There was only one thing Damien had never been able to overcome in the decade and a half since he began training.

It was his foundation.

From his days struggling in the dungeon to when he was a peak powerhouse in Hidden Death Valley, the problem followed him.

Damien grew extremely fast. He gained more and more power and achieved a feat nobody had ever achieved with his progression.

However, his growth waited for no man, including himself.

Vector Control was a great example.

When Damien reached 2nd class, he was too focused on escaping through the path Kurt Galloway left in the First Dungeon.

Afterwards on Apeiron, while he did use Vector Control, he never focused on its main ability, mainly using it to create plasma and boost his firepower.

By the time he reached 3rd class, he’d barely uncovered the surface of the Vector Control talent. Becoming a Celestial took up all his attention and he neglected his previous talent as a result.

The next time he utilized Vector Control was when Tian Yang taught him how to hide his traces while teleporting.

There were a few cases later on, but this was the extent of his journey with Vector Control.

Yet, it was a part of his strength that could’ve helped him through many situations.

If he was able to slow his opponents down, even by a minuscule amount, wouldn’t he have been able to take victory in many close battles that ended in draws?

Of the examples that could be provided, Vector Control was one of the smallest.

Damien had a well of strength in his body that he wasn’t able to tap into because of how he rushed through his training.

Hell, even some abilities that he put work into in the past became irrelevant for the same reasons.

He was a jack of all trades yet a master of none.

Some said such a state would make one better than a master of one, and Damien had seen the effects of this countless times.

But that only applied when the master of one was at the same level.

For someone like Damien whose enemies were able to kill him with a single slap, an excess was not a good thing.

If only he could become a master of all trades, someone who couldn’t be compared to a master or a jack in any fashion…

That was always his goal. When he got older, he tried to narrow down the abilities he focused on so he didn’t end up in a situation where he was disadvantaged again.

The problem wasn’t one that could be solved so easily.

The further he grew, the more he threw away.

At this point, his arsenal consisted of only Spacetime, Samsara, and the Void.

Even these couldn’t be used to their full potential because of the mistakes he made in the past.

The “Blessing of Foundation.”

It did not boost him nor did it open up new pathways, but it gave him everything.

It gave him access to that well of strength he’d been seeking for so long.

He was currently restricted to 2nd class, but he could feel it.

The utter completeness he felt in his body.

It was beautiful. There was no other way to explain it.

Perhaps nobody else in existence knew what it felt like to be this complete.

Damien stood up from the shrine platform.

His appearance hadn’t changed, but for some reason, he looked more handsome than usual.

“Is there anything else to do here?” He asked, turning to Sia who still sat in the corner.

“…nothing,” Sia responded.

“Then let’s get going to the Lunar River.”

Damien was feeling energized right now.

He wanted nothing more than to go out and fight, to feel the significance of his blessing firsthand!

The girls smiled without a word, letting him enjoy his moment.

Zara and Isla stood up and stretched their bodies.

And together with fresh minds and rested bodies, they charged up the mountain!

***

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions blasted clouds of dust into the atmosphere as a fierce battle continued.

The group made it 100 kilometers up the mountain in the past two days. The Lunar River was 1,200 kilometers up the mountain, which meant they were halfway to their goal.

Ascending the mountain above the cloud layer was much more like a path of challenge than a ceremony.

Every few tens of kilometers, a new powerful beast resided, waiting for those who trespassed on its territory.

There wasn’t a true order to it, but the further they went, the more space there was between territories.

The rules to the challenge were simple.

If the challengers won, they had the two options.

They could spare the territory lord and continue on, or they could kill the territory lord and declare the end of their challenge.

And if the challenged beast won, there was no choice for the challengers but death.

Luckily, the strength of these beasts wasn’t too monstrous.

The three beasts Damien’s group defeated earlier had the strength to join the ranks above the cloud layer.

Those right outside the Blessing Shrine’s area were even weaker than those three, while the beasts the group currently faced were roughly at the same level.

Though, this progression alluded to extremely strong beasts at the higher altitudes, a fact the group was forced to stay wary of.

Nevertheless, they wouldn’t have any problems getting to the Lunar River.

Damien was actually having a blast right now!

His body swerved through the air like a fish in water. He flashed back and forth like his body had no material form, and his attacks were absolutely deadly.

Teleportation felt amazing. He’d been doing it for so long that he forgot how amazing it felt, but right now, it was like he’d just done it for the first time again.

And his power…his power flowed so easily.

It was like the connection between his thoughts and actions was absolute. The flow of his mana followed his instincts perfectly, and as long as it was in his power, he felt like he could do anything!

It was almost ironic to feel this way in a realm with such a strict restriction, so he could only imagine what it’d feel like when he was back to normal!

Mirage was in his right and Freya was gripped in his left.

The current enemy was a winged crocodile, a strange-looking reptilian beast with feathered wings.

And Damien was toying with it to his heart’s content.

The beast had an extremely hard outer defense that Damien couldn’t pierce through, but it also had a soft underbelly and inside that he could exploit to assassinate it.

But he was still enjoying his power, so he focused on the armor, intent on breaking it apart!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three more shots from Freya slammed into a single spot on the crocodile’s back perfectly.

Damien’s body descended through the air with the velocity of a comet. His arm pulled back and gathered strength, pushing out to pierce the cracked area he’d created!

‘Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break’

BOOOOOOOM!

Pieces of flesh and thick armor flew into the air.

Blood flowed to the ground in rivers.

A hole ten times the size of the impact point blew open in the crocodile’s body, creating a tunnel between its back and the ground below.

Damien grinned.

Even the most simple moves…

‘…make me feel like a king!’