Michael had no idea of the teacher's thoughts.
When his vision steadied again, he was back in the quiet, familiar walls of Thornvale.
The study.
He found himself standing in the center of the chamber. For a heartbeat he didn't move. Then, almost by instinct, his steps carried him toward his chair.
His palm brushed the surface of the desk, fingers dragging across the wood as if to anchor himself in the present.
The exam had demanded little of his body, but his mind was another matter. The cascade of events left a heaviness behind his eyes. That, and the loss.
Two undead.
Michael let out a slow breath, lowering himself into the chair. The familiar creak of its fra grounded him. For a while he didn't move, his hand still on the desk, his eyes half-closed.
However, it didn't take long for Michael to sit up straighter with a faint smile tugging his lips.
For all the unexpected turns, what he had gained outweighed what he had lost.
The undead would be compensated. Saelen had all but promised it, and Michael didn't doubt the academy's ability to follow through.
But what thrilled him most wasn't this.
When he had advanced to Rank 2, Michael had expected the climb to be slow. The number of experience points he needed-and his undead needed-was massive.
Worse, the limiter that throttled how much EXP he could harvest ant his progression would always lag behind.
Yet...
Peak Rank 2 already?
The realization still seed impossible, but it was nothing but the truth. A fact.
Barely days after stepping into Rank 2, he was already at the peak.
Michael's delight flared, sharp and unrestrained for once. He couldn't deny the thrum of triumph in his chest. The kind of leap others would take years was t in days.
And with that, a thought snapped into place.
Since he was now at peak rank 2, the next step forward was rank 3. Michael's eyes lit with intent.
For the first ti since reaching level 50, Michael turned his focus to
it.
Class Advancent Quest.
The panel flared to life before him.
[Class Advancent Quest]
Quest 1: Have 5 Rank 3 Undead.
Quest 2: Cultivate A Law.
Michael froze.
Two quests.
This was the first ti the system had ever shown him such a thing, and for a breath it unsettled him. But when he thought about it again, his surprise eased.
Rank 3 wasn't just a step forward. From everything he had witnessed, it was the threshold where supernaturals turned into sothing else entirely. The first real transformation. A level where the word
supernatural wasn't just a title but a truth.
And every path reflected that.
Whether it was cultivators or Awakeners like himself-below this level, there were wild gaps in strength. One system might seem superior, another inferior, advantages tilting one way or the other.
But once they reached Rank 3...
All of them beca terrifying.
Differences remained, yes, but each path beca valid. Each carried weight.
In that light, it made sense.
It was as if the system itself was saying: to step beyond, you must
prove yourself.
Five Rank 3 undead... and a law.
Michael exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the panel.
The first task might be daunting for any other Awakener, but not for
him.
A quest like this couldn't be easier.
Michael wasn't surprised by its content either. He already knew that
from the very first class advancent quest, one could usually glimpse the shape of the ones to co. It wasn't set in stone, but it was more or less reliable.
As for this particular quest-
Michael had already completed it before it even appeared.
After all, he already had five Rank 3 undead.
Lucky, Gale, Beginning, Lucy, and Prince.
Unfortunately, had this been the only requirent-and had he been
satisfied with just this level of effort-he would have ascended to
Rank 3 imdiately. Even if he aid higher, Michael dared to say that within half a year he'd achieve it regardless.
However...
There was a second quest.
Cultivate a law.
That was another matter entirely.
His mind flashed to Gale's storm, Lucky's crushing weight,
Beginning's peculiar radiance.
Michael leaned back in his chair, lips pressing into a thin line.
Though Michael knew of the existence of laws, he also knew enough to understand how distant they were from him. From everything he'd seen, cultivating one wasn't sothing done casually.
Just because five of his undead possessed laws didn't an it was any easier for him. That was the cruel irony. Their laws were born of his cheat-like talent, not from his own cultivation. If not for [Infinite Evolution], they wouldn't have touched such heights this early. Unfortunately, Michael couldn't advance in rank through evolution the sa way he evolved his undead. If it were otherwise, if he could treat himself as one more subject of his talent, then he would have been assured-within half a year, Rank 3 would be in his hands. The first step toward cultivating a law was far from Michael, a distant peak shrouded in mist. Yet he wasn't crushed by it. Though he had never considered himself special without his talent, he believed that if others could reach Rank 3, then so could he.
It would only be a matter of ti, effort, and opportunity. Still, he knew that because of this requirent, his advance would not be swift. This wasn't a hurdle he could brute force.
Michael exhaled, his gaze lingering on the panel. The system had laid
out his road forward, and for the first ti since he awakened, an advancent quest looked steep.
But he didn't flinch. If Rank 3 demanded more, then he would et it.
Michael let his concerns fade for now. His mind was already pulling him in another direction.
His level had jumped by ten during the exam.
Not only had his stats climbed from the raw levels themselves, but
with the completion of quests stacked on top, his attributes surged even higher. And then there were the free points-hundreds of them, sitting unused, waiting for him to decide where to pour them.
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