Ascension of the last Celestial

Valerian made his way through the corridors of the cave goblin colony. He had already spent one hour inside; during this time, he was met with multiple ambushes by groups of four goblins, but none of them went past B+.

’These groups of four are probably squads sent into the tunnels to make sure that no monster from outside can threaten the caves with the non-fighters. So probably, the closer I get to the living spaces, the higher the ranks of the goblins get.’

It just showed again that the complexity of goblin society is far beyond that of simple monsters; they were just one step behind the larger civilizations of humans, elves, or beastkin.

As Valerian walked through the dark corridor, another presence entered his small dome of spatial detection.

’Another group, sigh.’

But instead of another goblin coming closer, it just stayed with the one, and this one was way faster than the ones before. Furthermore, Valerian’s detection picked up something else—there was a mana movement that was different from the ones before, and Valerian knew instantly what it was.

As the [Child of Mana], his affinity for mana is unparalleled, and he would put shame to his title if he didn’t recognize the mana movement. This goblin had an affinity. For most intelligent races, they all had one or more affinities when they awakened, but with these races that are still classified as monsters, there were only two ways they could get an affinity.

First is that they are lucky and get one when they are born; that’s where they diverge from the intelligent races. Since intelligent races only get their affinity and core when they awaken, it’s like there is an evolutionary balance—the less intelligent races are born with their core and a possible affinity, and the more intelligent ones need to wait to get them.

The second way for a monster to gain an affinity is to reach A-. Once they break past the threshold of B+, they evolve and gain an affinity. The S+ vine monster had a nature affinity and evolved into a mass of vines and trees.

As the goblin with the affinity got closer, Valerian’s perception picked up that the ground, walls, and ceiling began to move. Tendrils made out of some matter began to extend and grab Valerian’s arms and legs. Through his affinity for mana, Valerian felt exactly what mana created these tendrils and realized what affinity the evolved goblin had.

’Darkness!’

A darkness affinity for a cave goblin is the biggest boon they could hope for. Since they live in absolute darkness their whole lives, there is hardly anything more useful and deadly. If Valerian could see the goblin right now, he would be faced with a goblin that, instead of the green skin all the other ones had, had pure black skin that swallowed even the smallest light—a clear sign that the goblin had evolved from its lower-ranked counterparts.

As Valerian’s limbs got ensnared by the darkness, the goblin prepared to strike him down with a sword formed from pure darkness.

But before the goblin could bring down the sword, Valerian began to move as the darkness around his arms and legs turned into a black liquid. The goblin was surprised that the bind broke but didn’t let it hold him down; the darkness around him crawled up his legs, and his body began to sink into the darkness under him.

As he was halfway gone, he suddenly stopped. His legs were in the darkness, but no matter what he tried, he couldn’t completely disappear. He began to panic, as he was now halfway in the ground and Valerian was still walking calmly towards him.

The goblin tried to exit the darkness, but that didn’t work either. By now, Valerian was standing right in front of him, just looking down at him, his glowing cosmic-purple eyes acting as the only source of light in the cave.

"A darkness affinity? That seems convenient."

Valerian moved his left hand, which wasn’t holding the katana form of Twilight, and placed it on the goblin’s head. He began to channel his mana into his unique skill, [Law Breaker]. He used the opportunity of having a monster with an affinity to try something he couldn’t do on the guards in the palace. He tried to forcefully take its affinity.

Back then, when he got the lightning affinity from Captain Ford, he thought that the reason he was able to gain an affinity was because reaching S- gave him something like a slot for an affinity, and the captain was the first person to use an affinity after he broke through. But what he knew for certain was that [Law Breaker] played a big role in acquiring the affinity.

But then it hit him: doesn’t [Law Breaker] give him the ability to break any law? So why should he be confined by slots he has to unlock by ranking up? Shouldn’t he be able to even break the law that limits this law-breaking ability?

And that’s what he was trying now. By turning the darkness the goblin tried to escape to into solid matter, he completely stopped him from escaping, allowing him to experiment on him as much as he wanted.

He could have tried it with the guards back at the castle, but he wasn’t so deranged and cold that he could just perform human experiments... yet.

The goblin didn’t know what was going on, but it knew that the situation it was in wasn’t good. He couldn’t escape, and the person who was responsible for making his affinity useless was touching his head while a strange energy was gathering there. He had to escape, or at least stop this being from doing whatever it tried to do.

The goblin tried to call upon the darkness around him, but no matter how much he tried, his mana left his body and just dispersed. His panic increased; seeing that the darkness won’t answer, he turned back to the primitive option.

He began to hit and scratch the hand on his head, but the grip was like metal; it didn’t budge even one bit, and every time he scratched the arm, the wound would just close in seconds.

From his point of view, he couldn’t see the hand, only the forearm and the rest of the body. So, as he was staring and attacking the forearm, trying to free himself, he saw that the arm began to turn black, like the darkness he used before. At the same time, he felt a loss inside him that made him feel hollow and empty.

His strength left him, and his arms dropped to the side. His body slouched forward as the grip on his head left, and he fell to the floor as the light left his eyes.

Standing over the goblin that was still half in the ground, Valerian looked at him with eyes that betrayed no emotion. He summoned a sphere of light and looked at the goblin; its black skin had now turned into a more muted gray, as if the darkness that was causing its skin to be that color had left him.

Valerian held out his left hand and channeled his mana. Instead of normal darkness answering, his hand disappeared into a darkness so deep even the void of space would be scared. The ground behind his hand began to twist and bend, like the darkness had a physical weight reality couldn’t bear, bending instead.

’That’s... weird. Status.’

[Status Window]

[Name: Valerian von Astrea]

[Age: 15]

[Titles: Last Celestial, Child of Mana]

[Race: Celestial 60% | Cosmic Dragon 40% (Hybrid)]

[Bloodline: Celestial Dragon]

[Core: Rank S-]

[Affinities: Space, Cosmic Fire, Void Lightning, Event Horizon]

[Attributes]

[Vitality: S-]

[Strength: S-]

[Agility: S-]

[Dexterity: S-]

[Intelligence: S-]

[Mana: SS-]

[Charm: SS]

[Unique Skill]

[Law Breaker]

’Event Horizon? Not darkness? My bloodline probably did this.’

Concentrating on the new affinity, a screen popped up.

[Description]

[Affinity: Event Horizon:

The ultimate evolution of darkness, transcending simple shadows into the crushing gravity of the cosmos. It allows you to manifest the absolute void of a singularity, violently warping all surrounding space and light, while also keeping the abilities a standard darkness affinity grants.]

’I’m just getting too strong, aren’t I? But seriously, just what is the limit of [Law Breaker]?’

Excited to try out his new affinity, Valerian made his way deeper into the goblin colony.