After learning the Palm Strike martial art technique, Aster returned to his villa completely exhausted. He collapsed onto his bed with a groan. "Damn it... My peaceful life is over. I never should’ve joined this military college."
Out of pure frustration, Aster instinctively activated his talent and entered the Dream Realm. Aster found himself sitting amidst an endless sea of white clouds. The silent world felt strangely lonely. For some reason, memories of his previous life resurfaced.
He remembered working tirelessly to achieve his dream... only for Cedric to steal everything from him. "Damn that bastard Cedric. If I ever find you again, I’ll beat him to a pulp." The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding clouds suddenly shifted.
"...Huh?"
Aster blinked in confusion. "But I didn’t manifest anything..." The clouds slowly gathered together, forming the shape of a person. Within seconds... Cedric appeared.
"What?!"
Aster’s eyes widened in disbelief. "These clouds can manifest actual people too?" He immediately walked over and carefully observed the cloud-made Cedric.
"...It’s identical."
Every detail matched the original perfectly. "So even a vague memory is enough..."
"The Dream Realm can recreate an exact copy."
The longer Aster stared at Cedric’s face, the angrier he became. Then an idea struck him. He closed his eyes and tried to sense mana.
"...Nothing, There isn’t any mana in the Dream Realm."
He sighed.
"Damn it... I thought I could practice Palm Strike here."
Suddenly his eyes lit up.
"...Wait."
"I actually can."
Aster closed his eyes once more and vividly imagined the mana particles he had seen while training with General Cassius. When he opened them again... Tiny blue mana particles floated throughout the Dream Realm.
"It worked!"
Without wasting another second, Aster gathered the manifested mana into his palm. A brilliant golden glow enveloped his hand.
BOOM!!
A Palm Strike shot forward. The cloud-made Cedric’s head exploded instantly. Blood sprayed everywhere before both the body and the blood dissolved back into white clouds.
"...Damm! That blood looked way too real." A grin slowly spread across Aster’s face.
"So my theory was right. I can practice martial arts here... And my training dummy will be..."
He looked toward the empty clouds. "...Cedric."
The clouds began producing one Cedric after another.
Dozens...
Hundreds...
"Palm Strike!"
BOOM!
Another Cedric lost his head.
"Palm Strike!"
BOOM!
Another one exploded.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike became smoother than the last. Aster spent the entire night mercilessly massacring countless copies of Cedric.
Finally... the system window appeared.
System: Palm Strike Proficiency has reached Expert Level.
"Oh?"
"My proficiency increased."
Aster immediately tried another Palm Strike. This time, the golden palm was significantly larger than before. Its destructive power had increased tremendously. Aster couldn’t help but smile.
"Looks like tonight’s massacre isn’t over yet." The endless slaughter of Cedric continued until morning.
Knock! Knock!
Aster slowly opened his eyes after hearing someone knocking on his door. He stretched lazily before walking over and opening it. Standing outside were Yor, Adrian, and Alas.
"Why are you all here so early?"
Adrian grinned "A newly opened dungeon appeared nearby. We’re putting together a team and wanted to invite you."
Aster thought for a moment. Normally, dungeons only allowed a single party inside. However, some rare dungeons permitted multiple teams simultaneously. Those were known as Open Dungeons, since anyone could enter them.
Yor smiled "It’ll be fun. I also heard it drops lots of weapon-forging materials."
Aster’s eyes immediately lit up. "Materials... I need those if I’m going to forge custom weapons."
Without hesitation, he nodded. "Alright I’m in."
Alas smiled "Great. Let’s go."
A short while later, the group arrived at the dungeon. A massive yellow portal floated in the air. The entire area was packed with Awakeners from across the city.
However...
No one was entering. A large group of people stood in front of the entrance, blocking everyone’s path.
Yor stopped a nearby Awakened and asked, "What’s going on?"
The man sighed. "They’re from the EXCELSIOR Guild. They’re trying to seize the dungeon and reserve it exclusively for their guild."
"What?"
"How can they monopolize a public dungeon?"
Aster casually glanced at them.
System: Lazy Inspection
Level 30
Level 25
Level 31
Level 22
He frowned "They don’t seem that strong. There are only a handful of them. Why doesn’t everyone just work together and throw them out?"
The man looked at Aster as though he were crazy.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"They’re only the advance group. EXCELSIOR has hundreds of members. If anyone opposes them, they’ll be marked for revenge."
"And more importantly... Their Guild Leader is a Level 60 Awakener."
Alas scratched his head "So... Should we just go back?"
Aster looked at the crowded entrance for a few seconds.
Then he smiled. "I came all the way here. I’m not leaving because of a few thugs."
Yor raised an eyebrow. "So... What’s your plan?"
Aster simply replied, "Follow me."
He led the three of them onto a nearby rooftop overlooking the entrance. System window appeared.
Palm Strike (Master) Lv. 25
Adrian looked confused "Why are we up here?"
Aster smiled. "Just watch."
He slowly raised one hand "Palm Strike."
Meanwhile...
The EXCELSIOR members continued chatting confidently.
"Hmph, Looks like nobody has the guts to challenge us after hearing our guild’s name."
"Hahaha!"
"That’s what power looks like."
Without warning, Five gigantic golden palms suddenly materialized right in front of them. .
BOOOOOM!!
The enormous strikes blasted every guild member flying through the air.
Aster immediately shouted at the top of his lungs. "They’re gone! Everyone! Now’s your chance! Get into the dungeon!"
The entire crowd fell silent for a split second before erupting into chaos as hundreds of Awakeners charged toward the entrance.
Aster smiled. After reaching Master proficiency, I can now manifest Palm Strikes anywhere within a forty-meter radius instead of launching them from my palm. I can even leave them floating in place like solid objects.
He turned toward his teammates.
"Grab onto me."
"...What?"
"Just trust me."
The three of them tightly grabbed onto Aster.
He manifested five floating Palm Strikes in the air before taking out his grappling gun.
"Grapple!"
The hook shot toward one of the floating palms. Using them as midair anchor points, Aster swung rapidly above the crowd at incredible speed.
Within seconds...
The four of them soared over everyone’s heads and disappeared into the yellow portal.