I stared at the pop-ups blankly.
According to what this said, I had to endure 100 years in that dark place.
Just thinking about it made me uncomfortable.
But I knew that there would be risks.
I just hoped they wouldn't have been this severe.
Despite what happened though, I tried to look on the bright side, so I opened my status screen.
Alongside my effort in the past two months, the Dragon Heart also did wonders.
•—Amon Everness—•
Level 16 → 39 [Mid-Grade 1 → High-Grade 3]
▷Stats
[Strength 3 → 31]
[Stamina 15 → 42]
[Speed 8 → 22]
[Perception 22 → 50]
[Vitality 27 → 50]
▷Inherent Gift
★Telekinesis [Beginner → Intermediate] (Lv.8)
▷Special Abilities
★Blood-Sight (Lv.4)
▷General Abilities
☆Sprint (Lv.9 → Lv.21)
☆Pain Tolerance (Lv.18 → Lv.29)
☆First Aid (Lv.12)
☆(NEW) Mental Resistance (Lv. MAX)
▷Core Traits
◆Dragon Heart [Beginner] (Lv.1)
•——•
My stats increased by a huge amount, and I even got a new General Ability.
Though, seeing the name, I couldn't help but feel bitter.
The Dragon Heart counted as a Core Trait as well.
Basically, every time I used it, it would unlock more of its potential. I could do that just by using my Gift non-stop.
If I had to guess, the Dragon Heart's effects were minor now.
Aside from the stat increase, I knew for a fact my limit expanded drastically, and my regeneration increased even more.
I glanced at the altar, and, with a single thought, I shattered it.
I couldn't even feel the strain on my heart or energy. If anything, the Telekinesis activated so fast that it almost felt like I didn't use any energy at all.
But I didn't have time to play around.
And I knew that by checking the first objective I had gotten.
[Current Objective: Pass the entrance exam, and be within the top 100 of all examinees]
[Reward: +25 Free Stat Points]
[Additional Reward if within top 10 of all examinees: ???'s Core]
[Time until the start of the entrance exams: 42 hours.]
"Seriously..."
How did they expect me to go back that fast?
Even if I were to...
Wait.
I had a Dragon Heart now.
Realizing that, I slowly left the cave.
As the brightness of the cherry blossom trees caught my eye, I almost felt like I was going blind for a moment.
It kind of sucked to not see light for... apparently 100 years.
When I finally left the inner part of the mountain, I had to walk squinting, since the snow was even brighter than the trees.
It took me a few minutes to get adjusted, and when I was done, I glanced down the mountain.
The drop would kill me if I didn't catch myself with Telekinesis.
But I had another idea.
Staring blankly at the ground, I focused my Telekinesis on my entire body.
Unlike before, it didn't feel so foreign.
I slowly floated away from the mountain. When I looked back, I realized I was now at least 10 meters away.
And at least 500 meters in the sky.
When I first used Telekinesis to fly, I couldn't even go beyond 1 meter.
Now, I barely felt tired while being this high up.
In fact, I felt so in sync with my Telekinesis that it was almost eerie.
With a thought, I suddenly shot forward.
I moved much faster than I could run, and definitely faster than I could float.
Within 10 minutes, I had flown through several mountains, and if I had to guess, I was at least four times faster than the carriage that took 8 days to get me here.
And if that was really the case, then I might just be able to make it back in time.
Though, I could've never imagined that it felt so calming flying above the clouds.
"..."
I was reminiscing too much.
Although I spent so long trapped, I had no intention of becoming a crazy person. Not yet anyway.
"With my current strength, I could probably get some treasures from these mountains, but that would shave away hours of my time..."
So instead, I decided to pour all my time into going back home.
***
Floating back below the clouds, I observed the land from above. I knew this whole world like the back of my hand, and so, after setting my sights on the horizon, I quickly boosted myself forward with my Telekinesis.
I hadn't paid attention to anything in the last 40 hours.
All I was focused on was flying home, only resting every five hours or so.
On one hand, I was glad I could see the city in the distance now.
On the other, I realized that I had started to space out quite frequently.
It was strange. I flew for a bit, saw a nice-looking forest. Then, before I knew it, I was several hundred kilometers elsewhere.
And only now did I realize that I was a little hungry.
Did I have time to eat? Maybe take a little nap?
[Time until the start of the entrance exams: 1 hour 14 minutes.]
"..."
I could definitely get a piece of bread to-go. No sleep though.
The city of Aldraazan looked even bigger than I imagined from this high up as well.
It had a lot of mages and guards everywhere, so I wasn't reckless enough to just fly in and risk being detained.
Instead, I flew toward the slums of the city, landing only a few kilometers away from the gate, behind a tree.
As I approached the city, I stopped before the gate, which was guarded by a fat, lazy-looking guard.
"What's your name?" he asked.
He didn't recognize me?
"Amon Everness." I removed my top hat, revealing my black hair and bright white eyes.
That seemed to instantly perk the guard up.
"The demon child is entering through the slums? Suit yourself."
The guard was brave enough to shit talk me, but he wasn't stupid enough to do anything beyond that.
As he moved aside and let me through, I spotted him running up to another guard a bit further away and mumbling something.
I let out a sigh inwardly, and, before he could call some goons to try robbing me, I dashed forward while boosting myself with Telekinesis.
The slums were a large part of the city of Aldraazan. In fact, it was most likely the largest.
Most of the citizens here were refugees or criminals. City guards didn't go into the slums unless there was an inspection either.
It was safe to say the people of the slums were being mistreated. Though, since they were all in the same boat, at least they didn't go around killing each other every single day.
That was the only upside of the slums. But the smell, food, and everything else were terrible. I didn't want to be here longer than I should.
Though, as I neared the entrance roads leading up to the actual city, I spotted an interesting sight in the back alley.
There were two young girls with pointy ears munching on a moldy piece of bread. It was a bit surprising seeing elves in the slums, but god only knew what happened here.
I stared blankly at the scene, and as I was about to continue forward, I stopped.
Recalling a silly game I had started playing with myself a few months ago, I let out a chuckle.
I was two good monthly deeds in debt, wasn't I?
With that thought, I shifted my body and appeared in the alleyway, startling the two girls.
But before they could scream out or run away, I took out two pieces of fresh bread, and after rolling them up in a handkerchief, I placed the bread onto the ground.
The elves stared wide eyed at me, and for a moment, I thought they seemed familiar.
However, I was in too big of a rush to really figure out who these two were.
Instead, I gave them a nod, and after tipping my top hat, I vanished out of the alleyway and headed straight home for some grub.