"Move over, let me see him!" Liora practically shouted, sprinting across the frosted training mat with her medical kit and the heavy woolen blanket.
Vespera was still sitting on the floor, holding the half-conscious boy against her chest.
She looked completely dazed, her usually flawless hair a messy tangle from the magical backlash. She carefully helped Liora wrap the thick blanket around Liam’s bare shoulders, ignoring the fact that her own arms felt entirely numb from channeling so much raw power.
"His core temperature is stabilizing," Vespera reported, her voice quiet and slightly breathless. She looked down at Liam’s chest.
The results of the brutal tempering process were completely undeniable.
His skin was no longer pale from the lack of sunlight. It carried a healthy, incredibly dense tone, and the muscular definition of his arms and abdomen looked like it had been carved out of solid marble by a master sculptor.
Liora immediately placed her warm hands on Liam’s cheeks, letting a gentle, soothing pulse of starlight magic flow into his system to ease the lingering phantom pains.
"You are an absolute idiot," Liora scolded softly, her blue eyes filled with tears of pure relief as Liam slowly blinked his eyes open. "You could have died doing something like that."
"Statistically improbable," Liam muttered, his voice rough.
He tried to push himself up, quickly realizing that Vespera was currently acting as his primary backrest.
He shifted his weight off the Ice Queen, offering her a nod of profound respect.
"Your control is flawless. I did not suffer a single point of necrotic frostbite."
Vespera rubbed her temples, trying to hide the fact that she was intensely missing the heavy, comforting weight of him resting against her.
"Do not ever ask me to do that again. I thought your heart was going to shatter during the last sixty seconds."
A cascade of golden system windows flooded Liam’s vision, completely obscuring the two worried girls hovering over him.
[Extreme Thermal Conditioning Complete!]
[Your cellular structure has been successfully forcefully mutated. E-Rank limitations have been completely shattered.]
[Strength +50]
[Endurance +60]
[New Passive Trait Unlocked: ’Abyssal Fortitude’. Your physical body can now easily withstand the kinetic recoil of C-Rank and B-Rank attacks without suffering internal hemorrhaging. You will also look fantastic without a shirt on.]
Liam dismissed the windows with a heavy sigh of relief.
The agonizing pain had been entirely worth it. He finally possessed a physical vessel capable of actually utilizing the battle techniques he had honed in his previous life. He was no longer a fragile glass cannon.
While Liam was being fussed over by two incredibly powerful young women in the subterranean safehouse, a very different kind of ordeal was taking place in the glittering central spire of the Hunter Association headquarters.
Director Vance stood at the end of a massive obsidian boardroom table.
He was sweating profusely, thoroughly ruining the collar of his expensive tailored suit.
Sitting at the head of the table was Marcus Nocturne, the President of the Hunter Association and Vespera’s father. He was a terrifyingly calm man with the same midnight hair and shattered-ice eyes as his daughter.
He was currently reading a physical dossier regarding the results of the Novice Gauntlet.
"Your nephew," Marcus began, his voice echoing loudly in the cavernous room, "lost an entire twenty-man squad in less than two hours. He was then rendered unconscious by an open-handed slap to the helmet. Is this information completely accurate, Director Vance?"
Vance swallowed hard, desperately trying to salvage his ruined reputation.
"President Nocturne, the footage is highly misleading. The boy, Liam Cross, used unregistered artifact suppression. He is a dangerous rogue element who kidnapped our priority S-Rank recruit the day before the tournament!"
Marcus slowly closed the dossier and placed it flat on the table.
He looked at the trembling Guild Director with absolute, freezing contempt.
"My daughter personally registered Liam Cross under the Nocturne estate," Marcus stated coldly. "Are you implying that the heir to this Association is harboring a criminal who uses illegal artifacts?"
"No! Of course not, sir!" Vance backpedaled frantically, his face turning an unhealthy shade of pale. "I merely meant—"
"You meant to cover up the fact that your Guild’s training standards have completely deteriorated," Marcus interrupted. "Liam Cross entered a simulated C-Rank environment entirely alone. He dismantled your heavily favored team with completely flawless stealth and tactical precision. He did exactly what a true Hunter is supposed to do. He adapted, and he conquered."
Marcus stood up from the table, adjusting his tie.
"You will immediately drop all formal grievances against the boy and the S-Rank girl. If you attempt to harass them again, I will personally strip the Silver Vanguard of its tier-one dungeon privileges. Dismissed."
Director Vance practically sprinted out of the boardroom, his career effectively dangling by a single, frayed thread.
Back in the safehouse, Liam was finally sitting up properly on the edge of the mat. He had put his t-shirt back on, much to the silent, completely unacknowledged disappointment of both girls in the room.
Liora handed him a bottle of electrolyte water, while Vespera stood nearby, checking her datapad.
"My father just sent a secure message," Vespera announced, a deeply satisfied smirk curving her lips. "The Vanguard Guild has officially dropped all charges. You are a completely free man, Cross. And Liora’s contract rights are now entirely protected under my family’s legal umbrella."
Liora let out a massive sigh of relief, leaning heavily against Liam’s shoulder. "Thank heavens. Does this mean we can actually rest now?"
Liam took a long drink of the water, feeling the raw power thrumming through his newly forged muscles. He looked up at the ceiling, thinking about the timeline he had been given on the day of his regression.
The Novice Gauntlet was over. The Vanguard Guild was off his back for now.
But the real threat was just beginning.
"We have exactly three weeks," Liam said quietly, completely shattering the brief moment of peace.
Vespera lowered her datapad, her eyes narrowing. "Three weeks until what?"
"Until a Category Six Gate opens directly in the center of the financial district," Liam stated, his voice completely deadpan. "It will spawn a legion of Abyssal Knights, and the boss monster will be a corrupted Drake. If we do not kill it within the first two hours of the breach, it will completely level half the city."
Liora stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open. Vespera simply blinked, entirely unsure if he was making a morbid joke.
"How could you possibly know that?" Vespera demanded, stepping closer. "Association seers cannot predict a gate appearance more than three days in advance."
Liam looked at the Ice Queen, then down at the beautiful starlight healer resting against his arm.
The truth was too absurd for them to handle.
"I just do," Liam answered calmly.
The golden System window flashed brightly in the corner of his vision.
[The First Cataclysm Draws Close.]
[Time to show the world what a Shadow Sovereign actually looks like. Try not to die, virgin.]