Edward contemplated the Arachne’s head in his hand. I wasn’t able to teleport objects to me before. And this head still has blood essence inside of it. My teleportation was limited to inert objects before. Several restrictions have been lifted. But this may be linked to the feeling that I can control everything around me in this ten-meter radius sphere. It belongs to me as if it was my domain. Edward absentmindedly absorbed the remnant blood essence from the Arachne’s head directly with his hand. It couldn’t compare to the rest of its body but there was no point wasting it, and the quality of its blood essence was still top-notch.

I need to test the extent of my new powers. I can feel that a lot of things have changed. He teleported the desiccated Arachne’s head around him, once, then twice, and thrice, all without cooldown. No cooldown on the teleportation? That’s awesome. Edward thought amazed by this evolution. His teleportation cooldown hadn’t changed since he obtained this power, still a few seconds of delay between each teleportation. However, as he progressed and fought tougher opponents, the actions one could do in a few seconds only increased. Two seconds might seem negligible in an ordinary fight, but when one was moving at Edward or the Arachne’s speed it felt more like ten seconds than two.

Edward teleported the head beyond his domain and tried to teleport it back to him. The attempt failed, and the head fell to the ground. Of course, it had to be too good to be true. He rolled his eyes. So, this new application of teleportation is limited to my domain. He sent his aura to pick the head, making it levitate to him.

This isn’t the extent of my control though. I can do more. This is my domain, not just an evolution of my teleportation. This area belongs to me. Edward observed the head as it was back inside his sphere of influence. He moved his hand in a flick and the head moved on its own accelerating toward one direction. It wasn’t that he was controlling the head with his aura. He had directly affected its velocity without using his own aura. Once it left his domain, the head decelerated before falling back to the ground.

I can teleport and accelerate objects in the area I control. The similarity with my powers is striking. Does it mean that this area is imbued with my powers? It’s not absolute control but it’s still pretty crazy. Edward stopped in contemplation. And since I broke through to the next level it means I should have one more power.

Edward closed his eyes focusing internally on his aura. There was a new aspect to it that he hadn’t explored yet. He poured power into it and his perception multiplied. He opened his eyes confused by the new afflux of sensation. One mirror image stood on each side of him. He blinked, the two images blinking with him. Ok, this is weird. Though taking into account the number of wolf spiders I have slaughtered it makes sense, even the Arachne had the power to clone itself. He moved his hand, the clones imitating him. How do I make them move independently from me?

He focused willing to make a clone move while he stayed immobile. The sensation was weird as if he was ordering himself to move while staying immobile at the same time. Okay, this is going to take some time and practice to get used to it. He let the clones dissipate back to nothing.

He picked up the head once again, bringing it back into his domain. It split into three mirror images. As I thought, I can apply my powers to anything I want while it is restricted to the area I control. He let go of the head, letting it drop to the ground. That’s when he noticed all the wasp spiders desiccated corpses. Did I do that? Searching in his memory he remembered vaguely reaching outwards, searching for more sources of blood essence. He shifted uneasily. That’s insane. I barely remember doing it. I don’t feel sad for those spiders but what would have happened if there was someone else besides me? Would I have killed someone in my search for more power?

The question put him ill at ease. And at the same time, he couldn’t throw it out of his mind. I know the craze for blood essence increase when one is on the verge of a breakthrough but isn’t that too much? I’m lucky that I’m hunting monsters alone. What happened to adventurers who are used to fighting with their friends? The breakthrough to the predator level was still manageable, but this is another level. If the craze increases for each breakthrough what will happen for the next one? Will I lose control totally?

Edward mused on the question before realizing that he had now reached the patriarch level. This was literally the peak of humanity in this world. Scholars had theorized that there may be another stage after this one, but there was no proof of it, nobody having reached it in the records. Worrying about the next step when nobody in history had managed to attain it seemed kind of pointless.

He pushed this worry aside and instead focused on what it meant for him to have reached this level. Even though he had installed an elected democratic system in Gobéliard, if he wanted to take all the power for himself nobody would be able to oppose him. He was already the de facto king since nobody had the power to confront him.

I’m glad I solved Gobéliard’s political situation before reaching this level. If I had to come back and chased the noble families, whatever system I put in place would only have looked like a front. A democratic system loses all meaning when one man can stop an army by himself. By this point, to exist, such a system needs the backing of someone equally powerful, meaning the whole system is dependent on the goodwill of an individual. Which decreases its appeal quite a lot. What’s the point of electing representatives if someone can change whatever was chosen by the majority only because he wishes it?

I have to be careful not to impose my views. He laughed out loud. “Gosh, I never thought I would have those kinds of problems.” He shook his head. “Look at me I’m just like a rich guy complaining that he is afraid of wasting his money.”

He took in his surroundings. He was still inside the giant cocoon woven by the spiders, countless corpses covering the ground. Well, since I’m a big shot now, let’s make an appropriate exit.

His powers weren’t the only thing that had changed. If before his aura had been like a calm brook, it was now a powerful torrent. He took in a deep breath, pointing his right dagger at the bottom of his feet. He let out his breath as he drew his dagger upwards, digging into his aura and releasing it outside. Aura continuously left his dagger forming a growing aura blade in its wake. The blade kept extending, growing from ten to twenty and finally to forty meters.

Its bottom was only a few centimeters above the ground while its top reached the cocoon’s top, the blade was literally cleaving the world into two. The webs offered no resistance, parting apart as if they had moved out of the way rather than being cut. The blade continued in the distance, cutting anything inside his path.

Edward stood thoughtful and without uttering a word. It was one thing to sense the vast power inside of him, and another to see the concrete result. A forty-meter-long aura blade is insane. It basically means that numbers are meaningless. It doesn’t matter how many monsters I’m facing if they are not able to use aura. Heck, if I had this level of prowess when facing the Murlocs back then the fight would have been over in two strikes. I have turned into a one-man army.

His aura had increased by a lot but so had this control. He opened his hand, forming a blob of condensed aura above his palm in an instant. Before it would have been his limit, this density of aura had been too hard to keep control of. Now that he had reached the next stage, he was able to easily control it, and with a thought, he directed the blob to circle around him. Then he changed its shape, turning it into a blade, maintaining control of it. It seems I have achieved my dream of homing blades. With a mental effort, the blade turned back into a blob before separating into a dozen small needles.

Large aura blades could be avoided, but that was a lot harder for barely visible needles. Usually, such weapons were too small to inflict a great amount of damage, but being made with aura rather than mundane material, ordinary armor would be pierced by them as if it were but a sheet of paper. After a moment of contemplation, he let the deadly weapons dissipate. Add this method to my mass-murdering abilities.

Aura is my most versatile power. The level of control I have gained over it gives me an idea.

Edward gazed at the cocoon surrounding him, even after he had cleaved it in two, the damage wasn’t that important. A few wasp spiders would be able to repair it in no time. Cleaving attacks weren’t that effective against vast stretches of webs. Edward smiled wickedly. Even since I entered this place I always felt as if I lacked firepower.

He manifested several blobs of aura before shifting their form, linking them together to form a ten-meter fire rune. The rune caught fire on its own, the fire consuming the aura itself rather than mana. It’s consuming the aura directly? Aura is primarily made by mana after all, but this is a costly ability. Maybe it would be easier to maintain if the mana wasn’t so low in the surroundings?

He aimed the rune towards the cocoon, watching as the rune etch itself inside the walls, bringing its fire with it. The fire didn’t spread to the rest of the webs, but having still control of the rune, Edward swept it left and right, expanding the fire’s scope. He only stopped when the fire had consumed too much of the aura for it to keep the rune shape. Half of the cocoon had been reduced to cinder.

Monsters unable to use aura won’t last a second against me. But knowing my luck I will probably only encounter monsters able to use aura. He laughed dryly. I met more and more of them lately. The fact that others portals are opened in random places letting dangerous monsters invade this world is concerning as well. However, with the level of strength I have reached, I should be able to handle it. He sighed. Staying in Gobéliard and ignoring the problem is tempting, but if the invading monsters are anything like the spiders, they have to be dealt with before it’s too late lest they become too much to handle.