Chapter 50: Artificial Awakening
With Yuki unable to come out, Rovel had effectively become a shut-in.
Aside from a few sets of clothes, Yuki had left behind a sizable collection of manga. Rovel, much to his own surprise, had been thoroughly dragged into the JOJO fandom by her infectious enthusiasm.
For some reason, despite possessing decent social skills, Rovel didn't have a single person he could truly call a "friend."
'Hmm, a true friend must be the "real thing,"'he mused,'a relationship that is pure, authentic, and untainted by hypocrisy or self-interest.'
The kind of "fake" social interactions that were harmonious on the surface but hollow and perfunctory underneath held no appeal for him.
He paused. 'Tsk, why does that sound exactly like the kind of justification only someone with no friends would come up with?'
Still, without the burden of social obligations, Rovel could dedicate most of his time to himself. He never felt lonely; this kind of untethered freedom was a world away from the life he used to lead. It was a life he far preferred, even if it sounded a bit like retaliatory self-abandonment.
He had been groomed with a number of "hobbies" in his past life; after all, by any measure, he could have once been considered a "genius."
Since there was nothing else pressing, he might as well take this opportunity to stay in the Elysian Realm and focus on improving himself.
...
"Hmm, my body's recovered." Rovel glanced at his health bar, which was now completely full.
The base rate of automatic health regeneration was calculated as Constitution divided by ten per minute, rounded down. Rovel's current Constitution attribute was 72, meaning he passively recovered 7 HP every minute. To go from near-zero to full health had taken him a total of 103 minutes.
Recovering completely in under two hours without using any potions was a respectable rate.
However, his sparring sessions with Kalpas had introduced him to a particularly nasty debuff that directly countered this regeneration: 'Broken Bones.'
While fighting Kalpas, buoyed by the +500% Skill Proficiency buff, Rovel's Basic Fighting proficiency had been skyrocketing. First, he had unlocked a derivative skill.
[Basic Fighting · Block: When successfully blocking an attack with your body, damage taken is reduced by 90%. There is a chance to expose the enemy's weakness. The duration of the weakness is dependent on the difference between your Strength and the enemy's. Hitting an exposed weakness increases the damage of that attack by 150%.]
Subsequently, when his Basic Fighting skill proficiency advanced to the Mastery rank, he gained a new passive effect.
[Basic Fighting · Mastery: When dealing damage to an enemy, there is a chance to apply the 'Broken Bones (Minor)' effect. The probability is dependent on the difference between your Strength and the enemy's Constitution.]
[Broken Bones (Minor): If the target's pain sensitivity is set below 50%, it is forcibly locked at 50%. Automatic health regeneration speed is reduced by 50%. Duration: 6 hours.]
It was a slightly less severe version of the 'Broken Bones (Severe)'debuff he had experienced yesterday, but it was still vicious. The ability to lock an opponent's pain sensitivity was truly something else.'If I ever run into someone who set their pain value to the minimum and manage to land this on them...' The thought brought a grim smile to his face. The "satisfaction" would be immense.
Of course, while his proficiency grew rapidly under Kalpas's tutelage, the man didn't hold back in the slightest. Even when he was consciously pulling his punches, the impacts were enough to make Rovel suffer immensely.
Compared to Raiden Mei, who focused on guidance and technique, Kalpas subscribed to a much simpler philosophy: if you get beaten up enough, you'll naturally learn. He offered no explanations, no logical breakdowns—only the brutal, flesh-on-flesh reality of combat.
'Should I consider him gentle?'Rovel thought with a dry, internal chuckle.'At least he doesn't hit the face.'
The last session had left him with five broken ribs, and the bones in his left leg and right hand had been completely shattered.
Thinking back to the miserable, broken state he had been in just a couple of hours ago, Rovel couldn't help but shiver.
"Klein, is the Doctor not here today?" Rovel asked, glancing around the empty laboratory.
"Dr. Mobius went to attend the tea party hosted by Lady Elysia," Klein replied, her attention never wavering from her work.
"Is that so... Then I'll go find Kalpas again. Goodbye, Klein." Rovel waved a hand in farewell.
"Goodbye." Klein's response was a distracted murmur, already lost in her research.
...
"Oh my~ What wonderful wind blew our dear Dr. Mobius over here~ ♪"
A sweet, melodic voice rang out, laced with genuine surprise and a hint of playful curiosity. It had been a long, long time since Mobius had graced one of her girls' tea parties with her presence.
Elysia's gaze swept over Mobius, taking in her unchanging, severe attire. It was such a pity she still wasn't wearing the lovely little pink dress Elysia had personally picked out for her.
Mobius offered no reply. She simply found an empty seat at a comfortable distance from Elysia, picked up the cup of tea Eden had just brewed, and took a delicate sip.
Elysia was long accustomed to Mobius's silent treatment.
Without a hint of displeasure, she simply stood, her movements a picture of grace, and glided over to sit right beside the silent scientist.
"I heard from Pardo that you just had a rather spectacular fight with Kalpas. She said it scared the poor dear half to death when she passed by. Hmm... was it because of that new Descender?"
Elysia blinked, her gorgeous, complex pink eyes shimmering with undisguised curiosity.
"No. I simply find Kalpas's face displeasing," Mobius stated coldly.
She then turned her sharp, serpentine gaze on Elysia, her tone shifting to one of inquiry. "You've already met him?"
"Ah, I caught a glimpse of him from afar about a week ago," Elysia recalled with a thoughtful hum. "But seeing how... intimate he was with you, Mobius, I didn't want to disturb you."
A smile slowly, deliberately, curved on Elysia's lips.
"Cough... cough, cough!" Mobius nearly choked on her tea, her composure shattering in an instant. "What did you see?!" she demanded, her voice tight with anxiety.
Eden, watching from the side, raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. She couldn't help but feel a spark of curiosity herself. What could possibly have happened to make the unflappable Dr. Mobius so utterly flustered?
"What did I see..." Elysia didn't answer directly. Instead, she gave Mobius a look so full of meaning it was practically a novel.
Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, Elysia's finger slid across her own lips.
Mobius's right eyelid began to twitch violently.
'It's over.'
...
"I thought you had run away, Rovel," Kalpas said, his voice a flat, indifferent rumble.
"Until I obtain enough power, I will absolutely not run away." Rovel clenched his fists, settling into a familiar fighting stance.
"Enough power? Heh..." A sound of utter disdain escaped Kalpas, muffled by his mask. "By the way, I haven't asked you yet. What is it that you are pursuing?"
His gaze seemed to pierce straight through the metal of his mask, landing on Rovel with a crushing weight.
Becoming stronger was Rovel's goal, yes, but what came after? Fame? Dominion? Or something else entirely?
He, Kalpas, had possessed immense power from the very beginning—power enough to tear a Herrscher apart with his bare hands. And yet, in the end, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect anything. Everything he had ever wanted to shield from harm had vanished into ash before his very eyes.
"I don't have any grand pursuit," Rovel replied, his voice steady. "I just want to protect my sister. And after that, live a stable life."
"..."
Kalpas fell silent.
Suddenly, Rovel felt the temperature around him begin to skyrocket.
The next second, without any warning, Kalpas burst into wild, unhinged laughter.
"Hehehehe... HAHAHAHA!!!"
The sky above them tore open, and fireballs began to rain down, crashing into the ground like meteors. Kalpas's aura surged, expanding with terrifying speed. A massive pillar of fire erupted from his body, completely enveloping him. The heat was so intense it seemed to make space itself distort and shimmer.
The pillar of fire exploded outward. The resulting heatwave slammed into Rovel, scorching his skin and sending a thousand needle-pricks of agony into his mind. The sheer force of the blast was enough to send him skidding backward, his shoes carving a long, deep trench into the scorched earth.
Rovel could only squint against the blinding light, his eyes fixed on the figure within the inferno.
At this moment, Kalpas's entire body seemed to be wrapped in living magma. His mask had dissolved, replaced by a new one made of pure, clinging flame.
He took a single step forward. The ground beneath his foot instantly collapsed, and scorching magma surged up from the newly formed cracks.
"COME! PROVE TO ME YOUR DETERMINATION TO PROTECT YOUR SISTER!!!" Kalpas roared, raising his arm slightly as his body contorted into an eerie, predatory posture.
Rovel swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry as dust. He had no idea what he'd said to trigger Kalpas to activate his Artificial Awakening form.
But...
Facing that terrifying, powerful aura, Rovel took one step forward. Then another.
Even as his body suffered extensive burns and his health bar plummeted at an alarming rate, he showed no sign of retreating.
His eyes were like chips of obsidian, incredibly determined, without a single hint of wavering.
The next instant, all Rovel saw was a dazzling flash of fire consuming his vision. His consciousness began to fade at an impossible speed.
Just before the world went black, he thought he heard the cool, detached voice of the system.
[Under the guidance of Kalpas, you have learned a new skill...]
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