( Rocky's POV, The Soul Realm )
Epita had underestimated the strength of Rocky's soul.
After absorbing the remnants of the dying Lich with the help of the Strongest System, Rocky's soul was almost 8 times stronger than a normal climber at his floor level.
Strengthening the soul was not an easy process and it was not a process that was supposed to start in climbers before they reached the tier4 stage, where their mortal bodies gradually transformed into becoming a demi-god body.
At his level, unless Rocky practiced dark arts, strengthening his soul to this degree was impossible, however, as fate would have it, Rocky defied all norms of common sense and had a soul strong enough to stave off all the attacks of the Soul Pool with its own strength.
Although Rocky could not move a muscle on his own within the soul realm, flailing like a helpless newborn, his soul fought fiercely for the integrity of its vessel and decimated waves after waves of enemies by sending out powerful projections of attacks.
This was a phenomenon orchestrated by none other than Shakuni, as everything from Epita's trickery, to the strength of Rocky's soul was carefully manipulated by him.
At this phase of Rocky's life, there were a lot of aspects of his growth that were being carefully controlled by the Gemini Gods, as although Rocky himself did not realize it, the Gemini gods were a big reason behind his smooth growth so far.
While it would not always be a smooth ride from here on out, as once he ascended beyond floor 20, the influence that the Gemini Gods wielded over his fate would diminish, for now at least, they did their best to give Rocky the greatest foundation possible.
More than 74 Champion's had lost their life to the first ascension test over the past 6000 years and all of them desperately tried to take over Rocky's soul vessel, to try gain one more shot at life, however, unfortunately for them, none had the strength to break through Rocky's soul defenses as slowly but surely, all were reduced to nothingness.
After what seemed like a battle fought over several minutes, the last soul trying to break Rocky's vessel finally perished as suddenly his dark surroundings experienced a massive change.
The soul energy expended by his soul, plus the energy of the dead souls all shined brightly all around Rocky and started to make its way towards Rocky's soul vessel in a beam of concentrated energy.
Rocky watched on curiously as his purple soul absorbed this wave of energy growing bigger and brighter, as once again he started to lose consciousness as his body was thrown out of the soul realm.
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( The origin realm )
Epita gasped in disbelief, when the clear and serene soul lake began to light up with a burst of energy.
Stumbling backwards, she shook her head from side to side, unable to comprehend how Rocky cleared his ascension test and was able to get the clear rewards?
"It's impossible, no matter how talented you are, it's impossible for a climber this young to know how to control his body within the soul realm, and regardless of how strong his soul is, it cannot fight off so many vengeful spirits alone.
This is impossible.... How did that boy clear this test?" Epita said in disbelief, as her hands began to tremble.
While I find it unlikely that he will die within the realm, if he does end up dying, I will definitely retrieve his soul essence for father as instructed.
Also, how do you feel about my performance so far? Am I performing beyond the expectations of the family, or did you expect me to be this good? ]
As Perseus read this letter from his sister, he had the urge to smack her on the back of her head and hard.
He hated this attitude of his sister, who was always fishing for compliments as she seemed to thrive on other people's compliments alone.
"When will this kid grow up and start taking things more seriously? When will I finally be able to rely on her as father relies on me?
Is it because she's a woman that she constantly craves attention?
Not once have I ever written a letter to father where I asked for his praise.
But she's openly begging for it now" Perseus muttered, as he pinched the top of his nose and shook his head in disappointment.
Ignoring Sophia's antics, he decided to focus on the other part of the letter which was Rocky finally attempting the first ascension test.
Although Perseus himself had no idea what the origin realm looked like, he knew about the special nature of it and the tests contained within.
The Olympian family had lost several champions to the Origin Realm and the treacherous guide Epita, as over the years the family created a manual which guided the Champion's to avoid falling into the three eyed demoness's schemes.
Since Sophia was deemed unworthy of knowing the full information contained within the book, labeled as an information threat, she was only briefed about the parts she needed to know, while not being given access to other information.
Perseus felt extremely bitter when he received the report that Rocky had started to enquire about Vorithra Sylithen on his own, as unlike Sophia who seemed to be clueless and focused on the wrong things in life, the Champion Of Gemini proved his competence every passing day.
While Sophia showed no curiosity towards Vorithra Sylithen or why she was not being given the full information about that world, Rocky seemed persistent in finding the truth of that realm, although he did not have access to the same information that the Olympians did.
"I wonder why grandfather chose my sister as his Champion and not me. Just what does that dumb girl possess that I don't?
Was it truly his own decision or was he forced or deceived into making it?" Perseus wondered, as secretly he was extremely jealous of Sophia's position as the Champion Of Poseidon, as while he could feel superior around her with his father's favor and support, the truth of the matter was that her overall standing within the Olympian family was far higher than his own.
A fact that made Perseus feel extremely jealous.
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/// A/N - Congratulations to us all for finally hitting the 150 chapter mark! Many more to come- ///