Ash frowned and thought about it for a second, then asked Aetherion with a serious expression. "But how can I even fight against her when I don't even know a single skill?"
"You're thinking too much." Aetherion shook his head, looking at Ash with a calm smile. "Just experience it yourself, and you'll understand soon enough why I said that."
He then continued, "In fact, you could try pushing your rank a bit higher. This is your first real battle, and you'll be capped at Peak-level Silver Rank anyway."
Sigh!
Ash waved his hand and ordered, "Silence that bitch for me. I don't want to be distracted by her annoying voice while I'm fighting."
Aetherion retracted his power as he waved his hand dismissively. "Go deal with the rat who tried to run."
Li Jian immediately poked an acupoint at her neck before vanishing into thin air.
"Give me a sword!" Ash extended his hand with a serious expression.
"Sure." Aetherion opened a small spatial crack with a wave of his hand, then reached inside slowly before pulling out a fine sword.
The sword was a sleek, perfectly balanced weapon with a subtle golden glow, ornate silver engravings along the blade, and a pommel adorned with a radiant golden gem. (The sword's image is attached here.)
At the same time when Aetherion took out the sword, someone was cursing out loudly because one of the swords was stolen right in front of his eyes.
Aetherion then tossed the sword to Ash and snapped his fingers, moving Selen's lost arm to her as it immediately reattached to her shoulder in the blink of an eye.
After marveling at the sword for a moment, Ash ordered the system to upgrade his rank to the highest in case Aetherion was bluffing when he said he would be shackled at the Peak-level Silver Rank.
[Ding! Do you want to upgrade your rank to the Peak-level Silver Rank?]
"Yes!" Ash confirmed.
[Ding! 24k silver points have been successfully deducted.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! You have successfully broken through to Mid-level Silver Rank]
[Ding! 60k silver points have been successfully deducted.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! You have successfully broken through to High-level Silver Rank (Rank 3)]
[Ding! 200k silver points have been successfully deducted.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! You have successfully broken through to Peak-level Silver Rank (Rank 3)]
"I can feel my strength has multiplied several times over," Ash murmured to himself as he flexed his fingers, testing the newfound power surging through his veins.
Selen, who had been watching him closely, furrowed her brows even deeper. A flicker of regret surfaced in her eyes—regret for ever choosing to stand against him.
"Are you ready?" Aetherion looked at Ash with a smile, then glanced at Selen. "You will fight him, and if you could kill him, you will replace him, and I guarantee, the rewards you'll receive will be beyond anything you could ever imagine."
"Sounds good, eh?" Aetherion put his hands on his chin, seemingly thinking about something, and nodded his head. "I've decided."
When he noticed Ash was glaring at him in anger, Aetherion chuckled. "As for you, if you win and take revenge with your own hands, I'll help you to bring one of your siblings over for free at that time."
"What do you mean?" Ash raised an eyebrow as he didn't understand what Aetherion was talking about.
"I already know you'll want to summon your siblings in the future," Aetherion replied with a knowing grin. "And you'll probably use the system's summon function to do it. But here's the thing—getting a summon chance specifically for that purpose is incredibly rare."
He tapped his foot against the ground as he elaborated, "Normally, you can only summon one person at a time unless you're lucky enough to get two summon chances. But, I could guarantee you that even if you could get two of them, the time it takes would be extremely long—maybe in years, decades, centuries, or more. That's why I will help you to bring over the other so that you could summon them with only one summon chance."
Ash's eyes widened in excitement. He inhaled deeply, steadying his breath as he began to mentally prepare himself for his first real battle.
Selen looked at Aetherion with an expression, as if she wanted to ask about what he was talking about since she had no idea at all.
Noticing her gaze, Aetherion explained with a smile. "In simple terms, if you manage to take his place, becoming the strongest in this world will be no harder than learning how to walk."
He then waved his hand and removed her restrictions completely. "You guys can start whenever you want."
Just as Aetherion said that, Li Jian appeared with a headless corpse in his left hand, while his right hand held a middle-aged man's head that showed a stunned expression across his face.
A moment of silence passed as Ash stared at Selen. Dust floated lazily in the air between them.
Selen's eyes gleamed with cold intent, narrowed slightly in disdain. The man she once discarded was now standing tall with a sword in his hand.
Ash tightened his grip. Sweat gathered at his brow as he was a little bit nervous.
This was going to be his first real fight.
Selen moved first.
Boom!
She vanished from her spot, the stone beneath her feet cracking. Ash's eyes widened as she appeared before him like a blur of golden lightning. Her fist, wrapped in blazing aura, was already mid-swing.
Ash's Instinct took over.
Ash ducked clumsily, narrowly avoiding the blow that shattered the air above him. His ears rang from the pressure.
'That would've cracked my skull!'
He stumbled back, rolling awkwardly to his feet. "Shit… she's fast!"
Selen spat with disdain, as if looking down on him completely.
Ash frowned at the contemptuous expression.
He parried her next strike with his sword, the force jolting his arms as sparks flew. It felt like smashing his blade against a solid rock.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Each of her attacks blurred before his eyes. He couldn't keep up. Her movements weren't slow, and yet something felt off.
'Why does it feel like I can still react… even if barely?'
Just as another punch was about to hit him, Aetherion's voice echoed in his head.
"Time doesn't always move equally. The moment you're on the verge of death, your perception sharpens. That's the first step toward understanding time."