...

Thirty minutes later...

At the moment, Izroth sat in a meditative pose with his eyes closed.

The force of suppression surrounding him had progressed to where it was challenging for him to move a single finger. Even the gravity pockets he experienced before paled in comparison to this unknown force. And, although half an hour had passed, the pressure seemed as if it had no intention of letting up until Izroth submitted.

〈System Alert: You resist the force of suppression!〉

However, despite being unable to move, there was a calmness on Izroth's face. He appeared to be completely undeterred by the force of suppression!

Though this was not surprising considering that one's Willpower was used to gauge how long one could resist the pressure. Even if he lost his peak cultivation from the Seven Realms, if there was one thing Izroth had in spades, it was Willpower! Otherwise, how could he claw his way to the top of the Seven Realms? This system wanted to use Willpower to test him? What a joke!

As Izroth awaited the next increase and Willpower check; however, it never came.

'Hm?'

Not only did Izroth not receive the next wave of pressure, but he also noticed a sudden shift in the atmosphere as the force of suppression vanished.

〈System Alert: Awakening in progress...〉

Suddenly, Izroth's body felt as though it had been tossed into a raging inferno as he began to sweat profusely. But, this did not last for long as a bone-piercing chill overcame Izroth, pulling him from the inferno into an icy tundra.

Then there was nothingness as Izroth descended into total darkness. In this darkness, there was only him—set adrift aimlessly in the neverending void. He was in a place that existed beyond the influence of time and space—somewhere that existed simultaneously in a state of absolute chaos, and then the next moment, a state of absolute order. And, just as Izroth was pulled from this darkness, he witnessed the collapse of chaos and order. From that collapse, the primordial laws that made up the fabric of all words were born. Then, in the blink of an eye, everything returned to nothingness.

'In the beginning, there was nothing. From nothing came chaos, from chaos, came order. Order shall return to chaos, and chaos shall return to nothingness... The chant of Raza'Til. Was this a memory formed by my awakening? Or...'

Izroth opened his eyes as he was back in the Mystical Realm Palace. In reality, he did not actually leave the Mystical Realm Palace; however, all of it was incredibly surreal.

As Izroth pondered a few things, he received another alert from the system.

〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have successfully completed a «Self Awakening».〉

〈System Alert: Congratulations, you are the first player to complete a full «Self Awakening». As a reward, you may choose your method of awakening.〉

'Oh? I get to choose? Interesting.'

The next moment, a special system window appeared in front of Izroth. There were a total of four options that showed up.

[Awakening]

-Race: Evolve into a unique race.

-Trait: Awaken a unique Trait.

-Source: Awaken a unique Source.

-Beginning: Begin your own path. [Special]

[Awakening]

Izroth inwardly furrowed his brows as he read over the four choices.

'A difficult choice. Excluding the last option, everything listed here is rather straightforward.'

Izroth was curious about evolving into a unique race. He wondered if it was something similar to his Soul Avatar Empyrean's Skybreaker race. Or, perhaps he would even get the chance to gain the bloodline of a true dragon?

Either way, the benefits were definitely numerous.

'Choosing race as the awakening seems to be the obvious choice. After all, if one gets lucky enough, it won't be impossible to gain several inherent traits for that race. And, if it's anything like true dragons, then it is also possible to acquire a second Source. But, if I know the system, there's no question that it took this into account, which can only mean one of two things. The trait and Source one can obtain has similar potential, or... Awakening with the race method is rare compared to the others.'

Izroth was also interested in whether or not he would acquire a second Source if he chose the Source awakening method. After all, he already had a Source. And, based on what Izroth knew, only unique races like the true dragons could hold more than one Source.

As for choosing the trait method, it was Izroth's last option. In the end, it may be difficult for players to obtain traits; however, acquiring a Source or evolving into a new race required luck more than anything.

But, of course, Izroth had not forgotten about the most eye-catching awakening method.

'Beginning... In this case, it can mean too many things. It can be anything from resetting my level back to one with my stats intact, to being allowed to train using a method available to me alone. It's too cryptic. But, it is difficult to dismiss the word next to it.'

"Special"—obviously, this was the system's way of letting him know that this was not an opportunity that came around often. If that was the case, then he would be a fool not to accept it when it was staring him in the face.

'Am I someone who fears risk? Whether it is this world or the Seven Realms, those who take no risk are bound to turn out mediocre or average at best. My goal is to reach the pinnacle of this world. And, given this world's history, there are those who have a headstart worth thousands of years. If I do not take risks, catching up will be a mere distant dream.'

With that, Izroth made his choice as the system window in front of him closed out.

〈System Alert: You have chosen the awakening method «Beginning».〉

〈System Alert: Physical conditions have been met.〉

〈System Alert: Warning! You will not be able to move or act for the duration of the awakening process. Do wish to proceed?〉

Izroth decided to proceed without hesitation. The system's warning was thoughtful, but there was no safer place for him than inside his Mystical Realm Palace.

〈System Alert: Player Monitoring Protocol MP-042 has been activated.〉

〈System Alert: Awakening... [0.01%] Time Remaining: [06...

The moment Izroth accepted and the alert of the player monitoring protocol rung in his ears, he was overcome by a sudden wave of sleepiness as his vision turned blurry and he quickly began to slip into a state of slumber.

'Six hours... I suppose a small nap every once in a while... isn't too bad...'

As Izroth entered his slumber, the sound of system alerts and everything else vanished.

However, what Izroth did not know was that what he saw with his blurred vision was not six hours—but six days!

〈System Alert: Awakening... [0.01%] Time Remaining: [06 day(s) 00 hour(s) 00 minute(s) 00 second(s)].〉

...

Several hours later, somewhere in RML...

The silhouette of a phantom could be seen traveling through a sea of trees under the starry night sky. From an onlooker's perspective, it looked as if an apparition was on the move.

Zeeeeut!

All of a sudden, the phantom came to a halt on one of the tree branches as it started to transform. What appeared at the end of its transformation was a person—a girl with a petite frame, and long flowing black hair that reached down to her ankles. She wore a mask that covered the lower part of her face as her orchid color eyes pierced through the darkness of night. This person was Azalea Wraith, someone Izroth took under his wing. 

Azalea had joined the War Intelligence Group for the event; however, she never stopped working in the shadows to collect valuable information for Izroth. And, the information she discovered a couple of hours ago was nothing small.

"Strange... Why is teacher not responding to my messages?" Azalea internalized with furrowed brows.

Usually, Izroth responded to her messages instantly. The only exception was if he were out of range or preoccupied with something else. However, it had already been more than two hours and she was still unable to get in contact with him.

The last she heard, Izroth had returned to the Mystical Realm Palace. That's why Azalea was tempted to make the trip to Amaharpe's capital city to pay a personal visit to Izroth, but she was currently following a lead that she could not let slip away. After all, it had to do with the message she sent Izroth.

"I do not know why, but... There is someone targeting the members of our guild. I need to find out who that is as soon as possible." Azalea thought to herself.

"Daring to target those under my teacher's protection—it is a price no one can afford to pay." A cold hint of killing intent flashed through Azalea's eyes as her gaze landed on a small cave in the distance.

At first, there was no movement around the cave. However, a few seconds later, a quick shadow darted into the cave.

Azalea had been tracking this "shadow" for nearly an hour now as they cut through unnecessary paths and made unusual detours. But, Azalea knew that this was merely a safety precaution to prevent them from being easily followed.

Though in the eyes of someone like Azalea, the shadow's erratic movements were nothing but parlor tricks.

When the shadow entered the cave, Azalea's figure turned into a blur before morphing into an apparition as she disappeared from the tree branch.