Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start

CHAPTER 141 - Stars Revealed.

Back in the castle.

Vanessa and Alenia stood rigidly in the castle chamber, tension coiling between them and the woman across the room. Her ink-black hair cascaded down her back, framing a face both enchanting and unnervingly serene. Golden eyes glinted with a mix of curiosity and faint amusement as she surveyed the broken and scorched magic circle on the floor.

"I was astonished that you called me after our last encounter," the woman—Beatrice—spoke, her lips curving into a sly smile. "But now, I see why."

Vanessa's jaw tightened. "Beatrice, stop playing games. Tell me what this is."

Beatrice's expression shifted, her golden eyes widening as if she had just uncovered a terrible secret. She pointed to the remnants of the magic circle, her voice sharp. "Don't tell me..."

Vanessa and Alenia froze, their gazes snapping at the scorched markings on the floor. Beatrice's next words were like a thunderclap in the silent room.

"Can you not feel that guy's disgusting energy? It's all over this circle."

Alenia's breath hitched, and Vanessa's fists clenched. They extended their senses, their magic probing the circle's residual energy. As the tainted mana seeped into their awareness, their faces turned grave.

"N-No way..." Alenia's gaze quivered while Vanessa clenched her fists harder, her body trembling in rage. For the first time, the fear of losing her son flashed past her eyes.

Vanessa's gaze turned to Beatrice as she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can you trace the coordinates?"

Her eyes were the epitome of coldness, enough to send a shiver down Beatrice's spine. This was one of the rare moments when Vanessa had that expression, but that didn't mean Beatrice was scared.

She just tilted her head, a shrug playing across her shoulders. "I can't. This circle's primary purpose is to eliminate traces." She glanced at Vanessa, whose teeth were audibly grinding, and added, "But I can probably copy this design and make a new circle."

Vanessa's eyes glimmered with cold hope. "How long will it take?"

Beatrice's mischievous grin returned. "That depends on my mood. And it's been at an all-time low since our last fight."

Vanessa's fingers twitched, her hand instinctively moving to the hilt of her sword. Before she could act, a dagger zipped past her, embedding itself in the wall mere inches from Beatrice's neck.

Beatrice didn't flinch. She let out a whistle, glancing at Alenia, who stood with her arm still raised. "That almost gave me a heart attack," Beatrice said with mock indignation, yawning. "Now I just want to take a nap."

She turned around, ready to walk away before a grin tugged at her lips as she heard Vanessa's question.

"What do you want?" Growled Vanessa. That attack from Alenia woke her up, and she knew that they didn't have the upper hand in this confrontation.

They were the ones who needed help. They were the ones who needed to lower their heads.

"Well," Beatrice turned back, a wide grin on her face, as she pointed at Alenia. "I want to know what makes the always-gentle and calm Alenia this agitated. Maybe that would give me enough motivation—"

"It's Alex." Before the woman could complete her words, Vanessa answered, her tone measured but desperation clear in it.

Beatrice froze, her playful demeanor evaporating. Vanessa continued, her desperation slipping through. "He was teleported using this magic circle. I don't know where, but with that guy's energy..."

Beatrice's golden eyes flicked back to the circle. Her voice softened. "What are you still standing there for? Help me supply mana. We need to hurry."

Vanessa and Alenia exchanged determined looks before stepping forward, pouring their mana into the forming circle. They didn't question why Beatrice seemed more concerned about Alex than about them—not yet.

Right now, their worry for Alex was stronger than trying to piece things like this together.

They just hoped that he was doing fine, not knowing that Alex was about to face serious problems if he didn't do anything.

The assassins seemed unkillable, and there were now more than 20 of them.

Yes, only eight of them—the ones he had 'killed' before and the leader—posed a real threat to Alex, but the others, who were in the star formation realm, weren't something he could ignore, even more so if they had the same powers as the ones Alex had fought.

"What are you going to do now?" The leader, leaning against the cave wall, questioned, his tone filled with malice. "Are you finally going to use your eight-star power? Or do you have some other surprise for me?"

Alex didn't reply to the guy; he called out to Sophie. 'Is it done?' He asked, his grip around Verathian tightening.

[Yes, you can go free now.]

As soon as Alex heard that, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, come on," the leader growled as he saw that. "Don't tell you're giving up now—"

He paused, and not just him; everyone else did as a loud hum resonated throughout the cavern, and slowly, stars started emerging on Alex's chest.

One, two, three, four, and so on.

The air turned heavy as the stars exceeded seven, reaching eight.

"Finally," grinned the leader, "I can finally see someone like me—"

That was until he saw the numbers increasing. Even Zahara, who now sat in the corner with an expression devoid of fear, had her eyes wide.

Eight, nine, ten. The stars increased in the blink of an eye. Find more adventures on empire

'N-No way...'

Zahara had never seen it before, so she didn't know, but for the first time, she saw the legendary ten-star formation. The tenth star was being formed, shining brightly on Alex's chest.

In the history of the planet, only one person is said to have ever formed ten stars at the star formation level, and now Alex was the second.

"Haha..." the leader's lips twitched as he looked at the forming tenth star. "I guess you are way dangerous to be left to grow."

He gestured for the other assassins to move, who, without even flinching, nodded their heads. Turning toward Alex, they lowered their bodies, their mana running wild.

All of their stars were revealed. Each with seven stars, with seven of them having two or three stars bridged, connected to each other, shining with different colors—red, blue, black, brown, etc. depending on the element they infused.

The cavern's wall trembled, cracks forming on it as it couldn't bear the density of mana pressure in the area.

But just when they were ready to attack...

Boom!

Alex's mana exploded outward. It was as if his mana itself was declaring something before the ten stars on his chest swirled at a speed that made them look like a circle before they paused, and by the time they paused...

"What the fuck..." The leader of the assassins almost slipped down the wall as he stared at Alex's chest. "Thirteen fucking stars..."

His disbelief was evident in his voice as he witnessed something that could go down in history.

[Don't be shocked too soon.] Sophie's words echoed in Zahara's head as the girl kept staring at everything dumbly.

Just ten stars were already too much for her, but now she found out that her boyfriend, whose true power was never revealed, actually had thirteen fucking stars—something that's said to be impossible.

"Huh?" She voiced, her confusion and shock evident as she heard Sophie's voice. 'What do you mean?'

Wasn't it enough already? Was he going to pull up more stars? Such thoughts flashed not just in her head but everyone's. Alex still had his eyes closed after all.

[There's still some things left.] Sophie finished with a small giggle, trying to cover for the tension she felt, and the moment she did, Alex's eyes, as blue as ice, revealed themselves.

"You wanted me to get serious, didn't you?" Alex's echoed, his voice cold enough to send a strange chill down the leader's spine as soon, under everyone's incredulous gaze, red, blue, black, brown, green, and many other colors flashed across Alex's body.

The air around Alex seemed to be cracking as the cave cracked more and more, the air feeling heavy as the concentration of mana increased by folds.

"I was using gravity to increase my speed, you said?" Alex took a step forward, his words crashing against the cracked walls of the cavern before he vanished from there, appearing right in front of the closest assassins.

Slash!

The clean could of flesh and bones being cut through was heard as the bodies of two assassins, both at the peak of the star formation realm, fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

"I wasn't even using it to half its full capability." His words were heard as he appeared behind another pair of assassins; his movements blurred.