"Neagley?"
Reacher shook his left arm. The area had been sowhat sore earlier, but it felt much better now.
After injecting the serum, Neagley's physique hadn't changed drastically. She had originally been of mixed Black heritage, her features not particularly soft, and her skin tone not especially dark.
After the injection, however, her figure beca more balanced—slender yet full of strength.
Her skin and pores had improved significantly, making her look much more refined.
"Big guy, how is it? Got any ideas yet?" Neagley asked with a bright smile.
She was referring to the Six Powers.
After Matthew's demonstration, the power of the Six Powers had beco sothing everyone was determined to learn and master.
It didn't just an acquiring powerful techniques—it also ant that one's physical condition had reached the required level.
But sothing like this could never be mastered easily.
Even for soone as talented as Reacher.
However, now everyone here could be considered a genius. No one was significantly inferior to another. At most, Reacher simply had more skills, broader knowledge, and sharper observation.
So Neagley's question was nothing more than casual conversation.
"Which one are you focusing on?" Reacher asked in return.
Neagley laughed. "So you're thinking the sa thing."
"I think everyone is," Reacher replied casually.
They were all starting from the sa line. Progress might vary in speed, but no one wanted to be the slowest—they all wanted to be number one.
"Soru," they both said at the sa ti, then shared a look and a smile.
"Let's see who gets the hang of it first." Neagley was reminded of the many small competitions she used to have with Reacher back in the 101st Special Investigative Unit.
"Whoever loses treats the other to a drink. Though alcohol doesn't really affect us anymore."
"Deal," Reacher showed a hint of interest.
This kind of healthy competition was good for growth.
Neagley suddenly thought of Matthew. "By the way, where did the boss go? Haven't seen him for days."
"No idea. Our training thods here don't really suit him," Reacher said with a shrug.
"True."
At the ntion of Matthew, Neagley's expression turned a bit sour.
Less than half a month after arriving here, her lively personality had led her to challenge him—and she had been thoroughly beaten.
Their boss had absolutely no intention of going easy on her.
It was pure stat suppression from the start. She had been focusing intently on him, only for him to suddenly vanish—and when he reappeared, he was already behind her.
Neagley had actually sensed the danger, but her body couldn't keep up with her reaction. She was seized rcilessly by the back of her neck—her "fate" firmly in his grasp.
She didn't have the slightest chance to resist.
That mont made her—and everyone watching—understand what a difference in raw stats truly ant.
They weren't even on the sa level.
...
anwhile, at Kamar-Taj, Matthew was in his room rubbing his hands together. Three months had passed, and after accumulating daily sign-ins for that long, he was looking forward to seeing what interesting reward he would get.
"Start sign-in."
[90 days accumulated sign-in activated. Congratulations, you have obtained PROJECT Technology—Energy Blade Technology]
In an instant, a stream of information appeared in his mind.
Matthew calmly absorbed and read through it, his expression unchanged—neither particularly surprised nor disappointed.
PROJECT was a monopolistic corporation that ruled over a highly advanced cyberpunk city. It created super soldiers by fusing humans with machinery.
Biochanical fusion, genetic modification, mory erasure, cybernetic enhancent, neural interfaces, artificial intelligence—its technological scope was vast.
However, its cold and ruthless thods led many modified soldiers to form a resistance force against the corporation.
It could be said that PROJECT was far from humane, but its technological advancents were undeniable.
As for Energy Blade Technology, it was a type of weapon technology.
Centered around high-frequency vibrating energy blades, it could create terrifying weapons capable of cutting through virtually any material.
For example, PROJECT : Yasuo's high-frequency vibrating energy blade.
It was a very solid piece of technology. After all, it broke through certain limitations of conventional energy weapons. With further research based on it, even more powerful energy weapon technologies could potentially be developed.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the complete set of PROJECT technologies.
Later, he could organize the information and hand it over to the technology departnt.
The sign-in rewards were random, and Matthew had confird that even accumulating rewards for three months didn't necessarily guarantee anything especially good. He planned to let the system accumulate for even longer next ti before signing in again.
It also served as a kind of experint with the system itself. The next attempt would be half a year later.
While Reacher and the others trained, Matthew hadn't been idle either. Aside from physical training, he had been focusing heavily on studying magic.
After all, the upper limit of magic was extrely high.
He wasn't in a hurry to return. He continued his daily routine of study and training. However, before two more days passed, a small incident occurred at Kamar-Taj.
That night—
Inside the library of Kamar-Taj, Kaecilius—once regarded as the most outstanding disciple of Ancient One and the most likely successor to the Sorcerer Supre—walked expressionlessly toward the depths of the library.
Explosions and angry shouts echoed in his ears.
It was the sound of battle.
"Damn it, what are you trying to do?!"
Behind Kaecilius, Wong was being attacked by six or seven sorcerers. Though powerful, he was still struggling to keep up.
Wong had never expected a rebellion to occur tonight.
And the one leading it—was Kaecilius.
As he resisted the attacks of Kaecilius's followers, his peripheral vision caught sight of Kaecilius's actions deeper in the library. His pupils suddenly shrank.
He realized sothing.
"Kaecilius! Are you betraying the Light?"
"The Light? It's nothing but a lie—just like the so-called Sorcerer Supre I once respected. Full of hypocrisy."
Without turning back, Kaecilius replied coldly.
He raised his hand and pulled a book from the shelf, his fingers sliding along the spine until they stopped on a volu titled the Book of Cagliostro.
It was a text personally written by the Ancient One. Every page was imbued with centuries of wisdom—and warnings.
Kaecilius gently tore out a piece of parchnt sandwiched between pages 247 and 248. On it, written in faded ink, was the incantation to reach the Dark Dinsion.
As he ripped the page, a red mark appeared on his forehead—the mark that only manifests when one draws power from the darkness.
He tossed the book aside and turned to face Wong.
Wong caught sight of the mark on Kaecilius's forehead, and his heart trembled.
"You... you drew power from the darkness?" Wong shouted. But in battle, doing so cost him dearly.
One of the middle-aged sorcerers, expression cold, ford a hand seal. In the next instant, ice began to form beneath Wong's feet, spreading rapidly from his legs to the rest of his body, stopping only at his neck.
Aside from his head, his entire body was frozen solid, unable to move.
Kaecilius slowly approached. Under Wong's furious glare, a faint cold smile tugged at his lips as he prepared to speak—
Suddenly, the entire library shook violently.
Boom!!
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