Chapter 37: Sin Obtained!
A heavy force and a strong gust of air swept across the area. Sand and mud blew everywhere. Alden stood his ground, raising his hands in front of his face to block the wind pressure. He tried hard to balance his body to stop himself from stumbling back.
The entire giant dome barrier seemed to shake violently as cracks started to appear on its surface. As he looked through the flying dust and pebbles toward the exposed orb, he suddenly felt a weird, primal desire to claim it.
Alden forced himself to walk forward, even though his instincts screamed at him about the danger. He pressed forward through the pressure and reached the floating orb, which was now sparking with wild violet energy.
He finally reached it and touched the surface.
"..."
Suddenly, the breeze subsided, and an eerie silence remained. A sharp pain shot through Alden’s body. The violet energy emitted by the orb started to absorb directly into him.
He fell to the ground, clutching his chest as the intense pain continued to flow through his veins. He felt as if his skin and bones were being torn apart and remade.
His whole body shook violently. A dark violet energy started to swirl around him as he rolled on the rocky ground in agony. His mind absorbed unknown information he could not understand, making him feel like his brain was going to blow apart.
Just as it became unbearable for him to take anymore, the pain started to slowly vanish. He returned to his original state, almost as if the pain had never happened in the first place.
"Haah... haah... haah..."
Alden lay there for a while, staring at the empty ceiling of the dome as he took deep breaths to calm himself down.
He finally sat up slowly. His head was still aching, and his thoughts were scrambled. He couldn’t even align with the sudden influx of unknown information stored inside his consciousness.
Just as he was organizing his thoughts, a sudden flood of system notifications appeared in front of him. The excited voice of the female system echoed clearly in his mind.
[Ding! You have obtained a ’Sin’ of ’Space’!]
[Ding! You have gained a new element: ’Space’!]
[Ding! You have achieved a minor breakthrough to D+ Rank!]
[Ding! Your overall stats have been increased significantly!]
[Ding!]
[Bloodline awakening detected...!]
[Origin: Astra Family — Ancient Tier!]
[Ancient Bloodline: Astra Sovereign Lineage!]
[Do you want to resume the Bloodline awakening?]
[Y/N]
Suddenly, warmth flooded his chest. He felt an unknown power coursing through his veins. He looked at the glowing text and understood that he was about to awaken his bloodline.
’How could this be possible? My family’s bloodline power was lost in history... How can it suddenly come back, and why am I the one who awakens it?’
He looked at the option the system gave him to press ’Yes’ or ’No’. He didn’t understand why the system even gave him a choice. Why would he leave the chance of awakening something stronger? If he really pressed no, it would be the dumbest thing a person could do, letting go of true power right from his grasp.
Alden didn’t wait and pressed ’Yes’ without any hesitation. But that lack of hesitation was going to cause him immense pain.
As expected, Alden again started to feel a sharp pain in his body. It felt as if his whole being was being remade from scratch. His skin started to feel like it was burning; he felt like he was floating in a pool of magma.
He shut his eyes tight as the pain continued to assault his whole being. Several small, glowing stars started to manifest in the air around him. One by one, they absorbed directly into his chest. He snapped his eyes open. One of his eyes turned a brilliant silver as a tiny star shone inside the pupil. For a brief moment, he felt like he had become a star himself.
As the burning pain slowly started to subside once again, Alden fell back onto the ground. He breathed hard as sweat dropped from all over his body.
Just as he rested for a few seconds, the voice of the female rang in his brain again.
[Ding! Bloodline Awakening Successful!]
[Ding! Due to the sudden bloodline awakening, your stats have been greatly increased!]
[Ding! You have gained a new ability: ’Stellar Manifestation’!]
[Stellar Manifestation (C+)!]
[Description: Summon condensed starlight into weapons (swords, spears, etc.) to boost their strength!]
[Ding! You have gained a Movement Technique: ’Astral Step’!]
[Ding!]
[Astral-Step (C-)!]
[Description: Short-range teleportation through space folds. The higher the rank of the skill, the farther the teleportation distance.]
[Ding! You have gained a new Affiliation: ’Rising Star’!]
[STATUS WINDOW]
[Name: Alden]
[Titles: None]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Talent: Unclassified]
[Class: Swordsman]
[Rank: D+]
[Bloodline: Awakened!]
[Affiliation: Rising Star]
[Elements: Wind, Water, Fire, Ice, Darkness, Space]
[STATS]
[STR: 83/100] [AGI: 85/100]
[DEF: 79/100] [INT: 91/100]
[HP: 400/400] [MP: 97/300]
[LUCK: SSS+]
[Techniques:
•Basic Swordsmanship (C-)
•Astral-Step (C-)]
[Abilities:
•Growth-Acceleration (SSS++)
•Stellar Manifestation (C+)
???]
[Skills:
•Hunter’s Mark (Rare Grade)
•Infinite Nexus (Divine-Grade)]
...
As Alden lay there staring at his gains, a small smile tugged on his lips.
"Hehe... It seems it was not a waste to come down here. I should thank that guy in return for pushing me into the perfect location."
Checking his updated status window, he couldn’t feel any happier. Even the residual consciousness of the original Alden felt a wave of peace and happiness.
He then turned around to look at the fallen orb—or what used to be an orb. It now looked like a burned ball, as if it was made up of fragile ashes. As he touched it, just as he had expected, the orb turned into dust at the slight contact, and the ashes fell to the rocky ground.
His gaze shifted toward the cracked dome barrier. It was almost at its breaking point. The continuous water pressure from the deep sea started to crush the remaining magic.
"Sigh, it seems I don’t have much time left. The barrier won’t last long."
He sat in a lotus position, closed his eyes, and started absorbing the mana from the surroundings in order to fill his own reserves.
After several minutes passed, Alden finally stood up. He looked at one side of the shattered barrier, which was now overflowing. The dark sea water rushed forward toward him with immense speed. He didn’t wait anymore. He channeled his overall mana reserves and mental energy into a single, desperate technique.
[Astral-Step!]
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