The Runic Artist Chapter 4: Chapter 322 - Freedom at Last

Read chapter 4 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Chapter 322 - Freedom at Last A note from Ellake The Emperor Without An Empire They stole my empire, my cultivation, even my name. Their mistake was leaving me alive. This body was called Shen Taros, so that's who I am now. Seven hundred years of experience packed into an eighteen-year-old with the spiritual capacity of wet parchment. At least now I’ve got the numbers to tell me how far I’ve fallen. A cultivator with god-like powers will hunt me within the year. If I haven't rebuilt my strength by then, well, that would be embarrassing in a rather permanent way. So here I am, slumming it by opening meridians one painful breath at a time, learning alchemy from a terrifying mistress, and picking entirely avoidable fights with powerful people who consider themselves beyond justice. Frankly, between all of that, working in a decrepit fish warehouse, and dodging loan sharks, I'm making remarkable progress. They wanted this Emperor permanently retired. I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint them. What to expect - Slice of life (I can’t emphasize this enough...) - System-lite LitRPG, although the numbers still ramp up as the chapters go by - Cultivation and skills and titles, oh my! - Base and community building - Crafting and combat - The merest dash of politics - An underdog hero who has no intention of remaining the underdog for long Nate remained conscious as the world blurred around him. All of his mental focus was on the pressure from Reciprocity as it demanded its due. The nascent spatial spirit was tucked away in his Created World and his agreement with Arikanvil told him to deliver it as promised. So he fought. Fought against the pressure from Reciprocity as it eroded his body and soul. Nate knew he was dying and he needed to come up with a solution. As the world blurred by, his body being jostled by whoever was carrying him, he turned his mind to the problem. There was really only one possible solution that he could see: he needed to remove his Class Core. With it gone, he would no longer be bound by — or protected by — Kali’Terra’s Reciprocity Embodiment. He would be outside The System. Just because there was only one solution, though, didn’t mean there was only one way to go about it. He also briefly mused about giving the nascent spatial spirit to Kiri but immediately discarded the idea. While she could likely endure longer than he could, courtesy of her own Embodiment, he also knew that she would be in the same predicament as him. That might’ve been alright if she also removed her Class Core but doing so in this state felt like it might be challenging. Or, was it? “ How will you remove the Class Core? ” he sent mentally to Kali’Terra. “ I can do it now if you wish. It will only take a moment and it and a portion of the debt owed to you will be removed. But, you will be unprotected and you are not yet in a safe place. I advise that you hold on just a little longer. ” The System's reply settled Nate’s mind. While he was not looking forward to enduring this pain, he also understood the need to be somewhere safe. Somewhere he could spend a moment raising his Divine Vessel to the appropriate level and then breaking through to the next stage using the rewards he had accumulated from winning the World Reaping. Those winnings included the nascent spatial spirit. Arikanvil couldn’t get his hands on it if Nate incorporated it into his Divine Vessel, so that was exactly what he was going to do. Time was impossible to track through the agony, though Nate did feel the warping of space around them. He knew he must be travelling through a portal. Time passed and the sense of space vanished. Then, more jostling and a dark purple sky. Finally, Nate felt cool hands touching his knees and heard Kiri’s voice. “We’re in a safe space. What should I do?” asked his sister. He thought he saw tears running down her face, though that might have been him looking at her through tears in his own eyes. “Nothing.” “ I’m ready, ” he said mentally.