Within the x.x.xX Continent, there lied a kingdom named the Seraph Kingdom, a kingdom that has been standing for over 500 years already due to its first and current king, King Seraphim. King Seraphim was a valiant warrior in his early days, creating a new path of ascension for himself, allowing him to establish a kingdom like Seraph Kingdom.

Within this kingdom were 15 princes, with three of them dying due to the conflicts that arose before the compet.i.tion for the throne started. To be honest, there was really no need for the compet.i.tion for the throne.

King Seraphim was someone who had already ascended to a Rank 8 Cla.s.s, one step left before becoming a Rank 9 Cla.s.s Wielder, and two steps left before transcending to a new realm. Of course, as someone of a very high cla.s.s, his vitality was incredibly strong, giving him a lifespan of over 1500 years. But he had dreams, dreams to go further, dreams to turn his kingdom into an empire, an empire that could rule over the continent.

And becoming a Rank 9 Cla.s.s was only the first step towards that.

It is also a story saved for later.

Within the Seraph Kingdom, specifically the castle in the very middle of the Seraph Kingdom, lied a very large and st.u.r.dy tower that looked like it could withstand the test of time.

This large tower consisted of 5 floors, and only one being could be seen looking out of the window of the 5th floor. This being wore a crown on his head, signifying that he was a prince of the Seraph Kingdom. He wore clothes that befitted someone of royalty, combined with sword-like eyebrows, ash blonde hair, and his chiseled face, it seemed like he was a mix between the east and the west.

This prince was none other than the Third Prince, one of the top contenders for the throne. As for the Ninth Prince? Vanadir? He was considered useless.

Tapping his fingers on the resting arm of his chair, the Third Prince could not help but sigh as he looked out of the window, muttering, "It seems that the plan was unsuccessful."

Whoos.h.!.+

Not long after finis.h.i.+ng his sentence, he felt a breeze pa.s.s through his body and stop only a few meters behind him. A few seconds later, a black silhouette gradually manifested from thin air, revealing a man covered in black clothing, with his two eyes being the only thing visible.

"Your Highness." The black silhouette bowed and kneeled down before greeting the Third Prince. "I have some bad news to tell you."

"I had that feeling when you came in." The Third Prince turned his head around to look at the black silhouette, before standing up to gradually walk closer to the black silhouette. "Did you kill the Ninth Prince?"

As for the black silhouette's answer, it shook its head with its eyes closed from left to right. That's right.

This black silhouette was the Rank 5 Void a.s.sa.s.sin that tried to kill Vanadir.

"I was not able to kill him in one attack. You know me, I'm at my strongest when I attack in one go," the a.s.sa.s.sin said to the third prince.

"Yeah, that's a part of your cla.s.s. You don't have to go into the specifics," the Third Prince waved his hand as he replied. "Anyways, since you were unsuccessful in killing the Ninth Prince, I'll have to reduce the amount I'll give to you."

"That's fine by me." The a.s.sa.s.sin shrugged. "It makes sense anyway."

The Third Prince then snapped a finger, opening up a rift just a few decimeters away from the a.s.sa.s.sin, gold coins gradually flowing out of the rift one by one.

After a minute or so, the rift was then closed, a small pile of gold coins being made a few decimeters away from the a.s.sa.s.sin.

"Nonetheless, I still have to thank you for killing the Twelfth, Fifth, and Second Prince. I increased the amount a bit than it should be thanks to that," Third Prince said with something going on in his mind.

The a.s.sa.s.sin hastily and efficiently grabbed every gold coin from the floor, leaving no gold coin behind. Nodding in response, the a.s.sa.s.sin then said, "Thank you for your generosity, Third Prince. If you need my services next time, then you know what to do."

Whoos.h.!.+

And with the breeze of the wind, the black silhouette of the a.s.sa.s.sin in front of the Third Prince's eyes, leaving him to himself once more.

Closing her eyes for a bit, he gradually made his way towards his chair, sitting back down.

After a while, he opened his eyes with a sense of clarity within them, muttering, "It seems that the Ninth Prince's protector is quite strong to fend off against a Rank 5 Cla.s.s Wielder's attacks. An offensive Rank 5 Cla.s.s Wielder at that."

"I'm going to have to change my sights onto the Seventh Prince."

"If I successfully kill him, that would be great."

At that instant, a malicious grin crept up his face.

Only if he knew what was coming for him.

Within x.x.xX Continent, Greater Tempest Cliff.

"Hah!"

Whoos.h.!.+

Cras.h.!.+

Within the inner parts of the forest, a man and a large beast was fighting against one another. Against ordinary expectations, the beast was being beaten up badly. Extremely badly.

Cras.h.!.+ Cras.h.!.+ Cras.h.!.+

From the strength hidden beneath the attack from the man, the large beast was sent cras.h.i.+ng through multiple thick trees in a row, only stopping at around the 15th tree.

Thud!

The large beast landed on the ground face first, with wounds and bruises all over its body. Not only that, it had also acc.u.mulated multiple internal injuries from the fight.

It struggled to stand upright, but eventually it was able to stand up. While doing so, it asked itself, "Why the f.u.c.k did I provoke such a monster?"

Indeed, the beast thought that the human was a monster.

Rustle. Rustle.

As the beast heard rustling sounds coming nearer and nearer, the beast stood frozen in place, fear taking over its body. It wanted to run away from it, but it knew very well that it was inevitable.

Eventually, the human got past through the bushes, revealing its unscathed figure once more to the beast.

This human was none other than Vanadir, fighting against beasts at a level equal or higher than him in order to gain inspiration and combat experience Inspiration for what, you may ask? Inspiration to ascend to a higher cla.s.s.

Although there have been multiple paths of ascension created throughout the continent's history, to truly ascend to a higher cla.s.s would need comprehension, perseverance and inspiration.

"Be grateful you're being killed for my improvement, beast," Vanadir could not help but say as Wind energy particles started to coalesce around the blade of his sword, Magnus Tempestria.

Whoos.h.!.+

Without the beast being aware, Vanadir dashed towards the beast and started slas.h.i.+ng erratically yet accurately, as if it was a fight between beasts.

"[Tempest Frenzy]!"

Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+

The sound of metal cutting through flesh could be heard multiple times as the beast's cries resonated through the forest. Gradually, the cries got weaker and weaker as it turned into whimpers, ending up with total silence at the very end.

"Haah...haah..." Vanadir looked at the beast he killed as he gasped for air, seemingly obtaining an idea as to what the essence of his Ascension skill was.

When starting out as an Animate, one has to master a Transition skill. Once one has transitioned to a Rank 1 Cla.s.s, one can now obtain an Ascension skill to use to ascend all the way to a Rank 9 Cla.s.s or higher.

"Rather than forcing the wind to follow your path, you instead follow the path of the wind, allowing you to attack in a more natural, yet forceful manner," Vanadir muttered to himself as he pondered over it for a bit, seemingly satisfied with his conclusion a minute later.

"Your Highness, we must move to another place, lest we get caught up with another beast unprepared." All of a sudden, a voice familiar to Vanadir resounded near where he was, making him slightly frown in the process.

"Dane, if you talked a little bit later, then I might've digested what I was comprehending fully." Vanadir could not help but sigh and look at Dane, who was floating in the air.

Still floating in the air, Dane did a half bow and apologized to Vanadir. "I deeply apologize to Your Highness for interrupting, but this matter is truly urgent. According to my magic detection spell, a Rank 4 Beast is heading towards this way, and I'm afraid that even with my help, we won't be able to kill it."

"A Rank 4 Beast?" After hearing what Dane said, rather than fear striking his heart, it was instead filled with self-confidence. "Maybe this is the thing I need to finally transition to a Rank 3 Cla.s.s," Vanadir muttered to himself.

To be honest, Vanadir was a sort of genius, especially at comprehension. He had already comprehended the Rank 2 version of his Ascension skill to 99 percent, he only needed that single percent to fully master it and ascend to a higher level.

"Dane, how long will it take for the beast to arrive?" Shaking the blood off his blade, Vanadir asked.

"Around 30 seconds, why do you ask Your Highness?" Dane replied with a follow-up question. Only for him to realize what Vanadir is doing. "Your Highness, please don't tell me you're doing what I'm thinking."

"Don't worry, Dane. I won't tell you to fight with me or anything, I just need you to support me from the back." Vanadir looked at Dane and grinned in a slightly mischievous manner. "I'll do all the fighting, you just have to debuff the beast as much as possible. Can you suppress 25% of its power?"

Dane did not know whether to be concerned or not. If he was up against the beast alone, he would have no problems killing it. But he knew very well that Vanadir would die under a single attack from a beast at that level. He just said that he could not kill the beast if they worked together so Vanadir was safe.

But it seems Vanadir liked to take risks.

'I guess I have no choice but to support him, huh.' With this thought, Dane could not help but wryly smile.

"I can suppress 25% of it power no problem, Your Highness. But that would take around 20 seconds to cast. I need you to stall it for 5 seconds because there are only 15 seconds left between you and the beast," Dane replied.

"That's fine with me." Vanadir licked his lips as he went on his battle stance, radiating an aura of killing intent infused with Wind energy particles.

"Ahhh, I'm getting fired up!"