This was it.

[Evolution possible. Current path derived from intimate relationship with — (Unique) Profound Toxin]

[Return to standard path possible: Evolution to S-rank possible]

[Evolve?]

[Evolution along current alternative evolutionary path possible: Alternative evolutionary path derived from intimate relationship with — (Unique) Profound Toxin]

[Alternative evolutionary path possible: Monarch of Toxin]

[Evolve?]

The bowing subjects below left his sight as the Profound Toxin pulled him further up and through the roiling barrier above. The silence was deafening as he hung suspended there in the nothingness.

"I mean, isn't it obvious?" Eik chuckled. "Make me the Monarch of Toxin already. Stab me with one of them big ass spears and get it over with."

However, when it changed shape it was not into the same spear that would grow with each new rank he attained. It glided into a different shape—one of a gigantic beast. It was serpentine and incredibly long, resembling a traditional Chinese dragon.

It towered above him, forcing him to tilt back his head just to get a look at its face. For a moment, it simply gazed upon him, its body curled up in the air like a ball of yarn, seemingly kilometers long from the head to the tip of the tail, if there even was an end to it.

"Well, shall we get to i—" But he never managed to finish it before it rammed through his chest, disappearing into him like smoke sucked into a vacuum cleaner. He gasped. He would have fallen to his knees had he had solid ground under his feet. Here his legs just slackened a bit instead.

It felt like it went on for hours, the sensation of the Worldbreaker bleeding into his spirit overwhelming his senses. If this was even slightly similar to what the oracle had gone through when her prophetic power went haywire after the world crossing, then he had a whole knew sense of sympathy for her.

Then it was over and he hung limply in the air as his mind slowly stitched itself back together. "What…? What's going on?"

Before he could think any further about it, he suddenly plummeted back through the blue, falling straight toward the now empty basin. The Profound Toxic beasts still bowed deeply. He screamed as the basin approached at breakneck speed.

Just before the impact, rather than rush up at him from the basin, Profound Toxin flowed out of him on pure reflex, cushioning his fall and sucking him in as if into a bottomless pool.

A gasp escaped him as he returned to his own body and his eyes shot open. Before he could stop himself he reached out and gripped the armrest of his couch, crushing it into dust with frightening ease. Instantly, Gul and Andihar were on him, holding him down just in case he lashed out in confusion.

His strength was such that, even as he flailed in waking, an S-ranker focused on physical strength like Andihar struggled against him. Eik quickly came to.

"All right, all right, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Where did you go?" Olivia asked.

"Where I always go. It's just that… for an S-rank evolution, it didn't take as long as I had expected it to. Although some things were markedly different…"

"Such as?"

"Well, the monsters worshipped me."

"Worshipped you?"

"Yeah, it seems I have become the Monarch," he said and then felt the familiar glowing script etching itself into his arm. He took a look.

[Reached Monarch of Toxin — I]

"How about you tell me what the hell you're talking about already?" Clan leader Gul insisted.

Eik sighed and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. "Yeah, it's about time, I think. I have plenty of power to protect myself already."

"What?"

"I'm a Worldbreaker," Eik admitted finally, watching the two men closely for their reactions. Gul just grumbled something and Andihar nodded solemnly.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He watched them silently, waiting for some kind of greater reaction. When no real response was forthcoming, he glanced at Olivia with puzzlement. "Aren't you two old geezers going to… I don't know, say anything?"

They looked at each other for a moment before Andihar cleared his throat awkwardly. "I see, so that's what it was. How amazing and totally impossible to believe," he deadpanned.

"For some reason I'm sensing some insincerity…" Eik mumbled and eyed Gul.

"Yeah, damn, that's crazy," the old man offered.

Eik grumbled. "All right, I get that I have done some… less than normal things since my Awakening, but are you seriously not even a little surprised? Worldbreakers are pretty damn rare, as far as I know!"

Andihar scratched his chin as he considered what to say. "To be honest, Gul and I have been discussing this a fair bit. Most who don't know you well would probably assume that your extraordinary power is a result of your Legendary Mystery Medicine—"

"And they would be right," Eik interjected.

"And they would be right, yes, but we both knew that that wasn't all there was to it. You were too extraordinary from the beginning for that to even come close to explaining. Naturally, I made it through a good number of more likely explanations, each of which were gradually disproven for one reason or the other, before I started thinking along these more extreme possibilities. I know I didn't show it, but I honestly am surprised."

"What did you think in the end?"

"I thought maybe you had gotten into contact with some secret alchemy master during one of your first visits to the Alliance who had seen some special talent in you and taught you to make the permanent booster pills. If you had had access to them from the first period after your Awakening it might explain how you were as strong as you were even before your alleged creation of them."

"Seriously?"

Andihar shrugged. "It was one of a couple of different guesses. And honestly, Worldbreaker was pretty low on the list."

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

"We figured you would tell us in time. And here we are."

"And you weren't surprised at all, Clan Leader Gul?"

The old man just grumbled wordlessly.

Ihasu raised an eyebrow. "I bet you just didn't want us to know how surprised you were, grandpa."

Considering the scowl of annoyance he sent in return, she had hit the nail on the head. "What's your Worldbreaker called?" the old clan leader asked instead.

"Profound Toxin."

"Hmm," he said with a frown. "That isn't one I've ever heard of. Do you know anything about it?"

"No. How would I know that?"

"I just assumed you talked to your Worldbreaker?"

"Uuh, no?" Eik said with confusion. He lifted his arm as a tendril of Profound Toxin snaked out of his arm. It wiggled in the air but didn't utter a word. "Should I?"

"I don't know. Nobody but Worldbreakers knows much about Worldbreakers. It's just a rumor I heard once, that they can communicate with their abilities."

"I mean, I can communicate with it. It understands what I'm saying. It's just doesn't say anything back."

"What does it do?"

"Mostly it slaps me or Heath. It's kind of an asshole if I have to be honest."

"That's… Yeah, okay."

Apparently sensing something different about him, Mis had returned to the house and had come over to sniff his leg with obvious curiosity. The still cat-shaped Original Life followed suit.

"What is that?" Gul asked.

"Right. I should mention that as well, shouldn't I?" Eik said.

"He's done something outrageous again," Ihasu said.

Andihar took a swig of his tea and sighed. "What is it this time?"

"That thing is alive," she said.

"I can see that," Gul muttered, studying the blue cat.

Ihasu shook her head and picked up the pseudo cat, its torso stretching like caramel. "No, I mean it's alive as in it isn't just some summon like the others. It sustains itself indefinitely. It's been here for days already."

"Indefinitely?" Andihar asked, genuinely taken aback.

"It has a status overview, complete with race, world, level, and power rank. It's a real, actual being that doesn't need Eik in order to stay alive at all."

Both of the S-rankers seemed too stunned to talk. "But that's not… That isn't possible."

"Where have I heard that one before?" Eik wondered with a smirk.

"When did you create this?" Gul asked. A lot of his ability was focused on summons and corpse control, so Eik had expected the man to go kind of wild over this. And he wasn't disappointed, the old fart practically crawling around on the floor on all fours just to get a better look at the Original Life, whose reciprocated interest in the S-ranker was reached the same enthusiasm.

"A few days ago. It still only has one ability."

Gul looked up with a frown of incredulity. "This thing Awakened as soon as it came to life?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I don't believe this… What's the skill?"

"Learn."

"Learn? I've never heard of that. Have you heard of that, Andihar?" Gul exclaimed with unusual levels of excitement.

"Can't say I have," Andihar said, kneeling down to study the creature as well. "You have done yet another unbelievable thing here, Eik. Creating Awakened beings is supposed to be something only the cosmos is capable of."

"I'm sure there are other Worldbreakers who can do it;" Eik said dismissively.

"Perhaps. Anyway, congratulations on reaching S-rank, Eik."

"I don't actually have a regular evolutionary path. What I reached is the S-rank equivalent Monarch of Toxin."

"Of course it is," he accepted with a grin. "Shall we get going, Gul? We have much to prepare for the upcoming war effort."

"You go on ahead, Andihar. I'm going to stay here for a bit." Clan Leader Gul didn't even bother to look up as he spoke, his hands sending continuous pulses of aura through the body of the Original Life. "Fascinating. Utterly fascinating."

"That's fine, Gul," Eik said. "You can hang out here. Just… if Bin comes home, remember that this guy is a he and his name is Goo. I promise you, you don't want to mess that up. She's very insistent right now."

"Thanks for the heads up," Gul said with a nod. The last thing he wanted was to be frozen out by his beloved granddaughter.

"Are you leaving, Eik?" Ihasu asked.

"Just for a little bit. I have to figure out how to make the next grade of various potions. But I'll be home later tonight. I promised Bin that we would bake something and I'm not about to miss that."

"That's a good daddy," Ihasu said with a smile. "I'll stay here with my grandpa then. I don't want him to get too absorbed or he might never come back to the surface. He's usually the best and strongest when it comes to this kind of stuff so he rarely has the opportunity to—what is it you always say?—nerd out like this." Case in point, the old geezer didn't even register that they were talking about him at this point.

"Keep a close eye on him then," Eik said as he threw on his coat. "Andi, Oli, are you coming along some of the way?"

They both would and Andihar drained the last of his tea before going to put on his boots.

"Just be careful not to destroy the laboratory now that you've changed," Ihasu pleaded.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.