Apex Star

61  Hunt Part 3 Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Walking past the safe zone, Nova accelerated and continued to look for tunnels in the following areas.

As he absorbed the beast cores he collected the last day, his cultivation broke to Peak Nebula Stage. 'I wonder if absorbing this beast core of the Panther-man will get me on the World Stage.'

Mused Nova as he paid close attention to his surroundings.

He would spot a human here and there. The sound of weapons clashing got fiercer and closer as he advanced in the forest.

In the following hour, Nova found a few groups of Beastmens but no tunnels. He prepared to go even deeper into the forest when suddenly, his Soul World sent him a signal of advancing when absorbing the World Stage beast core.

Fortunately, there was a cave a few hundred meters ahead of him, and he quickly got there before sealing the surrounding area with his space energy.

CRACK! A few seconds after beginning to advance to the World Stage, the mountain that Nova's cave was in started to crack, almost collapsing.

Of course, Nova couldn't pay any attention to it, as his consciousness was sucked into his Soul World.

Arriving in his Soul World, Nova saw three little Lines leaving the Apex Star's fake body. The little floating star even helped the three lines absorb energy.

What was curious, though, was that the 'Lines' were slowly growing longer and thicker. Every line absorbed different energies. The red line absorbed Fire energy, the grey line absorbed Space energy and the white line absorbed Time energy.

'What are those lines? And how could they absorb energy to grow?' Thought Nova, as he didn't want to interrupt this process. Something told him that it would be a good thing for him.

Perhaps feeling Nova's doubt and worries, the little floating golden star sent a beam of energy at Nova's forehead. It instantly transmitted a few pieces of information to Nova. The information, though, shocked Nova to the core.

The 'Lines' were strands of Universal Laws. When a hundred of those 'Law Lines' gathered together, it would form a complete Law.

As Nova guessed, the 3 Law lines were Fire, Space, and Time. Even though the Apex absorbed his Space-Time Bloodline, this didn't mean that it didn't exist anymore. It was just that all the affinities were transferred to the Apex.

So his space and time energy would still exist and eventually transform into Laws. It was just that...he was only on the World Stage now.

The process of energy transforming into Laws usually happens in the Universe Stage.

17:40

'What a cheat; I'm probably the first person in history to have, even though not complete, a chance to form Laws on the World Stage.

 Compared to using energy to power my attacks, what will happen if I use these strands of laws to power my attacks?' Nova was excited at the thought of using the strands of Laws in actual combat.

Another surprise for him was his Devouring Ability, as it now allowed him to suck the energy of his enemies and transform it into the wanted energy.

For example, he would absorb the energy of a water energy user and could freely change it into Fire energy to absorb for himself or even strengthen his strands of Laws.

The potential of his Devouring Ability was massive, and he felt that even if not for having the Apex powers, just based on his ability, he could become a strong powerhouse in the future.

'Wait... if I can freely change the nature of any energy absorbed to the one I want to, doesn't that mean I can change the nature of my law strands?'

Thinking so, Nova decided to give it a go.

He used Devouring on the Space Law strand, and much to his surprise, it changed from space to fire.

'Holy Shit! I can do it! This gives me endless possibilities for the future.' Nova's eyes gleamed as his mind started going into overdrive. His eyes dimmed a little before regaining his confidence.

'Even though I'm too weak right now, I will grow stronger. And then...' Nova exhaled a deep breath before leaving his Soul World.

The space law strand reverted to its origin as Nova thought that keeping three different law strands may help him better in unforeseen situations.

Opening his eyes, Nova was met with...nothing.

The cave he was in collapsed along with the mountain. It was so clean as if the space was erased. It gave Nova a strange feeling.

'I can feel the law strands presence, but...it feels as if they combined?' Nova tried to wrap his head around the strange feeling he got. 'Wait...could Laws even combine and give birth to a stronger Law?' Nova thought of something absurd, but maybe not impossible.

'I will have to ask my master about Laws, as my knowledge about them is too shallow.' Making a mental note for later, Nova disappeared from his spot. The earlier commotion may attract mighty powerhouses in this place.

-----

In a dark tunnel, there was the figure of a girl sitting on a throne and looking at the empty darkness ahead of her. She was the Demon Empress and ruler of the Demon Continents, Rena Astrales.

Black raven hair with purple eyes and a face capable of toppling cities, her big round chest and slim waist could drive any man crazy. Sitting on the throne and leaning on her left side, some of her curves were showing.

The two horns above her head only accentuated her perfect appearance even more. She was the number one beauty in the world, and it wasn't an undeserving title.

Rena was currently waiting for her subordinate's report about the state of the ongoing war. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked in Nova's direction. 'Presence of Laws? I wonder who's that...' Thinking so, Rena disappeared from her spot.

-----

Nova was once again moving into the forest. He was like a shadow that appeared and disappeared every hundred meters.

The power he felt coursing through his body, coupled with the few strands of law in his possession, made him feel extremely confident.

It seemed that today was his lucky day, as not only did he break through World Stage, he even spotted a tunnel close to him.

This tunnel was at least ten times bigger than the last one. 'Maybe it has higher levels inside? I should take a look.'

Nova hurriedly entered the tunnel and dashed in the darkness.

A few seconds after he entered the tunnel, a new figure was standing there and looked inside. Rena was the closest Peak Universe Stage powerhouse to Nova when he broke through.

So, of course, she felt his energy and quickly found him.

She was just surprised by what she saw.

'That's impossible. That human is only a World Stage, but not only did I feel the Laws from earlier, but even his speed also doesn't make sense. Not even an Early Galaxy Stage is this fast.'

Rena was curious about Nova's identity and decided to follow him. She could capture him anytime, so she wasn't in a hurry but wanted to see what other things he had hidden.

A smile resurfaced on her pretty face. It was a smile capable of destroying a country.

"Entertain me for a while, young boy." Saying so, Rena followed Nova in the tunnel.