Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking-Chapter 531 : Jormund of the Six-Eyed Serpent Clan

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'Whew!'

Within the training lab where the participants of the Ancient Chaos Alpha project spent their time honing their skills, a creature released an exhausted yet relieved sigh.

His six pairs of eyes glanced at the system interface hovering beside the crystal ball in front of him, detailing his performance. There it says that his skill at refining Void Energy reached up to 90% efficiency, which is already above the passing mark. But if it was just this, then this wouldn't have been anything special. There are, after all, many other participants who have already reached this point.

What made this one special was that on top of this stellar skill of void refinement, this creature did so while enduring the constant erosion of the void. Meaning that while this creature was focused on refining the void, they were also exposed to the void.

As all of the participants of this project known, especially those who have reached this step, enduring the erosion of the Void Energy wasn't pleasant at all. It's even a nightmare to some. To endure such pain without letting it break your focus in the middle of refining the void takes gross amounts of skill and willpower, things that the majority of them thought they had only to be humbled greatly shortly after their training began.

"Yo, man! Quit being so awesome! You're making the rest of us look bad!"

Somebody exclaimed behind him. The creature couldn't help but smile, in their own way, upon hearing this.

"Geez! A Void Refinement degree of 90% with Void Exposure? Only after a few months, at that! Damn, you're one hell of a guy," the person said with admiration mixed with a slight bit of envy.

"Hush, you! You're not doing so bad yourself. You just need to try harder, and you'd reach the same level as I do." The creature replied in a good-natured manner.

Their discussion wasn't hushed and was noticed by the rest. Obviously, the other participants were drawn to this, and upon seeing the results, they too were astonished and envious.

Shocked because of how fast this one reached this level and envious because this meant that he would be the first one to reach the final step into this project, which also meant that he was so close, so very close to the very thing they yearned for...a breakthrough in their life evolution.

"Well, congratulations. You did very well in this."

Hearing this voice, all the participants were alarmed. They looked over and saw Cedric standing nearby. None of them sensed his arrival; if he hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have noticed him at all.

"Director!" The participants greeted him respectfully.

Even though they came to learn that he was way younger than most of them here, they still respected him greatly. While they don't know much about him aside from his codename and his estimated age and cultivation, the fact that he stumbled upon the path of the Ancients and is currently spearheading this project was enough to incur their respect.

"I hope your breakthrough has gone well, Director," someone said, with others sharing the sentiment.

"It has. I'm now at the 4th Stage of Void Refinement," Cedric replied casually, eliciting awe and admiration from the people around him. "Let's not make this about me, though."

"You." He looked at the creature who's now eligible to advance to the next step of the project. "Your name is Jormund, right? From the Six-Eyed Serpent Clan?"

"Indeed, sir. That's me. I'm honored that you remembered my name." Jormund performed a curt bow while replying.

"At ease, you don't need to be so formal." Cedric waved his hand, feeling uncomfortable with how polite Jormund was to him. "I'll give you a choice."

"One, you can either go back now, rest, and tomorrow I will begin instructing you for the final step."

"Or, you can stay here for now." Cedric continued, "Stay and continue refining your skill at Void Refinement. Once you are able to have a constant result of 100% Void Refinement degree during Void Exposure, you'll move on to the 3rd step anyway."

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"I'll continue honing my skills, sir." Jormund barely gave it a thought before making a decision.

Cedric nodded in understanding and said, "Very well. I hope you reach that skill level soon."

After saying that, Cedric disappeared just as mysteriously as he appeared.

Jormund could sense the puzzled gazes of his fellow participants, but he wasn't inclined to explain. He didn't want to bother them with this. Besides, this was his decision anyway; even the director didn't argue with him, so what can they say?

The Six-Eyed Serpent Clan is a branch clan of the Beast Race. They have humanoid torsos with three pairs of arms and eyes and a lower body of a snake.

Much like the many branches of the Beast Race, the Six-Eyed Serpent Clan as a whole wasn't that impressive. They're not even listed in the top 100 races/clans of the Scarlet Dust Alliance. That said, this clan has been a member of the alliance for far longer than humans have, and they're not that weak.

Jormund used to be the most prominent figure in his clan. In his youth, he too had dreams of pursuing the stars. He also yearns to reach Atavism so that he could 'return' to the Primal Beast Race and bring glory to his clan.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be...

Upon entering the sect where geniuses of the Beast Race were sent, most specifically those who show potential of reaching Atavism, Jormund was humbled again and again, realizing that while he might be the most stellar genius in his clan, compared to others, he's as ordinary as one can get.

Jormund spent decades working hard, giving it his all to reach Atavism, only for it to remain out of his reach. Eventually, his prime passed, and he was kicked out of the sect because his hopes of reaching it were gone. Defeated, he could only return to the clan as an elder, deciding to foster the next generation and hoping that somebody would be born to achieve the things he couldn't.

He became the clan leader, and somehow, he managed to elevate the living conditions of his clan through his efforts. But one of the things that tortured him immensely was his lack of progress.

Jormund stepped into the Transitional Realm, reaching minor success in the Cosmic Furnace Spell. This meant that he had a very small chance at reaching the Cosmic Level of Life Evolution. And after his failure to reach Atavism, his obsession was transferred to this.

But he got stuck in 4th Transition somehow. No matter what he does, all points lead to him dying if he ever tries for a 5th transition. His instincts never lied to him. But it's also understandable that he just can't easily accept this. He was unwilling to believe that all of his hard work could only take him this far.

Yet, time and time again, it proved hopeless. Even after securing and consuming resources that could increase his chances of making a breakthrough, the nigh-certain failure resulting in his death still loomed over him.

Now, Jormund isn't disillusioned that he could live forever. Hell, even if he could, he wouldn't want to! But he's just not convinced that this was as far as he could go. Yes, he understands that compared to the actual geniuses of the alliance, especially those who came from 'The Six,' he was nothing, but he's not that shabby, either!

At the very least, he should've been able to reach his 9th transition. So why was he stuck on the 4th? How could he easily accept that?

The older he got, the more unbearable this became. And as his lifespan neared its limits, he decided to fight for it. One last hurrah, if you may, before he dies.

Jormund already settled his clan and passed on the position. There are also a handful of people who knew of his plans, and they couldn't stop him.

He had toiled around for decades, searching, hoping, trying, all to no avail. Just as he was about to give up completely, though, someone appeared before him, sending him an invitation to this project.

Well, this old man has nothing to lose at this point, so he bit the bullet and signed his name away.

Upon arriving here and learning that his fellow participants were all in the same boat as he was, a sense of relief, helplessness, and guilt settled within him. And just like them, upon meeting that director for the first time and hearing what the project was all about, he too felt hope.

He had seen a way out. And from what he had seen and experienced so far, this method isn't too reliant on one's latent potential or talent. It's all based on skill and willpower. Things that Jormund isn't lacking at all, so how could he lose hope? How can he be expected to slack off and not try at all when the path forward is already unfolding beneath his feet?

A delay isn't scary. He has been delayed for thousands of years already; what's a year or two compared to that?

What's scary to him was failure, because to Jormund, this was his final chance. There would be no other way after this. And if delaying things for a year or two, or even a decade, means that he could minimize the potential mistakes that could happen at the decisive moment, then he's all in for it.