Daniel couldn’t recall a single Awakened with a 9-Star Soultrait. In the first place, the only Awakened with 8-Star Soultraits he remembered were probably the Ancestor of the Fang family, Cleave Fenrir, and Hesta Fang…their sister.
Putting aside Michael, whose Soultrait was more valuable than the 8-Star Soultraits of Cleave Fenrir and Hesta Fang, Daniel couldn’t believe that his potential was so much higher than it used to be.
He’d awakened a 9-Star Soultrait. How was that possible?
“Calm down a little, Danny. Try to remember what’s different now than how it used to be when you manifested Reinforced Sword Qi,” Daniel murmured to himself.
He put a hand over his chest and took a few deep breaths.
‘The first difference was that I could sense and see the mythical forces sweeping through me unhindered. But then again, I couldn’t see my mindspace with closed eyes before. I didn’t even know what a mindspace was when I awakened Reinforced Sword Qi.’
Daniel tilted his head. He was interrupted by Lilica, Mika, and some others charging into the wooden manor. Their eyes widened in shock and terror when they saw and heard that the wooden manor had been split in half. Fortunately, it was only a false alarm. The wooden manor might have been destroyed, but they weren’t under attack.
Everyone stared blankly at Daniel until he excused himself. He turned around, jumped down from the second floor of the wooden manor, and moved through Arx without letting anyone or anything disrupt his thoughts. f𝚛𝐞𝐰en𝗼v𝚕.𝚌o𝐦
‘The mythical forces swept through me unhindered, but that wasn’t anything grand. It might be part of the reason I managed to awaken Sword God, but it is only a portion. My physique, mind, and soul felt like they had fused, just like Michael felt during and after his High Ascension. That must be part of how I manifested Sword God as well. My entire being was in sync, allowing the mythical forces to move through me much easier than a few years ago.’
Daniel nodded slowly. His entire body was cleansed. After all, his vessel was new and void of impurities. It was flawless.
‘My Soul is also on the level of a Higher Lifeform thanks to Michael’s Soul Grimoire and the SoulStar Fragments. Even though I’m actually a Tierless Lesser Lifeform, my Soul is on a whole different level of existence.’
Daniel was confused as to why he was suddenly granted a 9-Star Soultrait. Yet, as odd as it might seem, Daniel Fang felt that Sword God was his Soultrait. Sword God felt right. It felt like it was always supposed to be with him.
Not being restrained and shackled down by the family’s Curse was probably the best thing that could have happened to Daniel. Thinking back to the pain he had gone through during the Awakening of Reinforced Sword Qi, Daniel could only shudder. The faint memories, memories he thought he had forgotten, resurfaced.
‘I always felt like something pulled me down… That something was holding me back. But Michael never had those problems. Even Hesta or Mother don’t seem to feel like that. It’s almost…like the Curse strengthened them while it weakened me…’
Daniel wasn’t sure how to feel about this. The more he thought about it, the more obvious it was.
The Curse of the Fenrir bloodline shackled him. It blocked his true potential.
A chuckle escaped his lips, “Looks like I was never supposed to contain a Curse.”
It was interesting to note that his new vessel looked exactly like his old body. Daniel didn’t feel much different either. It was just that his body was much lighter and that Daniel was free of any troubles. There were no impurities within him, no Curse, and his Soul was incredibly strong.
He was a perfect existence and manifested a 9-Star Soultrait, therefore.
It was crazy, but so was the fact that Michael and Daniel were still connected. They could communicate with each other even though they were in different dimensions. Of course, there seemed to be some delay in their messages, but that wasn’t odd considering that they could talk to each other while being in different dimensions with another time dilation.
Filled with excitement, Daniel decided to go for a hunt.
He stretched his body and walked to the Greater Nature Spirit, where a highly detailed map awaited him. Since the Greater Nature Spirit’s root network stretched far through the Outer Untamed Jungle, Daniel could check the situation in the Pentagon Fort and surrounding areas.
‘Since the Untamed Jungle doesn’t have any Tierless Monsters to hunt, I should leave the Untamed Jungle to check out the Savannah’s borders. But that would be boring. I have a Legendary Sword Artifact that replenishes my Stamina with every kill and an Epic Accessory Artifact with shield enchantments.’ Daniel thought, tilting his head once again as he appraised the map before him.
‘And I have Sword God. It enhanced my Physique, Mind, and Soul considerably. My Physique is not that weak anymore, and I know for a fact that my mastery of the sword has never been that high.’
Daniel thought back to the dangers his brother had endured to grow stronger, and the corners of his lips curled upward.
He didn’t approve of Michael’s actions but couldn’t help himself. Daniel felt like throwing himself into a lethal situation now that he was back alive. He sought the thrill of combat.
It might be stupid to search Tier-1 Monsters to hunt as a Tierless Awakened with the means to advance to Tier-1 in no time, but he didn’t care. In the first place, Sword God forced him to use more resources to refine his War Rune. What would have taken a few days without the influx of additional resources or the active use of a technique would now require more than a week. Probably two weeks, if not longer.
Daniel pinpointed his target on the map and left. He walked out of Arx, swinging Zaer around in a deadly precise manner to get used to the Artifact and his new permanent companion, Sword God.
The longer he wielded the blade, the more familiar it felt. At first, he didn’t think too hard about it, but the situation changed drastically once he upped his guard against the threats of the Untamed Jungle. The instance in which he left the safe haven of Arx changed the world around Daniel.
His perception skyrocketed, and he changed his stance ever so slightly. he was ready to engage in a fierce battle at once.
But since the neighboring monsters knew the tight security of Arx and the other Pentagon Fort settlements, he didn’t encounter any fierce monsters. A few Bilrox were running for errands, some Lesser Elementals were on patrol, and some herbivores were fooling around. The herbivores felt safe and sound near Pentagon Fort. The strongest monsters in the surroundings didn’t dare to venture too close to Pentagon Fort, creating a perfect zone for weaker monsters to live.
Daniel considered testing Zaer and Sword God on the herbivores but shook his head. Since the Untamed Army and others didn’t hunt the herbivores nearby, he figured his brother wanted to build a sanctuary for weaker monsters. They would only be hunted down once their population crossed a certain threshold.
At least, that’s what he considered when he walked past the batch of human-sized elephants right before a group of Gem Jaguars attacked.
Daniel tensed up a quarter of a second before the first Gem Jaguar emerged from the thicket near one of the juvenile Tinophants. He saw it from the corner of his eyes and reacted instantaneously.
The first battle of his second life started right away.