in a small capacity."
It was a massive boon. Because Will worked as a multiplier, it would only get stronger over time.
Valerian clapped his hands and pulled Arthur out of his thoughts.
"Now that we are done with that, let’s get to the interesting part. Your status. I’m more than curious about your bloodline, oh, and congratulations, right at the end of the fight you broke through, so welcome to the S- rank."
Now that Valerian mentioned it, he felt stronger, way stronger than he ever felt. And not wanting to wait longer, he opened his status.
"Status."
[Status Window]
[Name: Arthur von Pendragon]
[Age: 15]
[Titles: The Reincarnator, Anomaly, System Owner, Sovereign of Origin]
[Race: High Human]
[Bloodline: Origin Bloodline] (Unawakend)
[Physique: -]
[Core: Rank S-]
[Affinities: Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth] (Unbound)
[Bound: -]
[Attributes]
[Vitality: S-]
[Strength: S-]
[Agility: S]
[Dexterity: S]
[Intelligence: S-]
[Mana: S]
[Charm: S]
[Unique Skill]
[Akashic Records]
[System Shop]
[Quests]
[Skills]
[Inventory]
"Origin Bloodline..."
Arthur muttered without thinking, too engrossed in his new status. Valerian obviously didn’t miss it and his curiosity only increased.
"Don’t just say that and then go silent, read out the description!"
Arthur nodded and opened the description.
[Description]
[Bloodline: Origin Bloodline]
[The raw, untamed blueprint of primordial existence. It is a bloodline defined by brutal resilience and absolute physical sovereignty, anchoring the world’s natural forces to the bearer’s flesh. The elements don’t just serve this blood; they are forcibly reclaimed by it, stripped of their outer forms and returned to a single, undivided origin. Even in its earliest state, the golden surge pulsing through these veins turns the body into an unbreachable fortress, a living apex predator that crushes elemental laws through sheer physical defiance.]
"Damn, that’s sick," Valerian said from the side, to which Arthur could only nod.
"Worth it. To get something so powerful, I would do it again."
Looking below, Arthur noticed that now next to his affinities was something new.
"What does this (Unbound) by my affinities mean?"
With a proud expression, Valerian looked at Arthur.
"Hehe, now that’s something you have to thank this amazing me for. While your bloodline assimilation was happening, I, like the saint I am, weaved the elemental energy of the core into your body. Save the thanks for later."
Arthur was shocked that Valerian would give him something as precious as the core of an elemental and then even weave the energy into his body, is what he would think if he didn’t see the bead of sweat running down the side of his face.
’I thought he couldn’t sweat. Something definitely happened while I was out.’
Not believing the thing his friend said one bit, Arthur looked at him with a skeptical face, but decided to just let it go and move on. Arthur stood up and flexed his shoulder muscles.
"Yeah, yeah, thank you, great Valerian, that definitely didn’t do anything wrong."
Arthur’s whole body felt like it was packed to the brim with power, he didn’t even feel one bit tired and his mana was also full.
"Let’s leave, I want to test out this bloodline."
Valerian immediately stood up at the mention of finally leaving. Opening the portal outside of the pocket dimension, Valerian and Arthur left to the Voidwoods again.
Once they left, Arthur saw the real extent of the clash he had with the elemental. They were standing inside a massive crater, but somehow even this wasteland wasn’t even a speck in the vastness of the Voidwoods, so he didn’t feel too bad about destroying all these trees.
"Want me to give you flying lessons?" Valerian asked as he left the ground with effortless ease, like flying was second nature to him and the laws of gravity bowed to him.
The thought of finally being able to fly alone filled Arthur with excitement, after all it was something almost everyone back on Earth wanted to do.
"I think I got it."
Letting his mana cover his body, Arthur left the ground. Surprisingly, it didn’t really cost mana to fly; while he did lose a tiny amount starting the flight, actually staying in the air didn’t cost more mana.
Even though his flight was still a bit shaky, he began to fly high in the air.
Valerian watched his friend take his first flight with the expression of a father watching his son take his first steps.
"They grow up so fast."
Wiping away a non-existent tear, he also flew into the air to follow after Arthur, and they flew together to their next target, eager to test out Arthur’s new strength.
A/N: I’m still not sure if I should give Arthur a harem, a single love interest, or no romance at all. If you have an opinion on it, please let me know!