Prince of The Abyss

Two whole villages... that was how many people he had killed since entering this book. More than he had expected. He didn’t think he had ever killed so many people before, and so early, they had entered this book not so long ago. And the worst part.

...

"We still have another ten to do... Another ten guardians to kill, and a heck of a lot of walking... It’s going to get boring."

Looking around at the bloodbath they had created once more, Aether saw Sena coming his way; she looked terrible. Huge and dark eye bags rested under her eyes, and she constantly massaged her temples. "My mind hurts." She said, groaning in pain.

Aether chuckled. "Is it because of how many people you were controlling for how long?"

Sena tilted her head. "What other reason would there be, dumbass?"

...’ Noted, very moody after using her powers on many for a long time.’

Rolling her eyes, she leaned onto him to support herself.

"You’re a strange guy, you know that." She turned her head to look at him, only to see one of Aether’s cheeks raised and a frown. "What the heck does that mean?"

She sighed, pushing herself off him. "Your way of fighting, it’s like none I’ve seen... very chaotic, and more importantly, it’s not like you care for your own life. Who in their right mind lets attacks hit them?"

Aether’s eyes widened. Crossing his arms, "It’s just how I do it, plus, I’m probably not the only one who does it."

"Who?" Sena quickly asked. "None of the people I’ve met before fought like you. Funny, you’re the exact opposite of how the Blue Rose trains its Knights, people like Orion. For them, getting hit is already a loss. A battle of pure skill, if you ever were to fight one, they would definitely curse at you."

Aether chuckled. "Well, maybe because I wasn’t raised in the Blue Rose... either way, my style is seen through my strength. Am I also the strongest person you’ve teamed up with?" He asked proudly.

But Sena quickly shook her head. Not reacting to his smugness. "Then who?" He asked a bit annoyed.

"Lilith-" Aether cut her off. "Outside him. I know I’m not stronger than that freak of nature."

Sena frowned. Not liking being cut off, it had become a habit he did too much. "I wasn’t going to only mention him. There are a lot of people that are stronger than you, Aether: many Celestials that are the same rank as us, are stronger than you, even most Knights. I would go as far as to say that... even Orion is stronger than you. I’m not saying you’re weak, and you took less time than they would have taken, but it is because of your recklessness as a person. Just jumping into battle without any preparation."

...

"Let’s get some sleep. We’re going to have to leave early tomorrow." He said, turning away.

Sena stared at his back, confused. If it was just any day, she would have complained that he was walking away from the topic. But at the moment, she was beyond tired, so she wasn’t against cutting it short in exchange for some sleep.

Aether didn’t say one word after that, just entering their room, passing through the Inn that used to be filled with people, now completely hollow, and soiled in blood. Inside their room, Sena threw herself on her bed and quickly fell asleep, leaving Aether alone.

Sitting in his bed, he tried falling asleep. But he couldn’t.

...

’Am I really... still that weak?’ After so much time, so much training, has he really not progressed at all? He had reached the rank of Beast at such a young age, and he was still weaker than some Knights... He would have been fine with being called weaker than most Celestials; after all, they were people trained since birth to endure and kill. But to the point he was still weaker than some Knights. True, they were also trained since birth, but most weren’t born with powerful abilities like most Celestials.

...

But what even made him so weak? To the point where he was weaker than people ranked below him... he knew Rank wasn’t all; an Echo and a Beast wouldn’t have that big of a difference. In a battle of equal powers, the Beast would win all the times, but only if they were equal.

Many more things mattered. Relics, Skill, Abilities, Affinity, Thresholds.

...Well, looking at it like this, he really lacked a lot.

His Affinity didn’t benefit him at all; from what he had figured out in all these years, it made it so he had an easier time hiding inside Shadow, and probably helped with soul stuff, like getting Eden, and helped getting a faster resistance to Soul attacks... but it wasn’t like he had ever heard of Soul attacks in the real world. So, for what did it help him? While seeing in the Darkness was good, it was even less of a difference than rank was.

His relics were... good; he wasn’t saying they weren’t. But they were average now as a Seeker; Voidpiercer was a great relic; he wasn’t saying it wasn’t, but most of its abilities worked only on gods or people related to it. Outside that, what abilities even worked?

’Out of the seven, I can use four on normal people... one is my marks, which doesn’t help me, it used to make my soul hurt like hell in the shadows, so that’s three... and another just allows me to summon my blade fast, from my arm... it has helped, I’ve done some cool things with it, but it doesn’t make me stronger. So only two... well, one I can only get close to death when Voidpiercer is mad, but even then, the boost I get is insane if I’m fighting a God, or someone connected to it. So it’s more just one.’

His mantle also wasn’t really meant for fighting, more for survival in the wilderness, which was great in Stormfell. But... he wasn’t sure if it was going to help that much, and while it was a Bearer rank, there were Seeker armors that gave more protection. It only made him faster... which was good, but he also needed to be stronger, not only faster, and also, not only when he was in the sun.

’Not saying I would rather wear heavy armor. But still...’

His pin was a new addition, and while the healing ability was amazing, one of the best things he owned, it again only made him faster, more aware of his surroundings, and faster instincts. Not stronger.

And skills and Abilities also didn’t help; he only had one ability that did something, and even then, it again only boosted the speed of his thrusts, reaction, and instinct. The same thing all his other stuff boosted, and he also needed to use his rapier.

It was absurd...

To be at his strongest, he had to fight at night, in pure darkness, and specifically using a rapier, and even then, he would still probably lose to most Celestials.

His thresholds also didn’t help. Funny how most fought with them filled; that way they are the strongest they could be, while he doesn’t even get help from his.

...

...

He had rambled too much... complaining wouldn’t help.

Back as a Reader, he had been much weaker, and yet here he was... it didn’t matter how he did things; he just needed to do them. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t the strongest; he was going to continue getting stronger until he was.

Things were going to change...