Chapter 40: An Authority
The ant colony had fallen dead silent. The faint hums of the wind moving delicately along the tunnels could be heard easily.
On the third floor, the meeting hall was no different. Even though the unknown pressure had disappeared, no one in the room moved their bodies even slightly.
Jake’s condition was the worst. Due to his resistance, he had suffered further injuries to his already broken body.
Blood was continuously flowing out of his body, as his lightning had nearly been exhausted. In this state, he had no choice but to lie low. Even the slightest movement could cause his recovery to dwindle.
As a man who called himself a general and fought others arrogantly, at the very least, he didn’t wish to die in such a pathetic state.
"Just watch," he called out in his mind, remembering the image of Eris, smugly looking down at him.
"The moment I recover, I’ll be the first one to come after your life." Willing to do so, he paused.
"Of course... That is only if your king isn’t too strong and actually lets me leave this place alive..." He let out a long, deep sigh of defeat.
Even now, Jake had not received proper treatment once. The injuries from his battle with the white serpent were grave.
To mention it, his battle strength had fallen from D-rank to E-rank. But now, even he felt doubtful if he’d be able to recover completely.
"Prolonged injuries in the Nox channels can permanently damage one’s potential or reduce their battle strength..."
Jake had no idea about how long he had spent in this state. This was also his biggest disadvantage in this situation.
The more time he wasted, the more he narrowed his path to complete recovery.
"It might have been possible before, but I’ve become even weaker because of that pressure."
"Come to think of it... What even was that?" He noticed something strange as he stealthily glanced at the other blood ants through Eris’s legs.
"They didn’t flinch or resist at all... Don’t tell me... Could that be their king?" This thought wasn’t too far-fetched.
Especially after what he had witnessed himself.
What sort of monster was it?
Why did it keep him alive?
Many questions arose in his mind, but he decided not to pursue them any further.
At this moment, Eris slowly turned around. Her gaze swept across the zombie blood ants as she smiled heartily.
"My lord has done it..." As Ethan’s most loyal subject, Eris had never once doubted that Ethan would fail his evolution.
However, knowing that he had succeeded gave her an immense feeling of happiness.
"Why are you sitting still?" She called out, her voice as soft as honey.
"Shouldn’t we go congratulate our lord?"
The blood ants exchanged gazes and rejoiced. Just like Eris, they’d been wanting to go congratulate their king for his success.
Considering the situation, they were not sure whether they should leave their posts empty and greet their king or not.
But now that even their queen had expressed such thoughts, why would they refuse?
Thus, hundreds of zombie blood ants happily began marching towards the seventh floor.
Eris and the ants that were appointed near the entrance remained on the third floor, suppressing Jake.
While Jake had lost most of his powers, Eris couldn’t come to trust a human.
"I cannot bring him alongside me. The less he knows about our home, the better."
"So when can I meet your king?" Unable to hold himself back anymore, Jake asked in desperation.
Eris was aware of his situation as well, but...
"When he wishes." She vaguely answered, uncaring of his urgency.
Why would she care about the future of humans?
Her king—Ethan—simply wanted some knowledge about humans. To do that, as long as Jake lived, he’d suffice.
Furthermore, he had disrespected Ethan several times... At least, in her eyes.
***
On the seventh floor, the zombie blood ants were yet to arrive. The deep green smoke had been completely absorbed by Ethan, vanishing from the room.
Inside his dark room, the system window shimmered brightly, lighting the walls to some extent.
---
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[#/System Notification/#]
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[Unique Authority Granted.]
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■ Authority of Sovereign Inheritance
[Classification] - Authority
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An Authority is a near-divine permission granted directly by the universe itself.
Unlike skills or traits, authorities represent absolute rights over a specific concept.
They cannot be learned.
They cannot be replicated.
They can only be acknowledged.
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Authority Holder:
└ ■ Ethan Graves
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[Authority Effect]
The host may bestow a portion of their own progress upon chosen subordinates.
Shared progress may accelerate their growth, evolution, and future potential.
Should an acknowledged subordinate perish...
...all progress granted through this Authority shall return to its rightful owner.
No inheritance shall ever be lost.
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This Authority was born alongside the host’s path.
The universe has acknowledged it as an inseparable law of the Path’s Progenitor.
---
In front of the screen, Ethan was thoroughly reading through the words.
It had been a few minutes since he returned from the strange space.
"Even now, I find it hard to believe..." he said, feeling perplexed.
Ethan knew that his body would mutate in order to undergo his evolution. In his mind, he could already imagine himself having a third eye, another pair of arms, or at worst, a tail.
But as soon as he was done evolving, the condensed green sphere tore open on its own like paper.
From inside, Ethan slowly stepped out and turned his head around.
As soon as he went outside, the sphere shrunk like a popped balloon and dissipated into nothingness.
Ethan, on the other hand, was next greeted with a few system windows.
*Ding!*
---
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[#/System Notification/#]
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[First Evolution Complete.]
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[Achievement Unlocked.]
■ The First Footstep
The first being of this generation to abandon all existing paths and successfully survive upon a newly created one.
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Calculating achievement rewards...
[...]
---
Reading through, Ethan suddenly felt curious.
What exactly had changed?
What had become of his body?
Unable to suppress his urge, he looked down. Under the light of the system window, he was able to see himself clearly.
His body had changed, yes, but completely out of his expectations!
Upon transforming into a zombie, Ethan’s body had become bulky and unsightly to look at.
Even his height had increased exponentially, reaching a whopping eight feet.
However, his height had receded to his original—six feet and three inches.
Furthermore, his muscles were no longer bulky but toned.
His long dark hair had grown more lustrous and soft. His face, on the other hand, had grown more handsome than he was when he lived as a human.
The jade-green hue of his skin didn’t change in the slightest. Even his nails had become clear, and his teeth turned pristine white.
But his clothes had been completely torn apart in the process. At this moment, it wasn’t wrong to say that Ethan was butt-naked.
But because of that, he could easily spot the strange dark pattern that appeared over his chest.
Right above his heart, a strange mark had appeared. At first glance, it resembled a web of impossibly fine black veins spreading beneath his skin. Yet, upon closer inspection, they were far too orderly to be veins.
Thin lines radiated outward from the center of his chest in uneven branches, twisting and dividing like the roots of an ancient tree burrowing into forgotten soil.
Every branch ended abruptly, only for another to emerge from it, as though the pattern were forever searching for a destination that did not yet exist.
At its very center rested a tiny pitch-black circle no larger than a fingertip—the place where his heart lay beneath.
With every heartbeat...
Ba-thump
The circle pulsed once.
A faint wave of darkness traveled through every branching line before fading away, making the entire pattern seem alive for the briefest of moments.
"What is..." Ethan was left speechless, his mind completely blank from what he had just witnessed.
But before he could think about it any further, he felt several faint energy signatures appearing in the back of his mind.
Before he could react, the numbers had already reached hundreds, as they slowly closed the distance.
It was a strange, yet extremely familiar, feeling. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the zombie blood ants.
"This is quite nice." Just thinking about all the different ways he could use this, Ethan’s attention was lifted off the strange mark.