Abyss Draconis

[Congratulations Host on Reaching the Perfection Stage of the Cataclysm Stage of Frost Cultivation!]

The golden panel flashed as Ryuk slowly stirred from his seated position.

He could feel his bones crunching—a clear sign of having been in that posture for a while—and raised his head to look at the sky.

He recalled his domain expansion, but even then, the entire island was snowing.

When Ryuk turned to look at the sea—

Alas, there was no longer the blue sea, but an entire ground filled with frigid ice and snow, with gales blowing across its entirety.

"Quite the massive change..." he murmured to himself as he looked at his palms.

Cold frost aura danced on his fingertips, but now, they didn't seem like just frost.

He felt as if he himself was the very definition of frost—a standing frost in a frosty world.

[An Exceptional Change in quite the short amount of time too.]

The system notification suddenly caught his attention as Ryuk glanced toward it.

"How much time has passed?"

[A month and five days,] it replied, making his brow crease

.

"That's quite a lot of time."

[Yes. But it was worth it.]

[To go from the Initial Stage of the Cataclysm to the Perfection Stage—]

[It takes many people close to fifty years to ever comprehend so much.]

"Then how come it only took me a month?" Ryuk asked, and the system responded.

[Because of your Intelligence.]

[The average Intelligence of a Cataclysm stage expert is around 300 points.]

[But your Intelligence is easily triple that—due to your Aetheris cultivation, but mostly because you were able to directly input stat points into Intelligence.]

[While your cultivation base might be at the Cataclysm Stage, your intelligence rivals that of an Entity.]

[It is vastly easier to comprehend concepts—just like how an adult will find it easy to understand a child's study material.]

Ryuk nodded in understanding.

He might be at the Cataclysm Stage like other Cataclysm experts, but his Intelligence was far beyond them all.

Hence, his ability to easily comprehend runes that would have taken them half a century in just the span of a month.

"Seems like the goof is awake..." the words rang out from behind him, and Ryuk turned to see something walk out from the snow.

A figure with a body easily noticeable due to its colour that greatly contrasted with the frosty background.

"Void," Ryuk murmured as he looked at Void, who cat-walked over to him.

But Void was no longer just a cat.

Void had changed… or more accurately—evolved.

For one, he seemed to have his body hidden in a vortex that constantly spun around him.

But Ryuk's gaze could pierce through the vortex to stare at him directly.

Surprise flickered in his eyes and the first thing that came to mind was...

'A panther?'

Void, whosw normal cat size previously stood about 20 centimeters tall, was now twice the size of a lion—but with a sleeker body.

Every strand of his fur bore a shadow, responsible for twisting the void around him—a cloak of shadow-warping fur.

They flowed like smoke, constantly shifting and wrapping.

Void's eyes glowed with a purple light, a slit of abyssal black at their center.

As he walked forward, he left shadowy pawprints in the snow, but they quickly faded into shadowy energy like whispers, leaving no trace on the ground.

[Congratulations Host on Successful Pet Evolution.]

[Host's Pet, Void, has now evolved from a Void Cat to a Void Panther!]

[A Grade A Creature!]

Ryuk's haze blinked in astonishment but that split second was enough for Void to appear inches before him, its claw slashing toward his head.

But Ryuk made no move as he watched the paw halt just centimeters from his cheek, sending his hair flying erratically to the side from the wave of power.

Then, the claw receded, and Void rubbed Ryuk's cheek like a child.

"There, there, goof. I know—my new form is simply too majestic. No need to cry your balls out over it..." Void said smugly.

Ryuk grabbed the claw, pulled it, and sent Void flying toward him before giving it a back-breaking hug that made Void yelp in surprise.

"Back off, you goof!" he roared out, but only got crushed harder. In the end, he could only give up helplessly.

"You've grown, Void... and with a sleeker tongue too..." Ryuk said with a grin, but then Void puffed into shadows and appeared beside him, it's paw scratching up its spine.

"I know it. And as for my tongue, it can't be blamed."

"The bigger my balls grow, the sleeker my tongue too..." it said with a shameless smile as Ryuk rolled his eyes.

But then he turned forward, noticing someone walking toward him.

It was a feminine figure, wearing a simple robe of white, frost-white hair pouring behind her as her hands clasped together.

It was none other than Isha, who seemed to have grown from her previous height of 1.8 meters to 2 meters.

Her face had matured, and the scales that covered her cheeks were inscribed in flickering silvery runes that exuded a frosty aura.

"Isha," Ryuk called out, a soft smile naturally making its way onto his face as he spread both arms open—just as a body flung into his embrace and hugged him deeply.

"You... you're awake. Finally..." Isha whispered, her voice breaking—prompting an eye-roll from Void standing nearby.

"Always so melodramatic..." it muttered jealously to itself.

"I am," Ryuk whispered back, the embrace lasting for about ten seconds before they slowly separated.

"You've gotten colder... once more," Isha said with a giggle.

When Ryuk had returned previously, he had become a lot warmer.

But now, his skin had turned cold again—just like she remembered it.

"And you've grown even more mature..." Ryuk said, only for his brows to twitch when Void spoke out:

"Ah-ah!"

"You see? Even Ryuk said it—her bosom has grown by thrice its size!" Void said as he watched Ryuk snap piercing glare onto it

"What? It's the truth!"

"Seems like one can't even be truthful these days..." Void grumbled.