Varian closed his eyes on top of a snow mountain.
He sealed off his powers abruptly and his body trembled at the bone-chilling coldness. The sealed power tried to soar back and protect him instinctively but he pushed it down.
With a calm mind that a normal man could never have in such an environment, he noted the sensation of his body.
The brushing of cold wind against his skin, the way his skin twitched and shook,
longing for a little warmth. The bits of ice forming on his skin and the cold air entering his lungs.
"Haaa~"
His perception of the outside world ceased, turning inward towards his own body–the flesh, blood, bones.
Then, it went deeper.
The wisps of aura flowed in every inch of his body. Unlike before, they now carried a hint of divinity in them, glowing faintly with a silvery light as they moved.
And it went deeper still.
To the divine paths outside the material existence.
As he touched the power inside him, held them through his thoughts and immersed himself in them, he sensed it.
The wall.
A symbolic name given to the resistance that existed in every living creature to take a risky jump to discard their mortal nature. An instinctual push back that comes when a path tries to leap into the divine rank.
"Hmph!"
Varian smirked and the wall—which stumped countless geniuses since the first awakener—shattered like glass.
Nothing changed for a moment and then suddenly, everything was different.
The first to change was Varian's body, the part brimming with life.
His lifeforce soared to unimaginable levels, pushing his lifespan into a range of millions of years.
Even a single hair on his body contained enough life force to overwhelm an star system.
His physical strength surged to proportions that made no sense.
The path of <Dragon>.
Then it was his soul that changed. From a fragile mortal self to a divine soul that could withstand cataclysms and even be reborn when it shattered.
The path of <Phoenix>.
Last in the avenue was the power of death that resided in him. It stood in complete contrast to the power of life and yet, it was so similar.
Life was with Death and Death always accompanied Life.
The path of <Titan>.
The next phase of changes was more external.
The world then opened up to him, laying itself bare as it showed the intricate underworkings of Order and Chaos in every aspect of existence.
The fabric of space-time seemed to split under his gaze, revealing its structure and secrets.
"Finally!"
When Varian opened his eyes and saw the world again, it no longer felt the same.
It felt tiny, fragile and simple.
The complex world which muddled researchers all their lives felt like a toy built by very familiar blocks. Something he could dismantle bit by bit and try piecing it all together.
'Status'
[Dragon-Phoenix-Titan:
Order-Chaos:
Space-Time:
PS: Or alternatively
Sage:
Ruler:
Creator: ]
'What's up with lumping them together? And where's the progress bar?'
[Take a break for now. You're in for a surprise later. Everything will be explained.]
'You really are eager for me to have my vacation. What are you up to?'
[Your future is too uncertain for any prediction. So might as well as have some fun ad make memories while you still can. For all your hopes, you could die due to a sneeze of the God Emperor.]
'You son of a bi—'
[Language!]
'Shut up, you're not my mom.'
[Then will you listen if I call you daddy?]
'…I need that vacation.'
The family was ecstatic that Varian decided to take time off. Even though a hundred days felt too little for a thousand year penace, they decided to make the most of it.
The hundred days passed…a little too fast.
Sarah and Varian were mostly reading books, watching movies or playing games during their time.
"And the harem's concubine tried to poison the empress! The empress was as smart as me, so she managed to spoil the ploy. Heh! That concubine though, she's just like Isadora. Too prideful, too spoiled."
Sia…well, the time with her ended up with them living in a small, cozy house, spending all time indoors. As time passed, she gradually 'allowed' outdoors and eventually, her fears seem to have faded away.
"Varian, Varian, Varian!"
Enigma and Varian spent time in their sleep—in the dream world she constructed through her soul power. It was a recreation of the times Varian was younger. Time quickly passed there and the two had spent years in their dreams.
"Can we have babies in the dream? Pleeshhh~"
Isadora didn't ask for any special thing. She just accompanied him for casual strolls, chatted trivial topics and lived like it's another normal day.
"Do you like hard peaches or soft peaches?"
ƈοm The one who was most nervous about the whole thing— Primula—slowly found courage to bond with her brother as her teenage self. The apprehension and awkwardness vanished a bit too soon and she had a blast with him every minute they spent together.
"Bro! Jump higher, we're going to catch that bastard bird! Up! Up! Up!!!"
Hazel finally fulfilled her wish of living like a proper maid and Matriach Helena was painting most of the time he saw her. He didn't peek at what she was painting but the way she covered the canvas everytime he saw her indicated it probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway.
""Master~""
And Varian kept fiddling with the mini slivers whenever he had the time in those hundred days.
The progress seemed small until suddenly one day—
Boom!
Hortus shook as the green and red flames in Varian's hand fused.
"What?!"
Isadora and Sarah appeared next to him instantly.
Only then did he notice that a barrier built of darkness and a ring of time emerged around him, blocking any fluctuation from the slivers.
…They seemed a bit too familiar with him and had already set up the safeguards.
"You really fused them?" Isadora was dumbfounded.
"It just happened." Varian shrugged. "I haven't used them for battles but I can tell for sure. Sage avenue paths are going to grow at a very fast pace thanks to these."
"I saw no progress trying to fuse even a few strands…" Sarah was depressed.
They saw what he was doing and took a few strands to try it themselves. Of course, they both failed.
But Sarah felt more ashamed of failing. She came to terms with the fact that her husband was a monster with no parallel. Yet, she found it hard to digest that she couldn't even do stuff he did as a fresh divine ranker.
"Aww, don't be like that." Isadora consoled with a teasing smile. "Hortus' forbidden regions are from the Primordial Gods themselves. Having their help in divine ranks would let you progress fast."
"…I wanted to be of help." Sarah lowered her head in disappointed and muttered. "But I can tell…he's gonna surpass me soon."
Varian remained silent, deciding not to poke Sarah's self- esteem.
But the princess was enjoying this far too much to hold back. "Do you think he hasn't surpassed you already? A peak mid rank 1?"
Sarah raised her head in shock and looked at him in disbelief.
Varian gave the princess a sideglare and raised his hands. "I don't think I can win. The gap is still very big."
Isadora covered her mouth and chuckled. "See? He said can't win but he didn't say can't fight. He's not stronger but he's in that range already. He's definitely stronger than any fresh mid rank 1."
Sarah looked at him blankly before turning around. "…I'm going to breakthrough. Back in ten years."
"Hey! Sarah, wait!" Varian yelled but the Queen began to disappear.
"Tsk, what an idiot!" Isadora had a cunning smile. "Now I can spend even more time with you. You just watch harem dramas, I play them!"
Varian slapped her ass and decided not to give the princess the satisfaction of victory. So, he spoke through their synergic link.
"Sarah, you can breakthrough faster if we do a Synergy."
Click!
The world's lights seemed to turn off for a moment and Sarah appeared in front of him a ghost.
She grabbed his arm and said with a determined expression. "Let's go!"
"Today is the last day of vacation. Perfect time to bed him!" Sia dropped from the sky.
"The first one to faint keeps bringing it up, sigh." Enigma whispered.
"I can hear you!"
Varian sensed at the changing mind and expressed his condolences for the bed that's going to break today.
Alas, who could understand his suffering?