After a session of deep breathing and cursing the system for not being good enough, Will looked at the effects of his new physique.
His three cultivation ranks reached the cusp of breaking through and reached S+.
Looking at the effects of the true dragon physique displayed on the status window, Will nodded slowly in satisfaction.
His eyes moved carefully across the information, taking in every detail without rushing.
The pain he had endured moments ago still lingered faintly throughout his body, but the results were good enough to ignore that.
"So consuming someone’s essence will give me their physique?" he asked, his voice steady but curious.
The system responded after a brief pause.
[I can’t guarantee that. Your talent works actively to strike balance between everything inside you.]
Will continued to listen, his expression serious.
[As long as there is any form of imbalance, the talent will activate and forcefully make you adapt to the source of that imbalance.]
The explanation did not end there.
[This is all my observation until now and is not hard fact.]
[That adaptation can happen in different ways. Occasionally your powers are elevated. Every so often the properties of the source itself are altered. While sporadically both happen at the same time.]
A short delay followed.
[The rest remains a mystery.]
Will let out a quiet breath.
"Hm. Interesting stuff," he muttered, rubbing his chin lightly. "Then how do you show me descriptions of talent? when you are yourself unaware."
[It happens at the back end of the system; the notifications you see are also from the back end, and missions and their rewards are too. I, personally, am just there to assist you in using the Supreme System properly.]
Will nodded, digesting the information before he moved on to his main concern that had been gnawing at him from inside.
"Anyway, is there any progress in my path?"
His gaze shifted upward toward the path section of the status window.
———————————
Path of the Eternal Sovereign
The universe is not meant to be ruled from within its laws. To rule everything, one must step beyond all limitations.
STAGE 1 – Bending Mortality
TRAIT AWARDED – Increased Comprehension
TASK – Refine a God Physique
STAGE 2 – ?????
???
———————————
After scanning the information carefully, Will frowned slightly.
"No progress?" he asked.
[No, Host. I haven’t detected any progress.]
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. "I have no idea how to do that, and you won’t tell me a thing."
The system replied calmly.
[Not the right time, Host. You already have a lot on your plate right now.]
Will exhaled and leaned back slightly while sitting on the ground.
He noticed the change in the system’s tone from the past few days had been a lot less sarcastic. Will felt like the system was feeling guilty of not being able to help him more, but he couldn’t prove it.
"Sigh!!" he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Anyway," he continued after a moment,
"Let’s move on to Leila. Show me what I gained from her."
The system panel lit up the moment Will asked to check Leila’s rewards.
[ding... Individual Leila has received:]
[– Training in ice spell Glacial Bind (Platinum) – Newbie]
[– Training in ice spell Blizzard (Platinum) – Newbie]
[– Frostveil Bow (Diamond)]
[ding... Calculating 100X rewards...]
[ding... Congratulations, Host, for receiving :]
[– 100x training in Glacial Bind (Platinum)]
[– 100x training in Blizzard (Platinum)]
[– Univector Bow (Mythic)]
Will opened his mouth to speak, but another notification cut him off.
[ding!! Absolute ICE affinity activated. The spells Glacial Bind and Blizzard have been elevated to Grandmaster stage mastery.]
For a moment, he just stared at the panel.
"...Well damn," he muttered. "That was fast."
A small smile formed on his face. Excitement bubbled up before he could suppress it.
Without thinking too much, he raised his arms slightly and decided to test Blizzard immediately.
"Let’s see if this thing can do what I expect," he said, half serious.
Mana spread outward.
The reaction was immediate.
The sky above the plains darkened as clouds gathered unnaturally fast.
Cold wind swept across the area, sharp enough to sting exposed skin.
Ice particles began forming in the air, swirling violently before crashing down.
Will squinted as snow blasted past him.
"Okay... Maybe I should’ve stood farther back," he commented dryly.
The blizzard intensified. The ground froze solid within seconds, and visibility dropped sharply.
The spell clearly did what it was meant to do. Everything inside the area would be slowed, disoriented, and frozen before they could react properly.
"This is less crowd control and more bullying," Will said, watching the ice spread.
"Anyone stuck in this is fucked."
Focusing again, he followed up with Glacial Bind.
Ice erupted from the frozen ground, forming thick restraints that snapped shut around imaginary targets.
The constructs were dense and solid, built to hold even struggling opponents in place.
"Freeze them, lock them down, then shoot them," he muttered. "Yeah, that works."
The combination made sense.
The blizzard disrupted movement and senses. Glacial Bind restrained targets. That setup gave Leila all the time she needed to line up clean shots against enemies.
Satisfied, Will lowered his arms and walked back toward the hut. Sitting down on the stone steps, he watched the storm for a while in peace.
Ice swirled through the air. The terrain entirely changed.
"...Looks cool, at least," he admitted.
Gradually, the spell lost power. The winds slowed, snowfall weakened, and the clouds thinned before finally clearing. Silence returned to the plains.
Reaching into his inventory, Will pulled out another crystal he had bought from the academy shop.
"Platinum rank spell Ice Spear," he read.
Crushing the crystal, the spell’s knowledge flowed into his mind.
[ding!! Absolute ICE affinity activated. The Ice Spear spell has been elevated to Grandmaster stage mastery.]
Will sighed.
"Of course it did."
Raising his hand, he formed a condensed spear of ice. It was sharp, dense, and stable. With a casual flick of his wrist, he launched it forward.
The spear tore through the frozen ground and shattered in the distance with a clean impact.
"...Nice, so clean."
With spells tested, his attention shifted to the Univector Bow.
Picking it up, he felt a faint sensation beneath his skin as the runes on its surface reacted to Will’s touch and its size changed to suit William.
The weapon felt more balanced and sensitive in his hands..
"Feels expensive," he muttered.
Pulling back the empty string, he released it lightly.
Znnnggg—
A pressure wave rippled through the air as the runes flared briefly.
Will blinked.
"...That was without an arrow."
Lowering the bow, a small grin appeared.
"One shot from outside the enemy’s perception range," he said quietly. "Yeah. That’ll work."
The exciting idea no longer felt unrealistic to him.