[Fifteen Years Later...]
Sunlight pierced through the gap in the curtains, a warm glow touching Hastora's cheek, waking him from his deep sleep. He rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little drowsy. Hastora got out of bed and sat on the edge of the mattress.
"It's morning, huh," he said, trying to gather energy to walk.
Hastora got out of bed, grabbed a towel, and stepped out of the room. His vision was still a bit blurry, but it didn't bother him too much. He walked to the bathroom to freshen up. After showering, he returned to his room to put on his clothes, then headed to the dining table in the kitchen.
"You're up early... Not like you usually are," Elsia said, looking like she was cooking breakfast. Her voice sounded cold, but a smile was etched on her face.
"I'm going to the forest today," Hastora replied, "I have to get up early."
Elsia frowned, then went back to cooking.
Fifteen years had passed since Hastora reincarnated, reborn as the son of a commoner. He lived in a small village under the dominion of a noble.
The villagers here lived in fear, the shadow of cruel nobles haunting them. Yet, despite their fear, they managed to interact normally in their daily lives.
This world remained the same, nothing had changed. Initially, Hastora had thought that life in the future would change drastically, everyone would find their own happiness, and life would be like that of ordinary humans.
But the reality was a mirage. There was no true happiness for commoners who lived under the rule of those who were stronger. They were mere toys, discarded at a whim.
Hastora sighed, "In the end, it's all the same," he said.
Elsia and Ard immediately turned towards Hastora, both raising their eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" Ard asked.
"Nothing, it was just a word that happened to pop into my head," Hastora replied.
Ard and Elsia were silent for a moment, then quickly returned to their respective activities. Ard was reading a newspaper, and Elsia was cooking breakfast.
After a few minutes of waiting, the food was finally ready. Elsia served the food on the dining table made of teak wood.
"Breakfast is ready," Elsia said.
Two large grilled fish were on the table, likewise, a large amount of venison.
They immediately ate the food, their hunger driving them, until finally, the food was finished.
Hastora got up from his seat and immediately left the house without saying a word. He walked towards the large forest located not far from the village.
There were many monsters in the large forest, and of course, this would benefit Hastora. He could restore most of the power he had lost after using his magic.
The magic <𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀> allowed someone to reincarnate themselves into the future. But, the effect was that most of their power would disappear.
Hastora had used magic to reincarnate, and of course, most of his power had been lost due to the use of that magic. The only way to get his power back was to get stronger, killing monsters and other powerful creatures was the answer.
Upon arriving at the large forest, Hastora was immediately greeted by five Rank C monsters. The monster was a Red Wolf, a creature known for its sharp claws that could easily cut through anything, and its speed made it very agile.
The monsters attacked Hastora from all directions, there was no way to blur the situation. The only right choice was to…
Kill them all.
Hastora drew his sword from its hiding place within his shadows.
Srethhh
All the wolves were immediately slashed by him. His attack was incredibly sharp and fast, a checkmate for the Red Wolves.
"It turned out to be easier than I thought," said Hastora, feeling a little disappointed with the Red Wolves.
He put his sword back into the shadows, then walked deeper into the forest.
The further he went, the stronger the energy emanating from the large forest felt. The energy came from the monsters living inside.
Shortly after, a large monster appeared. The creature had six tentacles on its back, a pair of horns, and sharp claws. The energy emitted by the monster also felt much different from the energy emitted by the Red Wolves earlier.
The energy from this monster felt intimidating, strong, and evil, enough to scare creatures its size just by looking at it.
The monster roared. The sound echoed through the large forest. The monsters that were nearby immediately ran away in fear.
However, Hastora was not deterred at all by the monster. He drew his sword from behind the shadows, and stared at the creature with a flat and cold expression.
"Want to fight?" Hastora asked, pointing his sword at the monster.
The monster felt challenged, and it attacked Hastora using its tentacles.
Hastora dodged all of its attacks easily, as if they were merely a child's attack.
When he found an opening, Hastora immediately ran quickly towards the monster. He coated his sword with an aura. Hastora's aura was pitch black, strong, and frightening—making the monster shiver a little.
"Don't daydream," Hastora said, trying to cage one of the monster's tentacles.
Two of the monster's tentacles were easily cut off, it felt like cutting a piece of paper for Hastora.
However, this was not over yet. The monster regenerated, its previously severed tentacles now grew back as if they had never been cut off at all.
It roared for the second time, this time the sound was even louder. The monster jumped towards Hastora.
Hastora jumped to the right to avoid the attack. But, the monster didn't stop. It attacked Hastora again and again. The surrounding land was destroyed, large and tall trees immediately fell due to the monster's attack.
"This is starting to get annoying," Hastora grumbled as he ran.
The monster kept attacking Hastora with its tentacles. It attacked him brutally, not giving him a chance to attack back.
The monster also released a dark red energy ball, the energy ball emitted a large and powerful magical energy.
The energy ball was fired towards Hastora, leaving a dark red trail in the air.
Hastora immediately turned around after realizing the attack. He closed his eyes, while gathering a large amount of pitch-black energy.
His eyes opened, and…
"Dark Swordsmanship level one, <𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻>"
A quick slash easily cut through the six tentacles in a flash, the slash leaving a dark black trail in the air.
Then, Hastora seemed to want to use magic. He concentrated mana into his palm in a large amount in the blink of an eye, and…
"
A gravity in the form of a black hole appeared in his palm. Its very strong gravitational pull caused the surrounding trees to be sucked into the black hole.
Hastora threw the Black Hole at the energy ball earlier. Immediately, the energy ball was immediately swallowed up by the black hole.
Hastora's attack created a silence in the fighting area. The monster just stood there, its body trembling uncontrollably.
The monster slowly stepped back, intending to run away from Hastora. However, Hastora would never let that happen. He jumped towards the monster.
Dead.
That's all that was on his mind right now. The monster ran into the forest, but Hastora would stop it.
He created 10 dark black chains through his magic, <𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀>. The magic that allowed him to have complete control over darkness.
The dark chains trapped the monster tightly, causing the monster to fall instantly.
Hastora walked towards the monster, holding a sword coated in a pitch-black aura.
He looked terrifying. His blood-red eyes blazed, a gentle breeze blew with each step he took.
A sight that is very suitable for a tyrant.
"Dark Swordmanship level one, <𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻>"
Srethhh
The monster was split in two, leaving a dark trace on its cut. The monster's core was destroyed, leaving the monster's body completely destroyed.
"Not bad," said Hastora, putting his sword back into the shadows.
He took out a grimoire from the dimensional storage he created through spatial magic, and gave the grimoire a little magical energy.
After that, a number came out.
The number showed the number 10,000. It was a large number, Hastora closed his grimoire again, he held his chin and looked like he was thinking about something.
The number that appeared in Hastora's grimoire is Reality Point (RP).
Reality Point (RP) is a metaphysical unit that represents the existential value of a creature in the face of reality. In a world woven by absolute laws and order, not all creatures have the right to truly "exist". RP is proof that your existence is recognized by reality itself.
The higher the RP you have, the greater the stability of your existence, the stronger your influence on the world, and the wider the layer of reality that can accept you. RP is not just energy or power—it is the authorization of existence, the weight of existence, and the ability to resist the rejection of reality.
In high-level battlefields, RP determines who is able to survive attacks that erase concepts, resist the will of world law, and set foot in worlds that reject basic existential logic.
Creatures with low RP can disappear from history simply because they are touched by a reality that does not recognize them. Conversely, creatures with very high RP can make the world adjust its laws to allow them to remain.
Imagine this, RP is "permission from reality" for someone's power to truly work. So, what is the actual relationship?
RP= permission to access high power. RP= resistance to existential attacks and influences. RP has absolutely nothing to do with someone's combat skills.
The level of someone's class calculated based on RP is as follows:
Class E: 1.000-2.000 RP
Class D: 2.000-4.000 RP
Class C: 4.000-8.000 RP
Class B: 8.000-10.000 RP
Class A: 10.000-15.000 RP
Special Class A: 20.000+ RP
Disaster Class: 25.000 RP
Awakened Class: 100.000+ (exceeds millions) RP.
Currently, Hastora's RP has just reached 10,000, indicating that he is currently a Class B creature.
Of course, that is not enough.
He must reach a number that exceeds millions to get his power back. Which means he has to reach the awakened creature class.
Awakened creatures are creatures that have evolved. One example of evolution is Demon Lord.
The way to evolution to become a Demon Lord itself must use 10,000 souls as payment and obtain Dark Factor.
Hastora must reach that stage. But how?
Hastora decided to go deeper into the forest, all for the sake of achieving his goal. As he was about to go deeper into the forest, a very loud sound was heard from the direction of the village, the sound echoed throughout the forest.
Explosion!
It was the sound of an explosion, Hastora quickly ran away from the forest and ran back towards the village—.
Upon arriving there, he stood frozen with an expressionless face.
"What happened?"
To be continued in the next chapter…