Strings Of Domination

After filling their stomachs with all kinds of delicious foods and drinks while also discussing their plan about how to sneak on the arriving merchant ship, Nash explained to Miles how he should proceed with his Legacy now that he was already at Level 6.

Of course, he didn't hope to see him succeed on his first try as even he needed a little more than a few tries to get the hang of it, but to his great surprise, Miles unlocked his first Ancient Veins with seemingly no struggle!

"This... Are you a monster disguised in human skin or what?" Nash mumbled with a somewhat stupefied expression and watched speechlessly as Miles unlocked another Ancient Vein as if he was breathing!

"I don't think so. I have just followed your instructions," Miles replied with a casual shrug, and once his eyes were closed another of his Ancient Veins were forced open!

'This is interesting.' Nash showed a smile upon seeing the talent and potential Miles had, but all of a sudden his body flinched as he felt a piercing glare on his skin.

"Huh? Why are you sulking at me?" Nash asked with puzzlement when he turned around and saw how Amy glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not sulking," Amy replied in an instant.

"Then why are you angry?"

"I am not angry either," Amy replied instantly again, and without saying anything else she quickly walked into a corner where she began to do squats, push-ups, and all kinds of physical exercises that seemingly had the purpose to increase her level.

By the intensity and the way she was doing them, it was pretty apparent she wished to catch up with the two of them as currently, she was the weakest among the three of them.

Nash scratched the back of his neck when he saw Amy's behavior, but alas, as he didn't know how her brain worked he just shrugged and let it go. Instead, he sat down into a lotus pose and closed his eyes, trying to see what he should do to increase his Level.

As far as he could see it, normal essence consumption was not the solution he wished to seek as even after he replenished his 10,000 essences there was no sign of change in his body much less a breakthrough into the second level.

'If the answer is not in the essence then will it be inside the body?' Nash wondered and as he shut his senses down, he seeped his consciousness into his body.

Initially, he found nothing strange nor a sign which could have told him he was on the right path, but just as he was about to pull his consciousness away he found something that confused him.

Inside one of his Ancient Veins that was located just below his right shoulder bone, a small circle with a unique symbol in its middle which he failed to recognize was visible, flickering with a gentle white light ever so slightly.

'A symbol? Since when?' Nash felt muddled and quickly decided to examine the rest of his Ancient Veins but this time in greater detail.

And to his surprise, he found an additional four symbols, each located inside different parts of his body such as his left leg, left arm, right leg, and head! Furthermore, each carving looked different from the rest while the color they were flickering with varied too!

'White, green, red, blue, and black. Do they have a specific meaning and purpose or not?' Nash wondered in his heart and slowly moved his consciousness to touch the symbol with the red glow.

But strangely, when he touched the symbol nothing happened. His consciousness just passed through it without any seeming resistance or change!

'Strange.' a small frown appeared on Nash's peaceful face and although feeling scarcely lost he didn't give up just now. Instead, he decided to change methods, this time using his essence instead of his consciousness.

However, it seemed to be an extremely bad idea as the very moment his essence was controlled and pushed against the symbols, an immense amount of heat overran his body, making him feel like he was torched and boiled from the inside out!

His Ancient Veins, bones, flesh, skin, and literally every part of his body felt like it was set ablaze, giving him an experience that he until this very moment didn't even know could exist!

Not bearing with the torture-like pain that scorched his whole body any longer, Nash quickly pulled his essence away. However, despite the burning sensation in his body starting to diminish, it seemed that he was still a step late as blood still gushed into his mouth uncontrollably and onto the ground, painting the sight before him all red!

"N-Nash?" Amy who had been doing sit-ups at this moment jumped onto her feet and with a speed that surprised even herself, she appeared next to Nash, ready to help him not to fall to the side.

But when her fingers got in contact with Nash's shoulder, a painful grimace appeared on her pretty face while her hand was pulled back as if she just accidentally touched a scorchingly hot surface.

"Hot... Why did his body feel like broiling steel? This is not normal at all!" Amy mumbled under her breath and watched as Nash's skin slowly started to regain its natural bronze colors that previously seemed to be crimson!

"I... I am fine... I just had a small accident while trying to break onto the next level." wiping the blood away from the corner of his mouth, Nash showed a trim smile as he reassured Amy with a calm voice.

'Small accident? That was small for you? Also, did it happen while you tried to break into the next level? Just what happened exactly?' Amy wished to ask the questions that popped up in her mind one after another, but seeing as Nash has already closed his eyes and immersed himself back to his cultivation she could only shake her head helplessly and walk away.

As for Miles, he was so engrossed in unlocking his Ancient Veins that he didn't even notice what happened with Nash despite him coughing up a great amount of blood just a meter away from him!

Time passed rather quickly and five days went by in a blink. During those times many things happened.

First, the most noticeable change was that in just under three days Miles was able to unlock all his Ancient Veins and force his level to soar from Level 6 all the way to Level 10, just one final breakthrough away from reaching the next Rank and becoming a Warrior!

Such a speed was simply outrageous as it beat Nash's record by a huge margin!

The second apparent change was also Amy's level which after continuous physical training and a little help from Nash was brought to the peak, finally reaching Level 6!

As for Nash, while he also progressed further with his cultivation, his advance, unfortunately, was nothing similar to Miles' or Amy's as he didn't reach the next level even after attempting for days and nights without rest.

He just simply succeeded in sustaining a little while longer during his attempts to unlock the red symbol in his Ancient Vein as it seemed to be some sort of seal. Although Nash felt slightly disappointed by his results, deep in his heart he still was delighted as progression was still progression and that is what mattered to him the most.

After filling their stomachs with delicious food, changing clothes into ones that looked rather old and dirty, and hiding their weapons in the crates, Nash looked at the two in front of him and ask, "Are you ready?"

"Well, do we have another choice?" Amy asked as she crossed her arms below her bosom while Miles just grinned and showed a thumbs up.

When Nash saw how casual Miles was and acted only after a few days, Nash didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

'This guy... His demeanor changed completely compared to the first time they have met, didn't it? Well, at least it was a good thing to see him smile and have life in his previously soulless eyes.' was what Nash thought to himself before he nodded and smiled.

"Perfect! Then let's get crack'n!"

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On the far northern part of Planet Nelea where the golden grass on the ground and the yellow leaves on the trees were covered with a small amount of frost, a great city with a size of at least a few miles stood proudly, surrounded by towering silver walls built from seeming hard steel!

And right in front of this great city that was constructed a bit more than 300 years ago despite the Human Dimension having been conquered a bit more than 1,000 years ago, Alina stood next to Mitah with a tranquil expression, her eyes gazing at the descending spaceship in the sky.

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A/N: Hope you liked it! Make sure to vote for more and also stay safe! <3