The Nexus Event had finally reached its end. Now, the only thing remaining was the award ceremony.
A match was held earlier between Ethan and the dark horse to determine third place, but its outcome didn’t need to be mentioned. Ethan’s fire was fatal against the dark horse’s darkness, not to mention his insane physical strength.
The darkness arrows that had successfully won many rounds were unable to perform well against such a powerful body, and by the time it could attempt to corrode, it was burned away by flames. Like this, Ethan had a relatively easy win for third place.
The Finals had been held around noon, so the ceremony would take place in the nighttime. This was out of consideration for Damien and Katherine, who were in dire need of rest after such an intense fight.
The two of them were teleported back to the main stage where they faced a rambunctious crowd whose cheers could drown out all other sounds in the vicinity. How could the crowd not be excited?
The Nexus Event only occurred every 10 years, and not every generation was guaranteed to produce insane geniuses. However, this generation produced not just one such genius, but four of them. Even the dark horse was included in this list since he lost only to Katherine.
And the fact that Katherine was able to drive Damien, who was largely unimpeded in his path forward, to a point where he was close to fainting with exhaustion, elevated this status even more.
As the two basked in glory, Damien held Katherine’s hand before raising their arms in the air, taking a victory pose. The crowd went wild. Under the deafening cheers, the two finally left the stage and headed back to their private room.
They thought of nothing but sleep at the moment, not even realizing that their hands were still interlocked. Reaching the king-sized bed, they simultaneously collapsed and passed out. Damien still needed to heal his shaken internals, while Katherine needed to recover her dwindling mana capacity.
As the two slept peacefully, many conversations were taking place around the arena.
“Haha!” Laughed Ethan, “I knew he hadn’t shown me everything he has. Damn, I’ll force it out of him next time.”
The two elves in front of him nodded. “Indeed, if he had used that last ability during the earlier rounds, nobody would have stood a chance,” Ara complained.
“That might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that he held back to match us and have proper battles. He’s an admirable guy.” Responded Eren.
The two siblings and Ethan were all extremely high-status individuals within their own domains, and with the beast and elven domains bordering each other, it was obvious that they’d have a connection.
Many others within the crowd were thinking along the same lines. However, the fact that Katherine could match Damien even when he released power that could squash the competition was also a major point of discussion.
Eva was also within the arena. Although she didn’t say anything, there was a fierce light of determination shining in her eyes.
Back in the penthouse, the various leaders were also conversing.
“That little girl of yours is really impressive. To use sound magic in such a way is very rare, not to mention that it would usually cause heavy injuries to the throat and internal organs.” The beast empress pointed out.
“Indeed,” the dwarf king said, “Sound is a property of wind that not many choose to pursue. It’s admirable of her to attempt such a thing, and even succeed.”
The Adelaire emperor’s face remained unchanged, but if one looked closely, there was a concealed light of pride deep within his ruby eyes. However, his focus was on something else right now.
“That boy…”
The beast emperor nodded. “It’s as you think. That was dragon’s breath. The boy isn’t dragonkin from what I sensed, so it doesn’t make sense for him to have that.”
The beast empress also chimed in. “His beast aura is a mix between many different species, but its main properties are that if a wolf’s. It would make more sense for him to obtain some Fenrir bloodline than for him to have dragons breath.”
The emperors continued pondering for a while before making a decision.
“Let’s wait until the award ceremony ends, then we can simply ask him about it. At the end of the day, he’s 2 classes below us. He can’t resist our will.” Proposed the Stanton Emperor. But this idea was immediately rejected.
“No, That boy is a spatial ability user, it wouldn’t be far-fetched if he had multiple ways to escape when he feels threatened.” The Lennon Emperor chimed.
The two had always had a rivalry, so the other leaders weren’t surprised at their differing opinions. The two argued for many minutes before the Adelaire Emperor raised his hand.
“Enough. We will ask the boy about his power, but we won’t push for an answer. Every expert has their fair share of secrets. What’s more important is, has anyone been able to find his origins?”
None of the leaders spoke for a while before the beast empress raised her voice. “I’ve been able to track down the first location he appeared in, but it doesn’t solve the mystery of his origins in the slightest.”
Seeing her peers looking at her impatiently, she chuckled before continuing. “What’s interesting is that I gained this information from a 2nd class grey deer. Their species is known for their high intelligence, thus she was able to converse with me.
“It turned out that a year ago while she was grazing in a field on the outskirts of the Helia Forest, a human male and a large black wolf emerged seemingly from nowhere. They simply appeared in the middle of the forest without prior notice.
“According to her report, the human was covered in dirt and blood and wearing nothing but a torn rag on his legs, while the wolf was similarly dirty. It was only after they bathed in a nearby river that she saw their appearance.
“After this incident, the two exited the forest and took off running. This was the last she saw of them and she had almost forgotten about it entirely. If it was anyone besides me asking, I doubt she’d have remembered this small meeting.”
All of the emperors once again fell into thought. While most of them were still confused about what value this information held, there were three among them that formed a faint possibility in their heads.
This was the Adelaire emperor, the beast empress herself, and Malcolm, who was silent for most of the conversation.
‘Did he emerge from a dungeon somewhere in the area? If so, could he be…’
It wasn’t a rare case for otherworlders to get trapped in the gates that form before dungeons were naturally created, but it was extremely rare for them to survive long enough to reach the surface.
Even if they managed to reach the surface, they’d be in an unknown land and most likely be killed due to their naivety. But Damien seemed to possess knowledge of the world from the beginning, leading to their confusion.
But in Malcolm’s head, many pieces of the puzzle seemed to click together. He was the only one among them who’d spent a significant amount of time with Damien, so he naturally knew better.
While Damien had basic knowledge of the world, much of it was outdated, as if he’d learned it all from an old book. He didn’t know of the Nexus Event before he entered the academy, he didn’t know about the Nox or the war before Malcolm explained it, and he didn’t even know about mana circuits as a concept.
‘He’s from a beginner world?’ Malcolm thought. ‘But what kind of beginner world can birth such an insane talent?’
Many hours had passed while the leaders were having their discussions, and night had already fallen.
Within the private room, Damien’s consciousness stirred as he slowly began to wake up. His eyes still half-closed, Damien attempted to sit up, only to notice a weight on his right arm and side.
Looking to his side, Damien was so shocked he almost instinctively teleported away. ‘Why do I always end up in cliche anime scenarios with her??’
This situation was as cliche as it gets. By his side was a slumbering Katherine. Her head was rested on his arm while her arms were wrapped around his waist and her legs around his own.
‘What am I? Her personal body pillow?’ Damien shook his head, moving to take her off of him, but he ended up stopping halfway.
Damien was still a man. The two pillowy mounds against his chest and the faint valley he could feel on his thigh forced him into a tough position.
Looking at her now, Damien realized that Katherine did indeed have a spectacular body. Her figure was curvaceous, but not to the point that it was unnatural.
Her chest was a solid C cup that he felt would fit perfectly within his hands and as for her butt, Damien only had to take a peek to know it was perfectly shapely. The slight jiggle when he moved also didn’t escape his sharp eyes.
Honestly speaking, it was a body figure that was perfectly within his tastes. At this point, he was back to laying down as he subtly admired the sensations he was feeling. Suddenly, a wild thought entered his head.
‘If she can enhance pain during battle, couldn’t she also enhance pleasure during…’
Without warning, Damein fiercely bit his tongue, drawing blood and snapping out of his thoughts. He couldn’t stop himself from sweating a little.
Even previously when they ended up in a much less precarious situation, his bestial instinct attempted to drive him wild, but since there was no physical contact, it was easier to control.
This time, he almost failed to control himself. He knew his thoughts and actions were out of character, but his mind subconsciously ignored that fact.
‘This is insane. Lust is an aspect I never needed to focus on controlling until recently. At this point I either need to stay abstinent or relearn how to control this instinct.’
Before Damien could think further, he felt a slight movement on his side.
Katherine’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She was feeling great, as she had slept using an extremely comfortable pillow, so she grabbed it tighter, wondering what it was. When her vision became clear, the first thing that greeted her was a pair of swirling amethyst-red eyes staring back at her.
“Had enough?” Damien said with a teasing smile. It was only then that Katherine realized the awkward position the two of them were in.
Scampering out of the large bed like a startled cat, Katherine took a second to collect her thoughts. Then, without another word, she sent a fierce glare at Damien before fleeing the room with a face redder than any tomato that ever existed.
Damien’s smile turned wry. ‘Doesn’t she know that looking at me like that only makes her more attractive?’
Shaking his head, Damien also stepped out of the bed. As he exited the room, his thoughts shifted once again.
‘It’s finally time to get my Elixir.’