54 DanMachi 24

After the acquisition of crafting materials, I move to the back to my backyard and sit down in the same spot where I was doing my spell crafting earlier today. Spotting Olivia and the girls at Hephaistos's shop. With how clumsily they tried to hide it, plus the way Hephaistos and they reacted, made me understand that they were doing something they didn't want me to know about. I didn't want to ruin her fun, nor their surprise, if it was one, so instead of using [Celestial Eyes] to spy on them, I didn't intrude into her private life and gave them privacy.

I removed all the necessary materials from my inventory and started up an instance of [Celestial Forge]. First on the to-do list was the creation of my future main weapon, and I was planning on creating a katana. I know it's not the best type of a sword, and call me chunibyo if you want, but the moment i picked up the one i found in the HOTD world, i fell in love with it.

As the celestial forge hummed to life, I dropped 1/3 of my Dir Adamantine, Mithril, and Orichalcum into the spell and allowed it slowly to melt. While the spell was doing its thing, I focused on grinding up some of the magical stones and part of the Balor pinky bone. The mixture turned out to be black as the night sky, with the magic stone fragments shining like bright stars. It didn't matter that it was crude, the spell will crush and combine them anyway. Adding the mixture into the spell with the already molten metals, I turn on [Focus] and concentrated solely on the manipulation of matter inside of it.

I force the metals to combine, by creating tremendous pressure inside the spatial anomaly. As the metals forcefully combine, the spell wobbles, but stays stable, I manipulate the dust and add it to the metallic concoction and start the mixing process. The mixture violently reacts, shaking the spell, while the mana trapped inside of it, tries to escape by all means, but I don't allow it. Forcing the pressure to increase, the heat rises to match the core of a star. The light shining from the spell blinds me, but only mana manipulation allows me to understand what's happening inside of it.

The metal inside of it starts going through a metamorphosis, a process of fusion, in this instance. It slowly forms a black alloy, which starts to consume all the light produced by the violent reaction. A few seconds later, only a hollow void, in the shape of a blob, could be seen inside of the spell, even attempting to look at it give me a headache.

I force the metal to take up a shape of a long-bladed katana, and like a switch, I force the spell to flip the temperature inside of it. Then repeat the heating and cooling process a few more times, quenching the metal inside of it.

The next part of the process required my utmost attention, because I carved out an intricate rune script onto the surface of the blade, creating an enchantment for sharpness, and hardness, making the already deadly blade, even deadlier. To finish it all up I dropped another level six magic stone into the spell, meting it instantly and forcing the liquid to seep into the rune carvings on the sword.

The spell sizzles out of existence, as I turn it off. The blade drops into my hands, and it appears as if I'm holding part of the void itself. The edge and the blade, invisible to the naked eye, drinking 100% of the light it comes into contact with. It felt cold, really cold to the touch, but at the same time, unbelievably powerful.

I used dark brown wood, that comes from the rare Oathtree Walnut tree, as the base of the handle, covered it with red leather straps made out of Valgang Dragon hide, and to finish it all up I created a black, but minimalistic handguard. As the finishing touches were complete, the sword hummed to life. The only visible thing on it was the faint glowing of the runes inscribed onto it, but even the light emitted by the glow was quickly consumed by the sword.

"From now on you shall be named 'Omen'!" I say and the space itself trembles, as the sword accepts its name.

Not wanting to test it out inside of the town, I cast [Celestial Eyes] and move to the clearing Olivia and I created a few weeks back. The vegetation has started to recover, and the fallen trees have started to rot, with a few animals making them their new home. The grass has started to regrow and now reached all the way up to my knees. No people could be found in a hundred-kilometer radius, so the sword testing could be done without interruption.

I swing the sword without adding mana to it, and it cuts through the air while creating no sound whatsoever. Like air resistance didn't even exist before it, or the sword just ignored it altogether. For the next test, I move next to a tree and insert a minuscule amount of mana into the sword. I could feel it gobble it all up, and all the enchantments simultaneously come to life. When I swipe my blade against the trunk of the tree, it meets no resistance at all. Instead, it leaves a trail of blackness in its wake, but leaving the trunk of the tree still standing. Looked at it while rising an eyebrow, then curiously inspected where the cut should have been, and only find a thin line running across it. Pushing the top part with minimal strength, the two halves separate and the top part topples over.

Impressed with the sharpness of the blade, I try out the maximum output I could currently muster. Casting [Infuse] enchanted with [Magical Penetration] on the blade I gave it void affinity. Using [Sage's Wisdom] I circulate mana in my body increasing all my stats by 50%. Then use all my remaining mana and infuse the sword with 50,000 points, and swipe at the horizon.

Rather than a devastated forest or toppled mountain, space itself was cut apart, leaving a half-kilometer horizontal gash in it. The hole was quickly closing, but suddenly a low rumble that shook the world escaped the opening.

"Shit!" I say as my legs stop responding to my commands.

I was not sure what the other side was hiding, but everything inside me screamed to run. If only I could move a muscle.

[World Tier forcibly increased to Tier 5]

The notification I received, didn't calm me down, nor did the yellow thing appearing over the opening. The same yellow thing, now identified as a half-kilometer-wide eye, blinked. Space itself started to fall apart, and the sound of broken glass could be heard all around me. A limb the size of a mountain exits it, and with unimaginable speed started to descend towards the ground, bringing devastation in its wake, while heading straight at me.

"MOVE YOU, IDIOT!" I scream, and a system answers my call.

[Skill: [Fear Resistance] unlocked.]

[Fear Resistance LVL:1/100]

- Decreases fear or coercive pressure experienced by the user up to 1%/LVL.

[Skill: [Fear Resistance] has reached Level 2]

[Skill: [Fear Resistance] has reached Level 3]

[Skill: [Fear Resistance] has reached Level 4]

...

[Skill: [Fear Resistance] has reached Level 50]

My whole being was shaking, but finally, I could move. That was the most rapid skill leveling I've ever experienced but I didn't have time to think about that right now. [Celestial Eyes] picking up the nearest safe stop and [Blink] depositing me there, about fifty kilometers away from the center point of the hole in reality. A huge flash of light could be seen, just as the appendage descends to the ground. Like a thermonuclear warhead explosion, it devastated the terrain. The shockwave cleared away all of the trees from the forest while the heat melted even ash, turning the soil into obsidian. Even fifty kilometers away, the temperature increased by a minimum of ten degrees. A cloud of dust descended to the area, as a mushroom cloud ascended the heavens, reaching about ten kilometers high. The beast roars and the dust was no more. It didn't disperse, it just ceased to exist.

Thanking Hestia for the system granting me the new resistance skill, I watch as the massive abomination struggles to pull itself through the already closing up hole.

"Shit, I promised Olive not to get into stupid shit this week, does this count as stupid?"

"Yes, yes it does." A voice, I'm o so familiar, answers my rhetoric question.

I turn to the left and see a wide-eyed Olive staring at the beast, her mouth hanging open.

"Nice dress, wait... WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE! GET THE FUCK OUT, IT'S NOT SAFE!"

"Don't shout at me! My [Heart's Desire] skill reacted and I felt you were in danger!" She turns towards me and screams, but my reply was interrupted by a loud roar. We turn back towards the creature, which I struggle to even describe. The closest comparison would be a black, scaled, draconian goat, with kilometer-high horns protruding from its skull.

[IMG HERE]

"What in the name of Hestia is that?"

"I have no idea..." I reply with a whisper.

Reality shudders as the laws of the world take action. Brilliant golden chains, made out of something that seemed to be above divinity, wrap around the mountain-sized beast's frame, and start pulling it back from where it came from. The beast instantly drops in tier.

[World Tier decreased to Tier 4]

"Those chains look pretty." She comments.

"Pff... Only you can say something like that, in a face of a monster that could destroy this world on a whim." I laugh out loud. "Sorry for freaking out, I didn't want you near that thing." I say.

"Apology accepted." She replies and we refocus on the fight between the world and the monster.

The space around the monster fought and started to close faster, and faster. It opened its massive maw, littered with millions of tiny teeth, and roared, parting the clouds high above. A massive amount of dark energy starts to condense in the beast's mouth, we could feel the amount of power even from the distance we were standing. If that goes off, it will be the end of this world. Even with the fear resistance, goosebumps appear all over my body, and I can see Olive shivering from fear, but the chains come to the rescue, wrapping themselves around it, and binding the maw shut. The cry it produced vaporized the ground around it, sending out a shockwave, that took even us, fifty kilometers away, off our legs. Quickly I pick myself up, then watch as the monster is forced back into the hole, the golden chains dragging its body right back where it came from. Only for the top of its horn to be cut off by the rapidly closing space, then dropping right into the crater it just created.

Space shook, then bulged, precisely where the monster has disappeared from, ready to be split apart again, as the monster attempted to break through and reappear on this side once more. But the world laws didn't allow it to step another inch into this world, golden chains appeared anew forcibly locking the space up. Shutting the monster out of this reality.

I exhale the breath I was holding in, and compose myself. "The space cut off part of its horn. Let's try and pick it up, it might be a good crafting ingredient." I say.

"Are you sure that's smart?" She asks concerned.

"No, but it's better than leaving a tier-five, drop item in the open." She agrees with a reluctant nod.

The disaster averted, thanks to the world laws, I grab Olive's hand and attempt to [Blink] back to the clearing, now crater, but find myself unable. The spatial laws around it were reinforced, blocking any space-related ability from working. The nearest I could go was about ten kilometers away from the initial spatial anomaly.

"I can't teleport us closer. Let's hurry."

Looking at my sword, I vow to not use it the same way, till can safely handle monsters with that kind of level. I [Blink] us, then I shift my race to [Cat Person], boost my physique with mana, bend my legs, and shoot off, cracking the crystalized ground around me, while Olivia is keeping up with me in her base form.

'Stupid agility build...' I think, as we run towards our new Race DNA sample and crafting material, the cut-off horn.

The horn, even if it was just an edge of the real thing, was massive. Its width reached up to ten meters, with a thickness of three, and it weighed around fifty tons. The whole thing was radiating void affinity mana, so strong, that it was bending reality around it. I reach for it, only to feel light discomfort while moving my arm through the bent space. As I touch it, coldness assaults all of my being, the kind I've never felt before.

"Is it okay to touch?" Olive asks concern clearly heard in her voice.

"I don't know." I reply honestly.

I take out my new sword, and reinforce it with mana, in an attempt to cut a small piece of it to convert it into a race card. Only for the sword to impact it with an audible "Thing", not leaving even a single scratch on itt.

My only other option was [Celestial Forge], but as the spell used space magic, that couldn't be used right here. So I place my hand on the horn and will it into my inventory. The horn piece vanishes, without any fanfare, surprising me that it actually worked.

"Space magic is restricted here, but the inventory system works without any issues, it must be working with different laws." I mumbe.

"Let's get out of here before anyone else shows up. The roars of the creature should have been heard even in Orario." She says looking around.

I inspect the place where the horn originally was. The earth its original location was compressed and crystalized, but one spot looked different than the others. A blob of dark liquid, seeping into the ground could be found right in front of me. Betting on the [Immune System System] and realizing that I still I have an extra life, thanks to my currently equipped title [Blesses by Death], I reach for, and touch it.

In an instant, the black fluid covers my hand and starts seeping into my body. A yell escapes my mouth and a shudder runs through my being, as something attempts to change me, to force me to evolve, and at the same time consume my mind. I fall down to the ground from the pain, my mind going hazy and my throat becomes sore. I was shrieking, and I didn't even realize it. Buckets of blood start flowing out of my ears and nose. [Mind Arts]'s mind shield violently shakes, as it blocks all attempts of an invasion, reaching max level in a beat of a heart.

[Skill: [Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 18]

[Skill: [Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 19]

[Skill: [Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 20]

...

[Skill: [Pain Tolerance] has reached Level 35]

[Skill: [Mind Arts] has reached Max Level]

Olive was shaking me in an attempt to pull me out of whatever is happening to me, a worried look covering her face, and tears appearing in her eyes. The pain suddenly stops, but the assault still continues. But the magnificent system comes to the rescue the second time today and it doesn't let whatever this is consume me. The race system reacts, and a serene calmness washes over me, as a new race card consumes the alien matter inside of me. Notifications, out of nowhere greet me.

[Race: [Voidborn] gained.]

[Race: [Voidborn] locked till Tier 4.]

[Voidborn]

- Gain the ability [Consume], allowing consumption of matter and acquisition of its properties and abilities.

- Gain the ability [Shift], allowing you to morph your body into a desired look.

- Gain the ability [Mutagen], transforming your blood into a reagent, forcing all biological matter it comes into contact with to morph.

- Gain the ability [Hive Mind], forcing anything created from your blood, to answer only to you.

- 50% increased damage received from Light-based attacks.

- Total Immunity towards space and void-based attacks.

I lay on the ground heavily panting, sweat, blood, and dust covering me, while contemplating all of my life choices.

"There is no way I'm such an idiot. Is there?" I mumble.

"Are you okay?!" A crying Olive asks, while tightly hugging me.

"Yeah, the system saved me." I reply. "I'm doing so much stupid things in this world, it's not even funny anymore. Is there a chance I'm getting affected by the laws of the world once again?" I contemplate, but I cannot come up with an answer.

"You're an idiot." She says placing her head on my chest, and we stay there for a moment in silence.

"Don't worry, my title would have reacted, even if I die, I would have revived, and I gained something nice from this." I say with a smile and pat the head of the sobbing girl, while my hands were still shaking from the aftereffects of the pain I just felt. She lifts her hand and delivers a forceless hit to my chest.

"I don't want to see you dead, even if you can revive." She says between tears. I let out a sigh and pull her into a tight hug.

"We should go before anyonr arrives." I comment, with my heartbeat still elevated, I shakily pick myself off the ground, and we start moving away from the spatial lock. Reaching the edge of it I cast [Celestial Eyes] and [Blink] us home. I was still covered in blood, mud, and tears, so I went to the bathroom, with Olive following me like a lost puppy.

Nothing was said between us for hours, Olive was contemplating something, and I left her to think. I wouldn't be surprised if she broke up with me right here and now, and wanted to return to her world. I have put her through a lot of shit in the last week, and I felt really bad for it. The silence continued as we lay in our bed, her head facing the other way, while I was hugging her from the back, up until she turned around to face me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the determined look in her eyes.

"I want to get stronger" She starts. "So strong that when we face a monster like that, fear won't freeze me in place. So strong that I would never ever have to live in fear of losing you. This week made it clear that im in love with an idiot and that I can't keep danger away from you and you away from danger, but that doesn't mean I can't be there to face it with you." She declares.

My hug tightens around her and I pull her head to my chest, a huge stone was lifted off my chest. The only thing I could reply was. "Alright... Love."

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