Unknown was frightening to most.
But it was the only way to expand one's horizon.
Varian learned it the hard way after slashing down his right foot.
Splurt!
The blood that was about to spill out was quickly blocked and the foot turned into a tree root.
A potion bottle flowed out of Varian's storage ring and poured down on the root.
Swish!
The injury started to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.
But growing the hand and foot would take a while.
'At least an hour.' Varian estimated.
Thankfully, due to his superhuman physique, he wouldn't have much problem operating like this.
More importantly, his other paths weren't affected by his physical condition.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three invisible blades cut through the air and reached the undead creature. At the same time, a wave of mental power reached its brain or what was left of it.
The creature was only lightly affected by the mental attack and its head quickly turned towards the invisible blades.
They were made of telekinetic power and if they just touched it lightly, its body would be sliced into two.
"Greer."
The undead swirled and leaped backward, successfully avoiding the blades.
But in mid-air, the space around it suddenly tightened.
The creature's eyes glowed black and the space shook violently.
Kacha!
In the next second, the tough space prison broke down like fragile glass.
But the creature, which just escaped hell was engulfed in bright lights of gold and blue as lightning and water dragons devoured it.
Boom!
In the grey world, a blue and golden light burst in the sky, painting the world beautiful, if only for a second.
'It's a bit weaker to lightning.' Varian nodded to himself.
Then, he looked at his left arm and snickered.
The creature itself wasn't strong but had a specific type of dangerous attack. Something like a death beam. Anything touching it would die.
'This isn't any of the paths I know.' Floating in the air, Varian frowned.
[Of course, host. This is a celestial path.] The lurker answered.
'What do you mean?' Varian raised a brow in confusion. 'A celestial ranker can't be this weak.'
[It was suppressed. Devas…they are basically trash, but they are good at things like this.] The System explained in a not-so-neutral tone.
'Suppressing a celestial ranker to my level? That's crazy!' Varian's lips twitched.
[It isn't a real celestial ranker. Only a creation. Think of it as a puppet derived from an original. Suppressing a real celestial ranker isn't easy, even for devas.]
'…I'm really curious, what if that power wasn't suppressed? How powerful would it be?' Varian asked.
Swish! Swish!
His hand and foot were both regrown steadily. It wouldn't be long before he would be back to normal.
So, he focused on the conversation at hand.
But the System didn't reply.
'System?'
[It's better not to know, Host] It said, and Varian almost felt like it was sighing.
'If you told me the celestial path powers already, I wouldn't have lost a foot and hand to a fucking undead! Will you die if you talk more?' He attacked it mercilessly.
[Celestial paths and the scale of celestial path's power are different things. Host, your argument is invalid.]
'…I think you got the wrong job, sometimes.' Varian said sincerely. 'Go become a scammer or something.'
[Host, you do realize it's your argument that's in the wrong, yet you are blaming this System. How shameless you have become!
This System misses the old host who was nearly dying every other day. Those were beautiful times. You never knew what danger befell you.
You were so worried that you were careful even while walking. You feared you might step on a landmine by mistake.]
'…' Varian opened his mouth, but no words came out.
This fucking system!
'You sadist bitch!' He cursed.
[…The System is hurt and won't answer your question.] It said in a low voice.
'So were you going to answer originally?' Varian's eyes lit up. Then, he said with a kind smile.
'You're not a sadist bitch, System.'
[Really?] It asked in a hopeful tone.
'Really.' Varian smiled.
[Thank You, hos—]
'You're a good bitch. The best bitch of the galaxy, no, the best bitch of the universe.'
[…]
At the system's dumbfounded silence, Varian threw his head back and laughed. "Hahaha!"
Clutching his stomach, he said. "I'm tired of your hide and seek. If you want to say, you say. Or just shut your mouth. Revealing half and hiding the other half, what is the fucking point of it all?"
[…System observed that humans are curious creatures. They want to explore the unknown. But unknown scares them like nothing else. So, the System felt—]
'You felt that revealing half of the information will remove that fear while maintaining the curiosity?' Varian asked, not really sure if the System's point was dumb or valid.
[Yes. But it didn't seem to work on you, Host.]
'…What do you expect? Remember how many times you said half about something and never uttered a word about it again?' Varian shrugged. 'Besides, I have more important things to do than finding the secrets of some galaxy.'
[A girl is more important than a galaxy?] The System asked.
'If it's my girl, yes.' Varian said without hesitation and unsheathed his sword.
"Greer!"
"Greer!"
"Greer!"
In the grey world, three pairs of eyes glowed with a black light.
"Die!"
*** *** ***
Varian stood in the middle of nowhere.
There were corpses scattered all around him. Some were burnt, some were broken, some were cleaved into two while others were frozen.
These corpses, regardless of their condition, dissolved into the soil and disappeared.
"Haa~ Haaa~" Varian gripped the sword with both hands and leaned against it.
He was completely drained. It wasn't a sprint, but a marathon.
'Has it been a day already?' Varian blinked and looked around.
His ears perked and his senses extended, trying to find the traces of any undead.
There were none.
{Congratultions Scion! You finished the highest difficulty!}
"Wait, what?" Varian was shocked. "When did I apply for highest difficulty? More importantly, since when did this test have difficulty grades? Everyone faced the same test, no?"
That's what she said.
{The standard test is for normal people! How dare we humiliate Scion by giving you a normal test!}
"…" Varian sighed and left the sword.
He collapsed onto the soil and looked up at the sky. "Thanks for your gift. It was great."
{I'm glad.}
"…Go kill yourself."
{Wonderful humor, Scion! Knowing that I can't kill myself and my fate is directly in the hands of the Emperor and future you, you said it! Simply wonderful!}
Listening to the cheerful voice, Varian felt a bit guilty."Since it's been thousands of years since your last maintenance, by any chance, did a few...screws in your head go loose?"
If so, then he was bullying a mentally challenged entity. Even though Varian didn't think of himself as a righteous person, he wouldn't stoop so low to argue with a crazy non-human entity.
{Ahaha! Scion is surely excited. No wonder, you finally came to age. You are finally an adult!}
"…"
It finally dawned on him.
This was indeed the Coming Of Age Ceremony for devas. To be considered an adult, they have to reach fricking level 7!
{So, coming to the reward, you know I don't have any artifacts with me. But I have a treasure that is at the absolute peak of mortal ranks.}
A bright light shone in the sky and reached Varian.
"This is…"