Chapter 9: Aether Core And Leaving
Inside his room, William sat cross-legged on his bed as sweat trickled down from his forehead.
His figure appeared distorted due to the dense Aether Energy surrounding him, and a look of pain occasionally flashed across his face.
’Just a bit more...’ William gritted his teeth as he endured the pain of his internal organs such as his lungs, liver, and heart being refined by the Aether Energy.
The final step to complete the first Chapter of the Supreme Star Scripture was to refine his internal organs.
Because William’s current body was far stronger than that of an ordinary human, it was necessary to strengthen his internal organs as well.
Without stronger internal organs, a body that was many times stronger than that of a normal human being would not be able to function properly.
If he did not strengthen his internal organs, it would be like a supercar having the engine of a normal family car, making it difficult to function properly.
Time trickled by bit by bit, and around half an hour later, the dense Aether Energy surrounding William suddenly contracted and in the next instant, it disappeared completely.
William exhaled a faint breath and opened his eyes, a look of joy flashing across his face.
"The first Chapter of the Supreme Star Scripture is finally done," He muttered under his breath before standing up and examining himself.
William’s current body was vastly different from what it had been five days ago.
His height had increased by almost five centimeters, making him stand tall at 180 cm. Clear muscle lines were visible on his half-exposed arms, which had previously looked somewhat lean. Despite him still being sixteen years old, his face now had sharp facial features, and with his black hair and beautiful green eyes, he could easily charm innocent young girls in his neighborhood.
"Last time, I didn’t have a body-forging technique, so I directly started to condense my Aether Core after obtaining a basic technique..." William recalled his younger self from the original timeline.
"Currently, I feel that my present self is only slightly weaker than my self when I condensed the Aether Core in the original timeline and became a Star Warrior."
Now that he had completed the first Chapter of the Supreme Star Scripture, the next step for him was to absorb Aether Energy and condense an Aether Core inside his body.
Once he successfully condensed an Aether Core, he would be promoted to the Star Warrior level.
In the original timeline, William had used the basic technique provided by the academy to condense his Aether Core. That technique was of the lowest grade among all available techniques, and after condensing his Aether Core using it, he had remained at the bottom tier of the Star Warrior realm.
Just by clenching his fists, William could feel that his current self was only slightly weaker than his original self when he had first condensed his Aether Core and become a Star Warrior.
Of course, this weakness referred only to his physical strength. If it came to a fight, he would easily be able to defeat his self from the original time line because of his superior fighting experience and combat techniques.
For a moment, the scene of himself and his friends dying one after another flashed through his mind, and he closed his eyes.
"It will be different this time. I have already surpassed myself. I just have to keep moving forward like this from now on."
William opened his eyes, and a sharp glint flashed within them.
"Now I can think about entering the Astral Rift."
He went to the bathroom to clean his sweat-soaked body. After taking a quick bath, he returned to his room and once again sat down on his bed.
William closed his eyes and immediately began operating the Supreme Star Scripture again.
This time, as the Aether Energy was drawn toward him, it did not linger outside his body but instead seeped inside directly.
Using the Supreme Star Scripture, he guided the Aether Energy within his body toward his heart.
The tiny particles of Aether Energy gathered around his heart and slowly began to merge, taking the shape of a round core the size of a fingernail.
Guiding the Aether Energy toward his heart required intense focus, and within minutes, a dull ache spread through his mind, making him feel mentally exhausted.
Since he only wanted to observe the effects of the second Chapter of the Supreme Star Scripture, William did not try to push himself too hard and the moment he felt fatigued, he stopped drawing in Aether Energy to condense his core.
Opening his eyes, a look of amazement flashed within them.
"With my current speed, it will only take me fifteen days to condense my Aether Core and become a Star Warrior."
Fifteen days might seem like a long time, considering that William was using a very powerful technique and that Star Warrior was merely the first realm of the extraordinary.
However, one had to understand that this estimate was without the help of any resources.
He only needed to absorb Aether Energy from his surroundings to become a Star Warrior. If he had sufficient resources to support himself, he could achieve the Star Warrior level using the Supreme Star Scripture in just two or three days.
"Once I enter the Astral Rift, I might be able to find something useful, and this time might shorten even further."
William did not linger in his room any longer and stepped outside.
Currently, it was afternoon, and there was no one at home.
Both of his parents had gone to work on the farm, while Samuel was practicing the body-forging technique at their usual location.
William had already spoken to his parents about going to the Kolva Mountain Range—the place where the Astral Rift was located.
His parents were not worried about him going there, as the area was right outside the Rosco Barony. As such, it was regularly cleared of monsters by the soldiers, making it relatively safe.
Many people even traveled there during the spring season, as beautiful flowers bloomed across the region during that time.
He had made an excuse that he was simply feeling bored these days and wanted to go there for a trip.
In truth, both of his parents were quite confused by his sudden changes. The transformation his body had undergone in the past five days was simply impossible to hide from them.
Moreover, the fact that he and Samuel were practicing some kind of technique to strengthen themselves was also impossible to conceal, as they trained openly on their farm where Elena and Karl worked.
Both of them had many questions in their minds after witnessing his sudden changes, and when they asked, William told them he had found those techniques while digging a hole on their farm.
Naturally, his parents did not believe him.
William felt helpless about this, as he simply could not explain his real situation to them.
Moreover, he only had one month to complete the trial; otherwise, he would be sent back to the original timeline.
If he had enough time, he would have taken things slowly so that they would not notice anything unusual. But in his current situation, he could not afford to move slowly.
Fortunately, although his parents did not believe his absurd excuse about finding techniques while digging a hole, they did not press him further upon realizing that he did not wish to speak about it.
"They are really good parents," William could not help but sigh as he shook his head.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed his mind and began to think about his next plan.
’Tomorrow... I will leave for the Kolva Mountain Range tomorrow.’
The entire day passed without anything significant happening, and the next day, William was ready to go out of the Rosco Barony for the first time in this life.
However, unknown to him, many unexpected things that he had never anticipated were waiting for him on this trip.
