Aurora, being the capital of a massive empire, wasn't anything to scoff at. The city's perimeter was thousands of kilometers long, as opposed to Archdale which was roughly the size of Los Angeles, around 600 km.
Damien was still relaxing on top of the carriage with Katherine and Zara, who had come out earlier since it seemed that there was no more danger. His guard was mostly lowered now though.
Damien never thought to ask about Katherine's real name or status, but according to her, inside Aurora, she was untouchable, so Damien wasn't worried about attacks anymore.
Aurora had a clear resemblance to cities on Earth, besides the architectural style. It was separated into various districts that served different purposes such as the commercial and residential districts.
When Damien spread his awareness, he noticed that he could only cover around 3/4ths of the city. Since this was also his teleportation range, it was a significant discovery.
And in the center of it all was a palace that was larger than any building Damien had seen before. Since Aurora was built on a slope, it could be seen even from outside the city walls.
Being the city where most of the empire's nobles reside, there was a clear caste system in place, resulting in scenery that grew more and more refined as it reached the center.
With the caste system, Damien expected to see a slum or something along those lines, but he was surprised that he couldn't find anything of the sort. After asking Katherine, he found out that Aurora was the only empire that didn't condone slavery and forced labor of any sort.
It seemed their king was a smart man who understood that such practices, while beneficial in the short run, only end up leading to internal conflict and rebellion over time.
Although there was still some slight discrimination between castes, it wasn't enough to brew conspiracy. However, this was just on the surface. There seemed to be a supremacist faction within the nobles, but they didn't have much freedom to move without having a 4th class in their ranks to rival the emperor.
Another half-hour later, the group reached the Adventurer's Guild, which was also much bigger than the one in Archdale. It was basically a skyscraper, but Damien couldn't understand the need for such space within an adventurers guild until he entered inside.
The first five floors were like a larger and cleaner version of the guild in Archdale, but above that, there were many differences. First was the 6th to 10th floor, which was a sort of trade center for adventurers to buy and sell things they received or gained on their quests.
Damien couldn't sense what was located above that, but he didn't need to. It seemed that this wasn't a mere branch of the guild, rather it was its headquarters. The floors above the 10th floor were probably for logistics, with the top floor designated for the guild master.
Although each branch of the guild had a guild master, there was only one true master of the adventurers guild.
A rumored half-step demigod.
Damien's eyes burned as he thought of this level of power, but he quickly suppressed that feeling as he walked with the rest of the group to the reception area. Without any delay, they were able to gain the promised rewards for the quest.
For some reason, Damien had assumed he wouldn't get rewards since it was his qualification mission, but he was wrong. Just like the other 5, he received a whole 600 gold coins. It seemed that Katherine's backing was loaded.
After the others said their goodbyes and parted ways, Damien stayed at the desk. "I'd like my new guild card." He stated to the receptionist lady.
"Ah!" She exclaimed. "I apologize sir, but there were some slight changes to the card you were meant to be given. Due to your feats of slaying a 3rd class during the mission, you've been granted access to S rank quests even while your rank remains at A."
It seemed the guild was making the change in his status before handing him the card. 5 minutes later, the lady pulled out a pure white card.
"This is your new guild card. If you would like to accept any quests or ask any questions, feel free to come to me. Enjoy the rest of your day!" She said with a cheerful smile on her face.
Damien smiled lightly at her and nodded before walking to the mission board with a slight pep in his step. This was because he had made a huge achievement today. He had finally held a normal conversation with another person that wasn't Zara.
Naturally, this person was Katherine. Although they'd separated a while ago, Damien was still proud of himself for the improvement in his social skills.
Though he was still stiff towards literally anyone else, he chose to ignore that fact just like he had been ignoring Zara's teasing for the last hour or so.
After looking over the mission board for a bit, Damien chose a classic beast slaying mission.
And then, 3 more months passed.
In these 3 months, not much happened. Damien continued to take S rank quests and a few A rank quests at the guild and his nickname, "Void", began to spread.
However, most people chose to call him by a different nickname.
Due to the fact that Damien only took extermination and slaying quests, his extremely clear speed, 100% clear rate, and the massive black wolf that seemingly lurked in his shadow, people began calling him the "Grim Reaper" much to Damien's amusement.
Some of the experienced adventurers began treating him as an equal while the rookies admired him. This was because his advent came with information on his past.
He had appeared out of nowhere, adding to his mysteriousness, and on his first mission, he had slain a 3rd class as a 2nd class being.
During these 3 months, Damien had earned quite the sum of money and had bought himself a mansion within Aurora. It seemed that adventurers at A-rank and above had similar status to nobles so Damien was able to live in a relatively lavish environment.
He hadn't been slacking in his training either. Since he had just created the 3rd step of his sword art, he decided to put all his focus on vector control. Damien's defense was already at a level that was impenetrable by those at the same level, and he even managed to figure out a few offensive uses of his ability.
His gravity control was now able to crush 1st class and mid-level 2nd class beings with ease, while those stronger than that level would only be slowed down.
However, he could also control gravity to move in any direction, so disrupting their movement or attack patterns was much simpler than it used to be.
He had also experimented with controlling molecules, increasing their vibration rate to create plasma beams. He had also created an ability that mimicked a sort of space blade which gave him a less destructive attack for his space affinity.
Damien refused to attempt anything with smaller particles, as he felt he'd just end up killing himself at his level of control.
The last thing he had begun experimenting with was personal vectors. He had glimpsed this concept when he recreated his left arm, but he never expanded on it. This specific research was still in its preliminary phases, so he didn't have many uses for it yet. These new abilities had contributed a great deal towards his grim reaper title.
Damien hadn't run into Katherine again since the mission ended either, but he didn't mind much. He had many things to do, so if they met then they met. Otherwise, he wouldn't think about it too much. She might be his only human friend in this world, but they both had their own priorities.
Today, Damien had decided to go to the tavern and relax for a bit. He had been working constantly once again while forgetting to rest. Although this habit was technically bad for him, he had long forgone the need to sleep.
He would just devour a few beasts when he felt like he was getting tired and used the energy to clear his fatigue.
However, at Zara's urging, Damien took a single day every week for a break. Usually, he would just have a drink or two and then relax and talk to Zara for the day, however today while he was at the tavern, he heard an interesting piece of news.
"Hey, did you hear?" A random man said to his friend. "The Nexus event is starting in 6 months, and since it's the 1000th anniversary since the first one, the prizes are huge!"
"What are the prizes?" The friend asked eagerly.
"Third place and Second place prizes are crazy but not enough to be so excited. It's the first place prize that matters most."
The man's friend was beginning to lose patience, and seeing that the anticipation of the friend and the crowd that was listening in on his conversation reached its peak, the man spoke once more.
"Elixir.The heavenly potion that can cure any wound or illness."
Damien froze as the man's words played on repeat inside his head. A potion that could cure any wound or disease. Even if one was on the brink of death with their heart pierced and body mutilated, Elixir could bring them back to the peak of their health.
With this information came a rush of emotion. Scenes of his mother replayed in his mind. Her efforts to raise him after his dad disappeared, the constant stress she endured that started turning her hair white even before she was 40, and the way that she never let him worry about a thing, even while she was carrying such a major burden.
Ever since he was old enough to understand the struggles she was going through just to give him a proper life, he had been overflowing with the urge to repay her, but before he could even gain a method to do so, the world changed. His mother fell into a coma and rather than being able to repay her, he was forced to do everything he could to just keep her alive.
So many things had been happening recently that Damien had put all these thoughts to the back of his mind, but the Elixir made him recall one of the only things he missed about Earth. If he could truly win first place in this event and gain the prize, he would have a way to cure his mother the second he gets back to Earth.
His old determination rose to prominence once more as Damien managed to lift himself off of his seat and rush out of the tavern. His destination? The adventurers guild. The trade center on the 6th to 10th floor wasn't just for material items, but information as well.
And while the man in the tavern would be much cheaper, he preferred to spend some money to use a reliable source instead. He had plenty of money anyway. He wasn't a lavish spender in the slightest and his 3 months of constant work ended up compiling him a small fortune.
Entering the guild, Damien went straight to the 8th floor where the information brokers stayed and queued into line. All of the brokers who were allowed to sell their services at the guild were trustworthy, so it didn't matter which one he went to.
Plus, the information he was looking for wasn't secretive, so he didn't need to be cautious.
Half an hour later, it was Damien's turn, and he didn't waste a second as he entered the private room. In front of Damien was a stick-like old man with a flowing white beard that made him look like a martial arts master.
"What do you seek from me today?" The old man said as Damien made himself comfortable on the couch in front of him.
"I want all information you have on the upcoming Nexus Event. From the general things to the requirements to participate." Damien responded.
"Very well. That will be 350 gold."
Damien stared at the old man for a few seconds before nodding his head and taking out a storage ring with the money in it. It was well known that the brokers here were exorbitant in their prices, so he didn't make a fuss.
On another note, Damien had realized that he was showing off his inventory quite frequently on accident, so he went out and bought 2 storage rings. One was just a decoration to make people believe he wasn't using his own spatial storage, and the other was for transactions.
Accepting the money, the old man began to talk. "After the Great War that took place 1000 years ago, the various races on Apeiron decided that they needed to build their relationships and solidify their bonds in case a similar situation ever happened again."
Damien was startled at the sudden history lesson that seemed to raise some sort of flag, but he ignored it and continued listening.
"The solution they decided on was the Nexus Event. Every 10 years, all races and empires of the world have their younger generations compete for prizes and opportunities. During this event, many can forge connections and make alliances for the betterment of the world."
Damien understood the importance of such an event. Even back on Earth, they would have events like the Olympics that were hosted and attended by many nations of the world.
"Although there are still struggles for supremacy between those who live in this world, the event signifies their promise for unity against outside threats."
Pausing for a second, the old man looked deeply at Damien. Although he was currently giving information, he was also attempting to gain information.
He had long heard of the rumored "Grim Reaper" who had shown up out of the blue, and many were interested in his history. The man wanted to see if Damien had any reaction to the mention of outside threats, but he was left without any hints. Seeing that his probe failed, he continued.
"As for the requirements to participate, it's really simple. As long as you are below 40 years old you can gain entry, but this is only as a regular participant. To be qualified as a genius, you need to gain recognition. For our Human Race, the place where you can do this is the Zenith Academy."
While 40 years sounds old, it was nothing in the eyes of true powerhouses. As one leveled up, their lifespan would naturally increase as mana regulated their body functions.
A 1st class alone can live for 200 years before dying naturally, while a 2nd class has 500 years, a 3rd class has 1000 years and a 4th class has 2000 years. As for 5th class, that remained a mystery.
Due to this, Damien wasn't surprised by the age limit. Damien had also read about the Zenith Academy. It was a public academy in the human domain that was prided as the #1 magic academy in the entire world, including those of other races.
This academy was completely unbiased and unsegregated, even accepting students of other races. As long as one fit the standards of the academy, they were free to join.
There was only one question Damien still had. "What's the difference between entering as a genius and through normal methods?"
The old man smiled. "It's simple really. It's a matter of status and opportunity. While everyone will be participating together whether they are a genius or average, geniuses get priority to be seeded and are given better accommodations during the duration of the event. If you are planning to enter, I suggest you try to do so as a genius."
Damien nodded his head as he began to formulate a rough outline of his next moves. As he moved to edit the room, the old man once again spoke up.
"Ah! I almost forgot about prizes. 3rd place will receive an SS rank artifact, 2nd place will receive a rare permanent stat boost potion along with the 3rd place prize, and 1st place receives the other prizes as well as Elixir, which you've probably already heard about. However, this is not it."
The old man watched Damien's intrigued expression with a smile on his face. He enjoyed seeing the younger generation produce talents with ambition like Damien.
"Since it is the 1000th anniversary of the Nexus Event, the peak powers of each race decided to pull out all the stops. Along with providing Elixir, a potion whose rarity is on par with the number of 4th class experts of the world, they decided to allow the top 50 participants to enter into the Eternal Secret Realm."
Damien's eyes widened in shock. With Kurt being a supreme powerhouse of the world, he had naturally left behind information on the Eternal Secret Realm. This realm was like a hidden world that could only be opened by the joint efforts of many 4th stage powerhouses.
It was a mystical place filled with both high risks and high rewards. It's said that even the small amount of Elixir that was present in the world was obtained from this secret realm. The number of treasures inside were innumerable, but there were many hostile beasts and a few barbaric races that lived inside it.
Thanking the old man, Damien left the guild and headed back to his house. 'The tournament is my ticket to saving my mother while the secret realm is my ticket to 3rd class. This set of events might be my ticket back to Earth.'
Now that he had fought one, Damien knew the true difference between second and 3rd class. There was a reason why 3rd class consisted of 100 levels rather than 50 like first and second class.
Even Adrian, who was only at the beginning of 3rd class, had around 10 times the amount of mana that Damien had. The only reason he was able to win was because he hadn't allowed Adrian to make use of that large mana capacity.
If Damien was able to achieve 3rd class, he would finally be able to go home, if home was even the right word anymore. Even if his mana capacity wasn't enough to warp him back to Earth, his vector control would have improved to the point where traversing space would be easy.
His warp ability couldn't take him to Earth, but that was solely due to mana capacity. Through his attempts, he had sensed the general direction and distance to Earth. It wasn't that far at all. Even if he had to spend years traversing outer space, he'd do it.
His main goal was always to return. While he had a burning desire to explore the universe and the myriad of worlds it contained, this could wait until he had healed his mother.
Damien smiled thinking that he had finally seen a path forward.
'Well, it's a bit cliche, but I guess it's time to start my own academy arc. Let's just hope it isn't as boring as high school.'
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