Eva breathed out lightly. She had seen things that would shatter any other person's sense of reason just now, and she understood that her previous evaluation of these three women's talents had been too limited in scope.
Calling them monsters would be a vast understatement. The only fitting term for them would be fledgling World Bosses. Once they reached the higher Ranks, their absurdity would also grow along with them, up until they reached the Divine Rank… hopefully.
Eva returned the children to their mothers, who immediately started to cuddle them. Only little Rila went off on her own to the back of the Anomaly Realm, which had become her favorite hangout spot.
Eva spoke to the three women: "Take a rest. I'll be heading to a nearby Training Hall to Rank up. You can use this time to relax and free yourself of worries. We'll be busy for a while once I return."
Roma, Zaine, and Hikari nodded and filed out of the Anomaly Realm. Eva took one last glance at Rila who was staring contemplatively at the Divine Barrier before leaving herself.
Once out, she quickly left the Aether Hall and walked through the clean roads of Vita City-State. By now, it no longer looked like a large piece of empty land but had all the telltale signs of a developing city, with carriages, roads, and many buildings around.
The inner section of the city was where the members of Umbra and the Nshaw Tribe clansmen stayed as citizens. There was no one here that wasn't part of these groups.
Umbra Players had started building families and even clans once their Genetic Compatibility had been unlocked and with the speed boost of Vita City-State, one could hear a baby's cry in almost every house. When the next generation grew up, numbers would explode exponentially.
The middle sector of the city was where they had rented out the good land to the organizations which had stood up to the other Hidden Powers back when Vita City-State had just been founded.
Here, there was much more activity as members of the Mages Association, Church of Light, Merchant Guild and more moved about from their buildings to interact, carry out business, or for pleasure.
This area also served as the residential sector for residents. As stated before, the criteria for gaining such a lofty position was to be outstanding in your field of trade, usually meaning one had to be at least Rank 5 while having to give up so many rights just to live here.
Nevertheless, many still had signed on, for the benefits were just too good to pass. This number had more than doubled after Draco had lowered the criteria by one Rank for the next 2 years during the celebration party in honor of Rosella and Loki's birth.
As for the outer section, it was Eva's destination. This place was absolutely PACKED with activity, for it was the furthest visitors and those on visa were allowed to travel during their stay.
Shops, hotels, warehouses, amenities, services… everything existed in this part of Vita City-State as this place was the most developed. Only about 5% of the plots in this part were left unused, and Hikari would have to expand the borders a bit soon.
There were no houses here since residency was forbidden. As such, most visitors with a visa longer than 1 day stayed at one of the hundreds of inns, taverns, or hotels competing with each other.
Eva navigated the streets calmly, not caring that people froze as they gazed at her beauty and aura. Activity only returned after she had passed through and all the visitors would exclaim and cry out in shock, even players.
This continued until she reached the Training Hall. Due to Vita's rapid growth, they had been able to build a Rank 4 Training Hall straight up. Its services were rendered free to all players, so the patronage was astronomical.
They could have charged for it, yet the logic from Sublime here was that double-charging would only be beneficial in the short run. People already had to pay to enter the city when acquiring the visa, so the things they would want to enjoy here should either be cheap or free to further increase traffic.
Hence, the congestion.
Of course, Eva had no problems with this. Her nametag, as well as the pure white guild emblem of a Black Dragon with a circle of matagama symbols hovering around the serpent which was embossed around her chest area, left no question about who this celestial beauty was. Everyone quickly made way for her.
She entered one of the limited private rooms and choose to Rank up through the menu screen that was presented to her.
｢System to Player Announcement
Begin Rank up?
Warning!
All skills might go through unexpected changes due to this class not being supported by the system! Also, all gathered experience will be converted upon Rank up!
Are you sure you wish to proceed?
Y/N｣
She chose yes.
As expected, she was whisked away into a veil of blackness that lasted for about 2 seconds. Once she became aware of her surroundings, she found herself in a familiar place.
Eva was not like Draco who would just look at this place and admire it. She decided to investigate its makeup and construction. After some deliberation, she named it the Atavism World since it was clearly linked to their bloodlines in some way, possibly a manifestation of them.
The statues and the throne were still here, though the latter was surprisingly empty. Last time she came, a copy of Amaterasu had manifested there and looked down upon the statues with benevolence.
Maybe that avatar of her bloodline splitting some of Amaterasu's consciousness with her to fix her personality issues had resulted in some kind of problem?
｢System to Player Announcement
Beginning Celestial Prime Rank Up (2) Procedure. Standby.｣
｢Celestial Prime – Divine Rank Up (2) Procedure
Description: You have the noblest of bloodlines, as well as half the Origin Essence of an alternate universe and as such, you have the right to forge your own path as the one and only Celestial Prime. Clear the objective to complete this procedure.
Rewards: Divine Class - Celestial Prime (Rank 2)｣
｢System to Player Announcement
The objective of the Celestial Prime Rank Up (2) Procedure has been set. Player Riveting Night must complete the second ascension ceremony to clear this task.｣
The moment these system notifications came up, Eva instinctively knew what she had to do. She recognized that Amaterasu's action during her Class Up had nothing to do with the current situation.
In fact, it had been crafted to be exactly like this from the onset. The throne had been left vacant for her to sit in, allowing her to claim the respect and allegiance of her bloodline aspects… the statues.
As such, Eva calmly walked over and sat on the throne. She gazed down upon the various statues arrayed before her with a calm expression and tapped the handrest of the throne.
Unlike Draco who had immediately roared out demanding the statues to kneel, Eva just calmly roved her eyes over them and remained silent. She did not consciously exert it, but a great and suppressive pressure started to emanate from her, the remnants of the sealed Riveting Night coming to the fore.
The various lesser aspects began to sweat, despite lacking the necessary glands as beings of stone. One by one, they knelt in subservience to their supreme progenitor.
As for the three main bloodline aspects, they simply gazed at Eva without uttering a word. The Celestial Maiden smiled playfully, while the Abyssal Eye ignored her existence… Eva could even sense some hatred from it, not really directed at her, but at everything in general.
As for the Goddess of Light, it quietly judged Eva based on its own criteria that it did not share. Not wanting to waste any more time on these three fools, Eva began to address the lesser aspects.
"I am the Alpha, the beginning of all times. I represent creation, truth, and life. My will is law and my existence is fundamental. I am the Celestial Prime."
The ones who had knelt all reiterated: "You are the Alpha, progenitor of us. You represent our will, hopes, and existence. Your whims are blessings and your detractions are curses upon the world. You are our Celestial Prime."
Eva nodded with satisfaction. As the world around her began to crumble away after she achieved her goal, she gazed at the three main aspects, who were no longer as lax as before.
The Celestial Maiden was frowning while the Abyssal Eye was glaring. As for the Goddess of Light, it was probing her neutrally. They knew that the next time she came, it would be their turn, hence their reactions.
Of course, the strange realm she named the Atavism World did not disappear after her exit, but continued to persist for reasons unknown…
Once Eva appeared in the private room, she first checked the system prompts.
｢System to Player Announcement
Calculating total stat allocation… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Upgrading current class skills… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Assessing current player physique… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
Inspecting class equipment… ｣
｢System to Player Announcement
New class analysis complete. Display?
Y/N ｣
Eva obviously chose yes.
｢Celestial Prime - Divine Class (Rank 2)
Skills: None
Exp gain rate: 5%
Rank up difficulty: 10%
Class weapons: All
Class skills: Any Light, Divine, Abyssal and Creation.｣
Eva frowned deeply. 5% experience gain rate? This AI was truly brutal. This further limited her growth speed from weeks to months, but Eva understood she shouldn't complain.
The power and potential of a Divine Class were worth the price. Eva idly wondered if Draco had Ranked up already and if the same had happened to him. She giggled when imagining her soulmate vomiting blood out of anger.
Eva opened her character sheet to evaluate her skills and check how much better they had become compared to before.
｢Name: Riveting Night
Class: Celestial Prime
Rank: Lord (2)
Level: 50
Exp: 1%
Str: 70
Dex: 70
End: 70
Int: 100
Spr: 100
Cha: 100
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Searing Ray, Aura of Light, Light Ball, Purify, Instant Healing, Light Form (Rank 2), Void Form (Rank 2), Goddess Form (Rank 2)
Non-Combat Skills: Might of Light (Rank 2), Void's Blessing (Rank 2), Celestial's Dignity (Rank 2),
Tradeskills: Slave Trading (level 21, 90%), Negotiation (level 10, 12%), Tracking (level 34, 90%), Intelligence (level 1,20%)｣
｢Light Form (Rank 2) – Active skill
Effect: Assume your true light form temporarily.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
｢Void Form (Rank 2) – Active skill
Effect: Assume your true void form temporarily.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
｢Goddess Form (Rank 2) – Active skill
Effect: Assume your true goddess form temporarily.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
｢Searing Ray – Active Skill
Effect: Fire out a solid beam of condensed light energy that has absolute piercing power. This skill deals 400% Light damage.
Cooldown: 8 minutes｣
｢Aura of Light – Active Skill
Effect: Emit purified Light Energy that makes you 500% resistant to darkness damage and 40% resistant to all other forms of damage.
Duration: 1.5 minutes
Cooldown: 4 minutes｣
｢Light Ball – Active Skill
Effect: Concentrate a large amount of light energy into a spherical shape that deals huge AOE damage, amounting to 700% over 50 miles.
Cooldown: 10 minutes｣
｢Purify – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a wave of cleansing energy that removes all debuffs and converts them into buffs.
Duration: 6 minutes
Cooldown: 9 minutes｣
｢Instant Healing – Active skill
Effect: Heal 40% or 20,000 HP, whichever is greater, instantly.
Cooldown: 1.5 minutes｣
｢Might of Light (Rank 2) – Passive skill
Effect: All attacks are infused with the cleansing and edifying property of light, boosting damage by 1,500%.｣
｢Void's Blessing (Rank 2) – Passive skill
Effect: The user is incorporeal and intangible, resistant to all forms of damage below the Divine Rank. The chance of negating all damage is 20% per strike.｣
｢Celestial's Dignity (Rank 2) – Passive skill
Effect: The user is covered by the aura of Divinity. In all social interactions with entities of the same Rank or below, the user is treated as the same status as a True God emissary.｣
Eva was pleased with her skill growth, though the experience conversion made her smile bitterly. She formerly had 1,494% experience stockpiled, but it was first hit with the Rank conversion.
For a single Rank of difference, the conversion rate was 100:1. So basically, anything at the thousands would become something in the tens. 1,000% exp would become 10% exp just like that.
This was why Eva had strongly advised for Sublime and co to not bother with stockpiling. No matter how much one had, it just wasn't worth it under normal circ.u.mstances.
The remainder of Eva's experience, about 15%, which she was meant to enjoy, was then hit by her class experience gain rate, becoming a measly 0.75% experience.
Clearly, the AI had taken pity on her and rounded it up, which made Eva feel even more bitter about herself.