At last, he was ready.

The months passed in the blink of an eye as David pushed himself further and further. He didn’t even dare to rest his mind. Every break forced him to think back to their encounter with the strongest bipedal Fragments and the Voidre.

They had yet to encounter Fragments as strong as the one Zachariah had fought and defeated, and there was no sign of a reemergence of the Voidre, but that was probably for the better. In fact, Zachariah’s frantic search for the Black Rift and Fragments resulted in a sudden drop in the number of Voidlings a few months after their aggressive hunt began.

The Regressor didn’t seem to like the lack of combat, but David had researched the Voidlings enough to understand how the Maelstroms reacted to Fragments and Saplings. It was still unclear how Deryadus’ Arm would react to the Maelstrom, but he had removed as many unknown factors as possible.

At this point, the call of the Void was stronger than ever. David could feel it through the spatial storage. The first Maelstrom he had acquired was calling out to him, its desire to work alongside him stronger than ever. However, his preparations hadn’t been complete. He had to resist the call and continue, mending the lifeless patches spread across the nation and beyond, filling the Maelstrom with more nothingness. That only strengthened the call of the Void, which was exactly what David needed as he continued training.

He studied the call of the Void, analyzed its influence on his Body, Mind, and Soul, and learned how to resist it better. His research never ended, nor did his training.

David couldn’t tell how it happened or what triggered it, but his desire to grow stronger had reached an all-time high after the sightings of Voidlings decreased. The call of the Void grew stronger—and so did David.

And, finally, he was ready.

He was more than a hundred kilometers away from the Dwarven Sanctuary, safe and sound from Zachariah’s scrutiny, and fully prepared to give in to the madness of the Void.

David retrieved the Maelstrom—one of the weakest of its kind, even after it had consumed traces of the Void and all the nothingness he had managed to collect in the last few months without attracting the Regressor’s attention—but its current power was enough. It was exactly what he needed.

He took a deep breath and called upon his status screen once more, his eyes drifting to every single line to ensure everything was prepared for what awaited him.Name: David Stears

Primary Class: Lifeweaver

Rank: Gold VII

Secondary Class - [Herald of Origin]

Rank: Gold VI

Body: Transcendent (0.0%)

Mind: Transcendent(0.0%)

Soul: Transcendent (0.2%) : 151 Droplets

[Modification: III]

[Weave Optics]: [Bloodthrone Dominion]

[Promethean Constitution]

[Deryadus’ Arm]: [Sacred Beast Core]

[Laws: III]

[Law of Blood]: [Peak(Minor)]

Bloodlust: (Intermediate)

Rend: (Advanced)

Origin Attribute: (Intermediate)

[Legacy Skills: I]

[Dao Comprehension]: [Intermediate]

[Class Skills]

[Lifeweaver: VI]

[Equivalent Exchange]: [Tier-2 IV]

[Weave of Life]: [Tier-2 XV]

[Sacrifice]: [Tier-3 II]

[Bloodlife Echo]: [Intermediate: (500/500)]

[Blood Manipulation]: [Lowest: Intermediate]

[Unyielding Vitality]: [High: Advanced]

[Monk: II]

[Aether Breath]: [Advanced]

[Reinforce]: [Tier-2 XIX]

Body: Superior– VIII(0.00%)

Energy Pathways: Superior– V(35.83%)

[Serene Ego: II]

[Mind Palace]: [High: Advanced]

[Soul Domain]: [High: Advanced]

[Herald of Origin: V]

[Archaic Shackles]: [Low: Intermediate]

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[Phantom Rush]: [Low: Intermediate]

[Indomitable Will]: [Middle: Advanced]

[Primeval Pulse]: [High: Advanced]

[Fearwrought]: [High: Advanced]

[Skill Runes]

[Tier-1: I]

[Blood Blast]: [Tier-1 XV]

[Tier-2: VIII]

[Crimson Bulwark]: [Tier-2 V]

[Radiant Expulsion]: [Tier-2 V]

[True Sight]: [Tier-2 X]

[Healing Sphere]: [Tier-2 XI]

[Chain of Will]: [Tier-2 XVII]

[Bloodbound Bastion]: [Tier-2 XVIII]

[Herald’s Blessing]: [Tier-2 XIX]

[Two of a Mind]: [Tier-2 XXV]

[Tier-3: I]

[True Restoration]: [Tier-3 III]

[Intermediate: III]

[Origin Lightning]: [Low: Intermediate]

[Vital Weaving: [Low: Intermediate]

[Lifeweaver’s Bond]: [Middle: Intermediate]

Attribute Points: 0

His status screen had changed a lot in the last few months. Most ordinary Skills didn’t improve all that much, but they had escaped the hell of Tier-1. However, that was nothing compared to the gains he made elsewhere.

His studies upgraded [Aether Breath] to an Advanced Spark. And while it did not have a sub-category to determine its exact rank, the Spark was on par with [Primeval Pulse] and therefore at the cusp of surpassing the Advanced grade.

In the same instance, [Healing Link] evolved into [Lifeweaver’s Bond]. It had been a necessary step to examine the Void, Voidlings, and his patients more in-depth with greater ease. Evolving the Spark had been a struggle, wasting more evenings than David was willing to acknowledge openly, but the result was what he wanted and needed.

His other Sparks improved greatly as well, but so did [Greater Restoration], which became [True Restoration] upon advancing to Tier-3.

However, most gains paled in comparison to the expansion of the Source, and the upgrades of [Mind Palace], [Soul Domain], and [Reinforce]. His Body, Mind, and Soul were stronger than ever. Not only were all stats Transcendent at last, but he had multiple Class Skills and a Modification, pushing his abilities to greater heights.

[Indomitable Will] was upgraded once, but it was not until he acquired [Unyielding Vitality] that David entertained the idea of fusing the Maelstrom.

He was still considering using [Reinforce] to push Body to the next grade—or doing the same with [Mind Palace], [Soul Domain], and [Indomitable Will]—but the silence of the Void was bothering him. Zachariah couldn’t find any Saplings, let alone Fragments, in the last few weeks. That was unprecedented and clearly out of the ordinary.

It felt like utter silence before a gargantuan storm, and David wanted to be prepared for it.

If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it, he reminded himself.

Sure, he could wait until the Voidlings returned to study them more in-depth, but progress had slowed in the last few months. It had been more than two months since he had any noteworthy breakthroughs. How long would it take until he unraveled more of the Void’s secrets?

He couldn’t wait any longer. The silence of the Void was deafening, tearing down the layers of patience he had created with painstaking effort.

David toyed with the Maelstrom in his left hand. He moved the small shard around his fingers, treating it like a plaything rather than a world-ending object.

The Sacred Beast Core had stopped expanding and was now filled to the brim. Electra’s Echo was fused to Deryadus’ Arm, our connection open to access the pure Blood infused into [Bloodlife Echo]. Serpent Fang and Scalemore were stronger than ever and overflowing with pure Blood and Origin Essence. All Blood storages were filled, containing 20 droplets of the purest Blood I could create. I was also bursting with lifeforce, and the Energy Pathways were flooded with filtered, natural Aether.

Every droplet of Blood in him had been created with tremendous effort. It had taken a few days and nearly ended in a massacre with the dwarves, but he’d drained every bit of the Rift Core’s Origin Essence for days to produce Blood droplets containing a tremendous amount of lifeforce and raw Origin Essence. Even Electra—both Echo and Beast Core—were filled to the brim with the most potent Blood he had ever produced.

And it was all for the minuscule, marble-sized shard resting in his hand.

I am ready. I have to be, David reminded himself.

It was about time to fuse the Maelstrom to Deryadus’ Arm. He needed the Void’s power to deal with the Voidlings once they returned.

David didn’t think for a moment that the Void had given up on devouring the Earthen Union. To him, it looked more like they were gathering for a surprise attack. And he didn’t like that. He was probably wrong… but what if he wasn’t?

How was he to survive a surprise attack of a Voidre if Zachariah wasn’t present? Even if he was present, David couldn’t be certain he would survive. He no longer wanted to rely on the Regressor’s power and knowledge.

He had paved his own path.

The risks were apparent; the Maelstrom might reject the Ancient Relic—worse even, overwhelm Deryadus’ Arm and devour it. If that were to happen, David would sever his arm and remove the Sacred Beast Core as quickly as possible. The Beast Core had already been shifted preemptively, allowing easy extraction if an emergency were to occur.

But while David was unwilling to let it go that far, he was prepared for the worst-case scenario.

A hiss echoed through his mind, and a speed train of impatience struck him fiercely as his serpentine companion cursed his indecisiveness.

“Yes, yes,” he muttered. “I didn’t spend most of the year studying and preparing for this day, only to waste it all.” He grimaced, feeling the restraints that had been holding him back loosen ever so slightly.

His fingers coiled around the Maelstrom and shut tightly. A deep breath later, David closed his eyes, listening to the resounding call of the Void as he ushered the Ancient Relic to work its wonders.

Deryadus’ Arm responded immediately. He felt it shift in accordance to his command, and David could not help but feel like it was transforming into a semi-liquid metal.

Since he had bound the Sacred Beast Core to Deryadus’ Arm, both had felt like they had truly become a part of him. It didn’t feel like the Ancient Relic was the masterwork of a Fallen, but rather that it had always been part of him. But as the Maelstrom seeped into his palm, David couldn’t have felt more alienated from… his body.

It was an alien feeling as the Maelstrom entered his body, pulled into his palm like it was quicksand.

He grimaced and cast [Herald’s Blessing] on Deryadus’ Arm, overclocking the Skill when it turned out less effective than it should have been.

David applied [Lifeweaver’s Bond] to his arm and studied the changes as the Ancient Relic drew the Maelstrom into it.

That’s still acceptable. Everything is within the range of acceptance. Skills are not as effective, but they work—even though the Maelstrom is emitting Void traces into the arm as it pushes—

He froze in his tracks for a moment. However, a moment was all he needed to respond. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone. Overclocking [Origin Lightning] and sending waves of highly condensed lightning currents, on the other hand, would.