RE: LORD OF TIME

As the darkness engulfed him, William’s vision went blank, and the next instant, he found himself standing right outside his home, completely unharmed.

Karl and Samuel were still sitting on the rope cot, while he stood before them holding the stone statue.

It was as if everything he had witnessed earlier had been nothing more than an illusion.

William couldn’t help but frown slightly. Inside that star-filled world, he had remained there for at least ten minutes.

But judging from the expressions on Karl’s and Samuel’s faces, he could tell that barely any time had passed in the outside world.

Otherwise, if he had suddenly blanked out for ten whole minutes, his family definitely wouldn’t have remained as calm as they were now.

’What was that strange scene just now?’ He thought inwardly, his mind running at full speed.

"What’s wrong? Why are you staring at that statue like a fool?" Karl asked when he saw his son standing there blankly while staring at their family heirloom.

William came back to his senses upon hearing Karl’s voice and shook his head.

"It’s nothing. I just didn’t expect our family heirloom to look like this."

As he spoke, William turned around to leave.

"I will be keeping this statue for the time being. Since it’s an heirloom passed down from generation to generation, it’s only natural that you pass it down to me."

"Huh?" Karl was bewildered when he saw William taking the statue with him, and he immediately shouted,

"You aren’t planning to sell it for a few copper coins, are you? I am telling you, if you dare sell it, I will break both your legs."

"I am not that stupid..." William replied without turning around as he disappeared into the house.

Samuel, who was sitting beside Karl looked at him curiously and asked.

"Since it’s something that’s passed down from generation to generation, why is it being passed down to Brother instead of me?"

Karl was slightly stunned when he heard Samuel’s perfectly reasonable question, and the two of them stared at each other, wondering how they should answer.

Meanwhile, William returned to his room and placed the statue on his bed.

He ignored it for the time being because there were more important things he needed to check first.

The first thing he did was open his status window as he distinctly remembered seeing something flash across it just before the darkness had engulfed him.

====

---) Status [Locked]

---) Inheritance: God of Time—Aevion’s Inheritance [Currently Under Trial]

---) Trial Summary: To be recognized as the true heir of the God of Time and obtain his power, you must first prove that you are worthy of wielding a power capable of changing the course of the entire world. To change the world, you must first change your own future. Step forward and shatter your past by walking a completely different path.

---) Trial Task:

1. Become a Star Warrior before the Aether Affinity Test next month.

2. Kill five unranked monsters and one Star Warrior-level monster. (Completed)

---) Time Remaining: 21 Days

---) Trial Reward: Your soul will no longer be repelled by the current timeline, one random skill.

(Note: If the heir fails to complete the trial tasks, they will lose the opportunity to inherit the God of Time’s legacy, and their soul will be sent back to the original timeline.)

====

Everything on his status window was exactly the same as before.

However, at the very end, there was new information, a section he had never seen before.

====

(You have glimpsed a Supreme Being.)

(Because you glimpsed a Supreme Being, your soul has undergone a Mutation, and your mental power has been greatly enhanced.)

(You have glimpsed the Seven Steps of Supreme and comprehended a fragment of its essence.)

---) Seven Steps of Supreme (???): Created by a Supreme Being. With every step taken, the might of the Supreme shall descend upon the world.

====

William stared at the notifications at the bottom of the status window, his entire body frozen as though his mind had crashed.

Supreme Being?

Soul Mutation?

Seven Steps of Supreme?

His mind was in complete chaos and despite everything he had experienced in his previous life, this was the first time he had been so utterly shocked by something.

"Calm down... Calm down... Let’s sort everything out with a clear mind."

William took several deep breaths to calm himself and finally managed to regain his composure.

He first focused on the very first notification.

"A Supreme Being... I have never heard of such an existence. Is it something even stronger than the Gods?"

Although he had no proof, after witnessing the man in white destroy an entire world simply by walking, William couldn’t shake the feeling that he was even more powerful than the Gods.

Of course, it was only a guess. After all, he had never seen a God with his own eyes and had no idea how powerful such beings truly were.

William thought for a few seconds but couldn’t figure out anything about Supreme Beings.

Since he knew absolutely nothing about Supreme Beings, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind as dwelling on things beyond his understanding had never been his style.

The next thing was the Soul Mutation.

However, when William carefully sensed his own body to see whether anything had changed, he couldn’t find anything unusual.

Other than feeling that his senses had become noticeably sharper than before, nothing seemed different.

Moreover, the increase in sensitivity clearly came from the enhancement of his mental power rather than the mutation itself.

As for what kind of mutation his soul had undergone, he couldn’t tell at all.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, causing his eyes to narrow.

"Traits are manifestations of the soul’s power. Since Traits are closely related to the soul, could this so-called Soul Mutation have something to do with my Traits?" William muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.

He still hadn’t become a Star Warrior, so his Traits were still locked.

However, he was only one step away from becoming a star warrior, so he believed he would be able to confirm his guess very soon.

Putting aside the matter of the Soul Mutation, William shifted his attention to the Seven Steps of Supreme.

One had to know that his status window was still locked, meaning none of his skills or abilities should have been displayed.

Yet this Seven Steps of Supreme had appeared regardless, as though neither the rules nor the status window could restrict it.

William closed his eyes for a moment and tried to sense the skill.

To his surprise, he discovered that he instinctively knew how to use it, just like any of his other abilities.

’Can I also cause that kind of mass destruction like that man?’ William wondered inwardly, feeling a strong urge to test the skill.

He slowly raised one foot, and the Aether Energy within his incomplete core immediately began to churn.

But suddenly, an intense sense of danger surged through his mind.

William’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately lowered his foot.

"Damn it... Have I gone mad? Even if I can’t unleash destruction on the same level as that man, using such a terrifying skill inside my home would be no different from inviting disaster..."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief after suppressing his reckless impulse in time.

Had he actually used the skill here, he might have accidentally injured Elena, Karl, Samuel, or even destroyed the entire house.

Shaking his head, William closed his status window, and his gaze once again fell upon the stone statue.

There were countless questions occupying his mind.

Who exactly was that man he had seen?

What relationship did he have with his family that a statue of him had been passed down through countless generations?

And most importantly, why had the statue only reacted when he touched it, but not when Karl or Samuel had been holding it earlier?

Just as he was lost in thought, William suddenly remembered something else and instinctively looked at the back of his left hand.

"I remember feeling a burning sensation on my hand earlier..."

As he turned over his hand, William frowned slightly when he noticed a strange symbol had appeared on the back of his left palm.

And when he took a careful look at it, his pupils contracted to the size of needles, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.