Chapter 27 - True Awakening

[=- You have entered a Safe Zone -=]

The old man's eyes widened upon seeing that notification because there were two occasions where people could see the System. One was when you were seeing the status, and the other was when you killed any monster. There were special occasions, though.

And it was commonly known that only if you were in the Safe Zone made by the Pioneer of Light, would such a notification appear. Even in their world, the Safe Zones made by the legendary Pioneer of Light still remained, a proof of his legend.

''Hm? You okay?'' Haize asked after seeing the old man suddenly stopping, and his expression changing as if he had eaten a fly. Hearing Haize's question, the old man suddenly became embarrassed, ''Ah, it's fine. It's just that I didn't hear that a Safe Zones existed, did you create it?''

''You didn't see the system announcement? Whatever, yeah, I created it.'' Haize said indifferently, while the old man cast an incredulous look at him. As they continued to walk, many monsters just ignored them, ''The monsters are avoiding us, how curious...''

''Yeah, who knows why they are doing that?'' The old man said while sweating a bit, ignoring the intense golden-colored eyes staring at him. It was as if someone was saying 'You're sus, old man.'

'Oh my holiness, he is the Pioneer of Light!' The old man thought while secretly being sure to make the black-haired man his disciple! What he didn't think was that the man in front of him was more abnormal than a 'mere' Pioneer of Light.

It didn't take long before they got near the huge house enough to accommodate around 70 people, one made by the two Wood element Mana Users. This was going to be the official base of their Covering Sun Faction!

....

Once the members of Haize's faction saw the pictures, instead of feeling sympathetic, they felt endless excitement. It turned out that their boss was such a powerful person, no wonder everyone fears him!

Ziam wore a wry smile on his face as he looked at Haize, ''You don't change at all, do you? Always being such a ruthless and scary guy, wow...''

''Who is the old man?'' Ziam asked curiously, clearly feeling a strong aura coming from that beggar-like old man. Maybe the old man was a new member of their faction? Who knows, because if Haize got a mood swing, everything was possible.

Haize stared at him while scratching the back of his head, ''Well, I don't know. In short, he's not useless, and seems to be quite strong.''

''...'' Ziam was not sure if following Haize was a good choice, and felt that his world's three views were crumbling apart. Then, he sighed helplessly while feeling that Haize hadn't changed even a bit after the world changed. It was still the same calm and cautious, but carefree Haize he knew.

Meanwhile, the cheerful trio was trying to frantically increase their Mana Stage. Even so, they felt that it would take at least a few more days before they could get stronger. They didn't even notice that Haize had sat cross-legged near them and started to meditate.

As he closed his eyes, Haize started to feel the situation within his body carefully. His Mana Sphere had changed ever so slightly, adding a third white coloration to it. The three colors of golden, white, and black mixed together endlessly, continuously changing their position.

Suddenly, Haize grasped the ability sleeping within himself and 'brought' it out. Just above his hand, a pure white-colored light appeared before taking various shapes that Haize wanted. It seemed to carry the power of Life itself, but it was different at the same time.

Then, he brought out his Abyssal Wind and noticed that it carried a similar aura, but of Death. At the same time, it didn't seem to be the aura of Death, but another one. Haize clearly felt that John's ability was death-related, and the aura was certainly different.

His Abyssal Wind seemed to drag anyone into an endless abyss of nothingness. His Pioneer of Light ability, which Haize decided to name Heaven Light, seemed to drag anyone into a comfortable dream, a paradise of holiness. Haize suddenly understood that he hadn't understood anything about any of his abilities.

He only understood how to use and mix them, but not the ability itself. As Haize started to delve deeper into the mysteries of his abilities, the Mana within his body circulated unconsciously. His Mana Sphere slowly increased in size before it actually started melting.

The Infinite Sun Flames wrapped Haize's body as a whole before forcefully entering it. Haize's whole body started to glow with a golden radiance as if a Saint had descended. His blood slowly changed from blood-red to bright golden, which was both scary and cool at the same time.

Inside his eyes, a tinge of black appeared before starting to cover them completely while black scales started covering Haize's arms. On his back, a pair of dragon-like black-colored wings appeared. At the same time, a pure white-colored light wrapped his hair and skin.

The color of his hair slowly changed from black to white, and whoever looked at him would feel as if he was a Saint. It was a strange feeling to describe, but his being was filled with an aura of holiness.

Suddenly, Haize opened his eyes. His black-colored eyes seemed to be an endless abyss of despair, but they were indescribably calm, unaffected by such despair. Then, his body returned to its normal appearance. Even so, anyone who looked at him would feel that same aura of holiness, hidden deep within his body.

''Oh, I advanced to 1-Star...'' Haize scratched the back of his head in a confused manner, 'Wasn't I just feeling my abilities? How come I advanced if I didn't even try to circulate my Mana? '

Shaking his head, Haize looked at the cheerful trio still meditating beside him, while looking at the mess of a room around him. It seemed that he had made quite some mess while feeling his abilities. His hands stretched out in a gentle manner, as a black-colored breeze calmly put all messed up objects back in their place.

Meanwhile, the old man who was just beside the room Haize was meditating, nearly had a heart attack.

His body trembled violently, and he actually coughed blood, 'True... True Awakening?'

The old man couldn't understand how someone could be more abnormal than being the Pioneer of Light.

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