Floating Island - Triple S Talent

After a long search, he finally found it. A black cluster of energy, faint and almost invisible, hiding at the tip of Lein's tailbone. Instantly, Mharzan felt his breath catch in his throat. With quick yet gentle movements, he swung his hand, summoning magic energy that coiled toward the cluster, pulling it out like extracting a thorn from flesh.

But then, he felt something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"No!" His scream echoed only in his mind, rippling with waves of panic.

In a fraction of a second, the world around him shifted. There was no explosion, no flash of light—only a sudden, gripping silence.

Mharzan and his mount, the Voidwalker, vanished from the testing ground, as if struck down like a mosquito by lightning, leaving Lein's lifeless body to fall freely to the ground.

***

Far away, beyond the realm of the Divine Skies, deep within the void of the universe, the silence was torn apart by the opening of a portal. From within, a young man emerged, followed by a creature resembling a mass of seaweed, with dark eyes and a black core pulsing within its chest.

They were Mharzan and the Voidwalker. Upon exiting, the Voidwalker immediately vanished, sensing the looming danger after forcefully injecting black energy into Lein's body.

Mharzan's breathing was short and ragged, each gasp heavy and producing harsh, rasping sounds as if his lungs were about to burst. Large veins bulged across his face, stretching his skin, while cold sweat poured down endlessly.

His bloodshot eyes darted wildly as he waved his hands, opening another space portal. Mharzan kept moving, slipping through the folds of space, traversable only by beings of the highest tier.

"Damn it… who is that boy's protector?" he thought, though fear gnawed deeper at his mind. A cold sensation crept along the back of his neck, gripping tightly, choking his throat. An invisible line, like a thin, shimmering thread, followed every step he took, relentlessly pursuing him. It was the thread of fate—the red string of life entangling him.

With just one glance at that thread, a fear he had never known exploded within him. There was no place to hide. No way to fight back. He could feel it—the thread was thinning, as if it would snap at any moment.

"My thread of fate... it's almost severed… damn it!" The words escaped his lips with fury, yet they carried a tremor of fear he could not suppress. Terror spread throughout his heart, the kind that comes with realizing his life could end in an instant, without resistance.

Back at the testing ground, Lein's body still lay lifeless. However, something had changed. Small white lights began to emerge from his body, flowing gently as if healing him, slowly mending the damage done to him.

Minutes passed, and Lein gradually regained consciousness. Yet, his awareness was not fully restored, and his body still felt heavy, as though it were beyond his control.

[Your clone has died!]

[Your clone has died!] x9999

[You have received a soul attack, your soul is destroyed]

[You have received a mental attack: Eternal Sleep]

[You have entered Mharzan's space-time domain, body ceased living]

[-Body will disintegrate, activating emergency protection-]

[-Repairing body damage, restoring host soul-]

[- Energy recovery in 60 seconds -]

[- Energy recovery in 43 seconds -]

*the bold notif is black color

Lein saw millions of notifications appear on his panel, flooding his mind. All the notifications warned him that his clones had perished. The last set of messages was processed by his brain only moments later.

The countdown finally ended, and Lein regained control of his body.

He opened his eyes and saw the same blue sky as before. The clouds drifted slowly, and the breeze carried a fresh scent to his nose. Everything felt so familiar, as if he had just woken from an afternoon nap.

Lein raised himself off the ground and scanned his surroundings. Not far away, he noticed thousands of epic chests piled up, and in the distance, the soul gate portal was still visible. "I'm still here?" Lein muttered in confusion.

"How did I survive?" he asked himself, trying to comprehend the situation.

He remembered that the moment he duplicated Mharzan's (Divine Promotion Potion), he immediately received notifications that his clones had died. Shortly after, Mharzan emerged from a spatial portal, standing directly in front of him.

That was Lein's last memory before everything went blank—until the system began sending notifications while he was still semi-conscious.

"Thank you, system," Lein whispered with gratitude. Although the system often acted foolishly, it truly cared for him. Recalling how close he had come to dying, a cold chill pierced his heart; he couldn't bear the thought of what Nita would feel if he were truly gone.

"But… what's with those black notifications?" Lein recalled those moments when he was barely conscious. The notifications informing him of his clones' deaths and his soul's destruction were usually blue.

However, the alerts about emergency protection and energy recovery were black.

"Did I get a black system?" Lein mused with a wide grin.

Even though he entertained the thought, he wasn't entirely sure, as he hadn't yet received any special treatment from it. Regardless, he was just grateful to be alive.

"I was really unlucky this time," Lein grumbled with frustration and a hint of dread. His original intent was to find a piece of an S-rank soul, but not only did he fail to obtain it, he also nearly died without a chance to resist. Fortunately, the black system helped him attack Mharzan and restore both his body and soul to their original state.

"How could someone that powerful show up in a master-level trial?" Lein asked in a serious tone. He trusted the system, but he never expected such an incident to occur.

The system had mentioned before that souls could be destroyed, but the ruler's body would remain intact. Yet here he was—without the black system's help, both his body and soul would have been obliterated.

"Stupid system, you almost killed me!"

Lein shouted in anger. If the system could manifest as a person right in front of him, he would make sure to land at least one solid punch.

[Apologies, Master. External interference is beyond the system's responsibility.]

"Damn it… get out here!"

Lein raised his sword high, intending to sever the system's neck. How could it respond so nonchalantly? It was in charge of the trial space, yet now it claimed it wasn't responsible for external disruptions.

"I don't care... give me compensation!" Lein demanded his rights.

If he had known his life could truly end, Lein would have willingly submitted to Mharzan, carefully plotting his escape at the right moment. However, since the system had assured him otherwise, Lein felt safe when his clones perished or even if his soul was destroyed, believing he could still escape and find a way to restore his soul.

[As compensation, you have received a soul fragment (Void Monkey's Tail - S)]

"Huh?" Lein's mouth dropped open as he saw the notification from the system. He read it again to make sure there was no mistake.

"An S-rank soul fragment? Wow!" Lein shouted loudly. All his efforts from a few hours ago had paid off with this item. An S-rank soul fragment—who would have thought he could get it just by 'begging' the system a little?

Lein didn't inspect the item immediately. Instead, he straightened his posture and stood tall. Facing the sun, he bowed at a 90-degree angle and said, "Forgive my harsh words earlier. Thank you for this gift, oh greatest system."

He performed the gesture with utmost sincerity, from the bottom of his heart. His words were so heartfelt that they could even turn a demon's heart toward kindness if it heard them.

"Hahaha... yay!"

Right after offering his reverent bow, Lein let out a joyful cheer. He raised both hands in the air in excitement and immediately opened the item's description.

(Void Monkey's Tail - S)

The monkey, ruler of the void, lives eternally to maintain balance in nature. It is the first guardian to stand watch over the gateway of the universe's destruction.

- (Thousand-Hand Tail): The Monkey King's tail transforms into a lethal weapon, extending and branching into a thousand nimble "hands." Each branch can wield weapons, block attacks, or subdue magical objects, granting the Monkey King a tactical advantage. With the Thousand-Hand Tail, he can strike from multiple angles and unleash brutal attack combinations that are hard to evade.

- Duration: 1 minute

- Cooldown: 10 minutes

"Amazing... so powerful," Lein murmured with excitement.

"Hmmm, Infinity Duplicate is still on cooldown," he added casually. He wanted to start building his soul immediately, but at the moment, he only had one fragment.

Since he had already used Infinity Duplicate - SSS to duplicate the Divine Promotion Potion, he had to wait another 30 minutes before he could perform the next duplication.

"In that case, I'll open the epic chests first," Lein said as he drew his black and gold sword. He then activated the Echo Phantom skill to create a clone of his weapon.

In an instant, the familiar sight of thousands of opened chests returned. Lein and his army of clones sat on the green grass, opening the rows of chests laid out before them.