Chapter 36 – Stellaris Aegis
"LEVEL UP!"
• Mana: D › D+
• Strength: D › D+
• Speed: D › D+
• Endurance: E+ › D
"Skill Up!"
• Triple Arc Slash (E › D)
• Mana Sensory (F › E)
• Meridian Sync (F › E)
"New Skill Acquired"
• Shadow Sever (C)
"Status Screen"
Name: Hideo Takumi
Race: Human
Age: 17
Jobs: Swordsman (D) | Mage (E) | Assassin (D) | Acolyte (F) | Archer (E) | Alchemist (E) | Summoner (F)
Current Stats:
• Mana: D › D+
• Strength: D › D+
• Intelligence: S+
• Speed: D › D+
• Endurance: E+ › D
Skills: Learn (~), Giving (~), Memory (~) Hiding (~) Mana Sensory (F › E) Theoretical Convergence (E), Meridian Sync (F › E), Basic Extraction (E), Organic Synthesis (E), Triple Arc Slash (E › D), Shadow Sever (C)
The flood of notifications faded from view.
Hideo remained still for a few seconds, eyes lost in the empty air. Then he exhaled slowly.
His body felt lighter—just slightly. A far cry from perfection, but still... it was progress.
Tonight, he had climbed one more step. However small, it was his.
Without a word, he turned and stepped into his residence.
Inside his chamber, Hideo moved in silence.
He didn't even glance at Rin, the young servant who greeted him with a polite bow.
He sat on the edge of his bed, face unreadable. Not angry. Not sad. Just cold—like a block of ice resting quietly beneath a frozen lake.
His eyes stared up at the ceiling, but his thoughts drifted far beyond the walls.
Ever since his reincarnation, something within him had shifted. His careless attitude had always been a mask. A convenient shell.
A mask worn by someone who preferred solitude.
Someone cruel—toward others, and toward himself.
His reputation as a troublemaker was just another tool.
And he knew—he couldn't let the former self of this body resurface.
But he also couldn't throw it away completely.
"To survive in this world, I have to become the perfect mask."
His gaze sharpened.
Those weren't the eyes of a boy anymore.
They belonged to someone who saw through shadows—cold, calculating, and void of doubt.
"In the face of the heavens and the earth, thousands of lives are just numbers."
"I will carve my own path."
Steady now, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small bundle—spoils from the battle earlier that night.
Three lives lost, cleanly.
Not common thieves—but coordinated, trained. Likely part of something far larger.
Inside the bundle was a golden-lacquered wooden box.
As he opened it, a faint, luxurious aroma filled the room.
"Goldensilk Sandalwood… The box alone is worth more than a Grade-A weapon."
Within it rested a smaller container—glowing white jade, cold to the touch.
Hideo's expression grew serious.
The jade sealed something powerful. Something… dangerous.
He peeled away the final layer.
A thick, glossy hide wrapped the object inside—dark, rippling with restrained energy. Even without touching it, Hideo knew.
"This isn't ordinary."
"A-grade monster skin? No... this is protection for something far more precious."
Carefully, he opened it.
At its core was a sphere—black and red—pulsing faintly, like it held a heartbeat of its own.
"Stellaris Aegis," he whispered.
His breath caught in his throat.
He had never seen one before. But every old text he had devoured, every ancient diagram, all pointed to this.
A condensed core of raw energy, formed in rare zones of mana convergence. The heart of an S-rank entity—naturally crystallized.
And not only was it real… it was stable.
[Flashback – Three Years Ago]
Rain poured down over the ruins of a hidden valley.
Dai Wanli stood alone, soaked in blood and stormwater.
Before him, an elder collapsed—his body burning from within.
"That creature... was beyond us…"
The dying man handed over a box, voice trembling.
"A gift from hell... Hide it."
Then his body dissolved into ash.
From that moment on, the Dai Clan lived under a silent shadow.
As long as the Stellaris Aegis existed, death could arrive at any time.
That box had been locked away. Guarded.
Until now.
Until it was stolen.
Back in Hideo's room.
He narrowed his eyes.
"No wonder they sent twenty men for it… But too bad they ran into me."
He placed his hand on the surface of the Aegis.
The energy within pulsed—ancient, divine, terrifying.
"If I can refine this… I might be able to push past my current limits."
"But refinement will take time. And knowledge."
He closed the box.
"Abe Youran… You've been planning this for years."
"But in the end, this treasure belongs to me."