Even before 6 a.m., the respective butlers of each Ascendant had arrived with their vehicles, waiting to escort their masters home.
The goodbyes exchanged were quick, and by 6:10, everyone was gone. There was no depth to their relationships because everyone knew anyone could die tomorrow, so what was the point?
The camp welcome party was nothing more than a simple tradition kept alive through generations.
On his way home, Liam couldn't help but think about learning mysticism. As much as he wanted nothing more than to ignore Ruth's advice and start dabbling in the dark arts, he was well aware of the dangers involved.
While Ruth made the problem of mastering mysticism and witchcraft sound quite simple and resolvable with a few months of consistent dedication to physical training, he knew it wasn't that simple.
It was too complicated to explain, even though he understood it clearly. The only thing he could say was that the spirit realm was a sea of chaos and danger, where a simple wrong turn could lead to unimaginable consequences.
It was like a thick forest that could only be traversed with the help of someone already within it.
"However, mastering mysticism under such a restricted environment will lead to a shallow understanding and result in mediocrity," Liam mumbled under a frown.
Be it Alistar White, Ji Wei, or even Dennis's father, these people were notorious for experimenting with witchcraft, which many times left them in critical condition.
Fortune favors the bold. Only those willing to take risks are entitled to rewards.
Using his Ascendant status to escape capital punishment for killing his parents was him exploiting his privilege. Now, he actually needed to survive to enjoy his freedom, and the current world situation wasn't favorable.
Liam may have been a madman, but he was far from stupid. Before deciding to walk the path of an Ascendant, he had already done his research. If there was a recurring flaw he noticed in most average Ascendants, it was their mediocrity at mysticism.
That was what separated the Alistar Whites and Ji Weis from the Jacksons.
Liam's gaze instinctively shifted to the rearview mirror, from which Renginald was observing him.
"Mysticism," Liam said calmly. "Why do Ascendants generally suck at it?"
Renginald didn't hurry to respond. Instead, he pondered silently for several seconds before speaking.
"Once you start dabbling with the arcane, you come to realize there is no good or bad magic. The entities that manifest never fail to demand as much as they give. Then there are corrupted entities that simply exist to spread corruption. Bumping into them is game over. Everything is just a lot more complicated and dangerous with mysticism involved."
Liam listened attentively and nodded in understanding. In summary, the dangers of mysticism far outweighed its benefits.
"And even if you eventually become a master of the arcane like Alistar, you'll become the number one candidate for every Armageddon Game. Eventually, you'll end up dying to other masters of the arcane in those Games…" he mumbled thoughtfully.
"Exactly!" Renginald nodded. "The title 'Genius' doesn't mean much to an Ascendant because you're not competing with people within your world. You're competing with humans and creatures of various worlds and realms. You're going against beings that existed before your existence. Standing out means becoming the flag bearer—death. When you become the strongest, people don't envy you; they pity you. Meanwhile, staying weak is stupid because you'll still be sent to the frontlines even if you don't make it to the Armageddon Games—death. I'd have happily said there's no middle ground, but Master Jackson's existence says otherwise."
Liam chuckled at the last part with an approving nod. The prophecy curse was the sole reason someone as average as Jackson was still alive when people like Ji Wei died.
He escaped danger thanks to his foresight—but for how long?
How long did he truly think he could hold out?
Liam let out a mild cynical laugh while staring into the distance as he weighed his options. There was nowhere truly safe, whether at the top or the bottom. Standing at the top simply made you the first victim should you fail to stop what followed.
Everyone dies after you are gone.
That was the kind of person Liam wanted to be.
When he was much younger, he watched adults debate several epic, gut-wrenching moments in the Armageddon Games and how Alistar always pulled through.
There was a light in their eyes when they spoke about it. That was what Liam wanted for himself—
to become someone who made the world hold its breath in danger because they knew their survival depended on him.
Unfortunately, it was not a journey one could rush. Even if Ruth wasn't against learning mysticism this early, he wouldn't dabble with it yet.
The rest of the ride home was quiet as Liam decided to dwell in his thoughts. By the time he returned home, he quickly realized the kind of life Ascendants lived.
Just by becoming a verified Ascendant, he received $100,000 in monthly salary, separate from all allowances that summed up to another $150,000, making it $250,000 a month.
His housing and bills were already free. Every food item within the community was also free. When they shopped, they just picked things up and left.
Schools for Ascendants with families were free, and we're talking about highly qualified personal tutors. Healthcare here was the best the planet had to offer—and it was free as well.
He basically had nothing to spend his money on. For their safety, if he wanted to go clubbing outside the community, he'd have to go with six security personnel. For most people, that was a buzzkill, so they'd rather stay home.
Only now did he realize why he had never seen an Ascendant in real life until his awakening. They were isolated from the rest of the world—but Liam wasn't going to let these people ruin his fun.
For most of the day, he started the 2,190-hour recording of this decade's Armageddon Games uploaded on J-tube with over 50 million views.
That was just about humanity's current population on this planet!
The video started with Ji Wei standing on top of Lannister Castle, the tallest structure on earth—about a thousand meters high! The world turned crimson red as the sky tore open, releasing an ear-piercing cry. Then, from the tear, a spectral arm emerged, lifting Ji Wei from the ground and pulling him into the void.
The tear seemed to fix itself in seconds as the crimson hue faded, returning everything to normal.
Pwwwooooooohhh!
The sound of a trumpet followed as the sky sent out ripples like the surface of water. Slowly, a new world was displayed in the sky from Ji Wei's perspective…
Ding! Dong!
Liam squinted in discomfort while groaning. He stretched his limbs and opened his eyes, only to see moonlight entering his dark room through the window.
"I slept off?"
His gaze instinctively shifted to his phone, noticing the screen was lit. Peering closer, he saw a new message from an unknown contact titled Physical Therapy Routine Schedule.
"My beautiful nap got interrupted by a random message? Fuck my life!" Liam cursed and threw himself back on the bed.
His stomach suddenly rumbled, and he clutched it, remembering he hadn't eaten all day. Liam's first thought was to call Renginald and have him prepare something, but then a thought crossed his mind.
"I'm rich. I deserve a better life than this!"
Jumping to his feet, Liam felt a surge of energy wash through him.
"A five-star restaurant. I'll go have dinner first before heading over to a club. I should be celebrating my Ascendant status, not sitting at home," Liam decided in a heartbeat.