Prince of The Abyss

Aether stood on top of the Academy’s rooftop, watching over as the sun set... a lot had happened. It was still a bit too much; his heart was beating like crazy. He had died, not once, not twice, but a heck of a lot of times. Over and over again, and he felt every single bit of pain. If it weren’t because it had been a trial and that he was dead, he couldn’t lose Mental Fortitude, but if he could, it would have gone down drastically.

Sena had been relieved to see him; after all, from what he heard, she had been very terrified after they finished the fight. Using a lot of coins on him, buying potions to heal him. But he was already dead at that point, so it would have never worked. But at a time like that, she couldn’t think rationally.

After seeing that his heart just wouldn’t beat, she carried him back to the hospital inside the Blue Rose, where the higher Nobles and Celestials got treated, demanding that he be treated immediately.

The doctor had been quite annoyed by her; after all, in his eyes, he had already died, and there was no reason to waste any Essence or relics on him when he had patients who really needed it.

But he knew who she was. Nothing good would have come if he had refused to help Fate; plus, she could have probably made him do it even if he didn’t want to.

So he had taken Aether in, but only letting him stay in the bed, he had tried a thing or two, but again, there was nothing that worked, because why would it work? He had died; that was it. You couldn’t bring back the dead; if they could, then that would be revolutionary.

...

And yet.

He had come back.

That had been why the doctor had been so shocked to see him.

It made him laugh now, but he remembered that not even he understood how he was alive. And truth be told, it was still... weird.

If he hadn’t gotten lucky and he wasn’t awarded Gravewalker, would he be dead now? It made him shiver, just thinking of it.

Though, he was pretty happy. Not only had he gained an ability...

Codex Class — [Seeker]

> Sync Rate: 41%

Knowledge Rank — [Beast]

>558/3000 knowledge shard

But both his Class and Rank had grown quite considerably for just one month and some weeks... especially his Rank. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but if it was true, at the end, after killing the Demon, all the Underworlders died, which is probably where he had gotten most of the shards; it was... surprising that the Codex had awarded them to him; it made him think that the Demon was more connected to them than he thought.

The only bad part of the expedition...

....

’I’m not allowed to join another story this summer.’ Aether stuck his tongue out, looking disappointed at the Sun. It was annoying, since not only was it like the middle of the Summer, but Sena, who had also gained a lot of sync, was close to Enlightenment; she would definitely get to it before fall. So he didn’t know if she was going to join him again in the Winter, only if she wanted to get her rank up.

But then again, if there was a way to get Shard Relics in the future, why would she do such a hassle as to grind shards? She had the money. At most, he could see her wait for Iris and Lilith, and who knows what their team for Trials was.

’Looks like I have a lot of free time on me... how annoying. It is pretty funny; before I would have been ecstatic. We really don’t enjoy things until they’re gone, and it’s most definitely going to be the same thing after fall comes, where I wish I had more free time.’

...

The Academy was pretty empty. Almost all, if not all, were all in the Wonderland, either in a story, anchor, or just wandering around. So he didn’t have anyone to spend his time with, really. At least if he didn’t want to become friends with Silas, or Avius, which the latter wouldn’t have been that bad if not for the fact of how much knowledge he had about the Abyss.

’... I do still have a lot of things to do...’

After all the Guardians, he had gotten some materials, so maybe he could go sell them to finally get himself some money, and maybe even keep some so he could make a relic. He had also gotten that egg, so he could find a way to hatch it.

And if those two weren’t enough.

He could...

Visit the Withered; after all, he had some unfinished business there, maybe let the people know he was alive, if they even recognized him anymore. See what was new and everything...

And if even that wasn’t enough. There was one last thing... probably the most important.

While he wasn’t allowed to enter stories, he was allowed to enter the Wonderland, and he had cleared a story... meaning he could get an Anchor, that is, if the Codex allowed him, since you usually claim a story just after you clear it, but he wasn’t able to since he had died.

But if he did... that was a lot of things to do. Not only was he going to have to get used to the whole system, since he hadn’t paid that much attention in class... ’Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to Sena.’ But also, if he thought about it... he was making it for the Withered, but at the same time, to get to the Wonderland you have to be a Seeker... so it was pretty useless...

Which meant he was going to somehow train them... but he had no idea how he was supposed to do that.

He wasn’t that great a teacher to teach a nation, and neither would he be enough for that many people.

...

’Let’s... focus on one thing at a time for now... I will get overwhelmed... maybe... the rest of summer won’t be as boring as I thought.’