Chapter 27: Rift Core And Leaving
As William entered the cave, the stench of raw flesh and blood assaulted his nostrils. However, his expression remained unchanged, as he had been in far worse environments in his previous life.
He did not possess night vision like Crol, but by using the Eyes of Insight, he was still able to navigate his way through the darkness.
Following the guidance of the compass in his hand, he moved deeper into the cave.
From time to time, he would accidentally step on the bones of beasts that had been eaten by the Titan Ape, causing the sound of cracking bones to echo through the cave.
If it were a timid person, they would have surely felt their scalp tingle just by hearing those sounds.
The stench of raw flesh and blood grew stronger the deeper he moved, and soon, he reached the end of the cave.
Other than a pile of bones and the half-eaten carcass of a monster, there was nothing special there.
At the end of the cave was a square stone platform that seemed to serve as the Titan Ape’s resting place.
Holding the compass in his hand, William walked over to the platform, and the compass began to tremble, indicating that he had reached the correct location.
"The core seems to be buried somewhere beneath this platform..." William muttered to himself before stepping onto it.
The core of an Astral Rift appeared in a safe location at random.
In fact, it was very likely that even the Titan Ape wasn’t aware of the core’s existence. If it had been, the monster would have dug out the Astral Rift Core long ago.
"I wonder what kind of artifact this compass is? I never saw anything like it even in my previous life..." William glanced at the compass in his hand with a curious expression.
But before reaching the Star Warrior level, he couldn’t use his status window to view the details of items, so he could only suppress his curiosity.
Standing on the platform, William took a deep breath, and the Aether Energy within his incomplete core began to circulate.
He clenched his right fist, and pale blue Aether Energy covered his entire hand, making it look as though it were burning with blue flames.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and punched down with all of his strength.
BOOOOOOM!
A booming sound echoed through the cave as small chunks of stone flew in every direction. A small crater, about ten centimeters in diameter and three centimeters deep, appeared in the platform.
William raised an eyebrow because the stone was harder than he had imagined. But it didn’t matter, and he continued punching the platform without stopping.
In just ten minutes, he had used up most of his Aether Energy.
But as a result, most of the platform had been blasted into smithereens.
’I can feel faint energy fluctuations coming from underneath.’
Through the Eyes of Insight, William noticed faint energy fluctuations emanating from beneath the ground, and his spirits lifted.
After resting for a while to recover some of his Aether Energy, he began blasting the platform again.
This continued for a few hours. Whenever his Aether Energy was exhausted, William rested for several minutes before continuing.
Around three hours later, William stood inside a pit nearly eight meters deep.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, while mud and soil clung to every part of him.
Because of the lingering stench of raw flesh and blood, he smelled even worse than rotten eggs at that moment.
But despite all that, a smile clung to the corners of his mouth as he stared at a glowing sphere floating before him.
The glowing sphere was only about five centimeters in diameter, but the amount of energy contained within it was so vast that if it were to explode, one-fourth of Rosco Barony would disappear from the face of the world.
Looking at the Astral Rift Core, William’s exhausted face finally broke into a smile as he took out the the cube shaped metal box he had found inside Roran’s storage earring.
He brought the box close to the Astral Rift Core and poured a small amount of his Aether Energy into it.
As soon as he did, numerous strange runes lit up across the surface of the box, and it slowly opened.
At the same time, a powerful suction force emerged from within it, drawing the Astral Rift Core inside.
The instant the core entered the box, it closed once again and returned to its ordinary appearance.
William picked up the box and immediately noticed that the moment the core was removed, the amount of Aether Energy in the surroundings began to decline.
"Now that I have removed the core, the rift will collapse within two or three days," He muttered to himself, though he didn’t care.
He jumped out of the pit and immediately left the cave.
Unlike the outside world, there was no concept of day and night inside this Astral Rift. As such, the sky remained brightly lit, just as it had been when he first entered the rift.
"I need to take a bath..."
William looked at his beggar-like appearance and immediately ran down the mountain.
He arrived at the river he had noticed when he first entered the rift.
After using the Eyes of Insight to confirm that there were no monsters in or around the water, he took off his clothes and immediately jumped in.
As he submerged himself in the cool water, a comfortable sigh escaped from his mouth.
He floated on the surface like a log of wood for quite some time before finally climbing back onto the shore.
He took out a fresh set of clothes that he had brought with him and changed into them before finally deciding to leave the Astral Rift.
As he walked toward the exit, he glanced at his trial.
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---) Status [Locked]
---) Inheritance: God of Time—Aevion’s Inheritance [Currently Under Trial]
---) Trial Summary: To be recognized as the true heir of the God of Time and obtain his power, you must first prove that you are worthy of wielding a power capable of changing the course of the entire world. To change the world, you must first change your own future. Step forward and shatter your past by walking a completely different path.
---) Trial Task:
1. Become a Star Warrior before the Aether Affinity Test next month.
2. Kill five unranked monsters and one Star Warrior-level monster. (Completed)
---) Time Remaining: 23 Days
---) Trial Reward: Your soul will no longer be repelled by the current timeline, one random skill.
(Note: If the heir fails to complete the trial tasks, they will lose the opportunity to inherit the God of Time’s legacy, and their soul will be sent back to the original timeline.)
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"Now I only need to become a Star Warrior to complete the trial."
William looked at the trial reward, and his eyes settled on the words one random skill.
’Since this is the trial for the God of Time’s inheritance, then the skill I receive should also be related to the power of time, right?’ He pondered, and a look of anticipation appeared on his face.
With the herbs he had collected, William was confident that he would be able to reach the Star Warrior realm very soon.
Once that happened, he would no longer have to worry about his soul being repelled by the current timeline.
Soon, William reached the exit portal and stepped into it without hesitation.
As the scenery before his eyes blurred, the corners of his lips curled upward slightly.
’Once I become a Star Warrior, my status window and my traits will also be unlocked. I just hope that this time, my Wisdom Trait awakens along with my first trait.’
The blurry scenery before William’s eyes soon faded, and he found himself standing in front of the rift portal through which he had entered the Astral Rift.
"Junior, you came out earlier than I expected."
Just then, a familiar voice reached his ears.
William turned his head and saw Vivian sitting on a boulder not far away, looking at him with a smile.
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(A/N: If you are enjoying the story, don’t forget to vote with your Power Stones! I would also really appreciate it if you could leave a review and let me know your thoughts. Your support means a lot!)
