Chapter 64: Transcendent Realm

After grabbing a quick bite in the cafeteria, Alden headed straight back to his dorm room. The room looked exactly the same as usual, with not a single thing out of place. He went straight for his bed, but not to catch some sleep—it was time to cultivate.

Sitting cross-legged on the mattress in a lotus position, he closed his eyes, took a long breath, and began to eagerly absorb the nature’s mana. He focused hard on expanding his mana capacity. But this time, he tried a new method. Instead of just expelling the impure mana out of his body like normal, he shaped it into a small, glowing star-shaped crystal with a controlled density. It took serious concentration to form the shape and maintain it.

Then, he pushed himself to make another one at the exact same time. The second star crystal formed. Then a third, and then a fourth... Veins bulged on his forehead from the intense mental strain, and sweat soaked his clothes.

This new method was a specially evolved version of his previous technique. Instead of just throwing away the impure mana, shaping it into solid crystals gave him amazing benefits. It sharpened his overall mana control, fine-tuned his grasp on mana density, and improved the purity of the mana he could convert. Because of this intense routine, his mana capacity skyrocketed much faster.

By the time he formed the eighth crystal, which was his current limit, his concentration finally broke. His eyes snapped open, and he fell backward onto the bed, utterly exhausted. Almost all the mana had drained from his body, leaving barely a little left just to keep him conscious. He watched in awe as the glowing mana crystals slowly dissolved into the air, losing their solid forms the moment his focus loosened.

Staring blankly at the ceiling of his room, his mind spun into a whirlwind of thoughts.

Was he feeling weird because of the intense training? Or his rapid growth? No, not exactly. His thoughts drifted to the silver-haired girl on his team, Alicia. But not because she was trying to step closer to him and meddle in his life—it was because she was doing the exact opposite!

Alden’s mind went blank just thinking about it. Just a month ago, she was trying to approach him as if he were some kind of important treasure she had to claim. But for the past month, she had put a huge distance between them. She actively ignored him and walked right past him without even saying a simple "hi." She even stopped sitting next to him in class, opting for a seat at the very back of the room. It felt like she was deliberately trying to distance away from him.

But why? Why would she do that? And in the first place, why did he even care if she was ignoring him? It was actually a good thing to have no one disturbing his peace, right? Yet somehow, these days, he felt lonelier than before. It wasn’t that he felt hurt, he was used to staying alone, but after someone barged in, messed with his life, and disturbed his stability, he couldn’t help but think about her for a while.

Was she planning something?

’Nah, what am I even thinking?’ he chuckled to himself.

’Why would she plot against me? Last time we talked, I spoke way too rudely to her. That must be why she doesn’t want to talk with me... Well, it is for the better...’

He shook his head, tossing away the non-essential disappointment, and just lay there for a while. Soon, his mind shifted to an unique concept he had recently studied at the academy.

The concept was called ’Transcendence’. What was this concept all about? This world holds countless elements, skills, techniques, and powers. Every power has a set limit, but Transcendence is the realm that only a select few have ever managed to touch.

The professors explained that various legendary figures in the world achieved Transcendence in a specific realm. Someone achieved Transcendence in Swordsmanship, while someone else achieved it in Mana. That realm is a magical state where power and mastery become infinite. It means the growth limits holding a person back are shattered, and that being can achieve feats far beyond the impossible!

Right now, it was just a conceptual power to him. He barely had mastery over his own skills, elements, or techniques. It was impossible for most people to ever reach that stage, and even the most talented geniuses only managed to awaken it after decades or centuries of grueling training.

So how do people even survive for centuries? It is easy. Once you step beyond the mortal realm and ascend to the S-rank, your natural lifespan increases tremendously. Some S-rankers to SS-rankers can even survive for five hundred to a thousand years

So why aren’t all the ancient beings who touched that transcendent realm still alive today?

Well, the truth is, nobody knows if they are alive, dead, or sealed away. There is zero information about their existence. Some rumors say they died fighting in the Second World War, while others claim they sacrificed themselves to eliminate a massive threat lurking in the dark. But no one is aware of the actual truth behind it all.

Alden closed his eyes and stopped thinking about the ancient lore. He wasn’t in this world just to obsess over becoming stronger. It seemed he was forgetting one vital thing in his life: by walking a strict path to gain power, he was forgetting how to actually live.

Did constantly training make him feel alive? Was he happy with it? Nah. Thinking carefully, he realized he only trained to pass the time because he didn’t want to sit alone in a quiet room, lost in thought.

He wanted to take different steps in life than before. He wanted to live a carefree, peaceful life without any major hurdles. He remembered the last time near the beach when Alicia told him he was lucky. Yeah, now he truly understood. He really was a lucky person. Not just because he survived dangerous trouble, but because he genuinely got a second chance at life, a chance to make it worthwhile.

Not everyone gets to live a second life, at least from his perspective and knowledge. But now he had the ultimate chance to live a better one.

Suddenly, he remembered his parents. Their faces flashed in his mind, but they were covered by dark shadows. He couldn’t remember exactly how they looked.

’Why?... Wait a second, how can I forget their faces?!’

A look of shock washed over his face. He clenched his fists tight, trying desperately to picture them clearly, but the image just got blurred again.

He stopped trying after a while. A single drop of tear fell from his eye, entirely unaware to him.

Even if he couldn’t see their faces, he still remembered their warm words and their deep feelings for him. They always told him they wanted him to live a happy life. But the stubborn, infuriating boy he used to be had caged himself in his room out of pure loneliness. He had deliberately pushed his parents away, and the result? His parents had been completely shut out, not because they decided to leave him, but because the gods took them away from him.

It was only after that tragedy that he realized how valuable parents are in a child’s life.

Because of his one single problem, he lost the only light in the world. His already darkened life became even more shadowed. Even now, he blamed himself for their deaths. He hated himself for forgetting their love and care under his own foolish illusions, losing the most important thing in his life—his family.

As Alden lay there on his bed, he didn’t even notice when he finally fell asleep. He drifted off, dreaming about his blurring past once more, not knowing if those precious memories would also slowly disappear into the void.