"Well then, where should we start?" Selene said, while she sitting on the mat facing the campfire.

  "Wait a minute, I guess we should grill some of our meat too." Chloe added, then she reached into her pocket to pick up something.

  SET

  Chloe put out her hand, but what Arthur saw is only Chloe clenched hand.

  What did she want to grill? there's no meat at all in her hand. Arthur thought.

  "Where is the meat?" Arthur asked, confused.

  "Here, take a look." Chloe opened her hand and then a transparent particle appeared.

  Afterwards, the particle floated into the air which thereafter...

  PUFF

  The particle turned into the animal that Arthur had killed earlier.

  "Wow, how is that possible?" Arthur asked, increasingly confused.

  "So, this is what's called a Hollow Pocket, which can store mana intact and not change its original essence. I changed the form of mana from the corpse of the animal you killed earlier into mana in the form of dust. If you didn't use the Hollow Pocket and just left it outside, its essence will completely turn into dust. So with this Hollow Pocket, its essence will remain intact as an animal." Chloe explained.

  "Oh, I see." Arthur said.

  Chloe then covered the animal's body with her mana and floated it above the bonfire.

  "Ekhm." Selene quipped.

  "Oh yeah, sorry sorry, hehe. Let's continue." Arthur just realized that Selene had been waiting for Chloe and Arthur to talk.

  "Okay, I'll start from the lowest caste of immortal existence first, okay?" Selene asked to make sure.

  "Yes, okay then." Arthur replied.

  "So, immortal existence is divided into seven castes, from the lowest it is called as Petty Immortal, then continued with Lesser Immortal, Basic Immortal, Great Immortal, Grand Immortal, The Stars, and the last is The Remains. Petty Immortal is like us, the weakest caste among the others, and the average of Ascent population is indeed the Petty Immortals." That was the explanation given by Selene.

  "I see. Continue." Arthur said.

  "Petty Immortal is actually the same as humans, or ordinary animals. It's just that they won't die with time, or you could say they won't die because of age, nothing more. Moving on to Lesser Immortal, where they have access to pure mana, but they have limits in using it. If they use it beyond their limits, their existence will decompose, or commonly called the Decomposed effect. At first there will be cracks in their skin which then the cracks will continue to widen and widen until their bodies become dust. Scary isn't it?"

  "Decompose and become dust. Some of my friends endure the Decomposed effect when they use the mana they dammed up, so basically I'm used to see the Decomposed effect occur." Arthur said with a flat expression.

  "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to..." Selene said regretfully.

  "I'm okay, don't worry. Continue."

  "And then Basic Immortal, just like Lesser Immortal but with much looser limitations. I'll put it like this, if a Lesser Immortal's limitation is to create an electric spark that is less than twenty volts, a Basic Immortal can create a lightning strike of a hundred volts, or you could say that a Basic Immortal is five times stronger than a Lesser Immortal, and even a Basic Immortal can still experience Decomposed." Selene explained.

  Then Selene immediately continued her words without waiting for Arthur's response. Selene said: "Then continued with Great Immortal, whose the limitations are much more looser than Basic Immortal. If Basic Immortal can create a lightning strike of a hundred volts, then Great Immortal can create a thousand volt lightning rain. Ten times stronger than Basic Immortal. And just like Lesser and Basic, Great Immortal can also experience Decomposed."

  "Will all Immortal existences that use pure mana be affected by Decomposed? Does that mean that apart from Petty Immortal, everyone has the possibility of feeling the effects of Decomposed?" Arthur asked.

  "Hoho, wait a minute, I haven't finished telling you yet. There are still Grand Immortal, The Stars, and The Remains -right? Calm down. You'll be surprised when I tell you this." Selene replied, making Arthur even more curious.

  "Hmm, okay, continue."

  "Now, let's move on to Grand Immortal, an existence whose power is unimaginable. If Lesser, Basic, and Great Immortal have limitations, then Grand Immortal has no limitations in using pure mana, and therefore a Grand Immortal will never feel the effects of Decomposed. Could you imagine how terrifying is an existence like that? And I suggest you never fight them one on one. Because you will lose badly."

  "How powerful Grand Immortal could possibly be?" Arthur asked.

  "They can create lightning storms with ten thousands of volts per strike, storms that can destroy anything in their path and wipe everything out without a trace. That's how terrifying it is. However, it still can be killed because each time they increase their attack power, they lose their sanity. So basically if they went too far by their power, it'll make them become an insane existence that wipe everything ahead." Selene explained.

  "Wow, then what about The Stars and The Remains?"

  "The Stars have powers that are even more unimaginable. Even the metaphor of a thunderstorm is not enough to describe their power. They have powers like gods! If they wanted to, they could destroy the entire Ascent with their hands. But they have one limitation that makes them so fragile. Their main weakness."

  "What is the limitation?"

  "The number of followers."

  "Followers?"

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  "The Stars have a unique concept of power. The more people believe and follow their existence, the stronger they will be. When they don't have any followers or their followers can be counted on the fingers of one hand, then their strength is only like Petty and Lesser Immortal who do not experience Decomposed but they will faint when they reach their limit." Selene continued.

  "I see, from the every caste that you've ever said, all of them has their own weaknesses. So what are the weaknesses of The Remains? ."

  "And lastly, the most powerful of all, The Remains. There are only ten existences that occupy that caste, and all of them are in Essence and never move to other parts of the Creation Tree. If they were to move to one of the parts of the Creation Tree, it would disrupt all existing order. They would release energy that no existence could withstand. We would all perish, they are limitless monsters who can create and destroy Pure Mana at will, while people like us are struggling when trying to control Pure Mana."

  "So their figures are that terrifying huh?" Arthur asked.

  "Yes, that's right." Selene answered.

  Stella, who was listening to their conversation, never took her eyes off from Arthur. For Stella, Arthur looks is reminding her of someone which she missed so much. However, Stella not falling in love to Arthur at all cause she only love the guy that look similar to Arthur.

  I wonder how is he now. Stella thought.

  "Hey hey, don't just stare blankly, do you hear something?" Chloe said while patting Stella's shoulder.

  "Ugh, what did you just hear huh? Hopefully its important because you're bothering me." Stella asked.

  GRASAK GRUSUK

  Arthur immediately stood up and said: "What's that sound?"

  "Oh? Hahaha! This will be a really lousy night. The point is, we are currently surrounded by a group of bandits and it would be much better if we hand over what they ask for." Selene said.

  "Hey, your instincts are sharp, aren't you, miss?" The voice came out of nowhere.

  Then a group of people appeared who jumped out of the bushes, pointing swords at Arthur and the others.

  One of the bandits said: "Hand over what you have, now!"

  They were wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants with their messy hair that hung everywhere.

  "Boring words. What if we don't want to hand it over?" Arthur was about to challenge them.

  "Ohh, then it doesn't matter actually..." One of the bandits then darted towards Arthur and trying to pierce.

  TING

  Arthur quickly parried the bandit's attack with his sword. All the bandits preparing to attack Arthur and his gang. Arthur pointed the tip of his sword at the bandit who attacked first. While Selene, Chloe, and Stella start to step back from the chaos.

  "You're too crazy to challenge them, Arthur. Don't you know who they are?" Selene said as she took a ready position.

  "There's no point in threatening me with a sword like that! Do you think that by pointing it right at my nose, I'll feel threatened? Hahahaha." The bandit then brushed aside Arthur's sword with his own sword.

  "Sky Piercer Bandit, wipe them all out!" Shouted the bandit who attacked first.

  Arthur took a position to attack and parry. Arthur's body was then ignited by Mana which he then also ignite the sword with mana. The group of bandits dashed into Arthur and the others so quickly. Once they were very close, Arthur slashed them with his fire slash that traveled through the air. However, unfortunately his efforts had no effect. The bandits managed to avoid Arthur's attack by retreating.

  "That's great, it seems you deserve to know my name. What was your name just now? Arthur, huh? Then, my name is Berthold. Remember me as the one who ended your life." Berthold said with a grin.

  "Leader of the Sky Piercer Bandit, Berthold. We surrender, please don't kill us." Chloe said while crouching on the ground.

  "Alright, we'll spare the girls if you hand over all your belongings. But that man, will meet his end, tonight, and right now. Everyone, attack that man." Berthold said it so casually, as if Arthur was nothing but a mosquito that just fuzzing around.

  The group of bandits attacked Arthur again, but Berthold just stayed silent and had no intention of attacking at all. Then Arthur poised and right when the bandits started slashing towards Arthur's body, Arthur dodged like a leaf blown by a wind. His body covered in Mana so it made him so agile.

  I can't keep dodging like this. I have to find an opening. Arthur thought.

  "Sir! None of our attacks are hitting!" Shouted one of the bandits who was attacking.

  That's the opening!

  When one of the bandits spoke, a gap was created in the endless slashes. Arthur then took advantage of this moment by gathering all the Mana around him and focusing the Mana into his sword which made his sword covered in Mana. The Mana that covered the sword then turned into electricity. Arthur then shot towards the bandits and left electricity in every path he passed.

  SRING SRING SRING

  Arthur returned to his position before he shot, then said: "Aaand, Boom!"

  SRAK SYUT BLIZT

  "AKH!"

  "UKH!"

  "EURGH!"

  The bandits screamed in pain. They all now had slash-shaped burns. It was all thanks to the slashes Arthur made when he shot as fast as light towards the bandits. Arthur stared at the bandits who had fallen to the ground. None of them seemed able to get up and continue the fight.

  "Hahh, no matter what, they are just a group of people with Petty Immortal rank. I didn't expect their opponent to be a Lesser Immortal." Berthold said, then his entire body began to be covered by the surrounding Mana.

  Berthold then took a stance to attack Arthur, saying: "Then let's see who is stronger. Me, or you?"

  Berthold shot away with his feet leaving a trail of embers from the change of Mana that covered his feet into the fire element. Just before Berthold managed to cut Arthur's neck, Arthur immediately parried Berthold's attack and then launched a counterattack to Berthold's chest with his sword that was still covered in electricity.

  SRAK

  Berthold was jerked back. However, he did not fall from the attack, even though his chest was injured with a fairly deep slash. Berthold then held his chest with his right hand. Berthold's chest and right hand were then coated with Mana which slowly healed the wounds he suffered. Before Berthold's wounds were completely healed with his technique, Arthur charged at Berthold who was trying to heal himself. Then Arthur tried to behead Berthold.

  SWUNG

  Unfortunately, the attack missed. Berthold managed to avoid the attack by darting to Arthur's right. Although Berthold's wounds were still open, he forced himself to attack Arthur by slashing his arm using his sword coated with Mana.

  SWUNG CRAS

  Arthur who was hit by the attack was thrown towards his left shoulder until he hit a tree.

  BRAK

  "Ugh!" Arthur groaned.

  Arthur then fell to the ground, but he kept trying to get back up. Arthur who was still trying to get up was surprised by Berthold who was getting closer.

  "Look at you, pathetic." Berthold's taunts as he tried to heal his chest.

  Arthur struggled to lift his head, only to glare at Berthold. Then Arthur said: "At least you're pathetic with that wound on your chest."

  Berthold, who was furious with Arthur's taunts, immediately sped up his pace. Then he said: "Oh yeah? Are you blind? Don't you see your arm that's so hard to move now? Hm? Hahahahaha."

  "You know? Usually people who feel pressured because they're afraid of their winning position being overthrown, they'll taunt their opponents without any basis." Arthur replied sharply.

  "You really have a lot of guts, huh?" Berthold's patience had run out. It was a bad sign for Arthur because Berthold was now running towards him.

  Arthur tried hard to get up from the ground. He used all means to manipulate Mana, so that his body was covered in Mana. Berthold was very close, Arthur kept trying, trying and trying. Until at the point where Berthold was literally an inch away from Arthur, Berthold who was close was about to slash Arthur's neck. Arthur who was already very desperate increased the intensity of his Mana control greatly which then...

  BLIZT BUZZ

  Arthur's hand suddenly gave off a strange Glitch effect. Instantly, in just the blink of an eye, he was behind Berthold. Berthold who was panicking immediately turned around and slashed Arthur right away, but...

  SWUNG PLAK

  Out of nowhere, Selene suddenly appeared in front of Arthur and Berthold. Selene then pushed Berthold's sword away from his grasp. Berthold who was increasingly panicking said: "W-where did you—"

  "Where did I come from, that's not important." Without further ado, Selene hit Berthold's lower jaw which make him thrown upwards.

  BRUK

  "Not bad... Tch!" Even though he was thrown quite far upwards, Berthold was still able to stand tall when he landed and even spat.

  "Ugh!" Selene growled while staring at her moon ring which was shining brighter and brighter.

  Arthur who was no longer able to stand fell back to the ground.

  What just happened? Why does my hand seem to be glitching? Arthur thought.

  Selene, I have to help him. But, I can't even speak.

  "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. You can just rest, leave the rest to me." Selene said, looking exhausted.

  "Change roles huh? Okay, no problem. If it's like this, then no one will be left alive." Berthold snarled.

  "Bhahahaha! Like you'll live!" Selene mocked.

  "Tch."

  ?? ?? ??