Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

--

"Whew..."

Amidst the empty space, a figure clad in clean white robes stood tall. He wore an indifferent expression on his face as he stared at the scene before him.

Chaos ensued around him. Space was torn, the elements raged, and destruction followed. It was an apocalyptic scene, yet this man was unaffected.

Everything that's happening around him is only the aftermath of a star's explosion. Typically, such a thing was a catastrophic event that hardly anybody could survive. But not only is this man fine, he's also unaffected. There isn't even a scratch on him or a tear anywhere in his clothes.

"I held out for years only to see this rather anti-climactic scene. Was it even worth it?" The man muttered to himself, sounding a bit jaded.

This man was none other than Cedric, who just survived the explosion of the world beneath him. He did so without fleeing; he endured the impact of planetary destruction with his physique alone, a feat that no humans aside from him could do currently.

Then, out of nowhere, the system window flashed before him:

[Congratulations, Dawnbringer. You cleared the Trial of Body with flying colors!]

[Rewards: 2500 Trial Points, 150,000 Alliance Credits, 5 Roulette Draws]

That's right. What happened just now might seem real, even from his perspective, but in truth, it wasn't. It was merely the result of him clearing the 1st Stage of the Trial of Body.

This was mainly the reason why he was unperturbed by the destruction of a world beneath his feet.

With an exhausted sigh, Cedric waved his hand to dismiss the system message and willed himself to leave the trial space.

He reappeared in the lobby—more precisely, right outside the door of the trials. As soon as he appeared, more system alerts appeared before him.

[Congratulations, Dawnbringer! You successfully cleared the 1st Level of the Tower of Prodigies!]

[Calculating rewards...]

[Notice: Your performance was above the standard requirements!]

[Issuing additional rewards...]

[Rewards: 10,000 Trial Points, 500,000 Alliance Credits, 10 Roulette Draws]

Looking at this caused Cedric to release another sigh as he made his way back to his room. He couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"Ten years, huh?" he smiled wryly.

Indeed, to Cedric, it has been 10 years since he came here. Well, technically, it isn't since there's still about three weeks left, but it's more or less the same. It's not like those remaining weeks make a difference anyway.

The past five years didn't, so how could he care about mere weeks?

Despite not aging visibly during the time frame, Cedric experienced considerable growth in his psyche.

This has been the longest seclusion he has ever done in his entire life. His mind has been jaded by the sheer repetition of his activities. But more importantly, he matured a lot.

He is calmer now, and it shows. He now has the demeanor of a real expert. His control over his entire being has been honed to an unfathomable level by human standards.

10 years might not be much to others, but for a human like him? It's a lot.

That's a lot of time for Cedric to think, even though, for the most part, he's busy with his training. And because Cedric had thousands of thought chambers working at the same time, the number of things he could think of was similarly unfathomable.

Actually, Cedric could've cleared the trials roughly five years ago...

Cedric had already perfected everything that he received from the Ancient Stone on the Trial of Mind except the cultivation techniques, putting his progress way above the standard requirements.

He could've also cleared the Trial of Body and Spirit five years ago. He just purposefully delayed it to savor the allotted time to its fullest.

This meant that the later five years of his time limit within the tower were spent honing his mentality.

Cedric endured true loneliness here. Even the companionship of his fellow challengers failed to ease this feeling.

He spent the majority of his time in meditation, honing his mindfulness and his mentality. He elevated his entire existence by constantly harmonizing with his surroundings through peaceful meditation. The length of his seclusions grew longer and longer, making time lose a bit of its meaning to him.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Cedric was jaded. And while that might take away most of the joys in his life, it also allowed him to open his mind to all possibilities.

The current Cedric has reached a level that the previous one couldn't possibly fathom.

Upon arriving at his room, which served as his home during his ten years here, Cedric couldn't help but feel melancholic. With a single step, he appeared inside the hut, crossing several miles of distance in that one step he took.

He sat on his bed as if he hadn't done something ridiculous just now and pondered. He then looked at the second batch of system messages that appeared shortly after receiving the first one:

[Dawnbringer, you are now eligible to start the 2nd level of the Tower of Prodigies.]

[You have the option to do it right away or postpone it to return to your world.]

[What is your choice?]

"I'm thinking about returning to my world. But from what I understand, I have a time limit for that too, right?"

[Indeed!]

[If you choose to return to your world to take care of some personal business, you must return and start the second level of the tower before you reach 100 years old.]

[If you don't do this before the time limit, it's the same as forfeiting your chance at the Tower of Prodigies.]

Cedric nodded at that. He had no problems with this arrangement. He might've spent 10 years here, but once he returns to Prime Earth, only an hour will pass.

That's to say, Cedric's still at the ripe age of 23. He has 77 years left to finish whatever urgent business he has and find time to return to the tower and start the second level.

Truthfully, it's impossible for Cedric to lose his qualifications. The only chance he has is if he dies, and killing him would take a surprising amount of effort considering that he could now endure the explosion of a star with just his flesh alone.

Knowing that he'd be returning home soon, Cedric couldn't help but feel a bit excited.

It's been 10 years since he last saw the faces of his girlfriends and felt their warmth. It's been so long that he's almost forgotten what it's like to be with them. It's also been that long since he smelled the foul yet familiar stench of his home.

As disgusting as that might sound, home is home. And since he's returning with a full haul, he could fix that right away.

"Show me my profile."

**

[Challenger Profile:]

Name: Dawnbringer

Age: 23

Race: Human

LE: 5-star Planetary Grandmaster Lifeform

Potential: A+

Achievements: Trial of Mind (1st Stage) - Cleared; Trial of Body (1st Stage) - Cleared; Trial of Spirit (1st Stage) - Cleared

Points: 17,500

**

Cedric received 2,500 trial points for clearing each of the 1st Stage of trials with flying colors. In addition to the bonus of 10,000 trial points for going above and beyond to clear the first level of the tower, it netted him a total of 17,500 trial points.

He summoned the System Store and went to his 'Cart'. After spending the last five years idling by, he often sifted through the contents of the shop and added the things he found useful to his cart.

Cedric proceeded with his check-out and paid 10,500 trial points for everything, leaving him with only 7,000 trial points left. Others would feel the pinch, but he won't. The things he brought were necessary for his plans and personal use, so he didn't mind spending so much in one go.

Aside from this, there are also the items he got from trading recipes with his fellow challengers. He had gotten a few useful trinkets from them. That's why, when it was stated that he's returning with a full haul, he wasn't exaggerating.

"Okay, I got everything I need." Cedric hummed in contentment. "System, I'd like to return to Prime Earth, please."

[As you wish, Challenger.]

[Notice: Since this is your first time returning, synchronizing your strength here with your real body will take some time.]

Judging by the distance, we estimate that it would take a whole week for the synchronization to complete. Please be patient.]

"That's alright." Cedric smiled.

Truthfully, it was beyond alright. Waiting for a mere week to become the strongest human being on Prime Earth? That's already absurd.

Cedric felt jittery, a sensation he hasn't felt in a long while. Even his tempered being couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of returning to his world after 10 years of solitude.

Before he got too emotional, though, the system's voice sounded in his ears again.

[Returning in three, two...]

[We wish you a pleasant journey and a hasty return to the Tower of Prodigies, Dawnbringer.]

That's the last thing Cedric saw before everything turned dark for him.