Chapter 170: Time

Lukas simply shrugged, not dwelling on it for long. If anything, the girl’s reaction amused him. There was even a faint hint of fondness hidden beneath his calm expression.

Cute.

Some would probably think he had lost his mind.

A girl had just openly shown hostility toward you, and you think she’s cute? Are you insane?

No.

Lukas wasn’t insane....

If anything, his mind had never felt clearer.

A strange sense of calm had settled over him ever since arriving in this world, allowing him to see people with far greater clarity than before. And because of that, he found someone like her... refreshingly straightforward.

She didn’t hide behind smiles.

She didn’t pretend to be friendly.

She didn’t stab people in the back while wearing the mask of an ally.

She hated him, and she made absolutely no effort to conceal it.

Compared to someone like Star, whose true intentions remained buried beneath layers of deception, this kind of hostility was almost... comforting.

An enemy who announced themselves openly was an enemy he could prepare for.

An enemy lurking in the shadows, smiling while quietly weaving invisible traps, was infinitely more dangerous.

Even now, Lukas could not say with absolute certainty that he wasn’t already walking straight into one of Star’s carefully laid schemes. Every encounter, every coincidence, every seemingly harmless conversation left him wondering whether another unseen thread had already been wrapped around him.

Then there were the legacies.

The appearance of both the Sword God Legacy and the Death God Legacy left an uncomfortable feeling lingering in the back of his mind.

It was as though invisible hands had already arranged the pieces across a massive chessboard long before he had arrived.

The inheritances.

The trials.

The timing.

Everything felt just a little too perfect.

For the first time since his transmigration, Lukas couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t freely choosing his own path.

Instead...

He might simply be another chess piece, unknowingly walking along a road that someone else had prepared.

The thought lingered for only a brief moment.

Then Lukas slowly exhaled and gave a small shake of his head.

"Whatever."

His golden eyes gradually regained their usual composure.

"Sooner or later... I’ll find out who’s truly moving the pieces."

A faint smile curled onto his lips.

"And if they think I’m nothing more than a pawn..."

"Then they’d better make sure I don’t survive long enough."

Because everyone forgot one simple truth about chess.

A pawn that continued advancing eventually reached the opposite side of the board.

And when it did...

It could become a kingmaker.

Or something even more terrifying.

This was only the beginning.

Whoever believed they already controlled his fate would eventually learn one thing.

Lukas genuinely couldn’t care less.

No matter who sat behind the board...

He intended to flip the entire table.

Everyone prepared in their own way.

Some sat quietly, sharpening their weapons until the edges gleamed with a deadly coldness.

Some closed their eyes and cultivated, pulling star energy from the surroundings into their bodies, making use of every remaining second before the trial began.

Others gathered in small groups, discussing strategies in hushed voices, exchanging information they had gathered or debating how to deal with possible dangers inside.

Lukas, however, simply sat alone.

Cross-legged.

Silent.

His consciousness gradually drifted inward, sinking into the vast cosmos within him.

The endless darkness stretched in every direction, as tranquil as ever.

Yet unlike before, the cosmos was no longer empty.

Deep within the boundless void floated a faint skeletal silhouette.

It was still incomplete, appearing almost transparent, as though someone had drawn the rough outline of a skeleton using strands of dim starlight. Every bone remained blurry and indistinct, but compared to when Lukas had first discovered it, the figure had become noticeably clearer.

At every passing moment...

The outline became just a little more solid.

Just a little more complete.

"...Tommy."

Lukas unconsciously mumbled the name, his eyes fixed on the growing silhouette.

Even now, he still found it difficult to suppress the shock he had experienced the first time he had discovered Tommy’s outline inside his cosmos.

At first, he had thought he was imagining things.

Then disbelief had turned into confusion.

And now...

It had gradually become expectation.

Still, a trace of worry lingered within him.

It had already been quite some time since he first sensed that Tommy’s evolution had reached its final stage.

Back then, he had been convinced the evolution would finish within hours.

Yet hours became days.

Days continued to pass.

That final step...

Never arrived.

It was only during that period of confusion that he accidentally discovered Tommy’s outline inside the cosmos.

Ever since then, a vague realization had formed in his mind.

He had a feeling...

No.

He was almost certain.

The moment this skeletal outline completely materialized would also be the exact moment Tommy finally completed his evolution.

Some might ask how he could possibly be so certain.

Truthfully, Lukas himself had questioned it in the beginning.

He had doubted his own judgment.

However, those doubts completely disappeared after one small experiment.

He had attempted to summon the Astral Bone Vanguard.

The moment the thought appeared in his mind, star energy throughout the cosmos immediately surged into motion.

The familiar summoning process had begun.

Countless strands of pale star energy gathered together before him, rapidly taking the rough shape of a skeleton.

Everything proceeded exactly as before.

Until...

Just before the summoning completed...

Lukas forcefully canceled it.

Although the skeleton never fully appeared, he had clearly sensed something.

The incomplete figure that was about to materialize...

Matched the outline growing inside his cosmos.

It was that moment that confirmed his suspicion.

The evolving Tommy and the Astral Bone Vanguard were no longer separate existences.

The skeleton growing within the cosmos was not an illusion.

It was Tommy himself.

Thinking about all this, Lukas quietly observed the skeletal outline.

His gaze swept across every part of its body, carefully comparing it with how it had looked during his previous inspection.

The changes were subtle.

So subtle that an ordinary person would never notice them.

But Lukas had watched this outline for countless hours.

He could immediately tell that the ribs had become clearer.

Several finger bones that were once nothing more than blurry shadows had now almost completely taken shape.

Even the skull looked slightly more defined than before.

The progress wasn’t dramatic.

Yet it was steady.

Constant.

Seeing these changes, a faint smile appeared on Lukas’s face.

He had a feeling it would not be long before the fusion finally completed.

This time, it wasn’t simply wishful thinking.

Nor was it another hopeful guess born from impatience.

It was a conclusion he had reached after carefully observing Tommy’s growth day after day.

Without hesitation, Lukas slowly sat into a deeper meditative posture.

His consciousness expanded throughout the entire cosmos.

The next second, the calm sea of star energy surrounding him suddenly stirred.

Streams of brilliant starlight began flowing from every direction, converging toward Tommy’s skeletal outline like countless glowing rivers returning to the ocean.

The instant the streams touched the outline...

They disappeared.

Not a single strand escaped.

The skeletal silhouette greedily absorbed every trace of star energy that reached it.

With each passing second, the faint outline became slightly brighter.

Slightly more solid.

The process was incredibly slow.

Almost imperceptible.

Yet Lukas could clearly sense it growing stronger.

This was something he had only discovered during his repeated observations.

Initially, he had believed Tommy’s evolution would naturally finish on its own if enough time passed.

However, after experimenting several times, he realized something interesting.

The outline wasn’t merely waiting.

It was constantly absorbing star energy.

More importantly...

If Lukas actively guided the surrounding star energy toward it instead of letting it absorb naturally, the evolution speed noticeably increased.

The improvement wasn’t overwhelming.

But it was enough.

Otherwise, Tommy’s evolution would have dragged on for far longer.

Time quietly passed.

Inside the silent cosmos, rivers of star energy continuously flowed toward Tommy’s outline without interruption.

Outside, the waiting room remained filled with quiet conversations, the occasional sound of metal scraping against whetstones, and the fluctuations of countless people cultivating.

Lukas paid attention to none of it.

His entire focus remained inside his cosmos.

Although the merger had greatly expanded the amount of star energy he could store, his reserves were still far from limitless.

Eventually, the continuous transfer drained a significant portion of his energy.

Feeling his reserves nearing their limit, Lukas calmly stopped directing the flow.

Without wasting a second, he immediately circulated the Star Energy Breathing Technique.

The surrounding star energy responded almost instantly.

Like invisible tides, it flowed into his body through every pore before gathering inside his cosmos.

His depleted reserves slowly recovered.

Once they returned to their peak...

He resumed directing the energy toward Tommy.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The cycle repeated tirelessly.

While everyone else used the remaining time to make their final preparations for the trial...

Lukas devoted every passing second to completing Tommy’s evolution.

Just like this, one week passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the cosmos, Tommy had almost come to life, with the outline nearly ninety percent complete.

Lukas sat cross-legged in the training room assigned to him when suddenly he felt a faint hum in the air.

The sudden change forced him to open his eyes and look at the surroundings in confusion.

Is it finally that time...?

Lukas lightly mumbled under his breath. Something told him the opening of the demigod realm had finally started.

Before he could continue thinking, Lukas heard an urgent call from the Vice Head, calling everyone outside.

...

...

Away from the White Knight Guild training grounds, at the center of the training field, a large teleportation formation glowed brightly. Ancient runes floated through the air in synchronized fashion, their light intertwined with star energy, creating a rhythmic hum. The space surrounding the rune formation was trembling, as if it were being pressed and stretched continuously.

Vice Head stood at the front. Beside him was Natasha, a solemn expression on her face, the light from the formation reflected in her pupils.

Lukas, Jamie, and Jack were also right ahead of them, already within the bounds of the formation.

There might be more people than he had earlier thought.

With just one sweeping gaze, Lukas counted more than a hundred young awakeners within the boundary of the formation, standing with solemn expressions on their faces.

Here they were in safe surroundings, but once inside, who knew what kind of threats they might encounter?

It was then that the formation surrounding Lukas and the others started spinning at high speed.

Vice Head gave the three of them a nod of approval, with slight seriousness on his face.

"You are my greatest hope, but no matter the outcome, the White Knight Guild will always support you."