Chapter 315: Abyssal Severant
**** [Steve’s PoV]
I sat still, waiting as the evolution I had chosen slowly reshaped my body.
The pain came in waves—sharp, deep, like something carving into my bones. I gritted my teeth and endured it. I knew what I had signed up for.
The class options I saw earlier had surprised me. Some of them reflected my fight in the Deathmist. Their descriptions mentioned life-draining effects and death-heavy themes that felt a little too familiar.
In the end, I chose the one that felt right. The one that felt like me.
Another wave of pain hit, stronger than before, and I felt the System still working—forcing something physical into my body. A trait. Something new. Something dark and crackling just beneath the skin.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when everything finally stilled. My breath evened out. My muscles relaxed. My bones no longer felt like they were being scraped clean from the inside.
I opened my panel and checked the results.
[Class Gained]
[Abyssal Severant – Legendary] : You are the abyss at the end of all paths. Your blades deliver justice, life, and death. Fast. Precise. Final.
[Attributes Gain Per Level]: Strength +5, Constitution +4, Psynapse +4, Dexterity +7
[Skill Evolved]
[Final Severance – Level 5 ] → [ Abyss Severance – Level 2]
A perfected version of Final Severance. With absolute clarity and timing, your blade severs not only the body but also will, focus, and resistance. A slash that moves with the speed of lightning and leaves behind an afterimage of darkness.
[New Skills]
[Storm Laceration – Level 1] : Become the storm. Channel lightning into your body and slash through everything in your path.
[Shadow Echo – Level 1]: Your blade lingers like a memory. After striking, your shadow repeats the motion a moment later.
[Blind Rush] : Let instinct take the reins. Fight long enough, and your blade will find the weakest link.
[Bladed Curse] : The faster your swing, the heavier the toll. Each slash drains the enemy’s strength, cursed by your momentum.
I went over each skill again, smiling to myself. It was exactly what I needed—fast, brutal, and clean. No wasted movement. No second chances.
I pulled up my status next to take it all in:
[Status]
—--------------------------------------------------
Name: Steve Harper
Race: Human+
Class: Abyssal Severant (Legendary)
Laws: Minor Law of Thunder
Rank: Master
Level: 100
Attributes:
- Strength: 193
- Constitution: 193
- Dexterity: 286
- Psynapse: 188
- Essence: A
Skills:
- Burst Flash – Level 11
- Lightning Mantle – Level 7
- Abyss Severance – Level 2
- Blind Rush – Level 5
- Bladed Curse – Level 5
- Storm Laceration – Level 1
- Shadow Echo – Level 1
Abilities:
- Blackvolt Skeleton
—--------------------------------------------------
Finally, I looked over the last line. The physical trait that had nearly ripped me apart.
[Blackvolt Skeleton] : A skeletal system laced with black conductive bone that can channel both darkness and lightning. Increases nerve response speed, impact absorption, and allows internal energy surges during movement. Can store and release lightning pulses in short bursts.
I flexed my fingers slowly. I could feel the power running beneath my skin—tamed, but eager.
My mind felt in sync with the electric pulses surging through the Blackvolt Skeleton. For the first time, the lightning around me didn’t feel like something I had to summon with effort, it felt like it would respond the moment I asked.
I exhaled and opened my eyes, locking directly with Billion’s green ones.
He was smiling. Calm, amused. Watching me closely.
An itch sparked in my chest—the urge to test this new power. To test it on him.
"Want to spar?"
The words slipped out before I even realized I’d said them.
His smile widened. Without breaking eye contact, he raised a hand and casually opened a portal beside him.
He stepped through it without a word, vanishing on the other side.
My gaze lingered on the swirling portal. I slowly rose to my feet.
Azalea, who had been silently floating nearby, finally spoke.
"It’s just the start, kid. There’s much more to come."
Then, like a wisp of smoke, she vanished.
I stood still for a moment, her words echoing in my mind. I gave a small nod.
With a thought, I connected to my Awakened weapon. Blue light surged across my arm, and my sword reformed in my hand.
I looked down at the blade and whispered,
"Let’s see how it goes."
Then I stepped forward and left the core chamber behind.
The sky above the floating island was covered in darkness and faint starlight, but it was the air between us that felt charged.
I stood across from Billion, my sword buzzing faintly in my hand, arcs of lightning licking along the edge. My fingers gripped the hilt tighter, the sensation of pure power humming under my skin.
He stood a few meters away, hands in his pockets, that calm, smirking smile still on his face.
"You sure you want to do this?" he asked.
I exhaled. "No. But I have to."
Before he could say more, I moved.
[Burst Flash].
The world stretched and blurred. In a flash of blue, I closed the distance in a heartbeat, slashing straight for his side. But by the time my blade reached where he stood, he was gone.
I skidded across the stone surface as I spun to my left.
He was behind me.
I twisted my body mid-step and brought my sword down in a vertical arc—[Storm Laceration]. Lightning surged through my muscles and exploded through the blade, turning the slash into a storm-fueled strike.
Billion raised a hand casually. With two fingers, he caught the edge of my sword.
The crackle of lightning surged down his arm, but his expression didn’t change.
"That’s new," he said. "Nice charge."
I yanked the blade back, flipped in the air, and kicked off the ground with [Blind Rush]. My instincts blazed like wildfire. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t need to.
Every move he made to dodge, I read it. My blade spun, twisted, jabbed, slashed—a series of strikes too fast for most people to follow.
He dodged.
Not by leaping, not by blinking, not even by defending. Just tiny shifts in balance, subtle turns of the shoulder or tilts of the head.
Like he knew where I was going before I did.
I growled and activated [Shadow Echo]. The moment my slash passed, a second one followed....a delayed echo of my motion.
It almost got him.
His smile curved a bit wider as he stepped back just a fraction too late, and the shadow cut into his shirt, leaving a faint line across his ribs.
I blinked.
"Oh?"
He looked down at the mark, nodded once in approval. "There you go."
I didn’t let up. [Abyss Severance] came next.
I stilled my breathing, held the sword still for a split second... then launched the slash.
The air trembled. Lightning and shadow danced behind the blade as I poured everything I had into that one attack.
Billion didn’t move.
At the last possible second, his hand rose.
He met the blade with a single knuckle.
A shockwave rippled outward. My slash scattered mid-air—lightning dispersing like a broken web across the island floor.
I stumbled back three steps, my chest heaving from the exchange.
Billion stepped forward casually, brushing imaginary dust from his hand with a grin.
"That looked good," he said. "I think once you unlock your second transformation, that’s when your class will really shine."
I nodded and de-summoned my sword. The weight left my fingers, but the energy still pulsed under my skin.
Honestly, if he didn’t have all his freakish talents, I might’ve given him a proper fight.
He asked me for the details, and I told him about my new class and the physical trait I gained.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Darkness and lightning... not bad. That’s a dangerous combination if you can keep it under control."
I shrugged. "I’ll make it work."
That’s when Azalea, who’d been watching in silence until now, floated a bit closer with her usual playful smile.
"So, Steve," she said, "I’ve been thinking about your next trait. I’ve got a great idea for you. Want to hear it?"
I glanced at Billion, who just raised an eyebrow in interest.
Then I looked back at Azalea and nodded.
"Of course," I said. "I’m all ears."