Healing System

'What is this?' Michael stared at the three system prompts in front of him, all of which displayed something he could not quite understand.

[Path of Light]

Remain as you are, harnessing the mana of the first Light. No racial changes are made, and no power-ups are granted. You can evolve into a higher being with this path.

[Path of Darkness]

Succumb to your emotions and transform; obtain the mana of the first Darkness. You become a demonic being, one that thrives on demonic mana and is completely incompatible with regular mana. Receive a power-up that increases your strength up to Tier 5, but in exchange, you cannot get stronger. You can't evolve into a higher being with this path.

[Path of Order]

Neutral path, one derived from your knowledge of both Chaos and Order. You become a being born anew, harnessing the purest form of mana in the universe. No immediate power-ups are granted. Instead, power growth is exponentially increased when fighting against opponents who break the balance of the universe. You can evolve into a supreme being with this path.

'Light, Darkness... Order?' Michael kept reading over them, trying to make sense of the situation.

Let alone the fact that back in the memories, there were only two doors, the current situation was already unpredictable to him.

However, he could gather the fact that Darkness was what the previous Michael chose and succumbed to his dark emotions, leading to his demise.

As for Light, it was the path he was initially going to go for, one that did not change him on a fundamental level.

But now that he had the third and final path before his eyes, he grew conflicted.

It was not a safe option, yet at the same time, it seemed to be the one most beneficial to him.

The system's words kept replaying in his mind, telling him that looks could be deceiving, causing him to hesitate.

Still, he had to make a choice, the best one out of the three.

'The second one is obviously out.' He immediately thought. It was the least enticing one of them all. It was also the one which would send an archangel down to kill him, therefore, he passed quite easily on it.

Now there was only the first and last one left.

The first would be a safe choice, guaranteeing his already steady yet fast progress further. However, the last one provided more long-term benefits while also giving him the so-called "Purest form of mana in the universe."

However, he did not know what that was. The closest thing he had in mind was the Chaos mana he felt while watching Meph's memories.

If it was the case, then he couldn't see what the problem was.

Two obviously good choices and one bad choice, it was obvious which he should pick.

And that was the Path of Order. Seemingly no negatives about it, only giving him positives while also the capability to evolve into a supreme being, whatever that was.

He had no one else to ask, besides the system, of course, but it was not with him currently.

Michael debated for a couple more minutes, making sure he would not regret his decision before finally pressing on [Path of Order].

Immediately, a faint, unrecognizable energy swept over him, covering him from head to toe before heading straight for his mana core.

As it did that, he could feel his mana rejecting the energy. However, in the end, it succumbed and assimilated along with it.

But that was not the end, as all of a sudden, he felt a distinct pain spread across his entire body. It felt as though he was being skewered alive by miniature stakes.

His bones were being broken apart and repaired while his organs kept failing, some even exploding from the energy that had been released from his mana core.

"Ughh..." Michael let out a pained groan. It was even worse than when he was being scorched alive or turned into a literal popsicle.

The pain continued. However, it was growing milder as the minutes went by. Or perhaps even hours, he lost track.

But one thing was growing obvious ever since he pressed the [Path of Order] button, and that was the fact that his Light affinity had grown much stronger than before.

At the same time, there was another energy swirling around inside his mana core. However, due to the pain, he was not able to check it out.

From what he could tell, it was much more powerful than his Light affinity. It was not even close.

Michael's groans grew quieter and quieter until finally, they completely subsided.

Still, the pain was a bit too tough for him, so he found it a bit difficult to stand up. It was also a wonder how the Ascension still hadn't ended; after all, he had already made his choice.

But as those thoughts landed, another wave of pain spread out; this time, however, it was coming from his mana core.

It felt as though it was shattering, but that was not the case. Instead, it seemed like his mana purity was increasing at an incredibly fast pace.

So fast, in fact, that he fell back down on his back, not being able to move a muscle.

After exactly 5 minutes, it was over. The pain from when his bones were being broken, as well as the pain from his mana core, had completely subsided.

Almost like nothing ever happened. But the proof was in his body.

Michael glanced at his arms and saw that they were more toned, as if he had been working out for a long time. The same applied to his hair too as he leaned over and saw the long black strands reaching the ground below him.

As he did so, he noticed that the ground was actually made of water. Therefore, he could see his reflection.

However, he could barely recognize the person he was looking at. It was him, but it seemed like he had aged a couple of years, as if he was now in his early 20s. Read new adventures at empire

He stood up and was able to see his body in full view. He had grown much taller, probably around 190 centimeters in height now. Compared to just a moment ago when he was barely 180.

A massive change, both physically and, at the same time, mentally.

Michael felt as though his thoughts were clear now. Before he accepted, he had doubt, and the lingering guilt from what had happened back in the city. But now, it was all gone.

It had been senseless; in the end, it was not his fault, not directly anyway.

As he was lost in his thoughts, checking out the new changes that had occurred, the door before him vanished, along with the entire room as it began slowly deteriorating, until finally, it managed to reach him as well.

For a moment, he thought someone was attacking. However, in the next, he closed his eyes and let the deterioration envelop him.

After a few seconds had passed, he opened them once again, and to no one's surprise, he was back inside Meph's room.

But the sight around him, or specifically, below him, made him speechless.

It looked like a river of blood, seemingly even leaking out of the open window. It reached all the way up to his waist.

However, before he could ponder what happened, a vortex suddenly formed, with Michael standing in the very middle of it.

As that was happening, the blood that had fallen outside, as well as the blood inside the room, began flowing directly into him, entering his body with just a mere touch.

Michael thought it was strange but did not deny that feeling, as it seemed like the blood was increasing his mana purity. It was not as fast as what he had experienced back in the Ascension, but nonetheless, it was much faster than what he had ever done before.

The room was silent, but upon opening the map, he could see that nothing was off. The people he had seen before were all still inside, walking around the castle.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But it was not the people's silence that made him concerned; it was the system's.

'Are you asleep?' Michael asked teasingly while stretching his limbs. Everything felt much more fluid than before.

And his strength, it had grown a fair deal.

He waited for an answer but never got one. That was until he glanced at the table where he sat with Meph and noticed a certain golden-haired individual wearing a halo while staring directly at him.

Michael noticed something was a bit off as he spoke, "Mikhail?"

However, the system-Mikhail merely replied with a blank look while gesturing him to take the seat across from him.

While at the same time, commanding in an intimidating voice:

"Sit, we need to have a little chat."