In this world dubbed the Land of Beginnings, there were no second paths available to those born of lower standing. There was nothing besides the Slayer path for more than 99% of the population. After all, it was the easiest to pursue; all you had to do was purchase a caged Nightmare, like the ones Cassius saw in the Capital. You would then kill it, absorb its Nightmare Essence, and bam—you were now a Slayer.
The rest of your path depended on the luck of the draw from there, as your innate Nightmare Talent could very well make or break you. And over ti, you would eventually receive the chance to beco an official Nightmare Slayer, not just a regular Slayer.
As for the other, far more rare paths, such as the Knight or Mage path, they were a lot more difficult to advance in.
Like the Slayer Path, you required Talent for the Knight Path, but it didn't stop there, as you also needed special technique booklets, all of which were typically passed down in high-status Knight Households. For the common populace, such a path was essentially impossible to choose and pursue, especially considering how much the Knight households gatekept their Knight Techniques, treating them as if they were divine objects.
Then there was the final Major Power Path in the Land of Beginnings—naly, the Mage Path.
Mages drew from this realm's version of Magicules, which they also just so happened to call Magicules. They absorbed them into their bodies and into sothing they called a Primary Core.
The Primary Core was what stored all of the Magicules that one had culminated thus far. It also helped determine what Rank one was on the Mage Path. However, as for how to go about forming one of these Primary Cores inside yourself, only the relevant Magician Techniques would be able to assist one in gaining insight. But again, these Path-specific Techniques were barred off from the common populace—even more so than the Knight Techniques—and were gatekept by extrely high-ranking Mage Households.
But, seeing as Yuna—one of the highest nobleborns in the Mistalore Kingdom—had not seen Cassius among any of the very few Knight or Mage Families, what she was witnessing made no sense. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire
'Is he from one of the neighboring kingdoms…? But the oceans separating us… And our people's extre xenophobia… There's no way…'
Immigration in the island-kingdom of Mistalore was basically non-existent. You were more likely to find a flying cock than you were to find an immigrant from a different nation. This fact was due not only to Mistalore's dislike of anyone who wasn't them but also to the vast expanses of water that raged between each island kingdom in the Azure Archipelago.
To anyone who was anyone, the Azure Archipelago was the whole world. It was the Land of Beginnings. Whereas everything else beyond the Archipelago was just water, water, and—guess what—more water.
But as for the water that existed between each of the hundreds of island kingdoms in the Azure Archipelago, it was not of the normal variety. It was violent—wild—oftentis unpredictable.
There also lived terrifying sea Nightmares in those very sa waters. Nightmares rumored to be larger than the largest of towns and cities—monstrous creatures that made entire fleets of ships vanish in an instant, never to be seen again.
However, to get to the point that was causing Yuna Mistalore to stress so much, there was just no way that Cassius was so strong. Even if he were a hidden child of nobility, she would still know about it.
But she didn't.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Nightmare Treant after Nightmare Treant experienced a seemingly unlimited number of crimson-colored slashes. The innurable black vines that acted as the weapons of the living tree monsters made no difference in the face of the power of a singular man and his bloody blade. The Treants' black barriers also instantly faltered in the face of their combined power.
"Esceeetch—!!!"
Nearly a dozen Nightmare Treants had their hideous faces rcilessly diced into bits and pieces. The massive trees they were connected to were smashed to smithereens, leaving the approximate vicinity a complete and total ss.
While absorbing nine strings of black smoke, Cassius clenched and unclenched his fists. "Seems you were right," he said to the girl still motionlessly standing in front of the first Treant she killed. "Just killing them turned out to work quite well."
*Ding!*
[Awakened as a Slayer!]
[Absorbed Nightmare Essence of a Late-stage Rank 1 Nightmare - Nightmare Treant -]
[You have advanced to the 2nd Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm!]
[Your connection with the Nightmarescape slightly deepens!]
[Absorbed Nightmare Essence of 9 Late-stage Rank 1 Nightmares - Nightmare Treant -]
[You have advanced to the 3rd Stage Apprentice Slayer Realm!]
[Your connection with the Nightmarescape slightly deepens!]
"Hmm?" Cassius briefly looked away from the stunned-silent white-haired beauty, his focus entirely on the System pop-ups. "Am I in the Nightmarescape right now?"
*Ding!!*
[Affirmative! The Host is currently in a sliced-off chunk of the Nightmarescape that was gathered and placed in the Kingdom of Mistalore by an ancient Transcendent-class Slayer!]
This informative answer made Cassius imdiately follow up with yet another question. "So that ans 1 hour here would allow to leave and return ho?"
*Ding…*
[Yes, that is unfortunately correct… And the worst part is that you haven't even gotten to the fun part yet!]
[What a bumr…]
[Well, anyway, you will be forcefully teleported out of this Dinsion as soon as the 1 hour passes. Ti here will then stop completely, making it so that you can resu where you left off when you return!]
"Like a video ga?"
[Yep! Exactly like a video ga! Oh, and another thing to note is that ti passes differently in this Dinsion. An hour here will only be the equivalent of around half a minute in the outside world.]
Cassius reeled back in pleasant surprise. He had not expected there to be such a large ti difference—or even one at all. But now that he knew this, it ant he could continue his ti in the Nightmarescape and Land of Beginnings with peace of mind.
'Wait…'
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