1092 Broken



With a face devoid of any emotions, Liam waited for the draconian princess to recover. Despite administering four healing potions, the effect seemed minimal at best. She continued to groan, a sign that she was still alive, but there was no indication that she would awaken anytime soon.

A heavy sigh escaped Liam's lips. He suspected that she was somehow responsible for bringing him to this place, although he felt neither happiness nor gratitude towards her.

Seating himself beside her, memories from both his lifetimes flooded his mind, each one causing him a piercing ache. 

The realization that, despite all his efforts, he had still failed stung like an open wound. In his desperate pursuit to alter his fate and that of his sister, he had even neglected to spend meaningful time with her during his second chance. 

He had toiled tirelessly, only to lose everything once again.

Regret washed over him in waves as he silently contemplated the sole survivor beside him. Time passed, and the excruciating pain coursing through his body forced him to confront the present. Closing his eyes, he focused on assessing his condition.

But in the next instant, his eyes snapped open in shock. Tremors ran through his body as he struggled to believe what he had just experienced. Closing his eyes again, he attempted to replicate the sensation.

This time, he was certain.

Tears welled in his eyes as a faint, yet familiar connection to two distinct beings flooded his senses. One was the little fox, and astonishingly, the other was the world tree itself.

If his connection to the world tree remained intact, there was a chance that the nether array had been halted. Then, was everyone still alive?

Liam's demeanor shifted abruptly. There was no room for self-pity or despair when there was a glimmer of hope. 

And Luna! 

His connection to the world tree was extremely faint, but his mental connection with the little fox was much stronger. He could feel that she was alive.

Determined, Liam steadied himself and delved into meditation once more, reaching out for her presence. This time, he felt it more clearly. 

She was nearby, right where he was, yet frustratingly out of his reach. He couldn't contact her.

A surge of emotions overwhelmed Liam. The realization that he hadn't lost everyone after all rekindled his sense of purpose. While nothing had mattered when he believed he was alone, the connection to Luna triggered him.

Anger surged within him, an overwhelming torrent that multiplied a hundredfold, a thousandfold. It consumed him, fueling a burning desire for revenge. The mere thought of being pushed into a corner, unable to protect his family and survive, ignited a primal fury within him.

The woman was hell bent on using his momentary weakness to forever seal him and bury him. She closed off all the doors and hit him from every direction. But he was. Still alive.

Liam clenched his fist. 

Do they know he survived? What happened to everyone? Where was Luna, and what was this place? He had several questions in mind. There was a lot that needed to be done.

But first, he needed to recover. 

He had taken some drastic measures, even going so far as to ruin himself in the process. He needed to assess the extent of the damage.

Liam wasn't sure if the priestess was aware of his survival, but if she wasn't, then this was his chance. He needed to become stronger in the shadow, strong enough to take back everything.

Time was running out. He did not know what condition Luna was in. Even if the world tree still remained, there was Crawford. 

Liam knew about that old man. He was extremely vengeful and petty. He wouldn't let anyone who was close to him live. 

He trusted in the capability of his guild, but against Crawford, they might not be able to run and hide for long. He needed to hurry. If everyone was indeed alive, then he needed to get stronger as soon as possible.

Liam steadied himself.

Pain wrecked his body, and he was not able to thoroughly assess his condition. So he opened his status screen first. He wanted to see what the updated system looked like and what additional details it came with.

______________

Name: Liam Chang

Level: 234

Class: Necromancer [C]; Soulmancer [SSS] (Locked)

Race: Human

Alignment: Earth

Titles: Earth's First Evolver, Earth's First Realmhopper

Mana Core: Red, Awakened [Broken]

Nether Core: Obsidian, Awakened [Broken]

Soul: Second Order [Broken]

Pathway: Dao seed of mana manipulation; Dao seed of nether manipulation

______________

Vitality: 65 (410)

Stamina: 25 (390)

Strength: 87 (370)

Intellect: 67 (420)

Agility: 45 (395)

Luck: 625

Physical Defense: 5

Mental Defense: 23

Soul Defense: 5

Free Stat Points: 200

______________

After opening his system interface, the first thing that Liam saw was his level, and he couldn't believe his eyes. The last time he checked, he was somewhere around Level 100, and now he was at level 234?

He quickly looked at his stats when an even more shocking result was displayed. All of his stats were utterly abysmal. 

Liam saw the number in the bracket and assumed that these were his real stats, and the stats that were displayed were probably because of his injuries, thereby displaying his current condition.

Just like his stats, his defense was also miserable. Those goblins that scattered upon seeing him could probably finish him off at the moment.

The only saving grace was the 200 free stat points. This was probably the stat points he had gained from the extra levels he was seeing. But just when did he level up?

Liam's eyes once again went to his status screen, and he read it from top to bottom. Seeing it more patiently, he observed that there were several new details, such as alignment, his newly obtained titles, and then his eyes fell upon the four most important details.

He now had a mana core and a nether core!

Before Liam could understand how this happened, he saw the thing written on the side. Broken and Broken.

Not just these two but it looked like his soul as well received an upgrade, going from first order to second order and it also had the status of broken.

Liam stared at the things with smoldering eyes as he grimaced. "So I gained a lot but it is all broken?"

This was something he had already expected but still it was a blow to actually see it analyzed by the system. As for how to go about repairing these things, he had no clue.

Taking a deep breath, he then paid attention to the last detail that was added. Dao seed of mana manipulation and Dao seed of nether manipulation.