Bang!

The frightening masses of vines brushed against the wind, whipping into the ground where Seth was supposed to be located.

Cracks spread through the ground as the earth caved in, sizzling noises ringing out from the corrosive substance secreted from the vine’s spikes.

Seth’s frame slipped out of a distant space, hiding behind a tree — a useless act considering the Treant had the entire area submerged in his will.

’How strong was this guy? A mid-grade Noble, probably peak?’

Seth didn’t know, but what he did know was that he had made a mistake.

A very grave one at that. He had treated things way too lightly, taking the Origin Realm like a game on easy mode.

He hadn’t thought things through, and now it had come back to bite him in the ass.

This wasn’t Earth, where his only foes were bloodthirsty feral monsters.

No — he would also be facing lifeforms, every bit as intelligent and as lethal as humans could be.

This was the Origin Realm, and every opportunity was earned through the wage of blood. Resources had to be gained through brutal efficiency.

There was no such thing as "first come, first serve." There was no such thing as "the best man may win" here.

The rules were simple: the strong get what they want, and the weak scamper for the rest.

A vine rammed through the wind, destroying the tree he hid behind, sending his figure spinning uncontrollably into the air.

He gritted his teeth from pain as blood seeped from the edge of his lips.

His body skipped against the earth, drawing a trench as he landed in a battered and disoriented state.

He was given no breathing room. A shadow bloated the sky above him, a purple vine snapped against the wind, racing downwards.

Seth’s hair stood on end, the stench of death clouded his senses, the blood vessels in his eyes thickened as his blood flow rose.

That attack speed of his opponent was off the charts. The gap between attacks ran on milliseconds.

Seth couldn’t equip anything, his skills couldn’t be fully activated, heck, even his Asura body had yet to be completely activated.

This was the suffocating suppression of a true higher-level Awakened.

In comparison to this monster, the Rangol Race trio weren’t even worth mentioning.

This guy dominated them in attack speed and damage output. His speed and defense, though untested, were definitely not something they could compare to.

As new ascenders, the fact they had survived for so long — meaning a few seconds of confrontation — was a miracle.

Seth didn’t even try activating his necklace ability. He was fully aware it was on cooldown.

He had no choice but to mobilize his essence. Could his essence pathways withstand what he was about to do?

He didn’t care. If he didn’t take any action quickly, he’d be dead anyway.

His eyes burned with a frenzied light as he mobilized essence, ripping it straight from the reserves to activate his gene skill directly.

His skin cracked, wet crimson peeking from the seams. He drew from a well of strength he had never tapped into before.

[Racial Trait Adrenal Boost has been activated!]

[Your blood boils, and your body responds to your will.]

[All your stats have undergone a massive but temporary boost!]

[For the next 6 minutes 23 seconds, you will have an unlimited supply of essence!

Warning: once time is up, every essence cost will be reverted back to your unit pool!]

Seth’s pupils dilated, a tingle spread through his cells, a rush of heat churned in his abdomen.

It was as though his kidneys had turned into a furnace, igniting his potential to its peak.

Everything in sight crawled, and his gene skill snapped into full activation.

A cadence of purple ignited in the air, Seth’s will spilling into reality with full frenzy.

Cold black metal crawled over his figure, his Gothic visor clamping shut over his face, and a greatsword billowing with the stench of death and execution rippled out from space.

Seth’s frame peaked, reaching a height of around 2.5 meters, his skin undulating with a crimson glow, and a pair of sapphire-blue arms burned bright beside his frame.

BOOOOOOM!

The vine tore through the terrain with zero mercy, the earth rippled and rumbled, the force of the impact caving in a deep massive trench.

On the other side, Seth wasn’t alone. His teammates’ auras also peaked, their racial traits blooming with full ferocity.

An icy brilliance carrying the grey presence of death spread into the air.

A billowing mass of shadows towered over the trees, and a cloud of boiling current swirled in the sky.

Seth’s frame launched out of the massive trench, his armor intact, sparkling like new.

Unlike Seth, who had yet to grow to his potential, his legendary set still remained a Royal-grade item, regardless of how weak its user currently was.

Having a Noble-grade try to damage it wasn’t going to be an easy feat.

His sword brewed with a grey cadence as he zipped through space, appearing over the earth, his sword drawn high, its tip pointing to the ground.

On Gani’s end, the pompous Treant had long lost his disdainful edge, becoming more frantic.

Why weren’t these guys dying?

The aura of the four existences rippling before him was already reeking of danger.

How the hell did they go from barely much of a threat to this in the space of a few seconds?

The flow of time for Awakened Rank lifeforms was drastically different, their perception faster.

And so, even if it took much time to explain, from the Treants’ first attack till now barely 40 seconds had passed. It wasn’t even a full minute yet.

Gani’s instincts flared even more as his gaze settled on Seth, seeing the raised blade about to sink into the earth at any moment. His heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

For some reason, his instincts warned him to stop whatever it was Seth was at the verge of doing.

His essence flared and churned with a tidal torrent, the towering vines set into motion.

Behind Gani, Vamel, the leader of the small cohort of Treants, stared at Seth and the others, his eyes brewing with calculative lights.

He was a figure at the peak of the Awakened Rank, a bona fide peak Noble-grade existence.

In the whole of the first zone of the Origin Realm, he was the closest anyone could get to Royal grade.

So how couldn’t he see it? How could he not feel it?

The stats Seth and the others expressed, their level of power — it all reeked of early grade.

Yet they were able to display such might. His eyes flashed in conclusion.

This could only mean one thing...

"Above Noble grade!" Vamel echoed his conclusion.

He could practically feel the pure essence they emitted. He could feel the longing in his heart grow each time their essence billowed.

How could such a barren region hold such geniuses? He didn’t know.

What race were they from? He didn’t know.

But what Vamel did know was that he and his crew came for golden eggs, but fortunately they caught the goose.

A brilliant light bloomed from the depths of his gaze. It was about time he made a move.

But by the time he made this resolution, it was too late...

By the time he sensed it, his head whipped towards Seth’s frame surrounded by a billowing tempest of grey essence.

"Don’t!" He could barely exclaim, his eyes widening.

He didn’t know what Seth was doing, but the deep revulsion blaring from his instincts was more than enough to tell him all he needed.

He needed to stop it!

Unfortunately, no matter how strong he was, he still needed time to traverse space.

And this little time was all Seth needed.

Seth’s eyes blazed with grim lights as his blade sank hilt-deep into the earth.

A grim grey essence poured into the atmosphere suddenly like a torrential tide...

The second skill of the Royal-grade weapon set activated. Grey mist fumed from the sunken blade.

Enveloping miles of distance in a dense mist of grey essence...

The Treants suddenly felt as if they were trapped in a quagmire, their bodies bearing more weight, their essence flow slowing to a crawl, and worse — their stats began to take a dip.

All while Seth’s aura blazed brighter.