MTLNOVEL Chapter 157: An Abyss...
Cassius felt that his path veered away from the usual protagonist path that he had read about in stories prior to his unusual reincarnation. In those stories, the Main Character would find himself in the company of numerous women, all of whom loved him dearly. He would also have family and friends, one or multiple lovers, and an overall blissful life.
But then, somewhere along the way, hurdles would be thrown in front of the Main Character. Perhaps some of the people closest to him would be put in perilous predicaments. Maybe the Main Character would vow to himself to become stronger because he wouldn't want a repeat of what happened to someone close to him? Or maybe he wanted to prevent it from ever happening to begin with—
"Preventing from the beginning…"
Cassius's expression suddenly brightened in enlightenment. He found the answer he was looking for. Or, rather, he found some of it.
A large part of him wanted power simply to become stronger and experience what it was like to be stronger than he was the day before. This part of him wished to feel the thrill that accompanied consecutive gains in strength. This part of him did whatever it took for more strength just for the strength itself. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire
One could call this part of him power-hungry.
Then there was another equally large part of himself that wished to obtain more strength as fast as possible so as to not lose what he had. This included things like family, friends, items, Skills, and even his very lifestyle.
One could call this part of him his Hoarder Dragon side.
All in all, Cassius was doing everything just for himself. He would do whatever it took to become more powerful, with every bit of him wanting strength for one reason or another.
Even if he lost more and more of what made him him on the long journey that awaited him, he was sure that his prime directive would forever remain the same. He would not lose himself.
He would not… lose himself…
—--------------
—Approximately one hour later—
*Pop!*
Cassius had died 29 times since arriving in the Icedom Senator's Prison. His |Supreme Nirvana Rebirth| Skill had nearly reached the precipice of breaking through into another, higher state, but it still felt miles away from him. However, with his Ordinary Phoenix Bloodline exceeding the 79% mark, it surely wouldn't be long before the Skill advanced to whatever lay beyond the Ruby Rank.
It was unknown just how many times Cassius would be able to die when the Skill reached the SS-Rank. But, for now, 32 deaths was the limit, and as he was an especially cautious person, he called his torturous training quits for the day.
"It's about time that the others wake up for the first day of school, anyway, so it's time I take my leave…" Cassius muttered, his voice sounding as if it had aged by several hundred years.
At first, his expression appeared bleak, almost as if looking at a man who had experienced something not possible to put into words. However, when his icy eyes perused the System pop-ups flashing past his face, a lot of color seemed to return to him.
[Ordinary Phoenix Bloodline slightly progressed!]
[.....79.1%...]
[|SSS-Rank Sword God's Training Manual| Stage has advanced!]
[Late-Beginner Trainer → Peak-Beginner Trainer]
[Physical Prowess tremendously improved!]
[Strength Stat +3,870]
In total, Cassius had made leap after leap in his Ordinary Phoenix Bloodline and got himself a good sum of over 8,000 Strength! This brought his physical abilities to an entirely different league!
Though, there was the downside of his Strength Stat slowly but surely catching up to his Agility Stat, which reduced the effects of 'I AM SPEED.' Then again, with 70% of all AP going into his Agility Stat, every bit of those reductions was negated and even taken in the opposite direction!
With a small satisfied smile, Cassius looked up at the large eyes that had been focused on him this whole time. He gave a thankful nod while saying, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you this time, big guy, and I also apologize for the next few times I'll come and visit you. And again, thanks for killing me. I won't forget this favor, and one day, I'll break you and your brethren free from the chains that trap you."
In response, he received a heavy gust of air and another string of strange words. Yet, even with his head stinging due to the pain, his smile only became ever more appreciative. And then, with a flash of crimson light, he vanished from view, and then from the Gate itself.
Once he left, silence prevailed within the Icedom Senator's Prison.
Then, out of the blue, a flow of coherent thought breezed from the first Icedom Senator to the rest of the chained Icedom Senators. The thought contained just two words:
'An Abyss…'
—-----------
—Meanwhile, inside the spacious living room of the Steele Mansion, at [5:49]—
Cassius just materialized from the rapidly flashing speed stream, and the first thing he did was look past the calmly sitting Hellion and ascend the stairs of the mansion. He briskly made his way to one of the various rooms in the house, which also just so happened to be the only room with anyone occupying it right now.
Normally, Sasha would be sleeping in her room, but as she became blackout drunk last night, she wound up finding her way into his bed, same as the other girls. One could say that sleeping in anything other than her own bed ran in her blood, as Aya was an excellent example of that claim.
However, as soon as Cassius made it some way into the wide and long hallway, he heard some noise coming from inside his room. Curious, he creaked open the door, only to see a group of women working together in an attempt to pull up a thin waistband being held over a Physical Negator.
But at the same moment he took his first step into the room, all of the beautiful women took one final pull and… failed. They rebounded backward and fell on their cushy bottoms.
"So… What are you bunch doing?"