Chapter 12.
"This kid… his level is now close to an A-ranker. Just a minute ago it was barely E-rank… What in the world is this?" the rabbit thought as he stared at Rowan in shock.
"Good… now all I need to do is maintain this state, even if it's just for a moment…" Rowan thought as he took a step forward.
Just as he was about to take another step, a small rock struck his forehead, interrupting his focus. The Atherion around him vanished instantly and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Ouch! What was that for!?" he shouted while holding his forehead.
"How does your body feel right now?" Robbin asked calmly.
"You just can't avoid my question like that! I was about to—"
Rowan tried to stand up, but suddenly his heart stopped for a brief moment. His breath vanished.
Then his heart pumped again violently.
He gasped desperately for air like someone who had just run a marathon.
"If you had stayed in that state for even one more minute, your body would have torn itself apart," Robbin said as he began walking out of the zone. "For now, focus on strengthening your body and forget about mastering that state."
"There are still some remains of roasted meat left. That should last you for a week."
"See you then."
Rowan said nothing. He simply stared at Robbin's back as he disappeared.
"I guess it wasn't a fluke defeating that beast after all," Robbin thought as he left.
---
Back at the Capital
Celestia trained inside the castle's training grounds. Sweat covered her body and her breathing had grown heavy.
"Don't you think it's about time you took a break?" a male voice asked.
Celestia turned toward the voice.
"Sorry, brother… but that's not happening anytime soon," she replied firmly.
Lucien walked toward the wooden weapon rack.
"How I wish I were him…" Lucien said quietly. "After all, he's the only person you ever listened to, sister."
He picked up a sword and pointed it toward her.
"Training alone is boring anyway," he said with a smile.
---
Back in the Zone
Rowan sat on the ground, deep in thought.
"My body would've torn apart if I stayed in that state for even a minute," he muttered. "That means it's not something I can use freely yet."
"I should only use it when I'm truly in danger… as a last resort."
He stood up.
"Well… no time to waste."
He began exercising again.
---
Somewhere Unknown
Robbin stood inside a circular chamber surrounded by five shadowy figures.
"The seals grow weaker by the day," one of the shadow figures said in a deep male voice.
"If this continues… it is only a matter of time before they break free."
"Then what shall we do?" a female voice asked.
"We must find strong replacements to become guardians," another male voice suggested.
"Replacements?" another female voice scoffed. "Who in this world could replace us? Mortals are weak."
Robbin suddenly chuckled.
"What is so funny?" one of them asked.
"It's funny how small your memories are," Robbin replied.
"Have you all forgotten? We guardians were the ones who cut ties first."
Every shadow figure remained silent.
"Every one of you abandoned your race for the same reason."
"Peace."
"And yet here you are talking about replacements."
Robbin's voice grew colder.
"What we should be focusing on is ending this endless cycle of sealing those things below… and finishing this war between light and darkness."
"And how exactly do you suggest we do that?" another voice asked.
Robbin's rabbit eyes began glowing with a dark aura.
"We set them free."
The chamber fell silent.
"We break the seals… and let destruction rain down upon them."
"You must be joking!" one of the figures shouted.
"The reason those monsters were sealed was because no race or mortal could destroy them!"
Robbin smirked.
"Well… there might be hope now."
"And that hope is currently training his ass off."
He turned away.
"Change history… or remain trapped in the one our ancestors left us."
And then Robbin vanished.
---
One Week Later
Rowan continued his training relentlessly.
"And that's fifty," he muttered while finishing his push-ups.
His shirt lay beside him, his body covered in sweat. His muscles had begun to show clear improvement.
"It's been a week since Robbin disappeared… I wonder what he's up to."
He wiped sweat from his face.
"No matter."
"I've been doing the same exercises for a while now. Time to try something different."
Rowan picked up his daggers.
He began practicing random attack movements before delivering a powerful vertical slash.
He paused.
Lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"Those with zero awakening but Atherion are known as total rejects," he thought.
"But a few of them became powerful Atherion users."
"And the reason is simple…"
"They never used their own Atherion."
Instead…
He closed his eyes and focused.
"I knew it."
Atherion energy slowly gathered around him.
"They borrowed the Atherion in the environment to power themselves."
"But since my body is weak… the best solution is to transfer that energy somewhere else."
He slowly directed the Atherion toward his dagger.
"Like this…"
The blade began glowing faintly.
"And now… I attack."
He swung his dagger forward.
A slash of Atherion shot forward and struck the wall, leaving a deep cut.
"I did it!" Rowan shouted excitedly.
"Impressive."
A voice came from behind him.
Rowan turned quickly.
"You saw that, right Robbin!?"
"I did," Robbin replied as he walked in from the entrance of the zone.
"But that was only the most basic step."
He lifted one paw and pointed toward the wall.
A massive blast of Atherion shot forward.
BOOM.
The wall cracked violently.
Rowan stood frozen.
Speechless.
"Learn to do that," Robbin said casually as he laid down. "Then we can start talking about serious training."
"How did you do that!?" Rowan asked.
"You're smart," Robbin replied lazily. "You'll figure it out."
"In the meantime… bring me five shadow wolves."
Rowan blinked.
"If you do that," Robbin continued while yawning, "I might teach you the key difference between beast magic circles and human magic circles."
"And how will that help me?" Rowan asked.
Robbin was already snoring.
Rowan stared at him in disbelief.
"What?"
His eye twitched in annoyance.
He stormed out of the zone.
"How dare he fall asleep while we're discussing something important!"
He stopped suddenly.
In the distance, a beast stood watching him.
Rowan smiled slightly.
"Well… looks like I found my training target."