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A/N UPDATED : Chapter 78 and 79 are OUT! This one will be a little more time. I'm catching up! Just give me a little more time! I swear, I'll have everything back to normal by tomorrow.

DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER, IT IS A PLACEHOLDER.

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I found myself laying back down on the grey grass, facing east and watching the starry night sky. My nose had long become accustomed to the unpleasant odor of death that pervaded The Whispering Cliffs. I thought deeply of many things as I laid there for hours on end, but the night would be a long one.

There was much to be done before I could avenge my family. I knew who had killed them, I knew where they were likely to be, and roughly how strong they were, but there were many other factors to consider before I could even think about making a move on them. It made my head hurt when I realized just how much I would have to prepare for what was to come.

I knew my physicality had seen immense improvement, but I had no frame to compare my prowess to. I was not only a slum-dweller, but also likely the weakest to have ever existed. Everyone had always been stronger than me, even fledgling children. For all I knew, I could still be below average for a kid my age, but somehow, I doubted that.

The Aethir had rebuilt this body just so I would become capable of wielding it. It's faint amber traces coursed through my veins even now, energizing my entire body. I knew it's capabilities were far beyond that of Mana. Aethir was ingrained in everything, living or otherwise, and I could see it all as long as it was within range of my sense. But sensing and controlling were two very different things.

I observed the surrounding Aethir, which had become completely unresponsive after my evolution. But then I realized that wasn't the case at all. Even during my evolution, it hadn't responded to me. Rather, it acted on it's own, breaking me down and rebuilding me as it saw fit.

'But why am I unable to control it even now, when it flows through my very flesh. I sense it's presence so distinctly, yet it never responds.'

Frustration simmered beneath the surface as I reached out to the night sky once more, trying to command the Aethir I sensed in the air above me and the soil below me, but to no avail. It slipped through my grasp, ignoring my will entirely. I could feel it, see it, almost taste it, yet it remained utterly untouchable.

Then, a thought struck me. What if I had been focusing on the wrong thing? My efforts had been directed outward, but the Aethir had rebuilt me from within. My senses turned inward, tracing the intricate web of amber light that pulsed within me, flowing with my every breath and heartbeat, both of which slowly grew uneven as my hands lightly trembled in anticipation.

I exerted my will on the wisps of Aethir within, urging them to flow toward my fingers, and realization hit me like a thunderclap.

The Aethir outside might remain beyond my control, but the Aethir within...it was mine alone, for the flowing amber essence abruptly changed it's course, streaming into and out of my fingertips, leaving an itchy like sensation as it was released aimlessly into the surroundings.

I willed the wisps to take the shape of a sphere, and slowly, it did. They flew towards each other and combined, forming a small amber sphere, the size of a marble. It was all I could muster. Clearly my control of the energy was subpar, but I had to remind myself - this was only the beginning.

However, before I could completely push those thoughts aside, something else caught my attention. Something far more concerning.

It seemed to have gone completely undetected all this while, blending in with the natural streams of Aethir, but the more I controlled the streams, the more I became aware of an anomalous region where the Aethir seemed to be frozen in place. Right at the center of my skull, between the two hemispheres of my brain. There seemed to be a branching network of Aethir that remained static in it's position. The web's branches were connected in majority to the rear of my skull, but also connecting to the rear upper and rear bottom sections of my brain.

I had no clue what this meant, and in all honesty, I was dreadfully unwilling to mess with anything pertaining to my brain. Things could go very wrong. I had only just found a way forward and I didn't want to risk this one chance I had gotten. But even in my steeped reluctance, my gut insisted that this unmoving web wasn't meant to be there.

The realization I had come to just a minute prior steeled my resolve. The Aethir within me was mine alone. If this web didn't respond to my will, then it didn't belong inside me.

I focused on the swirling sphere of Aethir that floated in the air before me, and it obediently dissipated, flowing back into my body and proceeding to rush up towards my skull. I commanded it to assault the resisting structures within the gap in my brain, and as soon as it struck, I clutched my temples, writhing, as an excruciating pain, that could possibly dwarf that of my evolution, pierced through my skull, rekindling the flames of doubt I had had previously. My logical mind vehemently refused to continue what I was attempting, but every other fiber of my being screamed at me, urging me to push past the agony and rectify the anomaly within.

I succumbed to that deep urgency in a heartbeat. It was impossible to ignore. Still gripping my skull in sheer torment, I gathered every shred of will I could muster. And with a guttural roar, I bore down on all the Aethir within me, forcing almost all of it to accumulate within my skull, and commanding an immense onslaught.

I may have been rolling and sporadically convulsing on the ground in pain, but I felt almost at home, pounding the alien web of Aethir, like metal to the forge, each strike producing more pain, but sharpening my determination, invigorating me.

Every agonizing attack, chipped off parts of the web, their pieces disintegrating into nothing. With each successive strike, the torment only grew further in intensity, but I didn't falter. And slowly but surely, the webbed structure crumbled, it's integrity compromised.

The moment the web completely dissipated, my vision was ripped out of my internals, and back to the night sky above The Whispering Cliffs, only for the world around me to vanish in the next instant.

I was back in that strange yet familiar dark place, where none of my senses seemed to function. I knew it wasn't The Void, but that only made me more curious as to why I seemed to keep being

brought back here.

---

One thing had changed though. I had retained that same ghastly form from that world. I floated through the unending darkness, my mind riddled with unanswered questions. But what I saw right then only reinforced the impression that I wouldn't be graced with clarity any time soon.

Those all-too-familiar grey, translucent rectangles I despised had appeared before me once more.

The system. I detested it's very existence.

It greeted me in the same nonchalant fashion it did all those years ago, before it abandoned me and left me to suffer in my weakness, a victim to my fate.

***[ Unregistered Existence detected ]***

***[ Initializing System Assimilation... ]***

***[ Assimilation Progress : 1% ]***

---

My mind was riddled with unanswered questions, and what I saw next only reinforced the impression that I wouldn't be graced with clarity any time soon.

Those all-too-familiar grey, translucent rectangles I despised had appeared before me once more.

The system. I detested it's very existence.

It greeted me in the same nonchalant fashion it did all those years ago, before it abandoned me and left me to suffer in my weakness, a victim to my fate.

***[ Unregistered Existence detected ]***

***[ Initializing System Assimilation... ]***

***[ Assimilation Progress : 1% ]***

'This...is different. Or is it feigning ignorance? Why is it even here? How is it connected to the Aethir web that I destroyed?'

***[ Extracting Karmic Data... ]***

***[ Karmic Data Extraction successful. ]***

***[ Assimilation Progress : 14% ]***

***[ Initializing Soul Karma Analysis... ]***

***[ Analysis Complete. Soul Signature created. ]***

***[ Assimilation Progress : 42% ]***

'Karmic data? Soul Signature? What is all this?'

There was nothing of the sort the last time I had seen these grey screens. I felt like I was forgetting something.

Something important.

***[ Registering Soul Signature... ]***

***[ System Registration Complete. ]***

***[ Assimilation Progress : 67% ]***

Enveloped in that endless darkness, I could only watch the progress indicator tick up every few seconds. My inquisition was futile. I couldn't even feel my mouth much less talk. And even if I could, would this thing even bother to respond? Would it even flinch at the meek entirety of my feeble strength?

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